Dragonaut The Resonance

People who go to space are called Astronauts, right? Then there’s the Russian version called Cosmonaut and the recent one from China named Taikonaut. But all those ride a space shuttle during their journey to space. What about those riding dragons? Why, they are called Dragonauts of course! At least that is what I deduced when I read the title’s name, Dragonaut The Resonance. Why don’t we call them Dragon Riders instead? Because it would sound like a fantasy medieval theme, which isn’t because this series is more of a futuristic sci-fi genre.

Twenty years ago, an asteroid named Thanatos destroyed the planet Pluto. Shucks, it has no chance to even get demoted to a dwarf planet. However Thanatos is actually an extra terrestrial life form and is currently ‘stationed’ at Pluto’s orbit. So you guessed it, it’s targeting Earth. To counter that threat, ISDA (International Solarsystem Development Agency – yes, the solar system word is joined) initiated the D-Project to counter this threat by cultivating Dragons from the eggs found in the ocean depth. There are quite a few number of terms to learn such as Resonance (the process of compatibility between humans and Dragons), Communicators (Dragons taking on a human form) and Actualization (Dragons returns back to their original form) but they’re manageable since they’ll be mentioned quite often.

Episode 1
Of course we have a main protagonist. He is Jin Kamishina. But his life took a drastic turn 2 years ago when a space shuttle to the Moon exploded into flames killing all onboard including his mom and sister, Ai. Miraculously, Jin was the only one onboard that survived. Not to mention unharmed with no wounds whatsoever. But his survival is some sort of a curse because he has become very lonely while his dad has been turned into a scapegoat and been blamed for human error as the cause of the crash. What has he got to lose? So one night he encounters a strange creature going berserk. He could have died, should have died after being attacked like that but was saved by a mysterious girl known as Toa. She even has time to do some serious ass kicking on the creature. So once that is over, after Jin wakes up from his unconsciousness, he and Toa had a little chat and for the first time in 2 years, he felt he wasn’t alone. Hey, wait a minute. It just took a hot chick to say that to lift his spirits? Have no other girls who felt pity for this guy came forth to offer their comfort?

Episode 2
Members of the ISDA’s Lindwurm Unit, Sieglinde Baumgard and her Dragon, Amadeus, knocks Jin out and takes him back to ISDA for interrogation for the accident 2 years ago. Why now? ISDA’s commander Baisil Sakaki tells him the truth about Thanatos and wants him to join as a Dragonaut. That kid isn’t buying it even if he’s being told that a Dragon was the real cause of the space shuttle accident as it crashed into it. Not even if he’s being shown a real Dragon sitting in a large tube like as though some sort of science experiment. That’s because he is still bitter that his dad’s name has been tainted. Jin is reunited with his old friend, Kazuki Tachibana who has recently joined Dragonauts and is glad to have his own Dragon, Gio, Resonated. Kazuki is happy to see his old buddy but everything seems to be too fast for Jin. Soon Jin runs away to meet Toa but their meeting is short-lived when ISDA sends its members, including Lindwurm Unit’s Akira Souya and her Dragon, Machina, to hunt him down. Jin comes face to face with Kazuki again but this time the latter is pointing the gun at him though his hands are shaking. Unable to pull the trigger, his mentally unstable colleague, Keiichi Amagi does the honours. Luckily Toa uses her body as her shield. Thankfully hot chicks like her don’t get to die yet because her wounds just healed! Then she takes Jin away and kisses him, reassuring him he isn’t alone. However Amagi’s Dragon, Spirytus, soon goes out of control as the Lindwurm Unit, including unit leader Raina Cromwell and his Dragon, Howling Star, move in to take Album, the name ISDA gave to Toa. Toa then takes on rampaging Spirytus and wants Jin to close his eyes. Apparently he didn’t so he saw Toa’s true Dragon form. Yeah, I got that one figured out right when she first appeared.

Episode 3
Toa and Spirytus’ battle is going out of hand and there are too many public witnesses. So ISDA’s head, Kiril Zhazhiev (does this old guy always where some diving suit?) requests the help of Gillard Army led by Major Garnet Maclaine (can’t… avert… my eyes… away from her… oversized boobs…) to quell the menace. Too bad they failed. During the fight, Toa emits a shockwave that awakens Gio from his container. Following his instincts, he breaks out and goes to save Toa. Jin rides on his back so when Kazuki sees this, he is heartbroken that his Dragon chose somebody else other than him. Sakaki orders Spirytus to be killed and make Jin and Toa their top priority. Raina and Howling Star kill him. Jin and Gio catch up to Toa so she mentions she can’t be with Jin anymore after he saw her true form. As for Gio, he claims that he is born to protect Toa. Their chat is cut short when Howling Star’s attack reaches them, sending Jin and Gio crashing into the ocean below. Jin doesn’t believe all that crap Toa said because he is adamant that he wants to be by her side. Well, after getting kissed, why not? With Toa and Gio missing, Sakaki orders his team to withdraw.

