Coyote Ragtime Show

When I first heard the name of this show, I thought it was that American cartoon Road Runner and Wile E Coyote show been given the anime makeover. How wrong I was. In fact, Coyote Ragtime Show is more like a futuristic science fiction space action adventure. Uh-huh, the show still have that ‘American’ feel. At first to me the series’s name is kinda misleading. I mean, how often does a show names itself after a coyote? Besides that Coyote Ugly movie, of course. So what are the chances in anime then?

 

In this anime, a coyote doesn’t really refer to an animal. It’s just a term used to describe renegades, outlaws or space pirates. But even though they’re on the other side of the law, Coyotes are not that heartless and have their own sense of pride such as not giving up on family and friends and looking out for them as well. See, they’re not that bad but I suppose it’s the way they do things. Like they say, a thief with a cause is still a thief.

 

So what you can expect from this 12 episode series is lots of spaceship chasing with lots of missiles and laser beams cluttering the emptiness of space. Also lots of gunfire power and explosions and sexy looking killer babes. Okay, maybe I’m just exaggerating. But you get the idea. However, this isn’t a comedy nor is it a no-brainer C-grade low production series. There is a storyline and plot though it’s only a dozen episodes long.

 

As seen in episode 1, an investigator from the Federation Bureau, Angelica Barnes, and her rookie police officer escort, Chelsea Muir, arriving on planet Sandvil. A desert like planet filled with monstrous looking insects. Angela has been chasing a criminal and Coyote known only as Mister for 4 years. Mister has been impersonating under several aliases (yeah, really lots of them) but he went missing a year ago. So Angela may have some info to track him down and believe he’s in a prison on this planet. At the prison warden head’s office, Angelica and Chelsea began to explain their mission and the man that they’re looking for. But their conversation is interrupted when the warden receives a phone call saying that there’re 10 bombs placed within the prison. Thinking that this is just a prank call, the frustrated warden just hangs up.

 

Unfortunately, that call wasn’t a prank one. Because soon after several explosions then occured just outside and across the office they’re in and it seems the much of thick prison’s walls has been destroyed. This causes a panic among the security but Angelica thinks that this is only the beginning. After evacuating the inmates to another place, the bomb disposal squad arrives and the head of the bomb disposal team and tells Angelica to step aside and leave it to the experts. This made Angelica a little suspicious. After a little investigation of her own, she finds out the bomb has been triggered was under the seat of the jeep that those 2 ladies arrive in. Yup, the culprit is the jeep driver that brought them here and the bomb disposal squad leader. Angelica knew of this because Mister used a similar tactic in one of his previous heist before. Thus Angelica orders a lockdown so no one can leave or enter the prison as she instructs the warden to do a background search on the inmates and check those who has been here a year ago.

 

Meanwhile, we see some evil looking woman, Marciano, who’s a high ranking official of the criminal syndicate called The Guild, in some large mansion receiving a phone call about Mister’s possible jailbreak. With a red glass of wine in hand, she looks like a vampire with her face so pale. Anyway she orders her robotic and android squad of female assassins, fondly known as The 12 Sisters (and considered Marciano’s ‘daughters’), to dispatch to the scene. The 12 Sisters look hot and pretty in their goth-loli outfit, with each of them named after a month (hey, it’s better than naming them after the 12 zodiac signs or hours of the day) and each have specific abilities. With some of them wielding guns, they look even dangerous. Don’t mess with them.

 

Soon it’s nightfall and there’s no sign of any move from Mister and his accomplices. But what’s that up in the sky? Is it a bird, a plane, or Superman? Nope. It’s The 12 Sisters parachuting down from the sky! This action pack part is awesome, The 12 Sisters slaughtered every security guard mercilessly. Pity those guards but those girls are hot! Wohoo! From the knife wielding June to the sword slashing July, bomb throwing August (she looks kinda cute when she runs around with those grenades in her hands), from sniper September to trigger happy January and March and info processing and communication specialist February. I suppose the producers ran out of ideas or designs for the goth-loli 12 Sisters because they decide to put October, November and December as young child-like triplets. I think they really ran out of designs. So Angelica tries to defend herself but I don’t think those puny pistols would work on those android bodies. One of The 12 Sisters, May, decides to attack Angelica but a rocket blast directed at May stops her from doing so. This causes May’s body to be destroyed, leaving only her head. Everyone looks up at the rooftop and to their surprise to see Mister! He looks really unkempt. Must be in prison for quite a while. And his accomplices are there as well, the bomb disposal team leader, Bishop, and that jeep driver, Katana.

