ReviewsVOTOMS

VOTOMS Pailsen Files Ep. 12: Monad

0
Summary

Several Fattys come in from behind and damage Kochak’s Scopedog. In space, Gilgamesh battleships unleash a massive barrage on Monad. Rackinson comments that Wokkam’s plan is proceeding perfectly, and Nehalco says they’ll have to get on Wokkam’s good side after this. Wokkam asks for a status report, and Ruske tells him that he’ll win even if Chirico and the others die. Wokkam thinks that would be bad because immortal soldiers are useful to have, even in peacetime. Back on Monad, Godan asks Kochak if he’s ok since his chest is bleeding. Kochak says he’s ok because he’s a supreme survivor and tightens his belt. He then gets into his Scopedog and says he can’t die. Kochak then rushes out into the open and starts firing his machine gun. Several Fattys open fire from above and destroy his Scopedog, blowing him to pieces. Barkoff and the others destroy the Fattys, and Godan asks Barkoff what’s going on. Barkoff simply says that Kochak’s flesh and blood are everywhere. He wonders if Kochak was an exception and wasn’t a supreme survivor, but Godan doesn’t believe it and says Pailsen spent his life looking for people like them. Godan points his bazooka at Chirico and asks what’s going on, so Chirico answers that they have a high survival rate and can alter their environments and physical laws to an extent. Godan then fires his bazooka at Chirico, knocking him off of his platform. He then turns his bazooka to Barkoff and Zaki and orders them to show themselves to the enemy. As soon as they do, several Fattys attack, forcing them to fall back. Godan yells at them not to run, but his Scopedog is hit by two bazooka rounds from the Fattys. After the smoke clears, everyone sees that the arms and head have been blown off of Godan’s Scopedog. Godan says he won’t die like Kochak, and Barkoff tries to patch up his wounds and administer painkillers. Godan says he can give up his Grim Reaper name because he was a supreme survivor and his body just reacted so he could live. He then sits down on his Scopedog and dies. Chirico snipes several Fattys from a high platform. Zaki comments that Godan wasn’t a supreme survivor either, but Barkoff believes they’ll survive. More and more Fattys pour in, and Barkoff tells Zaki they can think about what they are after the war ends. A Fatty slams into Chirico, but he quickly arm punches the cockpit and kills the pilot. The planet then shakes, and Barkoff notices that the Balarant are gone. The planet shakes again, and Chirico runs over to the Fatty and connects his pilot suit to its radio. Barkoff asks what’s going on, and Chirico explains there’s an order for all Balarant forces to escape. Barkoff wonders if the Balarant did something to the core, but Chirico says they wouldn’t have been able to do that. Chirico suggests looking for an LCS ejection catapult so they can escape.

