Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova episode 12 FINAL EPISODE!

If you can't beat them...blow yourself up with them.

WEEE! The last post for 2013 and it is only January 12th. GO ME!!!! I kid I kid. Maybe. But yes here is the last episode for Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova. If you were looking for answers about why this show is happening...well.....you might be disappointed for now. But this show does end in tons of missiles and blasts and snowflake swords. That should make up for answers not being given yes? Hopefully?

Launching hope towards Kongou.

Episode Summary: Everyone looks in awe that Kongou has become...that. They can sense Maya in there but it is not a merge, just a takeover..of many ships. Gunzou's crew is like so huge Kongou is behind us and the a huge fleet of Flog Ships in front of them. Clearly they are screwed. Before they can think of a plan Kongou starts powering up her version of the super gravity machine and everyone...well panics. Instead of firing at Iona though Kongou fires...at every single American Fog Ship and destroys them all. Everyone is upset that Kongou would destroy her own allies and Iona wants to talk to Kongou. The tea room is...slightly different to reflect Kongou's state of mind. All the other ships show up and want to know what Kongou was thinking. Kongou and her chair sitting self says it was stop for other ships from being infected by coming into contact with Iona. When the other ships point out Kongou looking and acting like this doesn't really follow the Code. Kongou is like I am going to kill you all now goodbye. Once kicked out of the tea room everyone talks about the situation and realize that Kongou won't be able to keep up this appearance/action and will eventually die herself. Iona is distressed about this as they dive in the water, trying to avoid Kongou's attacks. It is another shocking moment when Kongou is able to fire the super weapon again. Iona is forced to fire hers in an effort to combat it/keep everyone alive. The combination of both attacks messes with the air and Iona is able to hide for a little while. Someone has to point out that this is all pointless as they are outmatched in every single way possible. But then everyone takes a turn talking about how they are team Gunzou and that they are going to change the world, not wait for someone else to do it for them even if the odds are really, really bad. Iona is like this is great guys but I need to save Kongou. Everyone tries to point out the link tea room is out but Iona wants to go there personally. She is compelled and the others think that this might be free will. Gunzou agrees to this plan of foolishness.

My tiny little bear arms will help out too.

Kongou and her many lazers and missiles and ultimate weapon start to fire at 401 while everyone tries to dodge and use their own weapons while firing a single tube up into the air. 401 and crew keep fighting as it turns out that Iona was in the tube. She is eventually hit and has to hop around on the missiles to make it to Kongou. She makes it to Kongou, slightly injured and Kongou pulls out her sword. Iona says she is here to save Kongou and Kongou starts attacking Iona with the sword and snowflakes. Iona gets slightly hurt again but manages to grab Kongou's hand. Kongou freaks out and WHOOSHES out her attack circle. In real life Kongou and Iona are fighting it out. Well Kongou is fighting and Iona is avoiding the blows. In their minds Iona is trying to break through to Kongou who has locked herself up in some hedge maze thing. Iona slowly makes it through the hedge maze but in real life Kongou kicks the crap out of Iona and gains the upperhand in both worlds. She really was not appreciating all the talking about free will and that Iona ruined everything. She kicks her around for a while and then powers up the weapon again, hoping to take out Iona and herself at the same time as she is infected with Iona cooties. Team Gunzou fires on Kongou, pretty much ruining her plan. How dare Iona be that powerful. Kongou loses her cool and starts ranting that things don't need to change and she doesn't want to be aware of the outside world. This opens her up for Iona to touch her in the real world and tea time world. Iona hugs Kongou and tells her it is going to be okay. The tea world changes into one of flowers and light. The Gunozu crew picks up that Iona is still alive and they celebrate. In the real world Iona asks Kongou to come with them but Kongou needs time to think about this insanity. But she says that they will always be together in their hearts. So everyone on Team Gunzou heads to the Unite States where they deliver the weapon and everyone rejoices Takao is given her body back, Kirishima stays a bear, and Haruna becomes Makie's caregiver. Iona and Gunzou float around in the water, wondering if they really changed the world. Who knows but everything seems happy now. THE END!

That is Super Kongou to you.

Hugs and rainbow kisses for all. It all worked out in the end. Nothing to fear, Gunzou is here. Well I guess more like Iona but still. Only happiness.

Well when you reach this level of crazy taking out your enemy with yourself isn't that insane.

When we last saw our heroes they had just blown up 400 and 402. Iona had about 3 seconds to not cry about it before half the forces guarding the United States appeared from the front and Kongou the Super For appeared from the back. Now this seems like the perfect time to panic. I would. Surely we should die. No instead we are going to focus on how Kongou looks like that robot planet from Transformers in the 80's. Granted if everyone was doomed anyway I could see focusing on something else since running away wasn't going to help. Nope lets look at Kongou with her...array of ships attacked to her. Maya who?

Piece out American Fog Ships. Super Kongou is going to be the one to sink Iona guaranteed.

I like how crazy Kongou was like Super Gravity Blast the second she could. Let's right! Start off with your most powerful attack. None of this working your way up to awesome. Show Iona whose boss right out the gate. Oh wait you used the cannon to take out all the American Fog ships? Oh...I see. No one kills Iona but you indeed.

Because she got bored with killing humans? Like seriously cry over that crazies.

This was all very shocking to Gunzou and crew. So shocking that they didn't flee fast or contact...anyone for help. Just stood in awe that Kongou would take out her own. I mean...this is a bit silly and understandable at the same time. I think it was a bit much because everyone else has tried to sink Iona and she is Fog too. So it's not like this hasn't happened before. Kongou has tried to kill them too. So all this X) how could she was a bit special. But maybe it was because Kongou took out “real” Fog ships. Ones that were following the Code. Those are Kongou's people and she took them out. We shall be shocked.

Kongou we think you have a problem....