 

After some short chat with Mister saying something about Diamond Head and not to underestimate him, Angelica knew what he meant as she instructs Chelsea and the rest to retreat back into the safety of the prison walls while Mister and his buddies left on some helicopter. Angelica explains that 4 years ago, Mister use this tactic to rob some bank by using a huge tsunami to get rid of all the obstacles and defences. Yeah, Mister’s really riding on the wave. So how is he gonna do the same here when the whole planet is a dry desert? Anyway, April, the leader of The 12 Sisters orders her other sisters to capture Mister at all cost when the ground starts to violently shake. The 12 Sisters soon realized a little too late that the bug repellant devices, devices which keep the blind giant insects but who’re sensitive to sound away from the city, has been disabled. Soon enough, it’s like a stampede of bugs (yeah, just like a tsunami but in a different form) trampling and engulfing the entire prison! Woah! Scary.

 

The next morning, the other police and officers arrive. The Guild also arrive to reclaim The 12 Sisters. Chelsea had some talk with Angelica but when the latter tells how The Guild has control over the police force, Chelsea decides to quit her police force and becomes Angelica’s partner and assistant. Hmm… At this point, I think Angelica really likes to eat those finger stick wafers. Yum. She’s got it all packed in a cigarette like box. Well, at least that’s what it looks like. Meanwhile, Mister along with Katana and Bishop are enjoying their meal on some space shuttle when Mister has been given a photo of himself and a young girl named Franca. He decides to go see her.

 

In episode 2, Mister did just that. After shaving his beard and tie up his long silver hair, he and his 2 buddies set foot there. At the bar called Pirate, Franca is serving her clients (Hmmm… Somehow like Coyote Ugly but no Tyra Banks or Maria Bello here) when news on the tv reports that jailbreak incident. Everyone in the bar, assuming they must be Coyotes, thinks it’s Mister as they started debating whether he got out or not. Soon it becomes a free for all but Franca steps in and gives a commanding order not to wreck her bar. But some guy says that this isn’t her bar and that it is Mister’s and asks her if Mister has contacted her or not. Franca look sad. But Mister’s whereabouts is soon answered because he steps right in, causing everyone there to be happy and celebrates his return. But Franca doesn’t seem so amused by it all as she walks up to him and gives him a slap! Wah. Perhaps that’s her way of saying welcome back.

 

Meanhile, Marciano is at some prosecution trial from The Guild. The other Guild members are wondering why Marciano sent The 12 Sisters to hunt down 1 guy. They also want to know what she wants from him. But in true evil mafia style, Marciano orders her 12 Sisters to gun down everyone in the room. Looks like she’s defecting. Perhaps it’s better this way. Angelica and her newly appointed assistant Chelsea have already begun their investigations too. Angelica thinks something big must have propped up since Mister has only 10 days left to serve in her prison term after committing some traffic offence a year ago. Angelica also learns about The Guild’s move on Mister and the authorities haven’t done anything because they’re under the control of The Guild. When Chelsea made some comments about this, it made Angela a little mad and she chided her does she has anything else apart from her good memory and large breasts. Chelsea has an answer for that too. She says it allows her to make friends and get free food as she shows Angelica her contact book. Angelica snatches the book away and saw some name that interests her – Super Soul. Must be some famous DJ guy.

 

Back at the bar’s rooftop, Mister is having a chat with Franca. We find out that Franca’s the daughter of the legendary and late Pirate King Bruce, who’s also Mister’s best friend. Bruce was killed by Marciano (the real reason still remain unknown throughout the series) but before he died he left a treasure on Graceland (no, not the home of Elvis). But since Graceland is under war with The Milky Way Federation, the latter is sending a huge atomic bomb to blow up the entire planet in a week’s time. And the clock is ticking. Franca tells Mister that if he doesn’t find the treasure soon, taking care of her up till now will be a waste. But Mister says that’s not the case and wants to know if Franca wants to know what treasure her dad left on Graceland. If she does, he’ll gladly take her there. But Franca has her doubts because she always thought Mister cared only about the treasure and not her.

 

But their conversation is rudely interrupted when The 12 Sisters showed up. Their mission is to capture both Mister and Franca alive. The 2 try to flee as Mister tries to contact his men but there’re some wave interferences which prevents him from doing so. Even those Coyote guys back at the bar are having a hard time keeping The 12 Sisters at bay. The other Coyotes let Katana and Bishop escape through some secret passage as they make their last stand. They could even make a joke out of it through some Coyote code which goes something like "If you take or borrow something, don’t give it back until you’re dead". But so sad they all died. As Mister and Franca tries to make their escape, Franca can’t help but think about her father’s death and how Mister gave her the pendant, which contains the treasure’s location, soon after her father’s demise. But Franca thought that Mister could’ve taken the pendant away by force if he’s after the treasure. Soon Mister notices a tracking device on Franca. He manage to give The 12 Sisters the slip for a little while before being found again.

