The Melody Of Oblivion

Despite reading a bunch of reviews before trying my hands at The Melody Of Oblivion, despite knowing how all of them painted this series as something less than stellar, disappointing and bad, I was still insistent in watching this. Even my guts told me that the reviewers were right and I shouldn’t disappoint myself to watching this. But I still wanted to watch it. Why? It is one of those moments whereby I crave to hear Mamiko Noto’s voice! And from a retro show. OMFG. What kind of f*cking reason is that?! I don’t know, coming across this series at first and learning that she is the voice of the titular character, wouldn’t that be just awesome? I mean back in those days when she had roles that were main characters compared to these days as she often plays supporting or cameo roles. So without even knowing what the heck is going on (I don’t think the synopsis was even that clear. At least I didn’t really understand it), I jumped into this series with my delusions of hearing the most beautiful voice in the anime world… And then… I realized all that was just an illusion and my enthusiasm came crashing down like a rock… It was too late…

Episode 1
It is narrated there was a huge war between humans and monsters. The monsters won. Time has passed and humans seemed to have forgotten about that melody. Bocca Serenade isn’t exactly a smart kid with high grades. He is going to school to retake an exam as he meets fellow classmate, Eru Sonoda. Along the way, they see old guy Tsunagi fixing his bike. Bocca works part time for him but Eru warns about the school’s notice about working at his dangerous shop. Doing so might turn him into a vagabond. Bocca is doing some archery practice. He strikes the bull’s eye. Not sure why the teacher is not happy so he tells him to shoot through the wall. The arrow broke. The teacher then rants about being one with the bow and don’t be too over-ambitious and all that crap. I think it is just to scorn him and make others laugh at him. I’m not sure what is going on later because Bocca and Eru had a tryst later. They kissed and she’ll give him more after he retakes the exam. Not too sure if he is showing his displeasure by sitting dangerously on the edge as he mentions about his dream to be a warrior and the bow is to destroy monsters. He wonders if he remembers that incident about Kei that nobody talks about now. It was 5 years ago when they were supposed to go for a field trip but he alighted the bus because he forgot something. He never came back. It was reported he had a sudden fever but he was never seen again. Tsunagi said he was sacrificed to monsters. They spot Bocca’s parents coming to school and go spy on them. They are bribing the teacher so he could pass his retake and be promoted. Of course this has to be a secret…

This cool guy, Hol sees the mayor and wants to inspect the ‘package’. There is this young boy in some barrier and Hol wants to spend a little more time with him. Then he strips him. I hope I didn’t sign up for little boys hentai. Bocca is met with this slut annoying girl, Sayoko Tsukinomori who can tell his future. Then she makes him treat him. He shows a picture of that vagabond who is actually a warrior. She wants to know his whereabouts. But she has to run when the police have located her. Bocca realizes his wallet is gone. When Bocca goes to see Tsunagi in his workshop, he is introduced to that vagabond, Kurofune Ballard, a true Melos Warrior who has fought the monsters. He is in his workshop because all warriors need to ride bikes to fight monsters. WTF? Bocca asks why he became a warrior. Kurofune is sad that the people continue to live in oblivion because they have forgotten about the melody. There is this girl whom nobody knows her real name but they call her The Melody Of Oblivion (TMOO). Only warriors can see the vision of the goddess. He could still remember her face clearly. When the sky is suddenly pitch dark, Kurofune senses Hol coming to attack. On his bull bus? Kurofune thought he was lost in some labyrinth and isn’t too happy when he realizes he has devoured another kid. So we see them in some weird bus-bike battle while Bocca felt something resonating within him. This girl appears before him and he could tell she is TMOO.

Episode 2
Bocca and his parents are at the police station. They are paying the officer to let him off the hook. Bocca asks about his Aiba Machine (a futuristic bike) but is told the police have confiscated it. Flashback tells us that Bocca returned to Tsunagi’s workshop and asked about the mark on his arm which is the same as Kurofune. That is when he shows him an Aiba Machine he made for him. He lets Bocca ride and even name it (Elan Vital). Just then, the police surrounded the workshop. Tsunagi needs to escape and leaves Bocca to his own devices. WTF? Before he busts this joint, he tells Bocca to look for TMOO since he could see her (isn’t she behind there now?!). Doing so means humanity still hasn’t lost yet. Bocca will soon go on a very long and faraway journey. Bocca wonders what happened to Kurofune. Yeah, the battle is still raging on! Hol escapes and is now back in the mayor’s office and is requesting for something to eat. The mayor panics since he thought that should be once in 4 years. However Hol points out this kid will do. The mayor is distraught because Eru is his only daughter. Eru is called by the teacher for ‘extra curriculum’ activities. He is going to sacrifice her to Hol. He seems to be bugging Hol for his reward as he explains himself the mayor tasked him to let Eru get away. Instead he did not because he sides with the monsters and wants to join Monster Union. Hol finds him annoying and knocks him out so he could start his party with naked Eru. But before he could do that, he is attacked by Kurofune. I guess the mayor sought his help in time.

Bocca is irked about bumping into Sayoko again. She still has his wallet. But she returns it so that he could treat her again. He knows she is a thief instead of a fortune teller because he saw a wanted poster of her at the police station. Besides, if she can tell the future, why not track this Kurofune guy herself? Well, she says her chains do not always work. Whatever. However they start acting up and guess where it leads them? Yeah, right in the middle of Kurofune and Hol’s battle. Seeing how Eru is in pain, Bocca summons Elan Vital the same way Kurofune does with his. What do you know? It really responded to him. Outnumbered, Hol escapes. Kurofune chides Sayoko for not listening to him and stay put. For he is going to fight monsters. As for Bocca, he must choose what to do now. And when the time to choose comes, he must be resolute. They’ll meet again if he survives. Then he blasts off into the sky. The teacher is still trying to rape Eru? He even admits humans must obey monsters. Bocca is mad at his actions that he powers up his arrow with his mark and demonstrates by destroying the wall! Enough to scare the sh*t out of that coward! That’s it?! Bocca then invites Sayoko to hop on his bike and go after Kurofune because there are lots of questions he wants to ask him. What about Eru? Goodbye cow tits. You have been dumped.

Episode 3
Bocca camps by the roadside. Sayoko doesn’t like this idea and goes off to find herself work so she could stay in a hotel. Bocca asks around for a woman oracle he is looking for. Even if he has found out where she lives, he can’t just get an audience with her without any appointment and turned away. Who the heck he thinks he is? Meanwhile Sayoko is trying to do what she does best: Pickpocket. She targets this rich girl, Kew wandering around and when she is about to go in for the steal, a huge robot chicken wing monster drops down to kill them. Run! But cornered, who is going to save them? Ah yes. Bocca. Just in time. After the monster gets hit by his Melos charged arrow, it quickly escapes, blasting off into the sky like a space rocket. Kew takes them back to the hotel her sister, Keiko runs. She prepares a room for them as gratitude. Kew is also happily reunited with Wakadan, the heir of this hotel and supposedly Kew’s lover? Keiko shows Bocca a place where he could park his bike and tells him that these machines will not defeat the monsters. With the strange events happening, Bocca decides to go visit the oracle again. Meanwhile a group of villagers confront this Medusa girl but they got all turned into stone. Don’t they know better? Strangely, Bocca is now let in to see the oracle. He asks about TMOO and where to find her. It is believed during the war, there was a place all monsters feared: The Melody Theatre. It is said TMOO is confined there. However she doesn’t know where that place is. The oracle warns him to quit being a Melos Warrior because in this town nobody will appreciate him being one. Bocca leaves and thinks about this. He asks other people about children being sacrificed here. They don’t answer and turn him away. And there is this weird cult group of clones chanting viva Monster Union! WTF.