Episode 4
As we are introduced to more characters like ISDA’s research scientist Yuuri Kitajima and journalist Kou Yonamine, we see ISDA having a meeting with Gillard Army about the recent events. Jin and Gio wake up washed ashore on the beach and Jin suddenly could hear Toa’s voice. Her singing actually. He notes her location on the Moon so Gio agrees to go there with him to find her. Thus the duo fake in-fighting to let Akira and Machina capture them back to ISDA base whereby they break out and steal a space pod to head to space with Gio. Akira questions Jin about him being able to ride Gio without doing any Resonance (Dragons must completely abide by their master they have Resonated with absolute command) but Jin doesn’t care about all that crap and just wants to find Toa to get some answers. Meanwhile Kazuki is depressed that his precious Gio has sort of abandoned him so I guess a lady takes pity of him after getting teased and beaten up. She is Widow, a Dragon who lost her original master.

Episode 5
Hey, there’s artificial weather on the Moon! Jin and Gio search for Toa but couldn’t find her so Gio abandons him since he couldn’t fulfil his part of the bargain. Toa is indeed on the Moon but she’s depressed but they missed her. So when Gio later sees some fluke proof that Toa is on the Moon, he goes back to Jin. However he has been captured by Garnet while Kiril has announced to the world about the truth on D-Project. Garnet sends an encrypted video only Dragons could hear to lure Gio. He busts in and faces off with Garnet but she and her men have some CSS stuff to weaken and suppress Dragons from using their full ability. Jin isn’t just a damsel in distress and manages to break the CSS computer so Gio rescues him and they both escape. Garnet unleashes a couple of Agathions (Gillard Army’s self made Dragons, I guess) to stop them but were easily defeated as Gio and Jin re-enter the Moon to continue searching for Toa.

Episode 6
Lindwurm Unit has been tasked to retrieve Album from the Moon. As Toa takes refuge at a cafe, the store owner tells her to be true to her feelings, though Jin and Gio did came by and asked her about Toa but she feigns that she doesn’t know. Meanwhile Kou meets up with Yuuri (ambush with a kiss?) and tells her about the findings he had on Amagi. Like a rare fibre thread in his room with a certain perfume that could only belong to Garnet. Lindwurm Unit arrives on the worm and the Dragons begin their search. Toa too starts searching for Jin and Gio but just when she finds them, they are intercepted by the Lindwurm Unit Dragons. Gio takes on Howling Star but the former starts to have doubts when the latter mentions that he will be a hindrance after Jin and Toa are united. Jin is taken by Sieglinde and Amadeus, who explains the basics of human-Dragon relationship/rule. Akira and Machina offer to take him in to the space port but it was just a ploy to let them escape and let Jin reunite with Toa.

Episode 7
To cool things down, Jin, Gio and Toa chill out at the nearby pool park, courtesy from the kind cafe owner. The guys are feeling a little odd about all this. Guess who came to the pool too? Yeah, it’s the Lindwurm Unit guys too. Their mission to take the trio in discreetly turned flashy causing destruction and panic among the public. When the gang is sent crashing underground, they get separated. Jin offers his kindness towards injured Sieglinde (possible turning into a love triangle in the future?) and we see a little about her past, how she was a genius but because of that, people isolated her and she was lonely. The gang are reunited when the other Dragons combined their kicking powers and break a wall, only to send water gushing in as they make their escape to higher ground. Gio Actualizes and busts Jin and Toa out with Sieglinde. Later they leave her on a park bench where emotional Amadeus soon reunites with her. Back on Earth, Kazuki’s hatred for Jin has been growing at a steady pace so he vows to get Gio back from him. Widow agrees to take him to the Moon.

Episode 8
Jin tries to convince Toa and Gio that the three of them could live a normal life together. However Toa remembers she has something to do and leaves them while they’re sleeping. After all that trouble, she just leaves, like that? So another search but this time Jin comes into Kazuki and Widow as they attack the former best buddy. Kazuki is filled with rage and even if he wants Gio back, Gio punches him and takes Jin away. Kazuki still couldn’t believe it and thinks he is Gio’s master and not Jin. Get a hint, pal. Toa goes to see Raina and agrees to turn herself in to ISDA. When Kazuki comes in to ask about the capturing of Gio, Raina tells him to worry about himself because he will face punishment when he returns to Earth for coming to the Moon without permission. Still not happy, Kazuki has Widow go tell Jin and Gio about Toa’s capture and bring them to Kazuki. Kazuki brags to Jin how it feels to have someone precious taken so he agrees to help get Toa in exchange for Gio. Jin is in a dilemma but I guess to Kazuki that means he agrees. Widow easily infiltrates ISDA shuttle and forcefully takes Toa. When they’re reunited, Toa feels reluctant to go with Jin. She reveals the truth that she was the one who crashed into the space shuttle that killed his family. As proof, she takes out half a bracelet inscribed with words “To A”. Shocked Jin matches it with his other half as it reads “From Jin To Ai”.