 

Cornered on the rooftop, an explosion sends them both hanging on the edge of the roof. Marciano than reminds them not to kill them but it seems that the transmission is being interfered and being replaced by that DJ Super Soul. He had done so at the request of Chelsea. See, connections get you anywhere. So this Super Soul was just for this part. I wonder how Angelica knew all this was happening as she gives a thumbs up to Chelsea and says "Nice oppai!". Or is just some random shot? Bishop and Katana has finished repairing their pink ship, Coyote, and sets off to rescue Mister and Franca. But Franca can’t hold much longer as she asks Mister to take the pendant and let go of her. Mister rebuffs her statement and says she’s more important than the treasure and lets go the ledge sending both of them plummeting below. Luckily, Katana and Bishop arrived in time and catches them both as they fly straight into space. Obviously, The 12 Sisters are once again frustrated by their failure to capture Mister. Franca now decides to go to Graceland with Mister.

 

Episode 3 starts off with The 12 Sisters chasing Mister and co. Yup, a lot of gun battle and spaceship chasing scenes. But amidst of all that also got some drama and some plot development. To cut things short, Mister and gang are contemplating how to use their remaining time to get to Graceland and they can’t go straight there because it will just lead Marciano and her 12 Sisters directly there and they need time to search for the treasure’s location. Then what’s the pendant for? Mister doubts about the map of the treasure location in it. Also, The 12 Sisters are wondering about the whereabouts of May (didn’t The Guild reclaim her back in episode 1?). May’s head is in some birdcage and she’s with Angelica and Chelsea. Angelica’s interrogating her about Marciano’s motives and why are they targeting Mister. At the same time, Mister asks if Franca remembers Swamp Gordon, Bruce’s right hand man. Franca remembers him and to call him whenever she needs help, which she does.

 

The Coyote arrives at some planet supposedly where Swamp is with The 12 Sisters hot on their trail. Yeah, Swamp looks like singing some black gospel to his fellow church-goers. And some hairstyle he got there. Mister manage to land safely near the church after some intense battle which look like he took out The 12 Sister’s ships. But it seems that Mister and Swamp don’t get along well because of their past. Though Mister tries to be friendly, Swamp isn’t too fond of it (especially with Bishop. Those 2 are like loggerheads). We also find out that the pendant is Bruce’s fake eye as it contains every info that Bruce has seen. Mister wants Swamp to join them because the former thinks he needs someone equal of Bruce’s capabilitites to pull it off.

 

The next day, Mister has a private chat with Swamp in the church. Swamp still doesn’t like Mister as he doesn’t see him as the successor of Bruce’s treasure and wants to prove that he’s worthy of it. But Mister says that his intentions are to bring Franca there and will give the treasure to her. Before you know it, the 2 draw and point their guns at each other. Some talk that seemingly look like they’re gonna shoot each other. But actually they shoot and kill Marciano’s footsoldiers entering from the side of the church. Looks like The 12 Sisters are still pretty much alive and probably they have to trek all the way to this town since their craft has been blown to bits. The 12 Sisters soon arrive and another battle ensues. Mister and Swamp ran back into the Coyote along with Franca, Bishop and Katana. Looks like Swamp is joining them but he gives the excuse that he needs the money to repair his church after all the damage taken. The Coyote lifts off with with The 12 Sisters once again giving chase. Mister then fires away a rain of missiles at them. Unfortunately, it hit September, killing her. Wah, so fast gone already ah. And I was just getting to know her. I thought androids don’t die? Can’t she be repaired? Maybe the producers just want to kill off her character. Though there’re 11 of them now, I think I’ll still refer to them as The 12 Sisters. It sounds better this way. With that, Marciano decides to join the remaining sisters in their hunt for Mister.

 

One thing I like to mention is the single seated ship that the sisters use for aerial combat. from the outside it looks like your normal futuristic aircraft. But to pilot it, you are actually sitting in a position it as though you’re riding a motorbike! Maybe it’s to have that video game feel. I dunno. But I find it funny flying a craft at that position.