Episode 4
Keiko shows Bocca around town since the monsters don’t target tourists and only children. WTF? So what if I am a tourist kid? He notices a few quirks around town and when he sees stoned people, he really feels something dark is going on behind the background. Sayoko doesn’t want to get involve with this town anymore but Bocca still wants to help since Kew is obviously being target by the monsters. Sayoko corrects him that the robot that attacked Kew isn’t a monster but a machine controlled by Monster Union. Speaking of them, their local agent is no other than Keiko who has received orders from the big boss, Monster-sama to eliminate the Melos Warrior. She gets a courtesy call from fellow comrade, Uribou about her failure to finish the Melos Warrior off and if she needs any help, she’ll be glad to assist. Keiko then remembers her past whereby her father lamented she wasn’t a boy. She was outstanding in every field but because she wasn’t a boy, he could only b*tch about it. She thought she found someone similar in Wakadan but he had his eyes on Kew. When her father’s business was exposed as a fraud, he believes his family is done for and told her ‘useless daughter’ to marry off someone. Bocca meets that Medusa girl. He thinks she might be a monster after realizing a guy down the road turned into stone. There is some talk between Sayoko and Keiko about the latter should live the way she wants but she can’t because she doesn’t know how.

Then there is more flashback on Keiko whereby she can’t take it anymore and at the edge of the cape she wished for the sun never to shine here again. Because of that, the tourists will visit this place and everyone will work under her. Oh, she sacrificed all the children for this wish. Then there is this seemingly rape scene whereby she gets synchronized with the chicken wing monster. Sayoko talks to Bocca that she is worried about Kurofune. Her chains will sometimes react and point in his direction but lately it hasn’t and she fears he is dead. Bocca assures he is still alive and wants to see him. This flimsy excuse is the assurance that made Sayoko stay with him a little longer. Suddenly we see Bocca engage in a fight with the chicken monster. He damages the hull enough to expose Keiko and is shocked to see her. She tells him to go away and not meddle in their affairs because he is an outsider. Don’t use your shallow sense of justice to judge others. Ironically, it is Keiko who flies away? This has Bocca thinking if he is going to cause trouble for the things he is going to do that no one cares. You worried about that now? He sees Kew putting flowers at a torn doll near the beach. It is a grave for all the children who were sacrificed. She has resigned she is next.

Episode 5
Bocca sees the oracle again to ask about Medusa girl’s whereabouts. It’s that ship at the port, right? On his way, he sees Wakadan tied up. He claims the monster is targeting him next and pleads to be saved. As Bocca goes into action, the other people pin him down. It is just a ploy to trap him and throw him in prison. Meanwhile Sayoko bumps into Kew who doesn’t seem all that innocent anymore. She knows her sister is the monster and is no longer targeted. She explains her jealousy on Keiko as the eldest daughter, all the attention was on her and thus as the younger daughter she was treated like a stranger. If Keiko wants to kill her out of jealousy, go ahead. Kill her and she will suffer forever. She knew Keiko loved Wakadan and Kew purposely stole her love away from her. Keiko sees Medusa girl that they have captured Bocca and will personally administer his death. With that, Medusa girl leaves the place. Sayoko uses her lock picking skills to get Bocca out. Because she is bragging and talking so loud, Wakadan locks them back in. When Sayoko mentions Kew knows everything, Wakadan goes crazy. So this guy doesn’t know she knows? Bocca should have thought about this because he summons Elan Vital to bust him out so he could go fight the monster. Keiko is about to kill Kew but here comes Bocca to intervene. As they fight, Bocca finds it hard to ride and shoot at the same time. To show their strong man-machine bond, with Bocca putting all his trust in his bike and Elan Vital giving him a second chance. Bocca nails a direct head shot. Weird things happen. The lighthouse collapses. The sun now rises. The townspeople are doomed as their lifestyle is destroyed. They show their displeasure by throwing stones at Bocca. Keiko begs for forgiveness from Kew but she rips apart the doll. Huh? HUH?! HUUUHH???!!! WTF, I don’t understand it all! Bocca reflects how the oracle was right. He wonders if this is going to be the same in every town. Despite it is hard and unrewarding being a Melos Warrior, he does not regret the path he has taken. He and Sayoko ride to the next town.

Episode 6
The duo are lost at a dam thanks to Sayoko’s chains. As they climb the dam, they see a cute boy but his hand is stuck in the dam to prevent it from leaking. Forever. Then they meet Eichi Hikoyama who is painting a huge mural over the dam. They ask about this Dutch boy so he says everyone in the village knows about this problem and if he lets go of his hand, the dam will flood and destroy the town. However nobody will come to help him because he is most hated. A mechanical mouse startles them so Eichi destroys it with his arrow. Realizing he is a Melos Warrior, Eichi offers to let them stay at his place. But first he will let them meet his employer, Miri Kanaya. They pass through a room filled with people doing calculations of those mechanical mice. They are calculating the sorrow it brings from all over the world as they collect tears from the children of the world and transport them to this dam. Eichi notes these people are more like robots and it makes the Dutch boy more like a human when compared. Eichi sees Miri and she showers him with kisses for his outstanding work on the mural. She is interested in Bocca and values him at a million dollars. He asks about Dutch boy but she says he is a demon as he was born with a horn on his head. After they leave, her butler notes about Eichi being the ‘tax’ but Miri won’t have him sacrificed but make him stay here forever. The butler thinks she decided to dump Eichi for a new lover. A mark of Monster Union is seen on Miri’s body. Eichi loves how close Bocca and Sayoko are despite arguing. He was hoping he and his lover would be the same. He shows them an abandoned house across his place. His fiancée used to live here. Although he loved her, she loved another man and moved out of this valley. As Eichi has employed them to be his assistant, Bocca goes to help him paint but such menial labour isn’t for Sayoko so she tries to leave. As she is about to board a bus, another chick alights. She sees her beautiful sapphire gem and plans on stealing it. Bocca is still bothered about Dutch boy. Despite being told he was a demon, he couldn’t sense he is a monster. A giant mechanical mouse attacks. Bocca fights back. He destroys an arm which scatters into thousands of little mice. He tries to go after it but is surrounded by those mice. Of course he is no match for them but suddenly they retreat. It is that chick as she claims the sound of her bow, Meigen drives the smaller monsters away. Sayoko is busted when Bocca discovers her robbing intention. They wonder if this chick is a Melos Warrior and from around here. But when she sees Bocca’s Melos mark, she draws her bow at him.

Episode 7
Bocca will destroy this valley’s Monster Union agent and knows this is Eichi’s goal too. That chick spared him because she doesn’t see any worth in doing so. Eichi says that chick is Toune. His ex-fiancée. He didn’t expect her to come back and maybe she could be the one to finish this mural. Miri goes to see Bocca and tries to flirt with him. She also tries to buy him for $5 million and wants him to stay here as he can get his desires fulfilled. However the flirting is cut short when she hears a familiar song being played next door. She rushes over and curses the return of that girl. If you thought she dumped Eichi and shouldn’t be bothered about Toune, well, she won’t let Eichi have her. Then there is some talk about her being jealous about them (something about a garden she didn’t have). Back then, the villagers were hunting down that demon kid too. Miri and Toune worked together to try and capture it for a reward before the rest. But in the forest, a red mist shrouded them. Appearing before them is that Medusa girl who wants them to join her. Despite Toune’s advice not to go to her, Miri panicked and went over. That Medusa girl is actually Monster-sama and it is said you either turn into a stone in her gaze or go over to her side. Miri has become her agent and thus this valley is now under her control.