Despite tea time never working out Iona wants to talk to Kongou. Because really what else can go wrong at this point? There is not enough nanomaterial to make the other avatars a ship. You know, for one to run away with the weapon while Gunzou and Iona die for the cause. So really what harm could come from talking face to crazy face? I am kinda disappointed Kongou never mentioned Maya. Obviously she was super hurt by Maya not being real but she never told the others. That this “friendship” concept is nothing but pain and lies. So Iona and company could say oh no Kongou. We are real. Come, be friends with us. But Maya was never mentioned.

Or or...you wanted to be the one to kill Iona so you took out the competition crazy Fog ship. Crazy is a human trait you know.

As per usual the tea that wasn't didn't work. All the girls showed up but Kongou wasn't having any of it. Everyone take a turn to explain how you feel. Takao was probably the most vocal. Kongou's reasoning for blowing up all those Fog ships...might make sense if she was telling the truth and not looking so creepy. I mean.....she might really be looking out for Fog. Trying to get rid of what she thinks is an infection. Protecting what is left of the fleet. They were too close to Iona and she might have invited them over for tea and cake. No no, everyone must be shown down 28 weeks later style. Of course Kongou also snapped and wanted to be the one to kill Iona so...you know. Kongou was trying to be the best Fog ship ever which means she was the worst by trying to actively be the best. Everyone, no group hug for Kongou.

Behold the magic!

The fact that Kongou did not blow Iona into tiny pieces is nothing short of anime magic. 400 and 402 sunk Iona and they are just 2 little subs, no whatever Kongou is. Yes I know Iona had no shields on and it was a sneak attack but still. You would have thought maybe Kongou would have done a bit more damage. More than she actually did. It was superficial really. 800 bombs and missiles is a lot. All those other ships firing at Iona. I wanted it to look a little more dangerous than it was. Also it wasn't the more epic battle ever. Just...normal I guess. No one got thrown around or broken.

The we can do it speech was highly successful and contagious.

Despite being seriously boned Gunzou never really gave up. Had to give a we can do it speech to the crew. Now the way things were going I thought a shark was going to come by and eat Gunzou and L.L. Cool J was going to have to lead the troops. No shark. Just everyone agreeing that they can do it. No worries guys. Everyone work your hardest and we will change the world. Man your stations, we can beat Kongou!

Only Iona didn't want to kill Kongou. She wanted to save her. Why....I don't know. I mean she seemed more upset about Kongou than her sisters. I mean not that Iona went out of her way to talk about her sisters. You would just think that Iona would be more upset about them. I don't think her passion on the subject was out of grief. Just that Kongou needed to be saved. Why? She had just said to Gunzou not all avatars were able to understand. Shoot her and end the war. Well battle. Because you have enough “redeemed” people on board.

Will? The freedom to do dumb things? Sign me up!

No no, Iona wanted to take a ride on a missile to visit Kongou face to face. Since Kongou was done with tea time. And Gunzou was almost okay with it. I think he knew this was very....unique way of solving their problems but again what else were they going to do? Gunzou wants everyone to get along anyway so have at it. Fly Iona fly. We will just make sure one of the other shipless Fog people can take over for you. So you can go to talk to Kongou. Alone. In a missile. Did I mention that Iona have a little pep talk of her own about free will that touched all? Especially the mental models. Like XO is that the feeling that's inside? We have to mend Kongou's heart? Okay. We can do this. Iona won't blow up and neither will the ship. We can do this guys. Why isn't Makie scarred for life yet?

Hold on I am coming to save you from yourself. Thank me later.

So while team Gunzou is trying really hard not to get blown up Iona.....flew towards the bullets. And turned into super Iona when her missile got squished. Look at Iona go. I am surprised she made it to the boat in one piece. I think it would have been more believable if Iona was missing an arm. But she doesn't got time to bleed. She only has time to save Kongou. Who is more important than saving her sisters. She just feels as if this is something she needs to do. That Kongou is hurting so much and has a chance to change whereas her sisters weren't really feeling much? I don't know Kongou wasn't really up for being saved. She is way too busy feeling hatred and rage and consuming rage.

Late to kick your butt?

Even though Kongou was kicking butt in real life Iona went in for the mental kill. I mean save. It took a while but Iona broke through the “wall” that Kongou put up around herself. Well sorta...Iona was doing a lot of talking, I just want us to be friends Kongou take my hand. It might have something to do with the fact that Gunzou and company fired at Kongou, stopping her suicide/murder plot. Yeah the fact that Iona was saved helped her to save Kongou. Truth be told this was a feel good anime and sorta lacks in sense making at the end. I mean...Iona should have said look I am this powerful because I have friends and we trust each other (sorta). Then Kongou would have seen/felt the truth, that she is really lonely. Instead Iona just kept repeating herself over and over again. I want to save you. Why? What has Kongou done besides try to destroy multiple people that makes Iona want to save her? Cynically I think that Iona just broke Kongou down. Like okay I give you can save me. However if Maya and her lying piano had still been around and “real” I think Kongou would have kept on keeping on.

I give up. Just stop talking. Stop making me feel!

But that is now what this show is about. It is about alien ships with no origin to speak of yet learning how to be human when they exposed to said humans. They were set in their ways until one of their own went out (probably not of her own free will...) and found out what was really important. To be yourself. Now I guess there is nothing wrong if Kongou took a look at herself and decided she liked being Fog. But that was not the point. The point was this world can be lonely and girls like Iona just want to bridge the gap and make everyone feel apart. Connecting. With or without tea. I am glad that Kongou declined to join Gunzou, at least right away. She does need some me time to figure this all out. She is not ready for smores and long nights by the bonfire. Let her heal. And you know...feel guilt since ya'll did kill a bunch of people.

She done stole your man Iona!