 

Episode 4 is mainly about Bruce’s flashback when he pulled off the biggest bank heist from the Central Bank. Katana and Bishop can’t believe it since there would be news about it but Swamp told them that to protect the integrity and trust, news of it was never leaked out. So we see Bruce joining the company under a different name, gaining the trust of everyone, working his way up within the year before the big robbery. The vault called Gigabanks is where the Central Bank store all it’s money. It’s like a huge complex version of the Rubiks Cube. Uh-huh. Bruce along with Swamp and 3 other guys even spend a substantial amount to build a duplicate Gigabanks with the blueprints Bruce has gotten earlier on, to practice their heist. Yeah, this is really big time. Because the vault is constantly spinning, anybody inside it could lose sense of direction easily. And another flaw of this Gigabanks is that whenever an emergency is detected, all the money will be transported to the top to be taken away safely through some helicopter.

 

So after much practice, and the night before the robbery, Bruce contacts Mister and says he’s going ahead with it. It seems those 2 are quite close from the way they talk as Bruce decides to leave the treasure to Mister instead of Swamp and asks Mister to take care of Franca if anything happens to him. The day arrives with Bruce and his co carrying out their plan perfectly without the hitch, passing each security measures with flying colours. I was grinning a little during that heist because the background music sounded like a spoofed version of Mission Impossible. In a way, it does remind me a little of that movie too. Once it’s all over, Bruce dresses himself as some military guy to evacuate the money via the helicopter. Once the helicopter is in the air, 2 of Bruce’s colleagues recognizes him and realized what has just happened but they couldn’t do anything about it. Yeah, he’s halfway to paradise by now.

 

In episode 5, Mister plans to cut travelling time to Graceland by taking some warp gate called Big Pink. So the fab five dressed up like some family tourist-cum-dealers to get pass some security check point. And with some slick moves and bribery (they sneakily swap whatever that priceless thing with a fake through distraction eventually), they all went through. Franca’s still having doubts about wheter Mister is just after the treasure only and feels unloved. Mister assures her after obtaining the treasure, they’ll all go on a vacation like a family. Franca seems happy about it when Mister signs up for a holiday trip to Aquaria (the poster Franca’s staring at) for 5 at the travel agency.

 

Meanwhile, Angelica and Chelsea are still interrogating May. May reveals to them about how it’s Marciano’s plan to capture Mister and get the treasure location out from him. Angelica doesn’t know about this until now. Mister and co begin their plan by splitting themselves into 3 groups, Katana with Swamp, Mister beside Franca and Bishop by himself. I don’t really remember what they’re planning. But it seems Marciano and her 12 Sisters have arrive and are requesting to enter Big Pink. Since the officials there don’t want to meet their makers, I suppose they just let them through. At the same time, Mister and Franca saw Angelica there as well and overheard her asking the manager there to tighten the security around Big Pink.

 

Unfortunately, Mister and co’s presence has been picked up by Marciano as The 12 Sisters prepare to arm themselves. While Angelica decides to go there herself if Mister himself does, The 12 Sister’s ships have caught up with Coyote. Katana and Swamp are in a pinch because they still need to pick up the rest and they can’t slow down or else they’ll be toast. I smell another explosive battle coming up.

 

Katana is really having a hard time trying to avoid those missiles in episode 6. He’s got lots of them on his tail. But he manage to dodge them. Luckily Katana manage to pick up Bishop shortly at the marketplace. As the other sisters take on Coyote, April along with January (who wants revenge for September’s death) decides to go look for Mister. They manage to find him and Franca at the marketplace and another round of chase and gunfire ensue. It seems the Coyote too has taken refuge inside the huge marketplace and in order for those sisters to force Coyote to come out, they start destroying buildings there. They’re really making a mess out of the place. However, this only made it harder for them to locate Coyote because… everything’s in a mess. During Mister’s confrontation with April and January, Mister got wounded by a gunshot. Luckily, Swamp fires a shot through the building which rips one of January’s arm. Though January wants to continue pursuing Mister but April says they need to retreat because Marciano’s mothership is gonna bomb the whole place away.

 

Katana realizes this too late when he saw everyone turned back as he lands to pick up Mister and Franca. The explosion damaged Coyote as it crashes. Mister and Franca got separated. April has her gun pointed at Mister and shoots his thigh. She must be really enjoying this. Meanwhile, Marciano and July appear at Franca’s side. After hearing those gunshots, Franca decides to give up her pendant in exchange for Mister’s life but Marciano just took her away as in 1 package. Since April has permission to do whatever she wants with Mister, she’s gonna kill him off when Angelica and Chelsea arrives in a vehicle firing several shots at them. Because I think Marciano changed her mind and told them to come back to the ship, April and January obeyed and did so.

