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Phase
22: The Sea Dyed Red
Review by Chris June 2, 2003 The Archangel leaves the coastline and flies over the Red Sea. Murrue gives the crew permission to go out on deck to briefly enjoy the ocean. Natarle asks Murdoch how much longer it will take him and Kira to finish their work on some sonar equipment, and she criticizes him for calling Kira a 'kid' since his rank is higher. Before leaving, the crew of the Archangel celebrated their victory with Desert Dawn. Mu told Sahib that ZAFT is still around despite Andy's death, and Sahib said he and his forces would fight on if ZAFT returned. The celebration was followed by a memorial service for all the men who died fighting against Andy's forces. Later, Cagalli argued with Murrue over coming with them and insisted on going. As the ship flies over the ocean, Miriallia, Tolle and Kuzzey go outside to look at the water. Kuzzey has never seen the ocean because he was born on Heliopolis, and Miriallia tries to scare him with talk of monsters in the water. Kisaka speaks with Murrue and finds it odd that the Alliance wants the Archangel to reach Alaska with no supplies or support. Natarle is worried about flying over the Indian Ocean, but Kisaka says it's the best place because it's not too concentrated with ZAFT forces. Kira goes out on deck alone and remembers his encounter with Andy and their final battle. He thinks about the death of Flay's father and the destroyed civilian shuttle and begins to cry. Cagalli comes out on deck and finds him crying, so she hugs him and tells him everything will be ok. She finds herself holding his hand and tells him not to get the wrong idea. They sit down together, and she asks him why he is with the Alliance when he is a Coordinator. He asks if it sounds strange and says that it's something that he gets often. Cagalli wonders about the abilities of Coordinators, and Kira says that their abilities come from studying and training, not just by virtue of birth. Flay walks out to the deck and stops when she hears their voices. She goes back into the hallway and takes off her uniform jacket. She then goes outside in her undershirt tied in a knot and asks Kira why he didn't invite her out. She holds Kira and asks him to come inside. Cagalli decides to leave to stay out of their way, and Flay eyes her jealously. On the Vosgulov class submarine Cousteau, Marco Morassim watches a taped message from Rau. In the video, Rau says that he is sorry to hear about Andy's death and that it's his fault for letting the Archangel reach Earth. He says he is coming down to Earth soon for Operation Spit Break and hopes he can count on Morassim for help. Morassim damns Rau and vows that he will destroy the Archangel over the Indian Ocean. Aboard the Archangel, two unidentified craft are detected, and Murrue orders second level battle stations. Sai runs a check on the craft and determines them to be the ZAFT aerial mobile suit DINN. As Morassim approaches, he calls the Cousteau and orders two GOOhN underwater mobile suits to launch. As the attack begins, Murrue raises the alert to first level battle stations and orders Mu and Kira to sortie. Mu launches in the Sky Grasper equipped with the Launcher pack, while Kira stays aboard the ship in the Strike Gundam since it can't swim or fly. Morassim attacks the ship and dodges attacks from Mu. The two GOOhNs fire torpedoes as they approach, and Murrue orders an emergency takeoff to dodge their fire. Kira shoots at them from the hangar, but they are easily able to dodge his attacks. He asks Murdoch to give him the bazooka because he plans to go underwater. He jumps into the ocean, and both GOOhNs slam into him constantly. He grabs hold of one and uses his combat knives to stab it and cause it to decompress and explode. In the air, a DINN is destroyed by the Archangel's weapons barrage. Kira loses his combat knives while fighting the remaining GOOhN and has no more weapons. Wreckage from the DINN sinks nearby, so he grabs its shotgun and destroys the GOOhN at point blank range. Mu blows off one of Morassim's wings, forcing him to retreat. At a PLANT, Nicol says goodbye to his parents and boards the Vesalius. He encounters Athrun in the hallway and thanks him for coming to his concert. They then discuss how it will be their first atmospheric descent as the ship pulls out of port and heads for Earth. The desert arc ends and is followed by a journey across the ocean for Alaska. Of course, since this is a Gundam series, it means that it's time to fight some ugly new underwater mobile suits. The battle featured here doesn't offer much in the way of excitement. Kira falters at first, but he miraculously manages to beat both GOOhNs in the end. In this episode, we're introduced to Morassim, another one of these: "I'll bring down this ship with my new mobile suits!" guys. If past experience proves correct, he won't live long. Also, like Andy, he seems to have disdain for Rau. Is there some reason why ZAFT forces on Earth don't like him? On another note, Flay displays her jealous streak here and shows that willing to use her body in any way she can to keep Kira close to her. If she could get away with it, she'd probably kill Cagalli based on the looks of her eyes. Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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