Terraformars

Episode 13

There are plenty of rock ballads out there to remind us that every ending is also a beginning. It's a nice enough sentiment when accompanied by wailing guitars and pounding drums, but it can be a little frustrating in the context of a season finale. For all that it does to bring the series to a conclusion, this episode of Terraformars is extremely keen to point out that the story isn't over. After all, for every cockroach you kill, there are supposedly a hundred more that you haven't seen yet.

The crews led by Michelle and Captain Komachi link up for one last epic battle this week. With the fires from the missile strikes still burning, everybody gets a chance to show off their best action hero lines and beat up an endless swarm of space bugs. Alex and Marcos bond over their mutual desire to avenge Sheila, Akari goes a little crazy, and Michelle fights a Terraformar with fancy rainbow skin. The battle offers the show a chance to look back on some of the season's major storylines while serving up a generous helping of action.

The good news is that Terraformars is able to maintain most of its momentum in this episode. The fight looks good, even if the flickering of the flames gets obnoxious at times. More importantly, it's a satisfying sequence to watch. If you're here to see stupidly tough people take on absurdly powerful aliens, you'll definitely have a good time. Scenes like these let the show do what it does best. Unfortunately, not all of this episode's running time is devoted to manly men punching mutant cockroaches in the face.

In between all the action, we're given glimpses of the Japanese and American governments finding out that something's amiss. There are traitors in the Annex ranks, and the rescue ship hasn't even launched yet. Inside the pyramid, the Russian crew learns that one of the landing sites leaked to the aliens has the wrong coordinates. While the good guys are off fighting and dying heroically, somebody's putting a more nefarious plan into motion. The veil is lifted, the true villains are revealed, and the episode ends a few seconds later. There's no preview for a future episode, no announcement of another season, nothing.

Obviously, this is where the problem lies. If another season is in the works, then this ending is perfectly acceptable. It's a fun episode that does a good job of getting the audience hyped up to see what happens next. If, however, there aren't any plans to continue the series, it's not OK at all. Ending things here would essentially turn the whole show into an elaborate commercial for the original manga. As of this review's writing, there doesn't appear to be any official news either way.

Even if this is all we get, I'm still inclined to give Terraformars a lot of credit. I came into this series expecting a half-baked Attack on Titan knockoff, and the show's early missteps didn't do much to help its case. Terraformars didn't give up, though. Instead of falling apart, it went back to the drawing board and tried again. Each mistake was balanced out by simple, explosive entertainment. Slowly but surely, this stubborn little series fought its way into my heart. It's not perfect by any means, but it can be a heck of a lot of fun when it puts its best foot forward.

Rating: B

Terraformars is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen also covers anime and manga at SharkPuppet.com.