 

Angelica is pointing her gun at Mister, who is limping towards the car. She threatens she’ll shoot if he doesn’t stop. I don’t know what Mister said but it made Angelica a little hesitant. Mister asks Chelsea to lend him the car in which she agrees. Soon Mister drives off to rescue Franca. Can he really drive in that condition? It seems Angelica decides to let him go to. When Mister manage to catch up with the mothership, he is welcomed with a hail of bullets. And I think because they’re so engrossed on finishing off Mister, they didn’t notice Franca strapping herself to the seat and ejecting out of the mothership. Mister manage to grab Franca, much to her delight as Katana arrives in his Coyote and picks them up. Wait a minute. I thought Coyote’s pretty damage. Unless he can fix it in such short time.

 

Even though Marciano has the pendant, she’s still fuming and orders her team to recapture Franca again. I wonder how many bullets the ship has. Is Katana’s manouevering so terror that he could really dodge all of them? So much bullets so little screen space. You know what I mean. On board the Coyote, Mister collpases due to his injuries. Franca seems very worried and fears the worse for him.

 

So in episode 7, the race is on to enter Big Pink. But Marciano fires some shot at the Big Pink’s entrance leaving her the only one to use the gate. Looks like our heroes are left behind. But they have a more important life and death matter to take care of. The gang did some operation on Mister and because he’s a tough guy and thanks to the basic medical knowledge of the guys (or rahter Mister’s the hero of the story ;p), Mister’s life is saved. Though Swamp thinks that the whole mission is a failure and the show’s over, after some encouraging words of hope from Mister, everyone has their morale boosted and are now trying to think of a way to get to Graceland. I’m not sure about what Katana said about being able to cut travelling time by half a day. Can’t remember. Is it giving Coyote some stimulants? Can’t be using their rocket booster as it will finish up their fuel in no time. Maybe.

 

We also see Marciano going through the video of Bruce’s fake eye and then some chat with Dr Nielson, supposedly some guy who maintains and checks The 12 Sisters, if Marciano has regretted killing Bruce. But Marciano just laughs it off. Soon Marciano receives some message from on of the members of The Guild, Hunter. He’s planning to impeach her for her treason and he’s blocking the exit at the end of the gate. Since Marciano has no conscious nor sense of righteousness, she rejects it and sends 3 of her daughters to destroy Hunter’s fleet. I think Hunter’s ships are just quantity and not quality as those 3 ladies dispose each and every ship easily. Makes you think this guy’s really worthy of The Guild with forces this weak.

 

Marciano even decides to have her fill of fun as she herself gets into those single seated craft and completely turned Hunter into memories. Oh wait. Maybe he’s not worth remembering at all. Hehehe. Yeah, firstly that Hunter guy underestimates Marciano too much and when he saw her overwhelming power, he got second thoughts but was too late to do anything. Meanwhile, Angelica and Chelsea too are making their progress and way towards Graceland by requesting for a ship that heads there. Chelsea thinks Angelica likes Mister because she’s obsessed in chasing him down. Well, if you look at it that way, she’s right.

 

The time limit till Graceland detonates is near in episode 8. Those treasure hunters now have less than 24 hours to find what they want or else. Besides we see some further flashback (which I feel amounts to nothing much) about Marciano and Bruce, okay maybe just the part where Marciano killed that Bruce guy, we see Marciano frustrated again. Why? Because Graceland now is some deserted wasteland. Yup, it’s unrecognizeable. Which means the location map on the pendant is rendered useless. Oh yet so close yet so far. What do you expect after many years without proper development or care. Anyway, still pretty determined, Marciano orders her 12 Sisters to go look for the treasure. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. But they’ve got to start from somewhere. From scratch.

 

Back on Coyote, Mister decides to save time by splitting his crew into 2 groups. One group to defuse the big bomb, Jupiter, and the other to find the treasure’s location. It’s a funny thing to see Mister pairing up loggerheads Bishop and Swamp together to go stop the bomb. Maybe it’s part of his plan to make them get along by working together. Since Mister has some information about the congregation of several big shots (okay, powerful politician figures) at Graceland about some peace negotiations, this means Graceland may have a chance of not being blown up. But to make sure of it, Bishop and Swamp dispatches there if the peace negotiations fail. Before those 2 left, Swamp gave Mister some compass device which will allow him to find the treasure’s location easily. I think this is more for convenience. I mean, then the pendant is useless right from the start, right? Hmmm… Maybe that’s why Mister didn’t put much hope into it in the first place.