Miri talks with the parrot messenger about getting rid of the Melos Warrior with her charms. But when the parrot mentions about her previous house which is now under the dam, Miri goes crazy screaming like a b*tch. Then she goes to put on her lame dominatrix battle outfit as she reminisces the painful process of becoming a Monster Union agent (especially burning that mark on her). She summons all the mechanical mice to cover her as she becomes the giant robot mouse. Eichi has finished his job and says his goodbye to Dutch boy. However he is unaware that Toune is back. Bocca goes to talk to Toune to find out why she hates Melos Warriors. She says he doesn’t know the art of Meigen. She wants to duel with him. They are to take turns shooting the mechanical mice and the first one to miss loses. At the same time, she explains about Monster Union’s pyramid scheme (same case for Sayoko from Eichi). As many adults want to become an agent for Monster Union, they work hard to bring sorrow to children, thus the mice. The amount of tears collected from hurt children will help decide if you become an agent or not. So when these children of tragedy grow up, they create even greater tragedies. The cruel cycle repeats itself for eternity. Sayoko asks further about Dutch boy. He is Eichi’s rival and stole Toune’s heart from him with his clear blue eyes. When the duel is a draw, Toune suggests facing each other. But that won’t happen since the giant mouse monster is here. Eichi knows he is being targeted. Bocca goes into action and looks like he is the only one surprised to learn Miri is behind this monster and an agent. Miri tries to make Bocca one last offer to become hers: $5.2 million! You really think so?

Episode 8
After Bocca attacks her, she screams and runs away! That was fast. Eichi soon leaves the valley. He wonders if Toune wants to come along. Of course not. She wonders if people who love his painting exist. Of course. Because she came back here. What? I don’t understand. Toune then talks about Meigen by giving a form of your heart. Despite having that technique, she hates Melos Warriors. What? I don’t understand. Then there is this flashback of her after being ditched by Miri in the forest. Wandering around brought her to that demon kid. She continued stalking for days and worried the villagers will find him, hid him in her dad’s wine cellar. Eichi also found out about this. Ever since, Monster Union gain control of this valley and the dam was completed. Toune wanted to destroy it but Dutch boy stopped her as he doesn’t want the people living down the valley to perish. He stuck his hand in the hole. Toune can’t understand why he would protect the people who persecute him. In fact, her mom is dead so she couldn’t care less about them. But when he wonders if he can order him to do so, she couldn’t and ran away. Shortly she left the valley. The parrot is mocking Miri’s failure but gives her direct orders from Monster-sama to kill Bocca. And so we have another rematch. But no matter how much Bocca deals damage to her giant mouse, the little mice will be there to repair. More flashback from Toune as Dutch boy realizes it is harder for him to be kept hidden, he gave Toune his horn. I’m not sure what the f*ck just happened because despite she said she won’t, she ripped it out and ran away!!! WTF?! Now she is back with him at the dam. She sounds like a lover wanting to get back. She gives him back the horn (which is the gem) and after he attests her, she names him Sky Blue and orders him to take out his hand. The dam will be damned soon. Bocca wonders if he needs Meigen to defeat Miri. That is when TMOO whispers into his ear (cheating!) so he calls out to his Meigen, Serenade’s Heart that immobilizes and rusts the robot mouse. A shot is enough to defeat Miri subsequently. Toune then arrives in her Aiba Machine and fires into the mural to destroy the dam. Her Melos mark is on her thigh. That orgasmic face when she powers up her arrow… The water washes away the mural to reveal a hidden painting of Eichi wishing the Melos Warriors good luck. The town is submerged by the dam water and it opens a new path for our heroes to travel. Toune leaves with Bocca and Sayoko. They wonder where she got her Aiba Machine. You got have guessed from that horn. Yup. It’s Sky Blue.

Episode 9
Bocca must be annoyed with Toune’s words about his weak arrow skills so he starts practising. He is about to leave the house of his caretaker but the old dude warns him he still has a chance to turn away from his Melos Warrior life. You think he do that? Bocca heads over to the industrial plant to meet up with Sayoko who just met a girl, Coco reading some poem about death and loneliness. They are then picked up to see the factory manager, Masaru Hashimoto as he explains his factory is the largest and provides all the power in this bay. Recently there are thieves attacking and sabotaging his delivery. So why not call the police? The attacks are done with bare hands. Could it be monsters? Masaru wants to hire Bocca for life to be his security force. But Bocca tells him he has the wrong idea of a Melos Warrior. They don’t care what others think and only fight the good fight in the battles. Masaru tries to convince him about the pay and such. Bocca agrees to guard the next delivery only because he wants to know the thieves’ identity. Word of Bocca becoming the factory’s guard soon spreads to the thieving group that Coco is a part of, Centauro. Hey, isn’t that Tsunagi with them? Masaru takes a liking for Sayoko and treats her well. But he gets scared when her chains start moving. He thought it was a ghost? Bocca faces off with Centauro. He is convinced they are monsters after seeing Kron rip apart the truck with his bare hands. They claim they want to destroy what is inside. Bocca fights the boomerang wielding Hikari but his bow is broken. Don’t worry. Elan Vital’s handle can be used as one! But Nick stops the fight and brings Bocca back to their hideout. Bocca wonders how he knows their name. It is because Saburo Musashino told them all about him. Bocca is surprised that guy is Tsunagi. Centauro wonders why Bocca is working for Monster Union. If you haven’t guessed it now, Masaru is an agent and those trucks are delivering mechanical monster parts. With that, Bocca is worried for Sayoko. Masaru is seen entering some chamber to fix his machine as he tells his locked up first and second wife he has found a third one. Sayoko taking a bath finds the door locked…

Episode 10
Tsunagi explains how he was travelling around and when he came here, he decided to team up with Centauro to take down this factory. The engine of that plant is actually a spaceship, Mithranome. It was supposed to be the ultimate weapon to wipe out monsters but it failed. 31 of the 33 engines have already merged in the satellite orbit in space. Masaru is operating one of them and the other has fallen into the sea in which he intends to salvage. After all the engines merge, they will be able to access the space fortress from Earth. That is why they must stop this from happening as Tsunagi also had a hand in creating an engine. The plan is to sneak in tonight and sink the entire factory. However Bocca is against it because Sayoko is still there (speaking of which, she is chained up and being told the same thing by Masaru who is trying to kiss her only to be interrupted by the parrot. To his shock, he is told Monster-sama is here). But if Bocca goes on a rescue mission, this will jeopardize their surprise attack. Bocca refuses to become a demon this way so they warn him to do as he wish but not stand in their way. Coco suggests splitting up the team and she will go with Bocca. She seems to take a liking for him and teases him by calling him cute. Masaru dreads seeing Monster-sama. Not sure if bowling is giving him a certain trauma… Coco mentions her intention to travel with Bocca to find Melody Theatre after this. She hopes Hikari can come along with her. They face off with Masaru in his ape mecha. Bocca is hesitant to attack because Sayoko is his hostage. Coco then borrows an arrow and powers up with her Melos mark on her cheek (again that orgasmic face when she kisses the arrow…) to fire and free Sayoko. As she falls, Bocca realizes he cannot reach her in time. Hikari transforms into an Aiba Machine to save her. Bocca sees a horn over Hikari’s forehead. Nick and Kron arrive in their Aiba Machine form with Tsunagi. The Aiba Machines go after Masaru and leave the engine destruction to Tsunagi and the rest. Bocca asks about those guys as Aiba Machines so he explains they are from the Unicorn series. Inside the engines contained prohibited development of Aiba Machines with a soul. It was supposed to be suspended as their presence is more dangerous than monsters. However somebody completed the prototypes and Coco found and awakened them inside the sealed engine. As Tsunagi is keying in the self destruct code, Sayoko mentions there are still people in this plant. Those ape men people wearing masks…