Chirico, Barkoff and Zaki survey the situation and find an army of Fattys blocking their escape route. Using two Dog Carriers, they assault the Fattys from above and fly ahead of them. Larkinson thinks to himself that Monad’s core is an unknown ball of energy like Quent’s, and Ruske thinks to himself that no one could’ve predicted a planetary explosion, with Wokkam wondering why this has to happen now. Barkoff opens the door to the ejection catapult and is immediately attacked by a Fatty, which injures him and damages his Scopedog. He says he’s not a supreme survivor either and will defend the area while Chirico and Zaki escape. Chirico and Zaki work on the computers to secure an LCS while Barkoff holds off a large squad of Fattys with two machine guns. Zaki tries to run back and help Barkoff, but Chirico stops him by punching him in the stomach to knock him out. The continued fire from the Fattys eventually overwhelms Barkoff, and his Scopedog hits the floor. When the Fattys move in closer to investigate, he sets off all his shoulder-mounted rockets at point blank range and destroys the whole area. Chirico hauls unconscious Zaki into the LCS and initiates the escape sequence. The core of Monad goes out of control, and the planet explodes, taking the Gilgamesh fleet with it in the shockwave. Nehalco can’t believe it and says there’s never been such a massacre in Gilgamesh history. Rackinson orders martial law and gives orders to mark Wokkam. Ruske says Monad’s explosion wasn’t their fault, but Wokkam answers that he’s given the military good reason to get rid of him now. Electricity is then cut off at the Department of Intelligence building, and soldiers break through the front gate. Wokkam and Ruske get into the limo so he can report the experiment results to another loser. In deep space, Zaki wakes up inside the LCS pod, and Chirico says they have to go into deep sleep to conserve oxygen. Zaki suddenly recalls shooting targets with Chirico’s picture and pulls out his gun. He reminds Chirico that he has an urge to kill him, even when there’s no reason for it. Chirico tells Zaki his mind must’ve been conditioned to do that, and he asks Zaki if he wants to be controlled by another person. Zaki struggles with himself and says his body is going to pull the trigger. Chirico then tries to grab the gun and it goes off, causing the bullet to ricochet inside the cockpit and graze both of them. Zaki tells Chirico that the real supreme survivor won’t die in a place like this, and he wants Chirico to find Pailsen and get revenge for the person controlling him. Zaki knocks Chirico and turns the gun on himself, filling his chest with a load of bullets. Wokkam’s helicopter lands at the hospital on Kuzusk. Menken tells Pailsen that it may have been reckless to have Zaki meet Chirico so soon, but he’s impressed that Zaki lived so long and thinks they can do more precise brainwashing in the future. Wokkam enters the room and is shocked to see Pailsen in good condition and dressed in his uniform. Wokkam asks what’s going on, and Pailsen explains that Menken was a spy working for him since the beginning. Wokkam says everyone died, and Pailsen says everything happened because Wokkam believed what was in his files. Wokkam shouts that he broke the code and performed the experiment Pailsen couldn’t. He says he wasn’t being manipulated, and Pailsen asks him if it was necessary to take Monad. He says taking the planet was impossible, but Wokkam thought it was possible for supreme survivors to do it. He then thanks Wokkam for creating a worse battlefield than he imagined, and Ruske realizes the fake data in the files influenced Wokkam’s decisions. As Pailsen walks to his helicopter, Wokkam orders Ruske to kill him. Ruske instead asks Pailsen if Chirico survived and offers his assistance. Wokkam pulls out a gun, but Ruske kills him. Wokkam dies, and Ruske declares that his own name will disappear from history. After putting Zaki in a body bag, Chirico injects himself with a syringe and goes to sleep.

Commentary

Well, Pailsen Files certainly ends with an explosive finale. As I expected, everyone let the whole “supreme survivors” thing get to their heads, and they paid the price for their recklessness. Kochak was the first to go crazy, and Godan lost it and shot at his own allies. Barkoff got to have a heroic death taking out a large number of Fattys, and Zaki committed suicide to fight the brainwashing compelling him to kill Chirico. Of course, these four men simply had to die because there’s no place for them in the story of the TV series. However, their sudden deaths were handled well because it resulted from their recklessness and arrogance. At the same time, Wokkam pays the price for his arrogance when Monad explodes and takes about 120 million Gilgamesh soldiers with it. In the end, Wokkam was nowhere near as smart as he thought, and he was totally played for a fool by Pailsen. It’s also interesting that Ruske kills him and pledges his service to Pailsen. The comment that his name will fade from history seems to indicate that he became the Chirico-obsessed Jean-Paul Rochina from the TV series. I’d always thought there was a connection between the two since they look almost exactly the same and are played by the same voice actor. One element that had initially bothered me about this series was the quality of the CG used during combat scenes, but it has definitely improved by the time the story reaches Monad. In the end, Pailsen is free again, and this series has served pretty well in returning to the VOTOMS world and bridging the gap between Origin of Ambition and the TV series. However, I’d recommend watching the TV series first, since Pailsen Files definitely spoils things that viewers aren’t supposed to be aware of until later in the TV series. Either way, it’s a good entry for a franchise that very rarely gets animated sequels (but definitely deserves more).

Overall Rating
4/5
Pailsen Files Info


Director:
Ryosuke Takahashi

Writer(s):
Fuyunori Gobu
Soji Yoshikawa
Ryosuke Takahashi
Masayuki Nishimura

Mechanical Designer:
Kunio Okawara

Character Designer:
Norio Shioyama

Musical Composer(s):
Hiroki Inui
Yasuaki Maejima

Format:
12 episodes; 1 compilation movie

Video Release:
Japan 10.26.2007 – 08.22.2008
U.S. 05.14.2019

Theatrical Release:
Japan 01.17.2009

Comments

Comments are closed.