 

It seems Angelica, Chelsea and May too have landed on Graceland but I’m not sure why they’re hanging around there in some barren wasteland in the middle of nowhere as they’re watching Marciano’s troops flying about in the sky looking for the treasure. Maybe Angelica’s waiting for Mister to show up. How does she know he hasn’t arrived yet. At this time, I think May has become quite close to those 2. Perhaps this part is for this. Some talking and ‘bonding’ between the trio. Not that I can really remember.

 

We see Bishop and Swamp infiltrating the peace negotiations between the Milky Way Federation and Graceland Liberation Army on Jupiter in episode 9. After changing their clothes to impersonate some Federation guards, Bishop has an idea of eavesdropping on their conversation by putting some device on some food tray and roll it into the room like some room service. Because those guys can’t be bothered with such petty things, they just ask him to leave it there and leave. And it’s quite funny to see Bishop and Swamp cramped together in the toilet cubicle and trying to listen to the conversation through just 1 earpiece. To their horror and surprise, the real and actual bomb is not on Jupiter, but on Graceland itself. To make things worse, it’s at a place called Godwing. What’s wrong with that. That location is quite close to the Gigabanks treasure! And the countdown is still ticking.

 

At the same time, Marciano orders April and those triplets to attack Jupiter but they accidentally and unknowingly destroyed the fake bomb. This prompts Marciano and the rest of those people watching on the news that there is no real bomb or threat. Which means the other Graceland Liberation Army members has stormed into the negotiation room and calls their Liberation general a traitor before shooting everyone there. Though the general tries to tell them that the threat of the real bomb is still there but those rebels didn’t believe his words and finish him off. Bishop and Swamp needs to get out or they’ll get caught between the gunfire as well. In the nick of time, the duo manage to escape and head down towards Graceland.

 

Meanwhile, Mister, Franca and Katana have already landed on Graceland and now just need to look for the treasure. But it seems the war between the Federation and Liberation has resumed on Graceland after hearing that the bomb was a fake. Either way they’ll die, right? At the same time, Angelica and co are still hanging around with her binoculars. See that’s what you get for lingering around too long. That’s because March and her footsoldiers to her surprise found them and is surprise to see May alive. So Angelica and Chelsea are captured.

 

While May gets a new body from Dr Nielson in episode 10, Angelica and Chelsea are brought to see Marciano. Angelica of course would try to get some answers like why is Mister here and such. And it seems her answers are confirmed when Marciano just told her that he’s here for the treasure. With that, she throws and locks Angelica and Chelsea into some cell. Though Mister, Franca and Katana are at the spot where the treasure is buried, the heavy fighting at that area prevents them from doing so. They have to disguise themselves as guards to go through. Soon Mister receives a transmission from Bishop about the real bomb. Looks like they have to hurry now. So does Marciano as she orders her troops to continue the search.

 

Mister found out about Angelica’s presence on Graceland when he happen to overhear some conversation between January and August. Thus he decides to go save her and tells Katana and Franca to go search for the treasure without him first. But back at the cell, Angelica isn’t gonna wait for her Prince Charming to come rescue her as she uses some mini explosive she carries with her to blast open the door and took out that useless guard guarding the cell. She should have done it in the first place. While trying to find a way out, the duo met up with May (I think she’s just wandering around too). But instead of turning them in, May helped them by showing the way out. I felt that this is just what May’s character is suppose to do for the entire series, though it’s just a short one.

 

Angelica and Chelsea driving a jeep are being chased by Marciano’s troops. Luckily Mister picks them up in the truck he’s driving when their jeep overturned. Angelica seems surprised to see Mister here. Mister asks Chelsea to take over the driving while he and Angelica fired some bazookas to their pursuers. I don’t know why they didn’t just avoid the incoming missiles. After all is calm, and some small chat, Mister says he can’t leave this planet because somebody important’s still down here and tells Angelica to leave the planet while she still can. Angelica refuses and says she wants to stay down here with him. Is that a slip of a tongue? As in be by his side or help him in his mission? I mean, the way Angelica’s body language might have indicate that she’s in love with Mister. Of course she gives him the excuse that she needs to arrest him. So Mister says something like how a romantic personality doesn’t suit her and asks her to evacuate as many people as she can from Graceland, which she agrees.

 

So in episode 11, Mister drops Angelica and Chelsea off somewhere as the 2 tries to persuade the Liberation Army about the real bomb threat and try to convince him to evacuate the people on Graceland. But you know, his pride is more important so some words from a bespectacled lady is not something he should believe in. We also see that Diamond Head incident flashback. Maybe it was love at first sight for Angelica when she saw him riding on top of that tsunami. And since then, she has been ‘chasing’ him. But how could she see his face when she’s down there and he’s up there. And the sun’s shining in her face too.