Our series (I am not sure if there will be a second season despite none of this being explained) ends with everything....happy and on a positive note. Gunzou delivered the weapon which seems pointless now since Kongou basically replicated it. But that means that Gunzou and Kamikage get to live to see another day. Haruna gets to have a little family with Makie and teddy Kirishima. Takao got her body back so all those sad faces meant nothing. And Gunzou gets to look happy and spend more time with Iona. You looked pathetic. Ah yes, the words that someone who basically turned the tide in this war. Gunzou deserves a rest. I am bit disappointed that we never found out who was behind this attack and why. Clearly it was not Fog. They might have been created by another race/entity or captured and reprogrammed. They were not making the orders. Unless there will be a second season and they needed to leave some material for that. I wish though that there was some hint of that. That everyone is off, having a great life and breathing a sigh of relief but deep in the ocean someone looks upset. A something. Glaring. Revenge. Muttering Gunzou's name under his breath. As it is this series seems...incomplete. It was good for what it was, great visuals. But it feels a bit hollow without some main answers. If there is a second season that answers these questions then I will rank it higher. But for now the message of learning to become human, that being human might not be just based on your beginnings...that came through loud and clear. Two thumbs up in that aspect. Sail on Gunzou. You have indeed changed the world.

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Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova episode 11

Do you know how long it takes to take down 9 Christmas trees? Not as long as it takes to put them up but a really, really long time. 10 hours on Saturday. X__X That is why this Saturday was not an anime posting day too. It was a Christmas is done and gone and if I don't take the trees down now they will still be up in March. Makes me a little sad because I love my trees but...the time for them to shine is gone and will return near the end of November. Goodbye my lovely trees.

Gunzou and his thinking face, always has a plan.

Christmas decorations yesterday and anime posts today. Up now for post two is Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova episode 11. Spoilers for family drama. Even alien ships who have a hard time understanding human concepts can have sisters. Duh.

Whatever your name is...don't say that. Now only bad things can happen. RARW!

Episode Summary: Kongou is still a very sad panda. See 400 and 402 are so mean they left Maya bouncing around on the ship while Kongou was “tied” up. Kongou doesn't want to use the word friend but she is certainly thinking it while Maya goes on and on about nothing. On land Kamikage is seen talking about how bleak the situation is and how trusting Gunzou's untrustable self might have been a risky move. All he wants is a big, beautiful tomorrow ya'll. Another important man (the army dude maybe?) is also seen talking about how Kamikage is a master planner. By giving Gunzou the super weapon and trying to take out the super weapon maker (Makie) Kamikage really is in control of what happens. Elsewhere Iona has be rebuilt with Takao's nanomaterials and Gunzou only have a broken arm and bandage to show from his near death experience 5 minutes ago. They are traveling along towards the United States and sense a lot of ships near them. They talk strategy for a moment, on how losing Takao was a real blow to their operation. Everyone takes a moment to mourn for her when Takao shows up on all the computer screens talking about how she isn't dead yet and it was only a flesh wound. Her core is still operational, she just has no body. She lives in cyber space. Still she cannot really help with the actual fighting. You can do it Iona! The first set of enemies they come across are...well numerous non avatar ones. Iona looks a lot different now and is pretty speedy on the water surface. Gunzou orders that Iona do this amazing spin thing and fire the super gravity cannon thing while spinning. That way it is only fired once and they can hit them all. Then normal weapons are fired at them. YAY FOR WINNING! Everyone congratulates themselves but the real enemy is closing in. 400 and 402 are coming from them. It is pointed out that they really need to get to the United States as soon as possible and refuel/restock in Hawaii. Gunzou doesn't want to do that, he wants to fight them before reaching American soil. Despite losing last time Gunzou is confident they can win against the enemy submarines and everyone agrees to help. Iona is told to dive to get ready for combat but that will alert her position better. 400 and 402 talk to each other about how to go about taking out Iona. They worry that contact with her will infect them with the deadly humanity virus and they decide they will watch out for each other since recognizing the crazy within themselves is impossible. They prepare to win this battle.

Ain't no one care about your pity party!

Iona senses her sisters are near and wants to talk to them as she doesn't want this to end in tears. The rest of the crew gets ready for combat. Hyuuga and Haruna/Kirishima control fake Iona like subs to throw off 400/402. Iona calls forth a tea meeting where 400/402 are suspicious that the room looks different and that this is Iona's doing. They start to question Iona on what she is doing and why she left Fog. They want to know what Gunzou's goal is. Iona says she doesn't know but she knows that since the moment Gunzou touched her she knew she would be his ship forever. One of the sisters goes to touch Iona but that is deemed too dangerous and they leave. Battle stations for everyone. The shipless Fog allies are given decoy submarines with Iona's signature to confuse 400 and 402. It seems to work and it becomes an underwater battle. Shooting and dodging and strategy. All the while Iona is getting more and more upset. She asks Takao to take the wheel and goes to talk to her sisters again. All the while Gunzou and his super planing self is making sure that the battle will be won this time. Hyuuga sorta helps too. Iona begs her sisters to stop fighting so they can live together. The sisters do not budge. Gunzou fires and is going to hit 400. 402 takes the critical hit for her sister. When asked why 402 says she didn't want her sister hurt. 400 takes that as a sign that 402 is now infected and carries on alone. That lasts about 5 seconds and she soon is blasted and poof. Iona cries and 402 asks why since she is a winner. Then 402 blows up. Iona is all alone but she puts on a brave face when Gunzou asks if she is okay. Their victory is also about 5 seconds long when they realize they are so close to America that all the fleets surrounding those waters have arrived. So many ships. Everyone begins to panic. Back..wherever she is Kongou is trying to reach out to dancing Maya still and is getting nowhere. Kongou suddenly breaks free from her chains and merges with Maya so they can take out Iona together like it should be. Only Kongou is a flying ship and is beyond huge. So she is heading their way too, Kongou in the back and the rest of the ships in the front. What will Gonzou's crew do now? THE END!

No ships for you!

Well so much for season 2 ya'll. I guess there could be a season two...but we aren't having the sub sisters in them are we? Unless they are at the bottom of the ocean barely alive and make a dramatic comeback. It wasn't like Iona cried enough tears for it. Yeah I guess that could happen. But season two happening? I am not so sure now.

