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The Wings of Rean Ep. 1: Uninvited One

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Summary

A pair of fighter jets take off from an aircraft carrier. The captain of the ship comments on how politicians think they can control the energy of the Middle East and Far East. The fighter jets pass over Mt. Fiji. Outside of an American military base in Iwakuni, a young man named Rori fires upon the base with a bazooka while his friend Kanamoto drives a jeep they’re in. A woman named Toshiko asks a taxi driver to bring her to the military base. Aesap Suzuki finds his friends Rori and Kanamoto missing from their room. Toshiko, who is Aesap’s mother, tries to call him to no avail but receives another call about the base from Aesap’s father. She thinks Aesap won’t be going along with what his friends will be doing. She tells the taxi driver to instead go to Aesap’s apartment. She finds Aesap there, and the police arrive just after her. TV cameras follow Rori and Kanamoto who call the Americans imperialists. Aesap’s mother tells the police he couldn’t be involved with his terrorist friends and that Aesap is Commander Alex Gortlem’s son. Aesap drives off on his bike, escaping from them. Rori and Kanamoto are pursued by the military as they head to the port. They fire upon the military jeep pursuing them, missing, but causing the police behind the jeep to crash. Aesap is pursued by a helicopter and is on the phone with his friends, wondering why they are heading to the port. A feather appears and Aesap is suddenly knocked off his bike into the water. A large ship with wings at the top of it appears out of the water which Aesap grabs onto. Aesap sees the source of the wings is a woman atop the craft. Another ship appears that Rori and Kanamoto are thrown onto. Amahlgan, an old man on the ship comments on how the princess of Hojo has taken Wings of Rean out of the castle and has thoughtlessly opened the Aura Road. The princess falls from the top of the craft into Aesap, commenting on how they must have come to the Upper Realm via the Aura Road. The leader of the ship, which is called the Kintoki, Commander Kottou, confirms this. Aesap notices how old fashioned the ship he is on is. Kottou says the enemy’s Aploghene ship is here and they must defeat the resistance led by Amahlgan. The Kintoki‘s crew are surprised to see a nearby JSSDF plane but Aesap tells them it is natural to see such a thing. The princess realizes Aesap is from the Upper Realm. Amahlgan, who has Rori and Kanamoto next to him on his ship, says the princess should not be using the Wings of Rean and she should give them to him. The princess says the Wings of Rean were originally given to her father, King Sakomizu. Amahlgan says using them will ruin the order of the world. Rori and Kanamoto realize that although Amahlgan is speaking another language, via telepathy they can understand what he and the others are saying. The princess says Amahlgan is responsible for the escalation of the war due to his aura ships and aura battlers. The Aploghene pulls away from the Kintoki. Rori and Kanamoto call out for Aesap. Two more aura ships, the Renzan and Jinzan, which belong to the princess, appear from out of the water and cross by each other. The military and Aesap’s father are surprised to see the ships flying. Aesap’s mother tries to call his father to tell him about Aesap being pursued by the police. The princess is happy to see that her ships have accompanied them. Amahlgan says this will cause the world to go out of control and even the King wouldn’t have used the Wings of Rean this way. The Kintoki crashes upon the land.

Interference continues to prevent Alex’s father from being able to call anyone. The princess tells Aesap her name is Lyukus Sakomizu of the country of Hojo. Aesap says that Sakomizu is a Japanese name and she says her father is from Japan, a man named Shinjiro Sakomizu. Already knowing Aesap’s name, she says he will help her. The Aploghene lands nearby and Aesap spots some Aura Battlers stored in the side of the ship. Aesap heads through the Kintoki and comments on it not being a normal ship. Lyukus’s men tell her both the Renzan and Jinzan are struggling to suppress the head from their aura thrusters. Lyukus wonders if they are going to sink. Crewmembers led by a woman named Kiki use hoses to cool down the Aploghene and the Aura Battlers inside. Rori and Kanamoto head down to the bridge and Amahlgan asks them about the planes nearby. The two of them think there’s no way the military would be aggressive enough to attack them. Amahlgan asks if they have combat capabilities and the ship shoots down a helicopter that crashes into the base where Aesap’s father is. Lyukus talks to Kottou who says that displaying his power on the Upper Realm via the Wings of Rean was a goal of her father’s. Lyukus says that her father wanted to return to Japan, but didn’t want to do it through military means. The Kintoki fires upon the Aploghene, but the fireball goes out of control, instead setting a nearby bridge on fire. Amahlgan talks to Kiki, who is below preparing their aura battlers to fight against the planes. Lyukus tells Kottou that they must understand those of Upper Earth even if they destroy the military base. He says that the king has claimed that Japan is depraved. Aesap, upset, asks Lyukus if they have come to invade Japan. He asks Lyukus what country this ship is from and she says they’re from Byston Well. One of the military’s planes passes by and signals to the fighter jets nearby. Rori and Kanamoto escape from the Aploghene while those on board try talking with the military troops on the ground. Rori tells Kanamoto that they will escape while the military is distracted. They steal a jeep and drive off. They find an F-35 fighter jet nearby. Lyukus tells Aesap she didn’t order the shooting done by her ship. An explosion knocks the both of them off the ship, but the Wings of Rean appear from Lyukus’s feet, enabling them to fly. The two of them get into a nearby US-1 plane belonging to the Americans, surprising the pilots. The fighter jets do battle with the aura ships. Light suddenly starts appearing from the aura ships. Rori and Kanamoto take off in the F-35 and just narrowly avoid hitting a helicopter. Lyukus argues with the pilots of the US-1 plane who fly over, observing the battle. A man reports to Kottou, telling him that the princess is missing. The aura battlers on the Aploghene continue to overheat and move strangely. One of the crewmembers thinks they are doing this because they are on the Upper Realm. Amahlgan asks why they can’t send out any Ghim Ghenen aura battlers. Aesap’s father notices the wings coming out of the Aura Battlers on the Aploghene. The princess’s three ships pursue the Aploghene, which tries to pull out of their firing range. Lyukus thinks the Wings of Rean drew them to the Upper Realm instead of the country of Hellicon because this world is in more disarray. The fighter jets shoot upon the aura ships, upsetting Aesap’s father. One of the fighter jets launches itself into an aura ship causing a large explosion of light and a big burst of water. When the burst of water goes away, all of the ships are gone. The aura ships and nearby ships head down the Aura road, seeing many strange sights. Aesap says this must be a dream.

Commentary

The Wings of Rean takes the opposite approach of the original Dunbine series, bringing the action to Earth from Byston Well right off the bat for this opening episode. That said, it appears that the action will be going to Byston Well for the next episode. It’s something I’m glad of as even in the original series I never particularly cared for the episodes that took place on Earth. No Aura Battlers are actually used in the episode although we get to see plenty of the interestingly designed Aura ships that are a nice blend of Earth and Byston Well type designs. Inspiration from Garzey’s Wing appears with the return of winged feet, although this time they appear to be from boots rather than part of a person. With double the length of the other Dunbine OVAs, I’m looking forward to seeing if they will be able to put together a more coherent and in depth storyline this time.

Overall Rating
2.5/5
Wings of Rean Info


Director:

Yoshiyuki Tomino

Writer(s):
Yoshiyuki Tomino
Jiro Takayama

Mechanical Designer(s):
Tamotsu Shinohara
Takumi Sakura

Character Designer:
Masashi Kudo

Musical Composer:
Yasuo Higuchi

Format:
26 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 12.16.2005 – 8.18.2006

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