Tsubaki nears her tube as the Fafner team pushes forward. Kenji is attacked by the Mark Nicht and gets his arm shot off. His shield generator is also destroyed and Kenji thinks he’s going to die. He sees the coordinates on his arm and blasts the Mark Nicht with his sword. Tsubaki reaches her tube but falls to her knees. Idun wonders what he’s feeling and Soushi says its pain. Tsubaki cries and says that she’s scared. Cannon breaks through the ceiling and runs the Mark Nicht through with her sword. Soushi tells Idun that the strategy he has taught him is a war of exhaustion where you fight through your pain. Kenji stabs the Mark Nicht and Soushi says that that is the fear of dying. Tsubaki says she wants to stay and Chizuru hugs her, apologizing. Idun pulls the swords out of him and tries to escape but Maya gets in front of him and shoots him. Burns is told the enemy defenses are weakening and he tells everyone to keep fighting. Tsubaki gets up and says she understands. She says she will become the island and embrace everyone. The Mark Nicht fires out beams but Kazuki arrives and absorbs them. Idun demands to be brought back to nothingness and escapes to the surface. Soushi tells Idun he should be happy to be alive. The Fafner team arrives at the next point and free Akane’s core. She transfers tons of data on human coexistence with Festum to Tatsumiya. The core disappears and the Fafner team sees a black dome. Kazuki says Soushi is inside and enters. Festum appear and try to go after him, but the others destroy them.
Tsubaki enters her tube and it is filled with red liquid. Kazuki tries to grab the Siegfried system, but the tentacles grab him and pierce the Mark Sein. Tsubaki tells him to accept it and Kazuki absorbs the tentacles, freeing Soushi. The black orb disappears and Tsubaki thanks everyone before the tube completely fills. Everyone is glad to see that Soushi is alive but Kazuki has trouble seeing. Soushi says that Kazuki’s assimilation phenomenon has relapsed but they can treat it back at the island. The room starts shaking and Soushi says the enemy Mir has begun moving. A pyramid rises from the ground and sends a tube into the sky. Burns’s sub surfaces and fires, but the missiles are destroyed by a barrier. The Mark Nicht appears and destroys the sub. Tsubaki starts glowing and smiles as her body disintegrates. The Fafner team breaks out near the top of the pyramid and Soushi says the enemy Mir is trying to escape to space and cover all of Earth. Kazuki assimilates Maya’s gun, powering it up. Soushi says that might be the Festum’s only hope and Tsubaki says that it’s not the final hope. Maya and Kazuki fire, destroying the Mir. Tsubaki says that she and the Mir were created to show that life and death, existence and nothingness are one. Soushi wonders if Tsubaki went back and Cannon points out all the Festum are falling. Everyone on the Devilray is glad all the pilots are safe as Seri and Rina cry over Tsubaki. A wind blows through Alvis and Tsubaki says that she is there. The Devilray leaves with everyone but a black orb hits the back of the plane. The Mark Nicht comes out of it and grabs Kazuki. Soushi says they have to go or else everyone will be dragged in, so Kazuki jumps out of the plane. Maya goes after him but he tells her not to come. He is completely enveloped in the black orb and Maya screams for him. Cannon tells her to calm down because the crossing is still active, meaning Kazuki is alive. Kazuki and Soushi find themselves in the place where everything is nothingness. Kazuki holds onto Soushi so he doesn’t fall and Soushi says their existences have probably already disappeared. Kazuki says that they’re still there and Kouyou appears and pulls them out. The Mark Nicht rematerializes and Idun says that he is still there before the Mark Nicht is covered in crystals and turns into the Mark Sein. Youkou looks up at the sky and sees falling lights. Kyouhei says that they’re the remnants of the Festums and UN forces in space. Kazuki finds a damaged plane and Soushi tells him to assimilate it so they can fly. An embryo appears in Tsubaki’s tube and Chizuru says Mir has understood life. Rina asks if it’s Tsubaki, but Chizuru says that would be copying, which is different from the true nature of life. Fumihiko says it will grow into a core and be able to talk with them. Kazuki flies back and Soushi says he taught the Festums pain and existence but he has also learned their blessings. Soushi says most of his body is gone but Kazuki says they can receive treatment. Soushi says he will go to the Festum’s side and recreate his existence. Kazuki says that he is there and Soushi says they will meet again. The Siegfried system disintegrates and Kazuki cries out Soushi’s name. Back at the island, Maya launches and goes after Kazuki and sees him flying back. They both land and Kazuki exists the Mark Sein. He tells Soushi that he will wait for him at the island. Kazuki looks over and sees Maya waiting for him. Soushi narrates that he will choose the path of life, even if it is full of pain, in order to meet Kazuki again. He says he will return one day if he believes.
This was one hell of a finale. The Festums failed to understand humanity and weren’t ready for coexistence so they had to be destroyed. Idun finally meets his end here, and it’s about time. Burns is also killed, but he was really only a minor character anyway. Tsubaki makes the choice to become one with the island to save it. Before, we had just seen her as an upbeat young girl that cheerfully accepted her fate, but when she was actually faced with it, she was just like a regular girl and was afraid. Soushi follows his sister and ends his existence, but assures Kazuki that he will return. It would have been nice to see an epilogue where Kazuki and Maya share a moment, but that hardly deters the power of the ending. The Festum have been destroyed, the UN is exhausted and Tatsumiya Island has become a paradise once again. In the end, Fafner is just a great anime. It takes a few episodes to speed up but it is definitely a series any sci-fi/mecha fan should check out.
Fafner Info
Director:
Nobuyoshi Habara
Writer(s):
Tow Ubukata
Yasuo Yamabe
Kazuki Yamanobe
Mechanical Designer:
Naohiro Washio
Character Designer:
Hisashi Hirai
Musical Composer:
Tsuneyoshi Saito
Format:
26 episodes
Airdates:
Japan 07.04.2004 – 12.26.2004
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