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EP. REVIEW: 86

The incompetence of the Alban military continues to astound me and take me out of the story a bit. Lena had to go digging through the archives to find a map? The commander of a military unit not having something as simple as the topography of the area the 86 is fighting in in a society this advanced is just baffling.

If the Legion was spoiler[ literally made by the Albans in order to enact an ethnic cleansing like I originally assumed it would make sense what with this being a literal phony war, but from what other posters have said they legitimately are/were from another invading country and are/were a force trying to invade Alba. ]

I realize this was done to show how little the Albans care about the 86, but did the military ever consider "what if the legion breaks the 86's lines and makes it to the capital?" Even Nazi penal battalions in real life who were essentially dead men walking were given maps and appropriate information so that they could accomplish their orders.

On a less heavy note, I actually did enjoy the scene at the beginning a fair amount, especially when all the girls picked up their guns and the constant throwing of Daiya under the bus, it was cute and hilarious. Still have no opinion on Shin, but I also don't really like the super stoic and competent character archetypes normally unless their secretly dorks.

Electric Wooloo wrote:

The incompetence of the Alban military continues to astound me and take me out of the story a bit. Lena had to go digging through the archives to find a map? The commander of a military unit not having something as simple as the topography of the area the 86 is fighting in in a society this advanced is just baffling. If the Legion was spoiler[ literally made by the Albans in order to enact an ethnic cleansing like I originally assumed it would make sense what with this being a literal phony war, but from what other posters have said they legitimately are/were from another invading country and are/were a force trying to invade Alba. ] I realize this was done to show how little the Albans care about the 86, but did the military ever consider "what if the legion breaks the 86's lines and makes it to the capital?" Even Nazi penal battalions in real life who were essentially dead men walking were given maps and appropriate information so that they could accomplish their orders.

Yes, they won't get past the Gran mur, AKA the wall, so there is no problem.
Somewhat different but similar enough, the germans thought it a good idea to attack soviet without preparing winter gear, since they would finnish the invasion before winter. Miltary is not immune to incompetence.

Mencor wrote:

Electric Wooloo wrote: The incompetence of the Alban military continues to astound me and take me out of the story a bit. Lena had to go digging through the archives to find a map? The commander of a military unit not having something as simple as the topography of the area the 86 is fighting in in a society this advanced is just baffling. If the Legion was spoiler[ literally made by the Albans in order to enact an ethnic cleansing like I originally assumed it would make sense what with this being a literal phony war, but from what other posters have said they legitimately are/were from another invading country and are/were a force trying to invade Alba. ] I realize this was done to show how little the Albans care about the 86, but did the military ever consider "what if the legion breaks the 86's lines and makes it to the capital?" Even Nazi penal battalions in real life who were essentially dead men walking were given maps and appropriate information so that they could accomplish their orders. Yes, they won't get past the Gran mur, AKA the wall, so there is no problem. Somewhat different but similar enough, the germans thought it a good idea to attack soviet without preparing winter gear, since they would finnish the invasion before winter. Miltary is not immune to incompetence.

If they won't get past the wall anyways why not lock the 86 out and let the legion kill them without them being able to fight back and not give them weapons for this whole charade? If the wall is a fool proof plan why have the autonomous (not actually autonomous) mechs? Military's aren't immune from incompetence certainly, but there's a basic level of preparedness one would expect is what I'm saying.

I think the thing with Shin is he comes off very stoic and passive, but you see stuff like his reaction when Kaie reveals why he doesn't file reports or when he throws his buddy under the bus while they're talking to Lena that shows there's more to him than that.

^


spoiler[Those butterfly-type Legion seen in episode 2 generate EM jamming, which makes conventional means of contact difficult. Amongst conventional communications, only laser-targeted ones work, and as Shin pointed out in episode 2, those have dangers to their use as well. The Para-RAID gets around that by tapping into the vast field of human subconsciousness and transmitting messages that way. ]

Key wrote:

^ spoiler[Those butterfly-type Legion seen in episode 2 generate EM jamming, which makes conventional means of contact difficult. Amongst conventional communications, only laser-targeted ones work, and as Shin pointed out in episode 2, those have dangers to their use as well. The Para-RAID gets around that by tapping into the vast field of human subconsciousness and transmitting messages that way. ]

spoiler[ I swear if this is another anime that misunderstands and misuses the term Collective unconscious... ]

Electric Wooloo wrote:

Yes, the parallel's aren't exactly subtle. I'm aware that the series is referencing Nazi Germany. But even in Germany there were dissidents and people who were coerced to join the party but weren't ardent supporters of their ideas. Everybody so far seems to truly believe in the inferiority of the 86, and the Republic doesn't exactly seem like an Autocracy crushing dissent. A simple "I have an Uncle in high places" shouldn't have gotten Lena off the hook for that speech if it was a Nazi like police state.

(And that's not even getting into the fact that the 86th district is apparently only 9 years old, so how, even with propaganda, the majority of people seems to not know/remember the existence of non-Alba humans in such a short time is anyone's guess...I swear, if it's brainwashing I-)

showing Lena finally understanding how she's complicit in this multigenerational oppression.

I noticed that the opening was updated to remove the character that died the previous episode and to place them in a field with what I assume are more dead characters. And that's ominous because, well, there seems to be a lot of room in that field...