Episode 9
A short flashback reveals that Sakaki’s daughter, Laura was also one of the passengers killed in that space shuttle accident 2 years ago. In present time, Lindwurm Unit captures Jin, Gio and Toa as Kazuki lies that he was brought here on a special secret mission by Sakaki. However as they leave for Earth, they are being attacked by Garnet’s army. She is upset that Raina’s data gave to her earlier on was fake. The Dragons Actualize and fight the army but it was a diversion to have them stray from the main ship as their target is to capture Toa. Garnet fires her main cannon at them but they are saved with the appearance of Virtra Unit’s leader Itsuki Habaragi and her Dragon, Otohime. Gio breaks free from his chains (that easy?) and wants Jin to help him. But that kid is still shocked over what he has learned so Gio slaps some senses to him that he had better protect Toa. After thinking all the times spent with her (hmm… Maybe the kiss too), Jin gets his confidence back as he and Gio team up to beat the Agathions. Garnet retreats to cut losses. But the space shuttle is burning up upon re-entry so Jin uses Gio to shield it and successfully enter Earth’s atmosphere. Back at ISDA HQ, Toa is taken to see Sakaki as he shows her the large Dragon in the tube, Raum, which Toa recognizes as her comrade while Jin is imprisoned.

Episode 10
Gio and Widow are imprisoned on Tartarus Island, believed to be the graveyard for Dragons as the CSS force field prevents them from leaving. Meanwhile Yuuri explains more of that Resonance thingy and reveals that Toa is Jin’s master. They may have Resonated when she crashed into the shuttle and saved him (the first time they contacted). Elsewhere, Garnet returns to Mars and Prince Asim Jamar to report of her failure. He seems to be interested in capturing Toa now and reveals he has planted a spy in ISDA. Toa breaks free of her capture and tries to enter a room filled with Dragon eggs (it’s her mission to retrieve them). But she’s stopped by scientist Kasuga Nozaki who won’t let her lay a finger on them and then taken out by Amadeus. Meanwhile Akira and Machina do a distraction to free Jin. They’re helping him because they believe he can change the relationship between humans and Dragons. Yuuri learns that Nozaki is suspending all tests on Album so her assistant, Nanami Hoshi suggests they do it secretly on Tartarus. On their way there, the Gillard Army surrounds them. Yuuri realizes Nanami has betrayed them and is a spy from Gillard as she decides to take Album.

Episode 11
While Jin, Akira and Machine seek refuge in an abandoned house, Yuuri swims towards Tartarus to make contact with ISDA about what happened. Kazuki is getting a lecture from Sakaki but he decides to let him off the hook because he doesn’t hate his actions. Toa is captured and taken to Asim on Mars. Asim ignores her pleas of the consequences of capturing her as he wants to see her true form. Thanatos sends a fourth original Dragon towards Earth. Dubbed Ostrum, it makes it way quickly to Earth and on its way, attacks obliterates the entire L-3 space station that Virtra Unit is on. Only Itsuki and Otohime are able to escape alive.

Episode 12
Ostrum seems to have become a Communicator when he arrives on Earth. Most probably it was his brief contact Itsuki’s brother, Yuuya at the L-3 base. ISDA knows having Ostrum is a bad thing and has the entire city evacuated. Then Ostrum starts to attack and kills a group of innocent evacuees. Raina and Sieglinde face off with Ostrum but his power is far too great for them to handle, even if Akira returns to aid them. Meanwhile Kou takes Jin to Tartarus but upon arrival gets ambushed by Kazuki. Still hating him, eh? Jin is able to knock him out and goes to see Gio. However Kazuki activates the controls to open the floor so that Jin could fall to his fiery death. Gio manages to Actualize to save Jin and escape from this island. Meanwhile Yuuri confronts Nozaki about Ostrum’s true appearance. Nozaki gets rid of Raum by disposing the tube to the fire below. Then Ostrum appears and wonders why Nozaki is siding with the humans and his reply is that he is doing this on his own will. Ostrum and Nozaki fight and the latter Actualizes. Yuuri recognizes him as the third original Dragon, Atrum, whom she discovered 2 years ago shortly after the shuttle accident but suddenly disappeared.