 

Mister manages to regroup with Franca and Katana. Bad news is, July has found the path to where those trio are and is making her way there. Mister, Franca and Katana finally arrives at the duplicate Gigabanks, and I believe the treasure is buried in there. I wonder if it’s still working. I mean, it’s been sitting there for ages without any maintenance, can it still function normally. Anyway it still functions normally. Mister and Franca decides to go into it while Katana stands guard. It’s quite cute to see Franca giving Katana a peck on his cheek before she goes in. I also wonder how Mister knows his way around inside it, since he has never practice with it before and has only seen that pendant video and played with a miniature version of it during his time on Coyote in the previous episodes. For your information, Bishop and Swamp have crash landed on Graceland and are now making their way to the duplicate Gigabanks.

 

After all that twist and turns, Mister and Franca manage to arrive at the top section where the treasure is kept. Wow. There’re crates of money lying around. But the more important treasure is a video left by Bruce. Upon playing it, Franca watches a heartwarming video about her young self and her dad when he’s still alive, a time when they did so many fun things together. I guess this is the priceless treasure as compared to the other stack of money. Unfortunately, The 12 Sisters have found the location of the treasure and Katana is having his hands full as he takes on a one-to-one combat with June. I’m not sure why the other sisters aren’t there to help take out Katana. Maybe too many cooks spoil the broth or they think June can handle this one herself. Marciano soon arrives and thanks her daughers for a good job well done as Mister and Franca appears from the top of the Gigabanks.

 

So the final episode 12 starts off with Marciano racing to the top of the Gigabanks and the inevitable fight between her and Mister begins. During the fight, it is revealed that Marciano’s an android too! Not sure whether part of her or her whole self. But I think it’s the former because we find out that Marciano’s an ex-Coyote too. In the past, she got betrayed by Mister and Bruce, possibly why she hates Coyotes so much these days. But the reason why or how she was betrayed or if Mister and Bruce actually did betray her still remain unknown.

 

Meanwhile, Katana’s duel causes him to fall into the lake. Luckily, Bishop and Swamp are piloting Coyote and manage to rescue Katana before he drowns. When Coyote emerges from the lake, it started blasting away to keep things at bay. This causes the cave to start crumbling a little and the support of the Gigabanks to be weakened. So both sides had to flee from the scene. However, I’m surprised to see The 12 Sisters ‘fainted’ at the cavern there after the caving stops.

 

At the same time, Angelica and Chelsea are at some abandoned base and spots some personel there and makes him contact the president of the Federation. It seems that the president has some sort of link to The Guild because Angelica threatens to expose his ties with them if he doesn’t giver her the code for stopping the detonation. Of course as a politician, any scandal would be bad for his future and career so he has no choice but to give in. Or else, it wouldn’t be a good ending too, right? Once Angelica got the codes, she immediately contact Mister about it.

 

So now it’s a race to stop the detonation or else all their efforts will be wasted in the first place. Because the place where the bomb is located is quite narrow, Mister and co has to go there on foot to stop it. With luck on their side, Mister manage to disarm the bomb. Don’t worry, it isn’t that typical 1 second left when they stopped it, but 3 seconds. Phew. Angelica must’ve knew that Mister has successfully stopped the detonation because she and Chelsea are just sitting at some abandoned outpost and talking things. And when it’s that time the planet to blow up, instead they’re greeted by a beautiful sunrise. Angelica tells Chelsea that she’ll continue chasing after Mister and has another one of her finger wafer sticks.

 

But it isn’t over yet, as Coyote is flying out from the cavern and into the sky, Mister spots Marciano in her single seated craft. How did she get into her craft so fast? Looks like she wants a final rematch. Mister orders Coyote to turn around to face her. They both fire at each other and an explosion occurs followed by a thick black cloud of smoke. Wait, somebody’s emerging out from it. It’s… Coyote! Looks like Mister won. We see The 12 Sisters and Dr Nielson just standing and watching in disbelief as April sheds a tear. Can an android cry? In the end, Coyote blasts off through space and the gang contemplates what they’re gonna do next with their big catch. Hey, what about that Aquaria trip Mister said earlier on? Though they didn’t take every crate from Gigabanks, at least a handful is enough for their retirement. I mean, it’s not possible to load every single one of them onto the ship at that time. Plus, they’re racing against time to stop the detonation, right? Come back later and retrieve it you say? I don’t think those guys are that greedy. And looks like Franca’s already accepted herself as a Coyote most probably because her ‘family’ are one.