Would you like to build a snowman?

Kongou is having the worst day ever. Since I think it is the same day (maybe it's not...hopefully it's not) that really takes away from Gunzou having the worst day. But it might be true. Kongou really....really is close to losing her mind and she doesn't even know it. She was following the Code to a T and everyone all around her started to lose their minds. All because of Gunzou. And Iona. She tried to find out what was going on but then she turned into a certain detective from a certain show that was about criminal potential and not necessarily crime. Like Kongou got so obsessed being the best Fog ship and taking out those who weren't following orders she became the worse Fog ship. Kinda sad when you think about it. Lost her position, most of her crew, and the one person she thought she could depend on isn't even a person. Weird how they are different levels of programs in this show. Like Kongou has a personality whereas Maya is just artificial intelligence and that makes them not the same entity. Kongou feels betrayed and alone. SO ALONE!

Look at me, instantly better weee!

You know who is not feeling alone? Gunzou. He has recovered folks. All better. Nothing was ever wrong with him at all. Almost froze, broke his arm, maybe had a concussion, and oh yeah STOPPED BREATHING! So hopefully this is not the same day or even the next day because Gunzou might have a stronger recovery time than insane Raishin over in pervy doll land. And that's really saying something. He is ready for action folks! Iona is looking pretty good too although she is a Fog ship made of magical nanomaterials. I wonder if when all is explained that is why the real enemy is on Earth. You know since that has not been explained at all. I guess that could be the premise behind season 2. Yes Iona is better, Gunzou is better. Everyone is reunited and it feels so good.

Shhh, we are mourning you!

But we do need to take a moment of silence to think of the one that was lost in the great battle. Takao. Her swirly hair and blue clothes are no more. Sure she never really got a handle on being honest with other people but she was honest with herself. She did what she wanted to do. Went out into the world to be the best Fog ship. Which was actually a good reason to leave Fog, as she was a ship not reaching her potential. HMMM but yes she is gone now. Gone forever. Thank you for saving Iona, you will be missed. Now if you could just pipe down so we could mourn you this would go a lot faster. Stop popping up on the computer screens and saying you are alive. Clearly you are not. Just because Hyuuga, Kirishima, and Haruna exist with their ships and only with their cores doesn't mean you can! Gosh I guess you aren't dead. I take back all the tears I shed for you.

BAM I am so awesome!!!!

Besides there isn't any time for tears. It is more ship blowing up time. Since the Fog plan now is to take out Iona 400 and 402 got to have plans. 20 ships ought to do it. Now I wonder if these ships COULD have avatars running them or only certain ships can have them. Because Iona and company seem to be okay with taking out these kinds of ships. Like is the potential there or no, they are just point and shoot weapons? Either way Team Gunzou took them out rather fast. Like bam I am going to pull some kind of awesome move and shoot you all at once. Like a Die Hard movie. Or what I think a Die Hard movie would be since I have never seen them....20 ships, no problem. We got this.

Thanks for keeping it real Haruna.

The real issue is the two little submarines closing in on us. That was the real worry of this situation. Like oh no what are we going to do about them? Because you know they sank you last time Iona in case you don't remember. It was so long ago. Why not just keep on going to America. Why we can stop and refuel in Hawaii and then take them on. You know, maybe after we can reconstruct Takao since I don't know what nanomaterials are. Why the hell is Hawaii still around? I mean it is a little special that Japan is still around given all the bombings and it being an island and all. I know that Fog wasn't supposed to attack the land, just ships and bases but Hawaii is not that big. Not that big at all. So....if you bomb just a little of it I can see it being gone forever. Or not having that much in terms of supply anyway since they would have to produce it themselves. WHY IS THERE STILL HAWAII?! In any event Gunzou wants to take out the submarine sisters before he gets to American soil which is very nice of him. Thanks for looking out for us Gunzou, as you blow up and die again.

She mist have cooties!

400 and 402 have a plan for taking out Iona again. It is called....point and shoot I believe. They don't have the advantage of a sneak attack so I am not really sure what the plan was. Gunzou's plan was to create false submarines and have Iona share a signature with them while piloted by the others. Because decoy ships just aren't working and that split second of hesitation might save their lives. Iona's plan is to invite her sisters to tea. TEA! How much more tea is there going to be in this series? Does it stand for something? Look at us whacky ships shooting things and drinking tea. I like how the sisters were very....apprehensive about the meeting while making me laugh. Everyone who talks to Iona turns against Fog, we need to be extra careful. I guess it would have been more funny had they showed up in plastic suits or something.

No contact! Do not be infected!

Iona's first tea meeting what not all that interesting. Just...you know we are sisters because Fog has the ability to understand human family bonding. Or they are referring to how ships that are similar in a fleet are called sisters which means there should be sister ships to everyone or a few others yes? But Iona was like I don't want to fight you. I think she could have done a better job in talking to them the first time around. They asked her what she was doing and why she turned against Fog and all the same other questions. They wanted to know what Gunzou wanted and she said she didn't know. I don't think Iona is capable of lying or understands the concept so why did she say I don't know? Because...you do know? Gunzou is trying to stop the war and have everyone live together in peace. Because this is a Disney movie and it will end in rainbows despite the fact Fog came down here and started blasting us away. But Iona said she didn't know despite Gunzou having said this before. Does she not believe that is the real reason or does the reason not matter because she will follow him anyway?

We got back up now, surely we can do this!

In any event the meeting doesn't work and it is battle time. A lot of terms being thrown away, maneuvers and what not. Hyuuga trying to steal the show. Takao helping to navigate things when Iona wants to have tea. The humans running around pretending to do things when we all know Iona is capable of so much. Yay team work. Since the fake subs are actually manned this time they last a lot longer and it soon becomes clear...that the subs really don't have much of a plan. Obviously they have some fire power but not as much as the cruisers. The battle was just so so.

My...my sisters....BAW!!!!

