Note: This review was written for #Anitwitwatches, a weekly community event primarily held on Twitter and led by Jon Spencer at Jon Spencer Reviews, in which participants watch and discuss the featured anime. Per the event’s schedule, Episodes 1 and 2 were watched together.
With Kanata now residing in the Clocktower Fortress, she finally meets the other officers in the 1121st platoon: commander Filicia Heideman (Aya Endou), mechanic/pilot Noel Kannagi (Aoi Yuuki), and gunner Kureha Suminoya (Eri Kitamura). Episode 2 largely focuses on Kureha, who begrudgingly gives Kanata a tour of the fort and gets stuck with her when the team has to search for a possible ghost lurking around in the area (I’m realizing now how random this show can get).
During the tour around the Clocktower Fortress, it becomes evident that the 1121st platoon are a potential laughing stock within the army. They’re a small team and seemingly the only personnel stationed in Seize. The town itself is situated along the border with a No Man’s Land so hardly anyone is expecting an enemy attack. The team is armed but their own tank is currently undergoing repairs. Their only form of communication with the rest of the military is a single hotline tapped to the capital. All things considered, and even Kanata notices this, it doesn’t seem like the 1121st really amount to much, nor are they expected to do much.
Most of the 1121st don’t seem to mind, however. If Rio and Noel have any complaints, they have yet to make that clear (though Noel does appear to be overworked and exhausted). Funnily enough, it’s team leader Filicia who seems the most lax out of anyone in the team. This is exemplified by her opting to Noel’s chores so that the latter can rest some more, as opposed to ordering her to wake up and get the job done. The one exception appears to be Kureha, who appears to treat military code and discipline to the letter and appears most insecure of her team’s status and situation. That said, Kureha’s feelings towards the platoon do appear to come from a place of love. In one scene, she protects Kanata from what she thinks is the ghost and after firing a shot, she expresses pride in the fact that she’s stationed with the 1121st and acts as their gunner.
For a while, Kureha acts hostile towards Kanata. She brings up the chain of command and initially expects Kanata to address her by rank. She also shows little patience to Kanata’s curiosity and tries to immediately cast aside any concerns the latter may have for the platoon. There’s a couple of possible reasons behind her attitude. Given her feelings towards her post, it’s possible that she is directing her insecurity towards Kanata. From her point of view, Kanata probably didn’t leave a good first impression. The latter did arrive to base late and she’s clearly not good at playing the bugle, which is her main job as a soldier. Kanata must look undisciplined and that’s probably the last thing Kureha wants for the platoon. Another possibility may have to do with her insecurity. Now that there is someone she outranks, she probably sees an opportunity to act more like a real soldier for a change. She also isn’t sure what Kanata would think of the platoon and thus tries talk big and size up the platoon so that the latter doesn’t think ill of them. That said, she does warm up to Kanata after working together during the ghost hunt. Also helpful is Kanata not looking down on the platoon and recognizing Kureha’s true feelings about the platoon. At the end of the episode, Kureha finds Kanata a chair for the team’s dinner table, suggesting that she at least acknowledges her as part of the team.
Oddly enough, the ghost Kanata and Kureha goes searching for is the owl from the last episode, the one that stole Rio’s bell. Named Shuko by Filicia, the team manages to capture it and decide to keep it as a pet since owls are the animal represented in their insignia. Considering that this is the owl’s second appearance, I have to wonder if the show has anything in store for it. It would not surprise me however if the owl simply acts as the show’s mascot character for the remainder of its story.
Something you may notice is that there’s something “off” about the setting. Judging by the most of the attire and tech, the setting appears to resemble the 20th century. On the other hand however, you see the 1121st’s tank which looks more massive and more advanced than any tank from that era. Adding fuel to the fire is that the Clocktower Fortress appears to be the remains of a modern day school. Noel’s workplace appears to what used to be a gym and during the ghost hunt, Kanata and Kureha stumbled upon a music classroom. These things considered, you really have to wonder what time period this show takes place in.
One final thing to note is an apparent secret involving Kanata that only Filicia and Rio appear to be aware of. Apparently, Filicia claimed that the platoon’s new recruit would be a loader or pilot so when Kanata arrives as a bugler, that got Kureha suspicious over what exactly is going on. Filicia manages to convince Kureha that a communications officer is simply who the army sent and what the platoon is dealt with. That could very well be what happened but considering that Filicia notes Kureha’s observation to Rio, it’s clear that Kureha is onto something. As to what that is however, I have no clue.
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