Episode 11
Masaru escapes and he fears asking Monster-sama for help. However she has already left but a fellow agent, Global Yamaneko reminds him he is behind schedule and must test the space fortress tonight. Tsunagi remembers the war during the monsters was just a step short of completion. The engine Tsunagi’s team created never activated because Chief V suspended it and this became mankind’s ultimate fall. The person whom Tsunagi revered and respected the most has been labelled as mankind’s traitor and vanished shortly after. They enter a room and see ape men doing harsh labour powering the engine. Masaru explains they are not humans as they cannot possibly survive such working conditions. Therefore they are ape men. Bocca fires a shot at Masaru while Tsunagi hacks the system to free the ape men. After the Aiba Machines destroy the outside plant, they head inside to join Coco. Masaru sets his comical monkey robots to fight them as he escapes. Tsunagi now needs to key in the self destruct code in the control room so Bocca takes him there. The engine must take off and be in the air at a certain altitude for this self destruction to take effect. But setting it at 247 seconds? Gee, why the odd number? Tsunagi thought he is done but he sees a communications log and plays a video of Chief V’s last moments in the lab. Brings back nostalgic memories? I am not too sure in this video about her incomplete explanation why she cannot activate the engine because she knew something about the ape men. Not too sure if Tsunagi is crying because he believed in her or couldn’t believe she is really a traitor. Bocca had to bring him out to escape but Tsunagi can’t stand to lose his love and runs back into the flames. Bocca is forced to escape with the rest and after a safe distance, the engine explodes (Masaru probably fell to his death but it is the sea below, right?). Bocca is sad that he couldn’t save Tsunagi. Coco’s only words of consolation were perhaps it is Tsunagi’s way of living. Sayoko perhaps provided the best consolation to cheer up gloomy Bocca. A peck on his cheek as thanks for saving her. Time to get over it and move on.

Episode 12
Bocca and Sayoko are brought by a boatman, Animoto to a volcanic island where it is believed Kurofune is. After looking around, they find his wrecked Aiba Machine. Asking it about Kurofune, its headlights points towards a spot. It is a hidden tunnel hidden by the tides. There are creepy Egyptian paintings on the cave walls. Then they see Animoto being heckled by Yamaneko about the sacrifices for Monster-sama. It is then Bocca realizes the transport Animoto was bringing is a coffin for sacrifice. He gets out of his hiding and Yamaneko isn’t too pleased that Animoto broke the law by bringing other people here. He gets into his tiger mecha to fight Bocca. He thought his sound wave could paralyze his Aiba Machine. Too bad he was wrong. After Bocca defeats him, he turns his arrow on Animoto about the child sacrifice in the coffin. Animoto claims he had no choice but to do it to survive. Besides, he has resigned to his fate that mankind has lost. When he mentions the labyrinth behind this door and a previous Melos Warrior walked through it and never came out, I guess we can say that guy is Kurofune. I’m not sure what Sayoko’s problem is because now she points her arrow at Bocca. Something about leaving her behind and going into the labyrinth by himself. Yes, Bocca is not Kurofune and is different. So what the f*ck is your problem?! Bocca leaves Elan Vital to protect Sayoko while he enters the labyrinth alone. She gives him her chains as guide. She has even the cheek to ask about his feelings when he is parting with her. Like the dense guy he is, he thinks she is most relieved because spending cramp nights in his tent is like hell. Huh? Bocca no baka! See her sad face? Bocca hears somebody humming and since there is reply, it is confirmed this kid, Solo is that child sacrifice. Bocca slides down the gap to go save him. But when he lands, he finds himself on a bus during a field trip from his school days.

Episode 13
Knowing something is amiss, Bocca breaks out and finds himself back inside the labyrinth. He frees Solo from his coffin and tries to get out of this place. Then they see Kurofune. Bocca is happy to see him but not Kurofune. He is suspicious of Solo because if he is a human offered as sacrifice, why is he spared from the monster effects of this labyrinth? As explained, people will turn to stone or puppets when they see a monster’s true form. But even with this foolproof method, why did they stop it and tried to blend in with humans? Because for every thousands of humans turned to stone, a Melos Warrior is born and that single warrior is enough to wipe out all monsters. Bocca thinks Solo is a Melos Warrior. He finds a mark on his arm but Solo denies it as he has not seen TMOO and cannot use a Melos arrow. Bocca figures his power is not awakened yet. They then see a past of Kurofune being a matador in a fight against Hol. Kurofune defeated him but he escaped into the labyrinth. Because of its space-time distortion, Hol escaped death but he cannot leave this place. But somehow he managed to. That is why Kurofune is here to seal him in. One way is to engage in an eternal fight. A Melos Warrior can live forever here thanks to the distortion. Apparently they see more of Kurofune’s past. He notes all of them are his real selves. Time-space distortion crap again? Then there is a past he saved Sayoko from being a monster’s sacrifice. What made it sadder was the fact her parents chose her as the sacrifice. Because her brother is a Monster Union agent. Kurofune tells Bocca to find a way out with Solo while he finds and fight his mortal enemy Hol. However Bocca wants to switch places because Sayoko is outside waiting for him. Apparently he doesn’t care about her. He only saved her. That’s about it. Goodbye. Solo thinks Bocca has been used by him to fight the monster. Shortly, Hol’s voice is heard, mocking Bocca for being tricked by Kurofune. I don’t know why Bocca is so focused on finding Hol that he didn’t realize Solo has been kidnapped by him! Bocca tries to find a way out but you know why they don’t call this the labyrinth. He enters a room and sees Eru. Or at least something that looks like her. She starts undressing herself and invites him to have sex. However Bocca is gay and turns her down. Really! Eru asks why he would return to danger. His excuse: If he wanted to choose her, he would have stayed back and not go on this adventure. Damn right. Goodbye again, cow tits. Bocca returns to the labyrinth and fumbles his way in the darkness.

Episode 14
Bocca is talking to Kei in a bus before something painful happens to the latter. It is believed this labyrinth is Hol’s stomach and Kei is reliving this nightmare over and over again. Bocca returns to reality and sees only bones on the ground. Hol appears before him. Bocca is not amused that the children have to relive death over and over again. Hol says this is the price to pay for immortality. Bocca is determined to fight him if it means getting trapped here forever. Bocca finds himself in a matador arena against Hol. He finds it strange that Hol is using the same move on Kurofune. Because of that, Bocca defeats him. Hol summons dolls as distraction to escape as Bocca easily dismantles them with his Meigen. It could have been a mine cart chase but Bocca stumbles into Kurofune. They’re still arguing for the other to leave this place and it is their fight to battle Hol. Is this a time to fight each other? Oddly, they shoot arrows at each other and catch it with their bare hand. When they start using their Melos power, Kurofune wins. So he gets to use the cart? Kurofune finds Hol and another fight starts. Again. He wonders how Hol can get out since he shot him with his arrow. Simple. If inside here is a labyrinth, then outside is the true labyrinth! WTF?! Bocca continues to get lost. He then finds himself at the entrance but this might be a mirage since he is seeing events when he left Sayoko to venture in the labyrinth. Then the place gets flooded. He floats up and sees Kurofune’s Aiba Machine sinking down. When he surfaces, Sayoko pulls him up onto Animoto’s boat. He apologizes he failed to get Kurofune out as he is still fighting Hol. But Sayoko cries in his arms that she was worried she was going to lose him too. The island is now missing and it is rumoured to have sunk a long time ago. It is also rumoured that such island could pop up anywhere ever since the monsters came into rule. As Bocca wonders who is Monster King, we shift to a Greek-like island where every darn Greek monster exists like the Minotaur, Talos and Medusa (Monster-sama’s actual name). Monster King turns out to be Solo! He has TMOO in his captive.