And maybe it was meant to be that way. Because the real action was going on in Iona's head. Not heart because I don't know if she has one. But she wanted to talk to her sisters one more time, before letting the humans take out her sisters. Not that she told them to stop or anything. This meeting would have had to been a quick one. I am sorta surprised that the sisters even took the second meeting since the first one or ANY meetings involving tea have gone anywhere. But they did. Fighting going on in real life, not drinking tea in the tea room. I am not sure what Iona thought was going to happen but given she kept repeating herself and wasn't giving them really good reasons they didn't see her side.

How dare you protect me!!!!

However something interesting did happen. Gunzou and company were firing away and since it is basically 4 Fog ships (Takao and Kirishima make one) against 2 I don't think the submarines ever had a chance. Super weapons on board, humans making the decisions, and Gunzou leading the way. What were they worried about again? But when things were getting really bad one of the sisters made a decision. 402 took a blast for 400 simply because she didn't want anything bad to happen to her. And instead of being grateful 400 is like you are infected now! I guess that is correct thinking for her but tragic and hilarious at the same time. If the subs weren't winning when it was 4 against 2 than 4 against 1 was going to end fast. So 402 got hit for 400 and 400 ended up peacing out before her. Iona was all sadness and tears and 402 still didn't get it. You won and winning is good? So given more time I wonder if the sisters would have gotten their humanity. 402 might have but now we will never know. Ka-boom Ka-boom. There goes your sisters Iona. But wipe away those tears you still have Gunzou.

....And this folks is the definition of overkill.

Or not. See while all of this was going down Kongou and her epic meltdown was reaching a peak. She was trying to convince herself Maya was still there. Even if she was never there to begin with. So Kongou did the sensible thing and broke through the chains and merged with Maya. NOW YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE ME! For good measure she merged with the other Fog ships around her in case anyone else wants to arrest her. So...a giant flying Kongou blob is after Gunzou and company. This is bad. Also bad is the fact that they are almost to America and apparently forgot there are different factions of Fog and the entire fleet that guards the United States has come to pay them a visit. Um...I think you are going to need more ammo. You might want to scrape 400 and 402 off the ground and remake all your Fog allies because this looks really bad.

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Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova episode 10

It's anime Sunday!!!! And the crowd goes wild!! Forget the Super Bowl. Every Sunday needs to be blog posting day. A day that I finish all these half finished posts I started in the beginning of the week and get them all ready to post. The day of anime. XD

But...I'm supposed to be awesome!

6 lovely posts await you tonight. GO ME! And my ability to be distracted by many things. Lets start this off by finishing the very last bit of 2013 anime besides the one series that is still carrying on. Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova episode 10 folks. Spoilers for nothing. XD Or that Gunzou is a cat with nine lives.

Err you might want to fix that...

Episode Summary: Gunzou and Iona are tossed around as the ship is hit and slowly sinks. Gunzou wakes up injured and gets Iona up. She is a bit foggy, not able to process things as fast. She tries to repair the ship but is unable to. It turns out that 400 and 402 hacked some of her nanomaterials and she is unable to control them. Gunzou orders Iona to drop those sections to help head off more problems. Iona says one of those sections is the oxygen thingy. Gunzo says to do it anyway. They lose more of the ship and sink downwards. Takao has picked up Hyuuga but everyone is unable to find Iona and Gunzou. They have no idea what happened since Kongou was unable to catch up. Takao seems to be searching the hardest while thinks they sank. Takao tries to accuse Hyuuga of not caring about Iona but Hyuuga just wants to deliver the weapon as it was Iona's will. Takao is like let's go back to where we last had a signal instead of where we were supposed to meet. Kongou was having a pout (very angry pout) over Iona escaping. Damn you tea cup. Maya is like just follow the Code and it will be okay. 400 and 402 appear and tell Kongou they sank Iona. Kongou is mad since she didn't give the order and the submarines say they were carrying out the will of Fog. Kongou gets super pissed that she wasn't the one to do it and the submarine's note Kongou's changing behavior. Back on Iona Gunzou is doing very badly. He's hurt, the ship is cold, and he is running out of air. Iona goes to help in different ways but Gunzou doesn't want her wasting resources on him. He settles for a blanket but he is slowly dying. He comment that Iona is different from when they first met. She says she is exactly the same and Gunzou doesn't push the issue. Iona is watching him closely and tries to figure out the best course of action. Gunzou tries his best but he ends up laying on the ground looking dead. Iona concludes the most logical course of action would be to abandon Gunzou. Gunzou agrees but Iona thinks to herself how that is what she would have done, before she met Gunzou. That it was the logical thing to do. But now she needs him. Gunzou orders Iona to cut off all life support and passes out/dies. Iona is in shock, checking for vital signs. Then she becomes distraught, saying she doesn't want to be alone.

What do you mean we need a plan to save Gunzou and Iona? Gunzou is the one who makes the plans so clearly we will have no plan!

On the surface Takao's ship has made it to where Iona was last heard from. They can't find her at a depth of 2,000. It is concluded Iona was sunk by a sub and could be 9,000 feet down. Takao tries to dive but it is pointed out how dangerous that would be. She then borrows Hyuuga's.....travel thing to look for Gunzou despite everyone thinking Iona is probably the “alive” one. Iona's signal is eventually detected and down she goes. Takao comes across most of the 401 wreckage and is sad. Then she spots a tiny tube. It is big enough for Gunzou and snuggled next to him is Iona's core. Takao becomes distraught, saying there is no room for her. She then.....starts to glow. Hyuuga contacts her, saying that Iona sacrificed herself for Gunzou and now she was sacrificing herself for Iona for Gunzou. Hyuuga points out there is not enough nanomaterial to rebuild her. Takao says that's okay. She does what she wants. Slowly all of her ship is stripped away, leaving the humans and the weapon on a raft. Floating into the water Takao goes. Iona wakes up in her avatar and is happy to see Gunzou barely alive. During the longest pout ever Kongou receives news that Iona exists still, that she was given live by Takao. Kongou is like May I can blow up Iona now, all is right in the world. 400 and 402 are like um no. See you be crazy Kongou and you are no longer the Flagship for this region. You have not been following the Code and are compromised. Stand by. Kongou is like??!?! 400 and 402 then bind Kongou and strip her of her power. Kongou tries to fight back and calls to Maya for help. We can do this right Maya?! Maya agrees that Kongou is following the Code...over and over again. Kongou wants to know why Maya has lost it and 400 and 402 explain Maya is not a real mental model. More like a surveillance system. Kongou becomes distraught while 400/402 plan to find Iona and take her out themselves. THE END!