Episode 13
Ostrum reveals he is being sent by Mother, (Thanatos is what humans refer as) to eliminate all Dragons born on Earth as she doesn’t want humans raising her offspring. Their battle continues but Nozaki loses out when he tries to protect Yuuri. Toa begs for Asim to let her out even if it’s showing her true form but he isn’t giving in because he senses she still has defiant eyes. Ostrum senses Gio and attacks him but the recovered Lindwurm Unit go to his aid. Desperate Kiril is trying to request Gillard Army’s assistance but Asim is delaying things. Nanami who feels guilty for her betrayal tries to free Toa but gets shot and killed by Garnet. At that short moment, Jin heard Toa’s voice and is certain she is on Mars. Jin and Gio try to head to Mars while the other Dragons hold back Ostrum. Itsuki and Otohime soon join the battle and she is about to fire some Type-X warhead on Ostrum but when Ostrum fires back and causes the warhead to fall off Otohime’s hands, Jin and Gio turn back to take the warhead and send it up to space with Ostrum, destroying him. Jin returns down to Earth since Gio is slightly injured while Sakaki brings forward D-Project’s schedule and into the next phase.

Episode 14
Raina offers Jin to become a Dragonaut but he refuses because all he wants is to save Toa. Having a girl is better than shouldering the fate of the entire planet. They talk about potential and believe in one’s own strength. Yuuri learns that she first Resonated with Atrum/Nozaki right after the crash. Nozaki felt guilty and responsible for the deaths of those in the accident so he severed ties with Thanatos and decided to live among humans while letting the remaining eggs to hatch safely. Akira tries to convince Sieglinde to come with her but the latter doesn’t want to betray her friends. The spaceship Avenir is to about to launch into space as Jin and Gio prepare to head to Mars with Akira and Machina agreeing to tag along. However they are being attacked by super angry Kazuki (f*ck! Not this annoying bastard again! Can’t he just die?!) and Widow. Even if Kazuki has given up on getting back Gio, he now wants to kill Jin. The attack causes the rail to launch Avenir to be damaged so Machina holds it up to safely complete its run and launch to orbit. Kazuki got distracted and was sent flying off Widow’s cockpit. Kazuki and Widow are engulfed in an explosion and hopefully that will be the last we’ll see of him. Hopefully… Jin-Gio and Akira-Machina continue their journey to Mars.

Episode 15
Our heroes storm into Asim’s palace. Toa pleads to Asim once more to release her after finding out that ISDA plans to attack Thanatos. Earth will be destroyed if they do so but Asim doesn’t care about all that. They talk about mankind and love that exists in people’s hearts. Asim doesn’t believe all that but decides to put it to a test by having a ‘welcoming party’ for Jin. The gang keeps advancing no matter the number of guards or Agathions faced and finally enters the throne room where Asim and Toa are. Garnet fights Gio as Asim fires some projectile into Jin who is trying to free Toa. Asim starts beating Jin up so Toa couldn’t take anymore on what she sees. Her yell to stop starts cracking the glass she is imprisoned in. This distraction is enough to have Jin return the favours to Asim. After Gio knocks Garnet out, Jin and Toa are happily reunited but Asim seems to have gone insane.

Episode 16
It is revealed that Garnet is a Dragon that first Resonated with Asim 15 years ago. Asim orders Garnet to show her true powers as she stabs Gio in the stomach. Though Gio manages to break free and escape with the rest, they seek temporary refuge at a nearby abandoned facility. So happens there is a hotspring so the gang soak in. Can they really relax at this time? Machina notices a mark called Stigmata on Toa’s back when she was healing Gio. It’s a sign that a Dragon is about to die. Toa knew this from the beginning and doesn’t want Jin to know. After they talk about the relationship between humans and Dragons, acceptance and believing in each other (something Akira and Machina feel Jin and Toa had proven), Akira gets this idea of having a simple wedding ceremony for Jin and Toa. They are interrupted by Asim, clapping his hands, finding it all too amusing. Garnet suddenly jumps down and slashes her sword across Akira’s body. See lah. Fool around some more lah. Some more on enemy’s ground. Akira utters to Jin and Toa to start a new human-Dragon history before she dies. Distraught Machina goes berserk and red markings appear over her body.