Episode 15
Bocca and Sayoko are at a canal investigating a series of children vanished on a ship. When they spot a kid washed up by the side, they realize he is Sky Blue. I know he is a machine but using a tuning fork to test his pulse? But don’t laugh when Bocca uses cables to jump start him back to life! Sky Blue reveals Toune is captured inside the floodgate tower. There is a Monster Union agent, Lucky Thoroughbred who gathers children in his artificial lake behind the tower and makes them race. The losers will be sacrificed to the monster. Toune and Sky Blue cornered him but he had bombs everywhere and not afraid to detonate and kill everybody. Also, he had a machine that incapacitated Aiba Machines and Sky Blue took a direct hit. Sky Blue needs to go rescue Toune but he is still weak. Suddenly they are attacked by… Uhm, Silver Surfer? Female bunny version! She is dropping lots of bombs. In the end she escapes and Bocca gets a little injured. Sayoko questions why Elan Vital couldn’t fly. Bocca has never flown with it and feels it is too dangerous to try during battles. How about now? It won’t work when they’re not fighting. Useless piece of contraption, right? Flying Bunny goes to see Thoroughbred. She believes she knows about his defiance of Monster Union and the scapegoats he used. He isn’t cowed and thinks she is here to report him to get promoted. He demonstrates the ability to blow up anything anywhere anytime because he has placed bombs around the canal and considers this place under his control. So if she is not careful, she’ll get more than just her injured butt. WTF?! He goes to see Toune in his possession and there is no way he will hand him to anybody. He believes if he defeats a Melos Warrior, Child Dragon will recognize his strength and it would be his dreams to place bombs all over the world to control it. Man, that’s scary. Meanwhile, Sayoko is hinting some romance to Bocca. She even wants a kiss! WTF?! Thanks to his density and uninterested looks (I hope he isn’t gay), she gets mad thinking it is because TMOO is watching. Oh you don’t know. She’s just right behind them… Sayoko runs away. I don’t get her. She is the reason why men can never understand women! Sky Blue starts his journey but Hikari stands in his way. I don’t know why they hate each other so much and proceed fighting. Poor Sayoko wanders around and here comes Thoroughbred before her. Guess what? He is her brother.

Episode 16
While looking for Sayoko, Bocca bumps into Coco. Then they bump into the fighting Aiba Machines and stop them. They discuss how many children were kidnapped here perhaps to attract Melos Warriors. Coco wants Sky Blue to stay here with Hikari since there is a machine to incapacitate Aiba Machines. She will signal for help when the time calls for it. Sayoko returns with her brother. He blames her for not playing her part of being sacrificed and put a damper on his promotion. Now that things are proceeding smoothly, he will let all those who belittle him know that he is the luckiest person in the world. Is that a pun? Bocca and Cocoa sneak into a ship. Being the cheeky girl she is, Coco flirts with him inside the crate. Being the shy guy he is, Coco kisses him. She actually did! Oh, TMOO is watching… They bring up the topic of family. Coco doesn’t remember hers since she was kidnapped at a toy store while she was young. Bocca can’t say much about his own since his is pretty normal. But he is sad about Sayoko’s family who tried to sacrifice her. Flashback reveals Shuuma (Thoroughbred) has always been favoured by his parents as he is the chosen one while Sayoko is mistreated and blamed. Even worse, Shuuma asserted his dominance over her. One day Kurofune came to their house since Shuuma made contact with Monster Union but the parents shoo him away. Shortly, the parents treat Sayoko well but her happiness was short-lived as it was a rouse to sacrifice her so that Shuuma can become a Monster Union agent and rule the world. That is when Kurofune rescued her and had Sayoko live with some old female acquaintance. Bunny is looking for something to eat and stumbles upon Bocca and Coco inside the crate. Shhh… She is about to leave them alone but they barge out and attack. Bocca faces Thoroughbred to free his comrades but the latter threatens about the bombs. It is decided they will race. Aiba Machine versus… Trojan horse? Bocca wins at the end. But Thoroughbred holds Sayoko hostage. Coco has also found Toune but Bunny is holding her hostage too. Erm… A carrot to her throat?

Episode 17
Before Coco could attack, Bunny flees. Bocca fires his arrow to free Sayoko. But she is looking at him with those loving eyes like as though her boyfriend saved her. Of course she gets kidnapped again! Thoroughbred receives a personal call from Dragon about his progress. He mentions about his successful plan to ring in the Melos Warriors. If he is successful, he wants to join Operation Silent. Dragon will think about it but asks him about the cannon that incapacitate Aiba Machines. He wants it back but Thoroughbred lies he has not seen it. But if he finds it, he will deliver it back. Dragon of course knows he is lying since he got a report from Bunny. Bocca bumps into Toune and Coco but the Melos Warriors have to give up since Thoroughbred threatens to kill Sayoko. Suddenly that girl sucks up to her brother that she now realizes how wrong she was and believes he is the one. She hopes he would let the Melos Warriors go in that case. But he doesn’t believe a single and proceeds to beat Bocca up and has Sayoko imprisoned. That’s the thing when you let one stupid guard accompany her to her prison. Thoroughbred thought he is that lucky, huh? She easily gets away and when he corners her, Bunny’s carrot takes him out. Truly WTF. Thoroughbred is bragging about his luckiness and the bombs all over the place. Then it hit the Melos Warriors about Sayoko’s hint. They break free from those weak stupid guards and run away. It seems Sayoko stole the remote and will be blowing the place up. Oh heck, just press any button will do. The Melos Warriors summon their Aiba Machines and ride out. The tower explodes but Thoroughbred and his Trojan horse army are on the chase. He goes crazy trying to seek revenge, unleashing waves after waves of missiles. Bocca realizes he is at a disadvantage on the ground. I don’t know how or why and for some reason, Elan Vital then flies for the first time. With this, Bocca is able to destroy that unlucky guy for good. While Toune and Coco are destroying the rest of the Trojan horses, we have Bocca and Sayoko romantically staring into each other before kissing. WTF?!

Episode 18
As Bocca waits at the Tokyo train station, when a captured smuggler passes by him, he whispers to go find Mahoroba. Bocca returns to his tent and it seems Sayoko is in one of her moods. Let me guess. Bocca isn’t romantic enough to her? This woman is so crazy that she even kept count of how many times they kissed! 73 times! 73 TIMES?! Did she blow up that number? When Bocca is going to make 74, she gets mad because she is conscious of the place they are doing. WTF?! That is why men can never understand women! Luckily they didn’t because a private investigator comes looking for Sayoko. She shows him paintings from Eichi. I’m not sure what the talk is about. She is glad to have found Sayoko and gives her cash because she is going to retire from her job soon as she has a family. She wants Sayoko to go home. Bocca continues to wait at the station. A creepy kid pops up telling him about electric sheep. He himself isn’t a Melos Warrior although he wanted to be one but chose to remain a student. He adds he is dead in reality and this station is just some imagination. Recently there have been many Melos Warriors coming by here and all of them got lost on some train that loops around the same place forever. He hopes Bocca won’t share that same fate. Too bad Toune is on it… Sayoko bugs Bocca to stay in a hotel for once. Don’t expect anything hot. Just watching the news… Then as Bocca takes a hot shower pondering if his Melos quest is fruitful, Sayoko barges in full of rage. She is pissed that Bocca might not feel anything if she leaves. She questions what were those 74 times for. Erm, you mean 73 times? If he loves her, he should allow her to travel with him and continue their adventure like normal. Wow. Everybody is talking and nobody listening. We interrupt your argument because Kron comes in to tell them about Mahoroba. Adding to Sayoko’s woes, since their room is a convenient hideout, they’ll stay here. There goes tonight’s special… Kron explains that the second engine was stolen by Monster Union. The first engine wasn’t completely destroyed either. It was secretly transported away underwater. Monster Union plans to destroy Mithranome because it controls all Aiba Machines. Mahoroba is part of Mithranome. It was separated from it and landed somewhere in Tokyo station. It is probably recovered and the odds of it being hidden are high. This is Operation Silent. As they plan to ride up to space, they need to control Mahoroba and they have taken into custody of someone who knows its secret: The Prime Minister?!

