Random Curiosity

Summary:

Adiane can’t believe that the princess Nia would be away from the capital and ultimately decides to back off for now, but she vows to come back. Upon returning to the Helix King though, she is shocked to learn that he has thrown away his daughter and doesn’t care what happens to her. Having promised to exterminate the humans and eliminate Nia, Adiane runs into Viral after the meeting with the Helix King. The still-injured Viral blames himself for Thymilph’s death and wants to go with her to the next battle, but Adiane has already decided to fight alone because she wants to be the one to avenge Thymilph. Back on the Daigurren, Nia is having a feast under the watch of a crew that is now very suspicious of her. Kittan, who calls himself the leader of the Gurren Brigade, tries to interrogate her, but she seems not to understand any of the words he uses, such as “enemy” or “fist.” Since he personally didn’t have much luck at it, Kittan turns to Simon to get information about the enemy out of Nia.

Nia had heard from Kittan about everything her father did, but she feels that he wouldn’t have done them without a reason. Although he thinks that the Helix King is the bad guy and someone that he hates, Simon doesn’t know if he hates Nia too. Simon was able to fight because Kamina was there and trusted in him. When Nia questions who Kamina is, Simon explains it to her, making her realize that she can’t help if everyone hates her. Simon doesn’t thinks that anyone hates Nia and explains that Kamina didn’t fight with hatred. No matter how serious the situation, Kamina always had a smile on his face. Yoko then chimes in that Kamina was really stupid, and since she wants to hear more about Kamina, he goes on to talk about a time when he and Kamina got trapped underground during an earthquake. Simon was afraid of dying like his parents, but Kamina encouraged him to go forward, and so it was Kamina not giving up and not letting him give up that saved them. Simon knows that it’s always been like that, and without Kamina, he can’t do anything. That’s why he wants to become like Kamina.

Nia, however, disagrees and cites how Simon saved her by himself. She asks why Simon is so obsessed about Kamina, and Simon’s simply responds by saying that Nia didn’t know Kamina. Nia agrees that she can’t know someone who’s not here, but she also feels that Simon shouldn’t depend on someone who’s not here either. This statement causes Yoko to lash out at Nia, accusing her of not understanding Simon’s feelings because she didn’t know Kamina. Taking a stand, Nia claims that although she might not know Kamina, she understands Simon - he’s not someone who can’t do anything, so he shouldn’t be endlessly obsessed with Kamina. This gets Yoko even angrier and makes her question if Nia knows whose fault it is that Kamina is dead. Yoko agrees that no matter how much they mourn, Kamina won’t come back, so it might be easier if they forgot about him. However, it’s not so easy to forget. Noticing that Yoko is crying as she walks away, Nia declares that she wants to know more about them.

A little later, Adiane strikes again and wants to talk with Nia. Since they need to buy some time before they can get the Daigurren moving again, Kittan is willing to hand over Nia despite Simon’s objection that it’s dangerous. Nia personally wants to go and Yoko lets her, though she’ll be watching for if Nia attempts anything funny. The first thing Nia asks Adiane is if they are causing humans suffering, and Adiane confirms that their mission is to exterminate all humans, as per Nia’s father’s orders. Realizing what Adiane thinks of humans, Nia demands to be taken to her father. This is the point where Adiane ends the pleasantries and explains that Nia isn’t a princess anymore because the Helix King abandoned her. Reminded of how he had watched Nia’s box being thrown down that ravine, Simon rushes back to the Lagann and tries to activate it, but to no avail. Getting back into her Gunmen called Sayrune, Adiane transforms it into a scorpion and point its claws and stinger at Nia. Since Adiane says that she’ll kill Nia just because she was ordered to, Nia questions if Adiane would die if the Helix King told her to.

Adiane has no answer to this, so Nia continues by saying that Adiane is mistaken and that the humans haven’t done anything wrong. When Adiane points out that the humans killed Thymilph, which is enough of a reason for her, Nia counters with their loss of Kamina. Nia feels that people get sad and hurt when someone dies, and she asks if Adiane feels that it’s strange they keep hurting each other like that. Since Adiane doesn’t care and is ready to kill, Simon gives up trying to start up the Lagann and just runs out on foot to save Nia. The rest of the group follows him in their respective Gunmen, but they don’t make it in time to stop the Sayrune’s stinger. Fortunately, Yoko’s rifle blasts do. Simon is meanwhile overcome in speed by the Gunmen and trips onto the ground while the Gunmen all tackle the Sayrune at once. The Sayrune has no trouble handling her opponents, but when Leeron finally gets the Daigurren moving, he is able to use it to punt the Sayrune. Adiane is about to get crushed, though luckily for her, Viral arrives in the Enkidu to save her.

Viral is adamant about leaving with Adiane despite her not wanting to go, but he does catch sight of the Gurren first. Not knowing that it’s Rossiu piloting, Viral vows to come back and finish things, but for now, he gets away with Adiane. In the aftermath, the entire team cheers for Nia because of how she stood up for them to Adiane. Simon, however, was not able to participate in the battle and walks away limping from his fall. Nia brings some food to his room later and tell him that she knows he came to save her faster than anyone else. She thanks him for that, but Simon never answers his door. Instead, he remains in bed, distraught over how he can’t become like Kamina.

Preview:

I liked this episode, but it lacked a certain excitement and intensity that previous episodes had. Perhaps it was the fact that it was the supporting cast doing most of the fighting and Simon unwillingly sitting this one out (leading to more angst for him). I really hope that something happens soon so that Simon will gain some confidence. He may not be able to replace Kamina, but he should be able to make himself cool in his own way. Nia meanwhile I’m expecting more and more to die eventually. Having the Helix King abandon her is one way to get her onto Simon’s side, but it also means that the bad guys are now gunning for her. If she does die, it would probably be another step in the process of Simon growing up - losing a girl he loves or something.
Finally, there’s one important thing I have to note about the preview for next week’s episode in relation to what [anon] translated. In the preview, Nia is talking about the dark, deep, and frightening hole in a person’s heart, not flower as [anon] says. It’s the difference between the word ana (hole) and hana (flower). It likely relates back to what Yoko said in episode nine about the hole in her heart and the one in Simon’s.