Episode 17
Machina attacks just about anyone while the other Lindwurm members head to Mars. Gio tries to reason with Machina but she says that she is reverting to her true form (Dragons are originally such violent creatures, if that is what she meant) since Resonance has been broken. Asim rides on Actualized Garnet to the surface where his army has arrived. Jin and Toa ride Actualized Gio as they take out their foes while Asim continues to mock them about their love lecture. Eventually it’s Gio against Garnet when Machina intervenes. Garnet fires onto Machina as she and Akira fall into the abyss. Gio suddenly powers up causing all the Agathions to run away in fear. Asim orders Garnet to charge into him but Gio’s power is so immense that it destroyed Asim’s cockpit. Garnet reaches for Asim and with him in her arms, they vaporise. Jin and Toa could have been fried too if Howling Star didn’t fly in to save them. Gio’s power continues to burn the entire planet so much so burning Mars can be seen back down on Earth! At daylight! Raina wonders if this is the true power of Dragons. Likewise, Kou thinks a Dragon can only defeat a Dragon.

Episode 18
It has been a year after those events. Jin, Toa and Gio are living their happy life in an isolated backwater town. ISDA is under the command of Gillard Army and Sakaki is convinced that all Dragons are dangerous and must be disposed off. Since the Dragonauts oppose to this, they are being hunted down. And it looks like Laura is in charge… Raina, Howling Star and Amadeus are captured and taken to Tartarus, and Itsuki and Otohime soon after. Kou and Sieglinde manage to find the trio living their normal life and the German girl isn’t happy that they are oblivious of what is happening. Toa is worried that such action may anger Thanatos and lead to Earth’s destruction and that Thanatos will leave the solar system quietly if they hand back the eggs (which was the spawning ground for them). Speaking of them, Yuuri and Nozaki has moved the unhatched eggs to a secret lab. When Sieglinde questions Toa’s feelings for Jin, she replies they may have been created during the Resonance and she decided to trust her feelings. Toa hugs Jin but all the Dragons senses something from Thanatos.

Episode 19
Laura’s team burns down the house Jin and co are staying. But the gang have foreseen this and have already escaped, on their way to Tokyo. They take refuge in Sieglinde’s Japan’s ‘extra mansion’. Sieglinde’s dad, Wilhelm agrees to shelter them temporary as they come up with a plan. Jin learns more about Sieglinde that her only solace was her grandpa (looks like Amadeus) and her dog (whose name is Amadeus). Her mom died after giving birth to her. Wilhelm wanted to help her not because as a successor to the Baumgard empire but as his daughter. Jin feels he should tell his feelings honestly to her instead because he might not get another chance considering the dangerous mission they’re about to embark on. Back at ISDA, other scientists are researching a way to destroy Thanatos and have developed an anti-Thanatos factor. Something like a cancer cell that kills the cells of the Dragon. However it won’t work on Earth-born Dragons and only original ones (that means it has to be Toa, Raum or Atrum). Back at ISDA, Sakaki sees Stigmata over Laura’s back and comments she is a convenient tool. And yeah, apparently that hate boy Kazuki is still alive (including Widow). Oh boy. What’s with that underwear-like patch over his forehead? Early next morning, the gang leaves for their mission.

Episode 20
On their way trekking up a hill, Gio suddenly goes missing. They rendezvous with Yuri and Nozaki in a submarine as they plan to attack Tartarus. Guess who Jin and Toa meet when they set foot on the island? Damn Kazuki guy… Now we know why he can’t die. Until he kills Jin. That’s what he said. Nozaki and the rest sneak into the island and find Raina and Itsuki. The Dragons have been taken to be tested some Aegis System (some super CSS system no Dragons can stand up to. Not even Thanatos, as they believe) upon them. They try to take out the power supply but Laura stops them. Nozaki fights her to buy the rest time. Sieglinde does her hacking to cut power supply so the Dragons bust out and reunite with their masters. Jin and Toa could’ve been toast if not for Howling Star and Otohime intervening. The rest head back to Nozaki but Laura just leaves. Seems Laura is Raum. Widow is shot out of the sky by Gio. Jin is happy he is back but he shoots down Howling Star and Otohime.

Episode 21
Gio is doing this because he believes Jin can’t protect Toa and reveals her death. Gio also reveals that he is the successor of Thanatos. Another shocking revelation but no time for that as Laura in Raum form attacks them. However Gio takes her down and wants Toa to come with him. She refuses and wants to be by Jin’s side so Gio gives up for now but will return. Heavily wounded Laura is healed by Toa as they also come into contact with Sakaki (his helicopter was shot down during the attack). Sakaki doesn’t feel any attachment to this Dragon and his view that she’s just a tool pisses Toa off. Soon Sakaki leaves with Laura on a boat from ISDA. In the room, soldiers barge in as they have orders to take him in. Laura springs into action to give Sakaki time to escape. Jin and Toa reunite with the rest as Jin tells the rest about Thanatos’ successor. Later Sieglinde confronts Toa because she feels she is hiding something. Toa reveals her death and Gio probably became Thanatos’ successor to extend her life. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to ruin the life that they had. Teary Sieglinde says how she felt envious of them back then.