Episode 19
They try to interrogate the PM for details of Operation Silent but he calls them fools for being young and not knowing how to keep the peace in this country now. Despite knowing children are still being sacrificed, the PM and his government sided with the monsters as their only way to pave negotiations to maintain society’s existence. Centauro goes to find Mahoroba and leaves Bocca and Sayoko to look after the PM. To the PM, the world is dead ever since his daughter died. It may seem silly to let the world fall into this state for personal reasons but for those who lived through the war, it became the reason of living to them. He recalls his youth when his entire town and family were turned into stones. It was the day he saw terror with his own eyes and noted humans can never win against the monsters. We also see Solo being a Melos Warrior and managed the hunt down Monster King the Second. When he confronted her about people being turned into stones, she says they were originally stone. Plus, the monsters were here originally. So when humans created their own society, they were just separated from the monsters. After he kills her off, TMOO blames him for starting it all. Because without a leader, the monsters will go on a rampage. The previous world will end and a war will start. Casualties will only rise. All because he killed the Monster King. So what will he do to fix this situation? I guess that is how he became Monster King III. But even with the war ended, Solo notes TMOO is still gone. While Coco is trying to flirt with Sky Blue, that creepy kid pops up to try and flirt with her. He got slapped. He returns to his base and it is no surprise he is a Monster Union agent, Electric Sheep. Dragon calls him about Operation Silent. Mahoroba is in their hands but Dragon notices that the PM hasn’t arrived at the scheduled place yet. Coco meets up with the Aiba Machines. When they think they have found Mahoroba, it is actually a trap filled with electric shooting balls. Although the Aiba Machines are okay, Coco gets zapped. The PM tells how her daughter died. More accurately, she was kidnapped at a toy store. Doesn’t this sound familiar? By the time they located the kidnapper’s hideout, it was burnt down but his daughter’s remains were never found. Bocca goes to help when he sees the Aiba Machines in trouble. That is when the PM’s agents come to rescue him. The PM lets Sayoko go and warns her if they continue to fight like Bocca, it is no guarantee a missile wouldn’t be fired from the next country. It is that kind of era now. As the PM makes his escape, Solo hypnotizes one of his agents. He shoots the PM.

Episode 20
The PM is dying and Bocca wants Coco to say where she was first abducted? Well, no big shock from the PM. He reveals Mahoroba is underground but some sheep is sealing it by feeding on its energy. Then there is this problem when Mahoroba starts launching into space. Because it has no capacity to return to Earth again. I guess Coco is volunteering to go so she has Hikari stock up all the junk food for the trip. Eichi talks to Toune on the train. I don’t know how or why but Toune was able to get off and reunites with Sky Blue. The biggest problem is of course Sayoko because she is still moping ever since. Because Bocca seems to have decided into going to space to stop Operation Silent. Because he is a Melos Warrior. But he promises if he ever comes back, he will marry her! Yeah, big words for a guy when the probability of coming back is close to zero! I suppose I understand why Sayoko is still mad and tells him off to just blast off right now and don’t come back. Is she in her period? Dragon is not pleased the PM has died. Since Mahoroba’s system might have been hacked, he wants Sheep to kill all Melos Warriors here. While the Melos Warriors fight a giant sheep monster (they need to defeat it to activate Mahoroba), Sayoko left a letter for Bocca. I’m sure it is about her feelings for him. Yeah, she loves him. Her regrets. She also talks about Tokiko, the woman who looked after her when she ran away from home. She was treated kindly like her own daughter. Later Sayoko found out she is Kurofune’s wife. Somehow Kurofune doesn’t age and thus their vast difference in looks. That’s why she thought she had a chance with Kurofune and left Tokiko. Then she met Bocca and the rest is history. She was happy when he said he will marry her. She hopes they can hold a mock wedding ceremony before he leaves. Well, I wouldn’t wait if I were you because Bocca had time to even reply back! In his letter as expected, he wants to be with her but has to leave this place. Poor Sayoko heartbroken. The Melos Warriors defeat the monster and before they leave the station, Bocca is surprised Sayoko had run all the way just the catch a glimpse of him for one last time. Why the heck do the Melos Warriors salute her when they depart? Then they blast off into space on Mahoroba. Oh Sayoko, you’re the one who is left all alone.

Episode 21
WTF is this Star Wars BGM parody?! Anyway, Dragon along with Uribou and Bunny make plans to infiltrate and destroy Mithranome. It is the same for the Melos Warriors and their Aiba Machines as they plan to protect it. It sounds confusing how they are going to do it so I’m just going to skip it. With Sayoko not around, Coco gets cheeky flirting with Bocca and even gives a cheeky kiss. When Mahoroba is in range, Dragon unleashes wave after wave of missiles to bring it down. Although Mahoroba has no weapons to defend itself, its shield is tough. Though, the constant pounding is draining the barrier fast. While Kron tries to recover the shield rate, Coco suggests the Melos Warriors head out to fight in their Aiba Machines. In space? How? She has this gel, Bio-Concerto that would allow them to fight in space for a limited time when they apply it on their skin. You know what? F*ck logic! I’m just going to accept all this crap. At such a crucial time, Bocca and Toune are conscious about their nakedness? Coco goes out to fight first. Apparently you get a free sexy spacesuit once you reach space. Bocca comes out next after he is doing being embarrassed with his nakedness. Since Uribou is restless about her debut, Dragon sends her out to fight. Coco leaves Bocca to deal with the incoming missiles as she heads back to take a dump?! Since Toune is still scared, Coco goes to convince her but ultimately it is Sky Blue who gave her the motivation to overcome her fear and set out. I don’t know. The way Toune is supposed to whip Sky Blue so that they synchronise feels like some ambiguous sex scene. Once Toune is out in space, it seems Uribou has a score to settle with her. Of course Toune is superior. Dragon then orders Uribou to come back since they will be docking at Mithranome soon. Uribou is not happy since she really wanted to finish off Toune first. The Melos Warriors also return to Mahoroba as they too will be docking soon.

Episode 22
More Star Wars BGM parody… Our heroes must also dock and enter Mithranome because if they attack it from outside, some auto defence system, Vinterlize will treat them as intruders. They’ll be dead meat. Inside as they make their way to the centre, they see a damaged chamber. Damage indicates that the fighting is recent. Sky Blue is attacked by another fellow Unicorn series Aiba Machine before disappearing shortly. Analysis shows he is Monokeros #4 and has been sleeping inside the core until today. He is the one fighting the internal security robots for space since he is unaware of the developments on Earth. Uribou is happily destroying the security robots. When the Melos Warriors finally catch up, both sides begin their clash. Toune fights Uribou, Coco takes on Monokeros and Bocca faces off with Dragon. After Dragon flexes his might, I can’t believe Bocca easily defeats him. But don’t count him out yet. Bocca then joins Nick in the central command room to hack something although it might take some time to activate. There seems to be some bad blood that happened in the past between Toune and Uribou. Uribou is shocked to see Sky Blue here. So she is one of his ex-lovers? Sky Blue, you playboy! She is disgusted to see him as an Aiba Machine and goes crazy. Dragon is ecstatic when he manages to get his hands on this treasure, Pulsator Module, the real goal he is here. With this in hand, he believes he has won. Coco loses sight of Monokeros as he hijacks Vinterlize and detaches it from Mithranome. Now Mithranome can be destroyed from the outside.