 

Overall, I guess this whole series is just okay. But the way it all ended left me a little dissatisfied, though it ends on a happy note with our heroes emerging tops. Especially The 12 Sisters part. So what happens to them after their mom’s demise, assuming she got killed? I read that many viewers didn’t like it and was disappointed at the end. What started out so promising in the first episode, suddenly just went downhill from the middle. I couldn’t agree more with them. But at least it’s not like I would scorn and criticize like the whole show’s a disaster. And also The 12 Sisters, as the series progress, I felt that they contributed less and less to the storyline and didn’t do much in the end. At least, they’re the reason why I kept watching the show. I still like their goth-loli outfits.

 

I don’t mean to sound or be a sexist, but I kinda notice that the main characters for the guys are on the heroes (with the exception of Franca) while the ladies are on the villains (with the exception of Dr Nielson and as for Angelica and Chelsea, at the start they seem to be after Mister but as the series progress they became Mister’s ally). It’s like ‘girl chase boy’ kinda thingy, don’t you think.

 

Though there are small character developments here and there but there are some that still remains a mystery like Marciano’s encounter with Bruce. Or is Angelica and Chelsea gonna be stuck on Graceland for some time since it feels like she’s giving Mister some head start before she comes chasing him again (if she ever leave Graceland, that is). Maybe all that mystery will be revealed if the producers ever decided to make a second season out of it. Of course the characters themselves are memorable with Mister being the rugged and macho guy and he showed that he isn’t just an ordinary outlaw or bandit as he has demonstrated his analytical deductions as well. And April is my favourite among The 12 Sisters simply because… she’s the prettiest one. ;p

 

The series has several background musics and soundtracks and there are a handful of them that I like, especially the main theme, The Showtime. That piece accompanied with orchestral strings and blazing trumpets and horns gives off a ‘feel good’, jazzy and exciting feeling whereby it sounds like one of those moments when our heroes are winning. The opening theme, Coyote, sung by Naoki And Power Sound seems quite fitting for this series while the ending theme Usuragu Kioku, by Sana is a more slow ballad and it features our heroes in those figurines rather than Japanese animation art.

 

So the main and important lesson here is about loyalty to your family and friends in addition to power struggles and civil wars would only make life miserable for everyone. Plus, if there’s a will, there’s a way. Hmm… I’m still wondering what is Mister’s real name. Probably with so many aliases, he may have forgotten his own real name. Unless that is his real name, it’ll be plain weird and funny if people ever called him Mister-san (literally Mr Mister from direct translation). Luckily nobody in the series does. Wherever Mister and his team may be, I’m sure it’s gonna be an exciting and explosive one.

Coyote

  Hokori mamire no BONNETTO,

  Yubi de kyou wo kizamu,

  Toori ame ga sugiru koro,

  Ai no you ni kieta

 

Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve blog on an anime song. Uh-huh, too much anime series to blog that’s what left me to ‘neglect’ this section for a little while. Blog backlog, if I should say. Plus, recently I haven’t been singing much either. So for the first song to blog of the year will be Coyote, the opening theme from the anime series Coyote Ragtime Show.

 

  Kokoro no naka suterenu mono aru kara,

  Mienai tobira koji akete

 

This song seems to be quite fitting for an action anime series like this one. You know, with some electric guitars here and there, and at the same time, several trumpet and horns blowing away. In a way, I was ‘attracted’ to it the first time I heard this song.

 

  Kore temo katto fuku kaze ni mukai uchi,

  Yuruginai kimochi de tachimukatte iku no sa GO!

 

Sung by Naoki With Power Sound, at first when I tried singing this song, I was a little out of breath because the tone of the voice was a little low. But after several practice, it seems I’m getting the hang of it. Yeah, I may even say that I sound very closely to the singer himself. Hehehe.

 

  Akogarete ita michi ni awaremi wo,

  Subete nomikonde shimau sekai to shite temo

 

Since this song doesn’t have any background vocals (not that I know of nor is it that obvious), so whenever I sing this song, it doesn’t have that ‘void’ feeling whereby you’re just singing all by yourself and it may sound ‘hollow’ because it’s just your voice alone. Good thing or bad thing? Well, good thing is you don’t have to call other people to sing with you. Bad thing is, if your voice sucks, you won’t have those other vocals to ‘cover up’ a little.

 

  Sunabokori mau yakusoku no basho,

  Ore tachi wa hashiri tzuzukete yuku

 

Lyrics wise, it isn’t that tough to remember them. No parts which need me to sustain my voice for a long time except for the last line of the song. But even that is quite managable. No need to worry there. And since this song is my recent ‘craze’, I’m off singing it twice.

 

  Konya koso, koete yaru, ano saki made…