Episode 22
The next morning on the beach, the gang finds Sakaki washed ashore. They interrogate him about Raum and Laura and realized he was plotting revenge against the Dragons that killed her daughter and stole her appearance via Dragonauts. But the others have other opinions on their Dragon partners. Laura has been captured and being tested upon the anti-Thanatos factor, which is working. Kazuki is witnessing the experiment and even explains to Widow about Laura and Raum. Something about Raum in that tube Nozaki destroyed was just an empty shell and when Raum Resonated with Sakaki, something went wrong which prevented it to keep its body in some hyperspace when they take human form. The Stigmata appears on Nozaki’s back as he reveals to Yuuri that he, Album and Raum were sent to guide the eggs back to Thanatos and that their lives are limited and disposable. Gio finds Nozaki’s secret base and launches an attack since his goal is to retrieve them. Luckily the other Dragonauts come to his rescue. Jin tries to persuade Gio to stop and again, Kazuki-Widow interrupts. Widow is going to kill Toa for making Kazuki miserable but is fired upon by Gio. Then Widow uses her body to shield Kazuki from Gio’s shot and takes heavy damage before they escape. Suddenly Thanatos appears right above Earth as Gio tells Jin to hand Toa over as this is the only way to save her.

Episode 23
Sure, Toa’s life can be saved but she won’t return to Earth anymore. Gio decides to give Jin 1 more day to spend with her. Meanwhile Gillard Army unleashes an all out attack on Thanatos but failed miserably. Do they seriously think they can easily destroy something like that? We also see the souls of Akira and Machina commenting on the human race as imperfect and always fighting. Then something about Resonance that makes Dragons understand what it is to have a heart. Jin spends the next whole day out with Toa (dressing up as several characters? Include Sieglinde?). In the Ferris wheel, Jin reluctantly hands Toa over to Gio. Meanwhile Kazuki is still being the b*tch he is and not even sensitive to Widow’s injuries, mocking and splashing water on her! Who is the heartless one? Widow knows that she is dying and before she disappears, tells him that he likes Jin and shouldn’t continue hurting himself anymore. Then it made him realize, but it’s too late. Next day Kazuki meets Jin at the beach and he starts punching the latter, this time blaming Jin for Widow’s death, losing everything and becoming alone again. How idiotic can this guy get? Even at the end of it all he reveals all he wanted was to protect Jin and doesn’t want Jin to end up like him who lost Widow and unable to tell his feelings or apologize. It’s sad that he realized it this late but no pities from me. But at least he doesn’t hate Jin anymore and is on his side. They are being approached by Sakaki who takes them to the lab to save Laura and send them to space to rendezvous with the rest. As he frees Laura, he gets shot by a scientist. Laura takes him out as they both lie by each other’s side and before their last breaths, Sakaki realized that Laura has always been calling him ‘father’ and proclaims that he loves her. Nozaki appears to absorb the anti-Thanatos factor inside Laura.

Episode 24
The gang fires Aegis System into Thanatos (their objective is to try and talk to it and not attack it) and this transports them inside it. They see Akira and Machina, but they are just one of the many minds and souls absorbed into Thanatos. They also reveal that Thanatos has grown tired of the humans’ foolishness and decides to wipe the entire race out to prevent anymore contamination of their race. Everyone returns back to the ship except for Jin, who is taken by Gio to see Toa (just her shell, that is). Jin realizes that what Gio meant Toa can live longer is to merge with Thanatos (also a deal he made in exchange for becoming Thanatos’ successor). He doesn’t want that because that would mean all the memories and time spent together are for naught and they would no longer be their selves. Gio tries to kill Jin to free him from his pain and unite with Toa forever. Garnet and Asim seem to have also being absorbed by Thanatos as they confront Toa about eternal life but Toa wishes to be with Jin even if it’s just fleeting moments. They talk about life and death and Resonance for the 3 original Dragons sent to retrieve the eggs that upset Thanatos. Toa is beginning to merge with Thanatos but her love for Jin is strong so she manages to break free and reunite with him. They kiss and vow to be together. That’s when Thanatos decides instead of destroying humans, it will merge them all. Is that supposed to be worse than death? Since Thanatos is awakening, the inside starts shaking so Gio allows Jin and Toa to ride him to safety outside. Thanatos in its true form is much before and resembles like a serpent coiling around the Earth. It launches lots of Ostrum Dragons. 6 billion of them! 1 for each human, I guess. Better start taking them out. That’s 2 billion per Dragonaut, right? Jin still has something to say to Thanatos and flies towards it.