Episode 23
The Star Wars BGM parody continues… There is this strange repetition like a broken tape recorder from the characters talking about Vinterlize being hijacked and is going to destroy Mithranome. Monster Union wants that to happen to disable all Aiba Machines but the Melos Warriors won’t let it happen. Time for another space battle. It seems Vinterlize isn’t just aiming to destroy Mithranome but to gun down Mahoroba too. Although the Melos Warriors manage to take out Vinterlize, it won’t be long before it repairs itself. Dragon is adjusting his robot and using the Pulsator Module as his ultimate weapon against the Melos Warriors. It is time for Bunny to make her debut as she sets out in her giant bunny mecha. You thought our heroes had an easy victory over her. But could they have missed and part of their attacks destroyed a cow farm down on Earth?! In between real scenes and karaoke room scenes, our Melos Warriors are in shock as Dragon gloats about his victory and tells them the true goal of Operation Silent: To eliminate the trio. To celebrate Monster Union’s victory, Dragon sings a horrible rendition of the ending theme! So horrible that it is funny! The Monster Union agents continue to attack the Melos Warriors and with Dragon firing his Global Noise Cannon, it renders all the Aiba Machines useless. Dragon even continues with his next song. But this moo ballad has cow girls singing moo? Bocca is screaming and slamming his Elan Vital to move as the attacks get more ferocious. Then with some inner reconciliation with Sayoko or whatsoever, Bocca manages to get things going and fires his arrow. Nick and Kron seem to have managed to restore Mithranome’s system and guarantee it will now run forever. Because everyone except Bocca is on Mahoroba, they tell him he is the only one who can get back to Earth on Elan Vital. Goodbye? Bocca wants to save them but Elan Vital takes him back down as they enter Earth’s atmosphere.

Episode 24
Bocca crashes into the desert. He is picked up by Solo who tells him to quit being a Melos Warrior and TMOO is just an illusion created by Monster King. He brings Bocca to the cow farm whereby they see this beautiful lady, Pee gladly becoming the sacrifice (they termed it as ‘graduate’). Of course Bocca won’t allow that and goes to help her. But inside the barn which contains a bowling alley, all fun and games suddenly become horror when the Monster Union agent throws her into the gutter’s end. Bocca arrives too late but finds himself dodging her bowling balls. Suddenly a weird kid in a horse suit throws Bocca his bow to finish off the agent. From their talk, this pipsqueak is Elan Vital?! No way! Together they descend down the hole. In a place filled with clocks, Bocca finds a coffin in the centre and in it is the real body of TMOO. Solo says she has been dead for a long time. Bocca now understands why Solo didn’t turn into stone in that maze because he is the maze! Solo admits himself as Monster King Solomon III and he sings his songs solo, hence the name. From what I understand, Solo believes Bocca has become stronger than a Melos Warrior and since the other Melos Warriors have been destroyed, Bocca will soon turn into another Monster King and Sayoko his own Melody of Oblivion. A hologram of Sayoko pops up although the real body is nearby laying unconscious. Bocca frees her but Solo warns the real body will not last long. Solo wants Bocca to join and become another Monster King as being one is lonely. They’ll split their rule over the planet. Bocca doesn’t give a damn and takes Sayoko and leave. Solo tries to stop him but is surprisingly stopped by TMOO. As Bocca rides out, Solo then chases him in his own Aiba Machine. When the break through, they both fire at each other but their women take the shot. Sayoko is glad to see Bocca. But because TMOO is just an illusion, the arrow hits Solo. Life seemingly returns to normal for the people like it has always been. Another cycle seems to be repeating itself. A young boy named Kao is berated by the teacher for being a lousy arrow shooter. In place of Hol, a new monster in the form of a flutist kid tries to devour a girl. She runs to Kao for help. His arrow didn’t do much damage but Bocca is here to show him how it is done. Sayoko somehow still lives and travels with Bocca to chase down monsters.

Into Oblivion…
Oh, wait. What? It ended? Phew. I couldn’t be happier. Because it was just getting downright confusing at the closing stages. And even that seemingly rushed last episode revelations and ending feels like it made it all amount to ‘what the heck was it all about’? I don’t get it. Yeah, so the war with monsters go on and Bocca pretty much remains being a Melos Warrior, travelling with his b*tch around so that there won’t be any more lonely nights. Yup, you need a woman around to soften a man after every hard fought battle with monsters. So Solo is just lonely and wants a companion? Is he gay? Yeah, Bocca is left so what choice does he have? Can he just be friends with normal humans? I don’t know if he is really dead or not because otherwise somebody would need to become Monster King IV and the whole damn process of this cruel fate of Melos Warriors versus monsters will repeat itself again. Thank goodness the series ended and I’m out of here. Whatever potential it had or supposed to have, I’m not really that interested anymore.

I have already been warned from the reviews I have read at how just freaking confusing the story is even from the first episode. True. I thought it was just because it is the first or second episode and that more will be revealed to connect the dots once the series goes by. Too bad it didn’t. The more it goes on, the more confused I become. Generally, this entire series is about Melos Warriors trying to fight against the ruling Monster Union and its agents. That is the best I can summarise about this series. Because to see how some of the arcs end, it just confuses the hell out of me. I don’t even want to think about it. Most of them are interconnected and not 100% independent of each other. Even so, with the confusing plot and storyline, it doesn’t really help.

Making it even more confusing are some of the visuals. I believe that even back in 2004 when this series was aired, the producers were perhaps trying to be bold and make something different. Unfortunately instead of scenes in the episodes to be intriguing, it just makes them more confusing than ever. For example that tourist bath house arc. I don’t know the implications about oversized baby clones wearing metal basins alighting a bus and into a bath house. I know they are supposed to imply the infinite tourists to bring in business but I just find it creepy and make no sense. Then there is that Tokyo train arc and I don’t even understand its implication of ever showing the train since Bocca never stepped on it. How the hell Toune got on and off felt just like a waste of time because I don’t understand how it really has to do with that arc itself. And lastly that space and Mithranome arc has got to be the weirdest because of that karaoke scene in one of the episodes and female cow girls out in the field pasteurizing… Huh? I just don’t know what it is supposed to mean. So while such scenes are amusing in their own way but it hardly did any justice to make viewers understand or connect what is supposed to mean.

That is the least of why this series is such a disappointment. Because the characters themselves are as confusing and not as deep as the plot. Because Bocca is just some shallow one dimensional hero. He doesn’t even fully understand about his Melos fate and duty and just feels he needs to go around the world ridding of Monster Union agents just because of what he sees in them destroying the world. That is all you ever need to know about him. Because so, he is the only main Melos Warrior whose Aiba Machine didn’t transform into some handsome hunk. Until the final episode for some reason his Elan Vital decided to just show up in his human form. Even so, he looks so gay. WTF?! He is supposed to find the Melody Theatre but I believe you’ll forget about it seeing we are trying to understand what is happening and that nothing he does makes him closer to TMOO. So was that space deep underground of the Earth’s core the Melody Theatre? Clock dumpsite maybe. Speaking of TMOO, I can’t help feel the irony that when I remember he is supposed to find her, I want to shout out to him that she is just right behind him in ghost form. There she is! There she is! Just turn around, damn it! Even TMOO is feeling so sad about this mediocre series as she can only watch helplessly and make that sad face. Yeah… And then it turns out all to be an illusion! WTF?! Biggest troll ever!!! No wonder nobody has said they have seen or heard her.

Then there is this annoying case of Sayoko. Obviously starting out as an annoying b*tch because you can see through her fake accusations, trying to accuse Bocca of being a pervert while she herself is creating and inviting situations that would lead so. Thank goodness Bocca is dense. And you could also see through her lies that she is in love with Kurofune. All of a sudden, this status quo suddenly disappears and we don’t know when it hit us when Sayoko starts showing interest in Bocca. It is like as though they forgot all that has happened and decide to throw in this cheesy romance to distract us. And before you could take another breath, they become a couple, they kiss. And then he leaves her. Choosing fate over a girl? No wonder Bocca sucks. And just to show that Bocca isn’t the only ‘survivor’ of this wretched fate, Sayoko somehow comes back into this life. I don’t even know how she got captured unless during the space odyssey, Solo was busy capturing her.