Yes everything is alright in the world. Kongou will have her revenge. Everyone take a deep breath and relax.

X__x Why did I get behind on this show again? I gladly gave up the crazy vampire brothers of evilness but this sorta got sorta left behind too. So sorry talking ships and super mature teenage boy.

How dare you!!!!

So first off I take back my applause for Kongou. You did not have a trump card to take Iona out. More like you got punked card. The ocean is vast and Kongou is only in charge of a portion of it. She got over ruled by the Fog Queen. We will take out Iona for the good of Fog. I mean that is what Kongou as trying to do too. Maybe they thought Kongou was just going after Gunzou and not Iona. No redemption at Fog. Traitors must be eliminated.

I'll never let go Jack. Never let go.

400 and 402 are no jokes. I wonder if there is a season 2 (since...we haven't delivered the good to the United States yet) if there will be more of the sister subs. The ocean has more Fog ships in them and by then Gunzou will have tons of ships of his own. So maybe we will have a showdown with Iona and her “sisters” then as I don't think a great resolution will happen this season. But they were pretty hardcore. Double team sneak attack with hacking bombs that will make it so Iona can't repair herself. Almost too perfect. Do they have humans on board too?

Poor Gunzou got outsmarted.

The damage was extensive though. Iona had massive holes in her from the blasts. The special shields don't work when you are suddenly attacked at warp speed/ I am not sure how 400 and 402 hacked Iona but they did and now it's bad. Nanomaterials don't grow on trees ya'll. Um...I am not sure where they grow but there isn't a steady supply of them. Which means to keep Gunzou from drowning and Iona from blowing up Gunzou no longer had a steady supply of oxygen. Breathing is overrated. Here have a blanket instead of a warm hug.

Oh I might need oxygen...

Gunzou was having a bad episode. All of his planing couldn't save him from submarines he didn't know about. How dare they have a plan! A sneak attack. Also plus he got hurt and was slowly dying and there was nothing he could do about it. That might be a good reason for Gunzou having a bad day. Still even with the prospect of slowly freezing to death while running out of oxygen at the bottom of the ocean Gunzou tried to keep on living. Maybe for Iona's sake, since he thought she had changed and might have formed a human connection. But Gunzou was still thinking of others before himself. Kill me and live on Iona. The ocean is pretty damn big. Rescue might be impossible especially with all the lasting weapon effects in the air.

Gunzou, I can only continue being your ship if...I leave you behind. That is my logic. Or my previous logic.

Iona...she is an odd duck. I am not sure how long they were in the water for but she sorta...just sat and stared at Gunzou. I am sure she was trying her hardest to fix the ship despite being hacked. Gunzou was telling her not to do things so she didn't. Trying to find a solution but all she had was leave Gunzou. She acknowledged that she would have been find with that before but now...now she has changed. She just didn't realize it until Gunzou was laying there on the ground. It's hard to be Gunzou's ship without Gunzou you know? She would just be Iona. It was hard for her to go against logic and feel. But then she was feeling all over the place.

Well thanks for having hope ya'll!

Any victory Gunzou's fleet had had was gone. Sadness. Where is Iona? Kongou did not sink her. I mean...it's not like Iona is a submarine and there are other submarines that Takao herself had met. No no we must be dazed and confused. Where could they be? Takao and Hyuuga had a personality switch. Well maybe not. Hyuuga was just calm for once. Seeing the reality of the situation. Trying to carry out Iona's last wishes and maybe she sob about it later. Takao was like um bitches we are not giving up. We need to find my captain. Our captain. The captain. Quick someone make a giant fan and blow all the weapon material out of the air.

Well the last location of most of her pieces anyway.

Eventually someone comes up with the idea to search Iona's last location. I am starting to think Gunzou's human crew is a bit pointless. I can't remember the last time I referred to them by name. Plus Iona was carrying on just fine by herself with Kongo on her tail. More like unnecessary baggage. So harsh my words! But yes lets fine Iona and Gunzou. Zoom zoom. All that power and time to charge up the super thrusters and they didn't make it very far.

How about you priorities being alive first?

Upon learning Iona (and Gunzou) were deep in the ocean Takao dove right in. Well first she was going to take everyone on a magic carpet ride but hello someone sunk Iona and we don't know where they are. Onward to Hyuuga's little capsule travel thingy. Into the ocean we go. I am sure it will be a needle in a hay stack. That Takao will never find Iona. Or when she does she will have dried tear stains on her face and Gunzou will be long gone. We will continue on the mission for him. Come, construct a statue for him. Oh Takao found them? Never mind.

There literally is no place for you. As in Iona is a tube and Gunzou doesn't know what is going on.

Only...It was not a lot to find. Instead of cutting off life support Iona cut off almost all of the ship. Just leaving a place for Gunzou to lay down and her core. Iona “died” for Gunzou. A bit dramatic since core Kirishima is still alive. Still Takao was overwhelmed. Like oh so this is what he wants?! No room for me?! Well no...Iona saved his life so...yeah that is what he needed right now? Probably deep down she knew it was end up like this anyway. If Gunzou ever gets interested in girls and if Iona gets to that point of not being just his ship.

Maybe we are more human than we thought.

