By Kei calls Manisha and asks her to send reinforcements to the space elevator. She asks about Mimsy’s condition, and Kei reports that she passed out and has a high fever. Manisha notices that Mimsy’s antennae are curled and tells Kei that he’s going to be a father soon. Kei is excited and tells everyone to follow him. Orguss, Orguss II, the Nikick and M-Lovers approach the elevator. Chiram ships open fire on the Mu forces and destroy multiple robots, although Wesley’s ship comes under fire. Kei flies right into the Mu lines and fires missiles to blast into the elevator. Maaie and Lieea destroy a Mu ship, and Kei asks Athena to get the space-time transformation device. Kei and Olson land inside the elevator, but they quickly get a call for help from Maaie and Lieea. Kei destroys a Mu ship from behind to give them cover to land, and Athena arrives with the device. Several Mu robots suddenly ambush them from above, so Kei tells Athena to hide the device. Kei and Olson provide cover for Athena as more and more robots pour in from above. Everyone falls back to another room, but the Mu immediately blast the door open. Captain enters the elevator and starts blasting the Mu by himself. He tells Kei to hurry up and get to the Great Singularity. Captain thinks about Mome and tells himself that he’ll be with her again soon. Captain is outnumbered and blasted away by a horde of Mu robots. As they fight their way up, Maaie and Lieea stay behind to provide cover since Kei is out of missiles. They unleash a volley of missiles to clear the path for Kei, Olson and Athena. Debris starts to rain down on them as the elevator collapses, so they blast their way out and retreat. The elevator starts to explode below them, so Kei knows they can’t go back. Manisha tells Shaya that Kei has made it past the dimensional barrier, so Shaya leaves to report the news to White. Debris from the elevator’s collapse hits the ground and destroys multiple Mu ships.
White is informed that the singularities have entered the elevator and are heading for the Great Singularity. White knows they just have to wait for the device to be activated, but the officer notes that the space island is still on course to hit the Great Singularity. Kei complains about the distance they have to travel, and Olson asks him how he wants to repair the world. Kei answers that he doesn’t know yet because they’ve touched so many worlds in their travels. The Glomar‘s crew discusses the situation over coffee, and Goovu complains that everyone is being too carefree about trusting everything to Kei. The space island crashes into the spaceship debris, and White is told that it will hit the Great Singularity in an hour. White punches the window in anger and wonders why he can’t find a better way. Kei runs off for a moment and uses his last missile to blast a hole into space. He cries as he releases Mome’s coffin and lets it drift away with the debris. Kei returns to the group as they make the last part of their trip through the elevator. Olson gives Athena his sunglasses and asks for her forgiveness over what he has to do. Kei tries to kiss Mimsy goodbye, but she refuses and says she wouldn’t let him go if he kissed her. They both declare their love for each other, and Athena gives Kei a necklace with a picture of Tina. As they get into the device, Athena finally calls Kei “father” and refers to Olson by his name rather than “uncle.” Kei looks out at Earth and notes that even with the dimensional barrier, it’s beautiful. Kei speeds up the device so that they enter the Great Singularity before the space island hits it. The device passes through the Great Singularity, which sets off a reaction in Jabby’s tail. The device crashes on Earth, and Olson says that the space-time transformation probably hasn’t happened. Kei vomits at the sight of the Bronco IIs, and Olson explains they got thrown out because they’re the singularities. The space-time disorder happened because of the existence of their younger counterparts, so they have to be eliminated. Kei and Olson run over to the Bronco IIs and find they’re abandoned. The younger Olson stops the younger Kei from shooting. Kei addresses his younger self and says that they need to clean up the situation. The four men open fire on each other, and the combined Earths splinter off into many possibilities. In one, Mimsy is together with Kei as a human, and in another she has their baby as an Emaan. Olson and Athena are together in one world, as are Kei and Tina. In another, Mome is an Emaan and Shaya is with Ranse. In yet another world, Kei is an Emaan and has a baby with Mimsy.
Orguss reaches its conclusion with an ending that has long been controversial with fans. The Mu put on quite a fight and take down Captain in the process (although we haven’t seen the last of him). Kei takes a moment out from the mission to give Mome a burial in space, but I wonder where he would’ve gotten the glass capsule he put her in. As the end approaches, everyone makes their final goodbyes. Athena finally stops calling Olson “uncle” and refers to Kei as her father, which shows how far she’s come. The episode’s final moments feature Kei and Olson encountering their younger versions from episode 1, and this is where the controversy comes in. We don’t get a definite answer as to what happened to anyone, but are instead shown glimpses of other possible Earths where people are together in different romantic pairings. Given how many fractured worlds made up this patchwork Earth, I don’t have any particular beef with the ending. Overall, Orguss is an enjoyable show, but not without problems. The story feels padded out, so I think it would’ve been much tighter with 26 episodes rather than 35. Too much time was spent on random battles with the Chiram, or the arc where Manisha was chasing the Glomar to capture Kei and brainwash him. Also, many of the characters, particularly Kei and Athena, get stuck in repetitive holding patterns where they keep acting out, and even when they seem to move forward, they keep falling back into old patterns. Although Orguss shared many key staff with Macross, it doesn’t quite measure up and obviously hasn’t had the same staying power as its Studio Nue kin. It did, however, tend to have more consistent animation that stayed on model to Mikimoto’s character designs, compared to many subpar Anime Friend-produced episodes of Macross. Orguss is a good ride for fans of 1980s mecha shows, but the road isn’t without its share of bumps.
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