I thought Kurofune and Tsunagi like Toune and Coco would become part of Bocca’s group later on but this is me assuming that since they met in the first episode and introduced him to this Melos world, heck, they’ve got to be part of his party, right? After all, they’re all together in a group pic in the opening credits, right? Wrong! They killed of the old geezer in some complicated old flame thingy that I don’t even know what the heck is going on. And just when I thought Kurofune was getting more screen time earlier than expected, he decided to stay back and get lost forever in that labyrinth to chase Hol. It’s like he is in love with that bull monster than his aging wife, right? Yeah, it gave us a reason for Sayoko to stop chasing after this ageless bastard and go after Bocca instead. So he is still forever chasing that bull in the maze, right? Don’t know. Don’t care.

Toune and Coco are hardly any different. To show that Bocca sometimes need help from other Melos Warriors, thus the reason why we have them and their Aiba Machines joining the fight. Their history and past are shallow in addition to being complicated. I’m not sure if complicated is the right word since I really didn’t understand what was going on when explained either. So what Coco was the daughter of Japan’s Prime Minister and kidnapped at a toy store. So what about Toune being somebody’s ex-fiancée and what the heck was her deal in hating Melos Warriors? She seems to be playing one well. She could have been a much better looking person if she smiled more instead of putting on that despair looks. Even their Aiba Machines are as shallow. Sky Blue looks more like a playboy because girls seem to can’t get enough of him and has many girlfriends and Coco has so many Aiba Machines but she just chose to use Hikari and relegate Kron and Nick to whatever brain/analysis/hacking work. Whatever. Because of Coco’s playful nature, she has to be the one who boldly flirts with Bocca but you won’t feel any sort of cat fight tension rising.

Then they decided to ‘kill off’ these Melos Warrior babes and their Aiba Machines by having them stuck on Mithranome. So what will happen to them? Don’t know. Don’t care. I believe they’re stuck with Dragon, Uribou and Bunny too. Bye-bye. They can play catch and tag forever on that space engine. Hey, wait. If Elan Vital got the capacity to go deep down to the Earth’s core, why the f*ck couldn’t he go back up to space to rescue them? They have that Bio-Concerto, right?! Oh, not enough space to fit them all on his sidecar? Then go back down one by one! Oh, there is not enough gel? Where the f*ck did Coco get them and can we just buy more of it? Oh heck, they should just kill off everybody in this series or just let the monsters live.

You think the Melos Warriors are pathetic? Well, equally pathetic are the Monster Union agents. They feel like monsters-for-the-arc and seeing that they are given some sort of animal theme, it is hard not to laugh at them because many of them feel like clowns. After all, many of these agents are just humans siding the monsters so I can see why they fail. Like Uribou who seems to have this penchant of spamming about her debut as well as spamming “Viva!”, Thoroughbred keep claiming how is the luckiest man in the world (till he runs out of it, that is) and Bunny herself is already funnily funny (carrot as weapon?) that you wonder if she is really threatening at all. Eventually all of them will be defeat but some were defeated so fast like Yamaneko, it just felt disappointing. Really. I wonder what happened to Medusa. She felt like she had potential but eventually was she forgotten? And that monster island too. What was that all about? Ah damn it. This series has trolled me for too long.

Another funny thing about these agents is that when they combine with their monster mecha, they yell out, “Just fit ribs!”. At first I thought I misheard Justin Bieber!!! OMG! Even funnier how claws grab the agents by the ribs (thus fitting the ribs nicely) as it makes them look like a human sausage of a hotdog. Really. Even funnier if the agent is female because you’ll see her boobs sticking out. Fanservice? Food for thought: If children are constantly used as sacrifices for monsters, then wouldn’t there be no more children left in the world? Even when adults join the dark side but if humans don’t reproduce themselves, won’t they die out? And this in turn would mean monsters will also go extinct because you know, no children to feed on?

Action wise isn’t really anything to shout about because they recycled the same animation and scenes whenever the Melos Warriors fire their arrow. And they use the same freaking move every time. Like Bocca with his Flash, Toune and her Flush and Coco using her Four Card. I actually don’t see the difference. The Monster Union agents too have their own bizarre attacks but that is also their one and only and the most just another one. That’s it. So expect the same kind of fight each time and its finishing. Melos Warrior powers up his/her arrow on their mark and fires to destroy the menace. I wonder how many arrows they bring and where do they get them? Because it looks like they have infinite supply of them. Can they use anything else other than arrows? Because I thought powering up via their Melos mark is what makes it powerful and effective so it doesn’t necessary have to be an arrow. Unless the rules say so that a powered arrow can only defeat the monster.

I know I have said the Mamiko Noto is the titular character and thus my main reason to watch this mediocre series. But you know what makes it even more disappointing than that? SHE HARDLY HAS ANY VOICE ROLES THROUGHOUT THE SERIES!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS UNBELIEVALBE!!! THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!!! How the f*ck when you have an important character that is even the name of this series title to not even have a decent voice acting role?! I just don’t understand?! Yeah, I know it is just me but all I ever hear from her throughout the series is the same damn opening narration at the beginning of every arc about humans losing to monsters, blah, blah, blah, and then the melody has been forgotten. Not that I am complaining about hearing her voice but really, this is all that I can expect to hear from her? It seems her ghost stalker appearance makes even more cameo than this voice acting role. It is only somewhere towards one of the later arcs that she actually has different and more lines (that part with Solo becoming Monster King). But that is all about it. So how can I not be so upset?! Oh well, time to get over it and move on. And you’re telling me TMOO is just an illusion that is why she cannot speak? Stop giving BS and trolling me!!!

The only other seiyuu that I recognize is Yukari Tamura as Coco. That cute trademark voice of hers is still there but I’m pretty sure that isn’t the reason why I wanted to watch this series. Oh yeah. I already said that. Sure, there are other veteran seiyuus too but I didn’t really recognize them but just let me list them out here out of protocol. They are Houko Kuwashima as Bocca, Masumi Asano as Sayoko, Sanae Kobayashi as Toune, Souichiro Hoshi as Sky Blue, Issei Miyazaki as Hikari Daisuke Namikawa as Kron, Mitsuru Miyamoto as Kurofune, Showtaro Morikubo as Hol, Ken Yamaguchi as Dragon and Tomo Saeki as Solo. The list of seiyuus is also a long one considering the few arcs and each with different characters. Thus there are a handful of famous seiyuus then lending their voice like Mai Nakahara as Eru, Kana Ueda as Kew and Aya Hisakawa as Miri.

If there is anything redeeming about this series, it would be the opening and ending themes. At least they are pleasant to listen to. Will by Lisa as the opening theme does fit the pace and direction of this series but I believe it is most likely the oldies nostalgia of the series that had me liking it. You know, it seems that I am more inclined to like a song that comes from animes from the 90’s or early 2000’s. But the ending theme is better. Tenohira No Hikari by Minawo is a lovely ballad and has that calming feature to calm my heart and soul down after the atrocities of this series. Okay, so not really but like I said, it is a redeeming and the more likeable aspect for the series. I also tried singing along with it but after Dragon had his horrible stint, I stopped because I can’t help think each time when I try to even hum along, that hilarious scene keeps popping up in my head. The BGM music are also nice to hear. I have sampled a handful of them and the ones with violin pieces aren’t that all bad although the other variations like organ and flute aren’t too shabby either.

Overall, truly disappointing but I don’t regret it since I can check off my list that I have watched another older anime voiced by my favourite seiyuu. Yeah, that makes it even more disappointing, she having not enough lines. Could have been better but it did not and that is why this series has been lost in the labyrinth and oblivion ever since. Is it no wonder why the humans lost over to the humans and never recovered? Not only have they have forgotten and lost the melody, but they forgot the essence and lost it all. The plot, the story, the characters and everything that was. It is a melody that I too don’t want to remember then. Yes and sadly, I’m siding with the monsters. Viva Monster Union!