Takao did the ultimate thing that humans do when they want to be dramatic. Okay that was mean. She really did something that shows how much one cares about another person. Putting another being before themselves. In a way that you know....is permanent. For humans anyway. Takao used all of her nanomaterials to reconstruct Iona. To save Gunzo. To give him what he wanted. Hyuuga and Takao have a conversation making sure this is what Takao wants to do. Does she know they won't be able to remake her? Takao is okay with that. She just wanted to help Gunzo. That is her purpose in life now and she got to fulfill it rather fast. And sadly. All the other entities looked on as Takao poofed into the ocean and Iona woke up next to Gunzou. It will be okay guys!

It should have been me there in the first place. And the second place. Only I should sink 401 because I am not obsessed with her.

Or not. 400 and 402 got word that Iona was magically brought back by Takao I don't know. But they decided they were going to deal with it. Kongou of course thought SHE was going to deal with it but was talked to about how she is not acting very Fog like. Kongou can't see that her obsession has made it impossible to see straight. In fact she is going to be under house arrest now. Chains for you Kongou, because unplugging the computer would be silly. No no Kongou, you will stay here as you are infected by Gunzou and are a risk to Fog.

But...but...Maybe is my friend.

The episode ends with the biggest WTF/sadness moment in this show. Sorry Gunzou you almost being dead doesn't count. Kongou thought she could rely on Maya, that maybe the girl would release her and help her take out Iona. HAHA no. Maya started going on and on about the same gibberish she always talks about. She reminded me of when the android went crazy on Alien. She's a damn robot! Oh wait we are all computer programs? Maya just doesn't have free will or a personality. She has no conscious. She runs off...insanity apparently since all she talked about what a carnival. This moment was so shocking to Kongou as she thought Maya was her friend and actually supported Fog instead of being...a basic computer system. That was a low point for Kongou. Not low enough for her to embrace her humanity like I thought but still. Sad Kongou was sad. Now all Kongou has to do is break free and save Iona so she can ask the girl all about these feelings right? I thought not. Until next time. XD

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Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova episode 9

Post three of the night. Go me!!! But go away cold weather. It should be heading away from my area very soon but not soon enough. I know I know, many people have had it worse in the country than me. But me and fellow Floridians don't do 19 degrees. Like seriously what was that?! And how do you people do this layer thing? I looked like the kid from The Christmas Story at work. I dropped something on the ground..and just left it there because bending over was not an option. It needs to get warmer for everyone stat.

And then Iona was like um no.

Up now in my attempt to be rid of 2013 is Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova episode 9. Spoilers for tea. A lot of tea. Too much tea even.

I think Iona is his ship and you are his booty call but whatever makes you feel better...

Episode Summary: Kongou recaps how everyone defected from their Code. She has concluded that the point of contention in all this is Gunzou. So Kongou is only aiming at Gunzou. After Hyuuga's minor mishap she gets back to top condition. The only course of action is to runaway. Hyuuga says she can handle it alone and Iona needs to be safe. After fangirling over Iona, Hyuuga sets to work being amazing. Gunzou gathers all the Fog ships inside the hanger to discuss what to do. Haruna and Kirishima mainly comfort a scared Makie. They are going to abandon the base and go to the United States as planned. But now they need to come up with as strategy as how to get past all these other Fog ships. He asks Takao what her plans are and she gets all goobery and shy. She puts on a tough front, saying she will repay Gunzou's hospitality and maybe join him permanently. Gunzou welcomes her to the fleet and she goes back to blushing. He then asks her to do something important, something only she can do. Outside Kongou is going to town on attacking Hyuuga. She summons Hyuuga to “tea” to ask her again why she left Fog and broke away from the directive. Hyuuga says her new goal is to protect Iona as she loves her. Kongou says love is an emotion and emotions do not matter. Hyuuga says she is growing as a person and there is more to life than following the Code. She hopes Kongou can learn that one day and leaves. Kongou responds by firing an imposter super weapon. Hyuuga can barely defeat/keep up the shield. There are cracks in it but Hyuuga is like don't underestimate me chumps. Kongou orders Maya to start attacking and she joyfully does so. Kongou confirms Maya isn't leaving and orders her to focus on the now surfaced Takao. Let the battle begin. Bang bang explosions.

And when you blow us up we don't really reach our potential....

During the fight Kongou summons Takao for tea, which Takao is like um I'm busy. Kongou again doesn't want to waste time and simply wants to know why Takao left. Because she wanted to. That's it. Kongou wants more of an answer. Takao says she also wanted to grow as a person, that there has to be more to life than this Code. She will live her life the way she wants to. The battle between Maya and Takao continues for a while but nothing major happens. Kongou realizes these are distractions and tells Maya to find Iona. Hyuuga was jamming the signal as Iona escaped. They are trying to make it to this “dangerous” area in hopes of losing Fog. Iona has to power up the super thrusters to really escape and Kongou finds her. She and Maya give chase, leaving Takao. A job well done. Gunzou and Iona need time to power up the super thrusters. She and Gunzou are traveling through Hyuuga's mine field of shield eateyness. They must move slowly but at the rate Kongou is moving she will catch up. Iona did not predict this. Kongou starts firing and suddenly there is a tea meeting between Iona and Kongou. Iona realizes that Kongou is going through the mines on purpose to catch up. She even dives underwater. Iona doesn't want Kongou to hurt herself but Kongou is like pain is irrelevant. Kongou says she will restore order to Fog with Gunzou's death. Iona doesn't want that, she wants to spend more time with him. She also wants Kongou to find her humanity, to start to feel. All Gunzou wants is peace. Kongou says she is feeling human emotions, hatred towards Iona and that she will take her out. Kongou powers up the super weapon again while Iona puts all power towards the thrusters. When Kongou fires she blows her engine or something as the weapon wasn't meant to fire twice in a row. Iona and Gunzou escape and Kongou resurfaces beyond pissed. Takao rubs salt in her wound, saying if Kongou had been thinking Fog like she would have sunk Takao and caught up to Iona without firing. It turns out Takao had ALL passengers besides Gunzou on board and the super weapon. Kongou frowns while Gunzou is like set a course to America. Then Iona is sunk to the bottom of the ocean. A sneak attack from submarines 400 and 402. THE END!!