Episode 25
The Dragonauts protect the citizens from forced assimilation. Jin, Toa and Gio are having a tough time reaching into Thanatos’ core. Nozaki sacrifices himself by detonating the anti-Thanatos factor he has at the mass Ostrums to pave a way for them to enter. He wants them to deliver their feelings to Thanatos. Inside, Gio meets the original Ostrum (he’s still alive and not an absorbed soul?) and they both fight. Ostrum refuses to accept that Resonance changed them unlike Gio who is grateful that it did to him because he knows what love is. In the end, I guess it was the difference in hearts that allowed Gio to defeat Ostrum for good. Jin and Toa go ahead but come into Garnet. Still talking about that love thingy, Garnet uses an illusion to test Jin. Seems he is onboard the space shuttle with his mom and Ai. The accident didn’t happen and they live a happy life. Jin realizes all this is fake and snaps out from it. They continue that their love is not due to Resonance but their own free will. That very source of power of love causes all the Ostrum clones down on Earth to deactivate and the Stigmata disappearing from Toa’s back. They encounter the core of Thanatos’ mind and you bet the power of love has managed to convince her to ponder about the meaning of love on her travel to the next planet after spending too much time alone for God knows how long. She explains that she may return someday but believes they won’t disappoint her. Jin and Toa reunite with everyone back on Earth. Gio sees off Jin and Toa before he heads back to space as the lovebirds assert that they are not alone. So he’s not going to stay with them? Perhaps that’s what being a successor is all about.

Episode 26 (OVA)
There is an OVA episode that viewers can watch if you buy the DVD. It is more of a filler and I’m not sure about the time line. But I’m sure it has no relations whatsoever with the TV storyline since Akira and Machina are alive while Kazuki still spots that villainous hairstyle. The first half features the gang in a school theme. It has Howling Star as the star (pun intended). A newly transferred student that gets involves with fights, love and secrets of the school. Seems like snippets of one helluva epic movie, which actually turns out to be one! Howling Star is definitely ecstatic about his leading role, but the reactions of ladies’ seem to indicate otherwise. The second half has the entire gang stranded in some house due to a storm. The Dragons can’t transform and after the lightning strikes some machine, the Dragons’ personality changes. Amadeus is a lazy and rude guy (much to Sieglinde’s shock!), Howling Star a scaredy cat, Gio telling jokes, Widow laughing at them, big bully Machina bossing Garnet to skip ropes and Toa dressing in a sexy cat outfit to seduce Jin. Otohime isn’t affected because as Sieglinde pointed out, her character is too normal so it has no opposite effect. She sank into depression. Sieglinde, Raina, Akira and Kazuki decide to fix the machine as they make their journey across the room filled with traps. Sieglinde manages to fix and restore order. Everyone returns to normal in the end except for Jin who wants Toa to say more of those moe lines. Pervert! Looks like his otaku switch got turned on and there’s no way to turn it off soon. And as for the old guys like Sakaki, Kiril, Nozaki and Kou, I don’t get the joke that they’re fishing far away in some cave for hours and in the end, don’t even have a single catch.

Dog Gone Naught – What Nonsense
So the power of love conquers all, eh? Is that what they are trying to say? Is this supposed to be an underlying theme of the show? An eternal extra terrestrial life form that no humans should compare or based its values or thinking with ours, just agreed to think about this crazy little thing called love? What the heck, I was never following the entire plot anyway. Not only the human race is saved, the threat of Thanatos is gone and more importantly Jin and Toa get to be together as they always have. It was hard for me to sit through the first half of the series because it was more or less something like this. The gang runs away, gets chased, gets captured, busts out and the whole process repeats again. Then after the Mars incident and the 1 year time skip, I somehow felt a little interested. Probably I knew the series was going to finish and thus end my agony. Haha!

There were many loopholes in the plot that I didn’t understand or couldn’t be bothered to learn more. Such mind boggling things include the time whereby the gang damaged the pool amusement park and the public was sent evacuating. How come there were no police or authority to look or investigate into the damage facility? It felt like the whole darn place was abandoned after that. Another one is Garnet. If she was a Dragon, why the heck was she trying to experiment and discover the secret of Resonance? I thought it should come naturally or at least understood when she first Resonated with Asim. How the heck did Jin, Gio and Toa manage to live a whole year peacefully without anybody being able to trace their location till Sakaki decided to rid of all Dragons? What about Amagi’s case? After the initial episodes, it was like he wasn’t important anymore. They did mention that this guy didn’t have the qualities of being a Dragonaut but was yet given his own Dragon which eventually went berserk. What about the reason Gio first decided his role was to protect Toa? I think if I continue to think more, I’ll end up having to rewrite the whole series’ script. Each episode starts off with a flashback of several years back to help us understand the past or implications that will happen in that or future episodes. This went on until the 1 year time skip. Nothing more to tell, eh?

