MospeadaReviews

Mospeada Ep. 15: Breaking Up Ballad

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Summary

Gamo leads a nighttime patrol of Eagers. In a ruined city, Stick and Yellow examine a map where they’ve been marking their progress. They’ve finally reached the tip of South America, but they’ll have to cross the ocean to reach North America and their ultimate destination, Reflex Point. Ray, Houquet and Jim drive through the streets and come under fire from the Gamo and Eagers. Aisha begins to feel a headache, and Stick asks Yellow to take care of her as they drive off on their bikes. Stick transforms his MOSPEADA and opens fire on the Gamo. Ray and the others use his distraction to escape into a subway tunnel. Stick catches up, but the Gamo opens fire from above ground and causes the tunnel to collapse behind them. The ceiling crumbles over the truck, but Jim is able to break free. The Gamo is able to track their life signs and continues fire, forcing everyone to hide. The Gamo causes a building to collapse into the subway tunnel before finally ceasing fire and leaving the search to the Eagers. Although the tunnel is collapsed, Stick can hear Inbit from the other side. Jim knocks Stick down and says everything is his fault because he wanted to go to Reflex Point. Jim knocks away Yellow and Ray and starts slamming Stick against the ground until the others stop him. Yellow punches Jim in the face to calm him down and asks why he didn’t speak up if he didn’t want to go to Reflex Point. Ray says no one will think badly of Jim if he doesn’t want to go, and Jim punches him. He says no one understands his feelings or cares about how he feels. Stick wakes up and tells Jim he should go back if he doesn’t want to come to Reflex Point. Jim says that he’s a coward and that he should’ve never joined the military. Yellow tells Jim to shut up because he doesn’t want to hear unmanly excuses.

As the Eagers search the tunnel, Ray and Houquet try to look for an exit. Houquet says she doesn’t want to be with the group anymore and wonders if she should go back. Ray asks if she’s scared and says the Inbit attacks will probably become more fierce now. He says he may look ok, but there have been times where he’s scared while fighting the Inbit. He sometimes wonders why he’s risking his life, and Houquet says she’s felt the same way. Ray jokingly asks if Houquet is ok with leaving behind someone she likes, namely him, but also possibly Stick or Yellow. Houquet thinks her hair has become messy, but Ray says it looks pretty. He tries to put his arm around her, but she stands up and tells him to stop trying to be smooth. Ray says it’s ok because they’re not each other’s types, and they laugh about it. After returning to the group, Houquet announces that she’s leaving. Ray says he hasn’t decided what he’s going to do and asks Jim to come with him. But the first thing is getting out of the tunnel, so Ray asks Jim how much HBT they have. Houquet struggles to open the Jeep‘s damaged trunk, so Jim opens it and removes the HBT. He then ties it to the front of a rail that Ray has attached to a subway car. Ray and Houquet then use the thrust of the MOSPEADA and Bartley to accelerate the subway car. Stick then fires at the HBT cannisters, causing an explosion that allows the subway car to break through. They then attack and destroy the three Eagers waiting on the other side. After emerging on the street, they’re all surprised to see Mint. She says she doesn’t want to talk about her divorce and will instead travel with them again. Ray then tells her that he, Jim and Houquet are leaving the group and that she should come with them. Ray asks Aisha what she’ll do, and she says she’s going with Stick. Jim then changes his mind and decides to stay. Ray and Houquet then leave on their bikes, and Ray comments that all the men used to pay attention to Houquet until Aisha showed up. Houquet tells him it’s not like that as they drive off in the rain. As the group heads out, Houquet turns around and rejoins them, followed by Ray.

Commentary

The group has been traveling together for a long time, so it figures that eventually someone would snap. I had thought for a moment that perhaps Jim had claustrophobia, but it was really just him going berserk and snapping on Stick. Jim then reveals that he only joined the military for the food and to support his family, and this leads to his decision to leave the group. This creates a domino effect with Ray and Houquet deciding to leave too. Although Ray jokes that he and Houquet aren’t each other’s type, it certainly seems as though he might have some interest in her. Despite the impending split, the group works together to defeat the Inbit that are hounding them. Mint then appears out of nowhere and with no explanation for why she’s back. Jim then decides he’s not going to leave. We then have an inexplicable scene where Ray and Houquet leave, only to change their minds literally a moment later. I’m not sure what the point of that was, other than to maybe create a moment of drama or fill in a moment of time. Either way, the group is fully reunited as their journey enters a new phase.

Overall Rating
3/5
Mospeada Info


Director:
Katsuhisa Yamada

Writer(s):
Sukehiro Tomita
Kenji Terada
Ryo Yasumura
Satoshi Namiki

Mechanical Designer(s):
Shinji Aramaki
Hideki Kakinuma

Character Designer:
Yoshitaka Amano

Musical Composer(s):
Joe Hisaishi
Hiroshi Ogasawara

Format:
25 episodes; 1 compilation OVA

Airdates:
Japan 10.02.1983 – 03.25.1984

OVA Release:
Japan 09.21.1985

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