You might need to check that mirror for errors....

XO Gotta hurry up folks. This is a 2013 anime. So behind I nearly used all my free week. You know when companies in Japan take the days around New Year's Day off. My catch-up time is running out. Work fingers! I know it's cold at work but we must catch up.

Because when I fight for Iona I can the strength of 10 Whos plus 3.

Hyuuga must have been caught off guard last episode. Because the other Fog ships had to help her when she wasn't fast enough to repair the shield. But now she is all ready to go. Leave this to me kids, I have a super fast processor. I have been waiting for battle for months. Forgot me not Iona. I am doing this all for you!! I wonder if being in the little...capsule white thing helps her focus better. Either way Hyuuga was ready to do this on her own while everyone else thought of a plan that didn't include BBQ and fun.

And yet I still see it....

During all this chaos Hyuuga had tea time with Kongou. Well really Kongo had tea time with her. Kongou was a multitask-er and tea waster today. Why Kongou had to have another meeting with everyone is beyond me. She should have asked them again on the beach. I guess she just wanted to exhaust all options. Like since she is a computer program words like want and need and love are confusing so she can't help but ask again. Hyuuga is sticking to her story, that meeting Iona helped her see the light. It was like the Fog was lifted. And since love is hard to explain for a being used to it I can see why Hyuuga is like...I just do. Main objective love and protect Iona. She didn't leave Kongou upset though. Just wants Kongou to think about it, what this all really means. Really I think Kongou might be more subject to change if they questioned what she will do once the mission is over. Like oh crap, I have no goal now? No more people to kill?

Walk slowly towards the exit with you?

While Kongou was drinking tea Gunzou was organizing the slowest evacuation ever. Seriously I know Hyuuga was doing a great job defending the base but Gunzou and company could have moved a little faster. Gunzou seems to be always set to slow. Like casual I should say. I know the wheels are turning in his head and he has amazing strategy but he never seems to sweat. Well he was at the end of the episode but not when he had all these Fog ships on him. Doesn't matter, the plan was still the same, leave. But now that they have Takao they actually have a chance of living. Everything is a gamble. Unless Gunzou knows Takao has feelings for him. But without her none of this would have worked. Good plan. Also I am glad Takao has time to be all school girl on Gunzou. It's okay, it's not like we are in danger here or anything. Gunzou must have known she would have helped since she didn't leave with Kongou.

And I wear what I want!!!

Again during battle Kongou contacted Takao despite just having a meeting with them all. Why are you doing this? Come back to the collective. Only if Kongou didn't like Hyuuga's answer I am sure she thought Takao's was worse. Like you...like a human? Okay so Takao didn't say that. She said she was doing it for herself. Which was probably worse. Like we are Fog. We do not think of ourselves let alone want anything. Takao was very sassy. Also confused with her new feelings so I don't think Kongou learn anything from this interaction. Well besides that everything is Gunzou's fault. Sass on Takao.

Maya seems the least stable of all Fog...just saying.

I do like that Kongou was momentarily was worried. Not that she will see it that way. Like um Maya you are still on team Fog right? She is slowly running out of minions. Maya's answer should worry her if she was thinking straight. Sounds like the attachment made was FOR Kongou and that might be why Maya stays. Well part of the reason. The other part is Maya be crazy. I think she could go either way as long as she had fun.

Don't distract me with your love talk!

Kongou and her amazing deducing skills realized Iona slipped away when they were bombing Hyuuga and Takao. Iona is a submarine after all. Time to change tactics. Find Iona and kill Gunzou. Although that would probably require killing Iona too but details. Gunzou's plan this time around was slowly traveling through a mine field. A mini ocean? Anyway traveling through mines giving Iona the time to power up her thrusters and high tail it to the United States. You know since Gunzou already explained his plan to everyone. Just keep it steady.

Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends?!

Gunzou's calculations may be close but I don't think the craziness of Kongou. The utter craziness of her rage. Kongou was supposed to move slowly, around the mines. Instead Kongou is upset at Iona and Gunzou and what she thinks they have done to Fog she was going full speed away. KABOOM!! Gunzou couldn't plan for that as he is logical. Or he tries to think like a Fog shop. I wonder if he learned this from Iona. How is Gunzou so awesome? His dad died young and Gunzou's training was cut short by...Iona. Is he just naturally awesome?

Do ships hate? I think not Kongou.

Kongou and her love of tea summoned Iona. Because that is what she does. Iona was concerned about Kongou's well being with the mines and Gunzou since Kongou wants to kill him. Like please we shouldn't be fighting at all! I sorta liked how Kongou was slowly losing it. Like she has gradually become the most human. That the process was slow and believable. And she doesn't even know it. Instead of following the Code to a T she has gone on a revenge kick. Like I will destroy Iona no matter what, then justifies why she is so obsessed. Anger and obsession, two very human traits. Leaning over and telling Iona she hates her....welcome to humanity.

Eff you rain.

In the end Kongou lost the mind. Instead of pursuing Iona normally she want all out. Instead of firing normal weapons she used the super weapon again, way too soon after the first firing. She overloaded her systems and was unable to catch Iona at all. Off Iona swam. So many human qualities, such denial. Then Takao was all like haha I had passengers and the weapon the whole time. If you had been a proper Fog ship you would have sunk me first. The suffering of Kongou is great, she just doesn't know it.

But...but...we won?!

The episode ends with Iona and Gunzou meeting up with the others and traveling safely to the United States. Have a super weapon! Or or it ends with Iona being bombed and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. X___X I thought they were safe. Oh it's Thing 1 and Thing 2 aka 400 and 402. Fog ships all over the place. Good job there Kongou, peace out Gunzou?

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