I think many viewers will agree with me that the most annoying character has got to be Kazuki. He just doesn’t know when to give up his hatred for Jin. In my opinion, he has got to be the real villain of the series. He was so mad about Jin taking away his Gio, it didn’t occur to him that Widow was there for him all the time no matter what. She was willing to do anything for him but to that kid, revenge was all on his mind. Even if Gio told him straight in the face that he isn’t his master, it still didn’t get through him. Instead of spending time feeling resentment, why not use it to improve himself with Widow or at least appreciate her? That’s why he’s such a dumbass. Even if he returned to the right path at the end, the damage is done and perhaps to let us viewers know we shouldn’t hate and be like him. It’s too bad he didn’t get killed off earlier on. Could’ve saved everyone lots of trouble. Speaking of deaths, I thought many of the characters were going to die after killing off Akira and Machina. But no, they had to bring them back at the last few episodes even if they aren’t their real selves so as not for us viewers to forget. Nozaki’s sacrifice felt a little rushed and it’s a good thing that Sakaki came to realize that even if this Laura is a Dragon, she still viewed him as her father. Nanami’s death was also a little surprise because I thought she would have a chance to make up with Yuuri but I guess her role is insignificant. Toa in the early episodes, I felt she was like one of those high school girls in love. First she met Jin, wants to be with him, then decides to go off alone and leaves him, when she gets captured, she really wants to go back by his side and then a few obstacles keeping them from seeing each other.

The fansevice element is probably the large boobs that some of the females have. Especially Garnet. It makes me wonder even if that is possible. Perhaps spending too much time in space means no gravity and in a way stretches them? Haha. Just kidding. But seriously, even if she has really big boobs, Garnet can really move swiftly like an assassin. Just distractions, eh? The amusing part which I look forward to is the next episode preview narrated by the trio operators of ISDA base, Ryouko, Megumi and Saki. First the rant about unrelated stuff and when they realize they are short on time, they really summarize the next episode in a line or two. Thanks, girls. That really helped a lot (read sarcasm). Since this series is produced by Gonzo, you can see their trademark mix of 2D and 3D computer graphics. However I find the CGs for the Dragons when the Actualized to be a little lame. I don’t know, I felt it doesn’t bring them to life and their movements were like, say, toys. Not to mention that their designs somehow bring back memories of Digimon and Zoids.

Probably my other reason for watching this show is the several famous casts lending their voices. With got the entire SOS Brigade from Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu scattered throughout here. We have Daisuke Ono taking the lead this time as Jin (he was Koizumi in Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu), Minori Chihara as Toa (Nagato), Tomokazu Sugita as Howling Star (Kyon), Yuko Goto as Machina (Asahina) and Aya Hirano as Garnet (Haruhi). Though there is nothing wrong, sometimes I feel that Yu Kobayashi should’ve voiced Garnet instead of one of the ISDA operators. Not to say Aya Hirano is unsuitable but you know, it is my stereotypic view that Yu Kobayashi better voices crazy women. Not that Garnet did go crazy all the time anyway. Other seiyuus include Nana Mizuki as Sieglinde (Oboro in Basilisk), Miyuki Sawashiro as Akira (Shinku in Rozen Maiden), Junichi Suwabe as Gio (Atobe in Prince of Tennis), Tetsuya Kakihara as Kazuki (Natsu in Fairy Tail), Saeko Chiba as Widow (Natsuki in Mai-HiME), Jouji Nakata as Sakaki (Giroro in Keroro Gunsou) and Cho as Kiril (Brook in One Piece). Some casts play more than 1 role like Yuko Goto as Ai and Miyuki Sawashiro as Laura. In my opinion, the opening theme, Perfect Blue by Jazzin’ Park featuring ATSUMI and first ending theme, Rain of Love by Yukari Fukui do not suit the series. Perfect Blue may sound like pop but its calm and soothing pace doesn’t feel right. Same as Rain of Love, though it has that melancholic feel. But the second ending theme, Flight or Flight fits nicely because of its rock theme. It was a surprise that Yu Kobayashi sang that song since I couldn’t recognize her singing voice. I know, I can recognize her when she goes crazy.

Maybe another fundamental theme is about the relationship human has with other species and among ourselves. It all depends. Sometimes we easily click with certain people but do not get along with others even if we spend donkey years with them. Some are like roller coaster rides. Once best friends can turn into enemies and then the whole friendship thingy patched up again. Another thing is that we shouldn’t take our existence for granted. Some alien life form may decide to play God and wipe us out. So it goes to show here that sometimes it isn’t about fighting fire with fire, maybe a little diplomacy and dialogue would do. Now if we could just get our own kind to do the same and stop all the unnecessary wars.