ReviewsXabungle

Xabungle Ep. 13: Destroy First, and Don’t Worry

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Summary

In the bridge of the Iron Gear, Elchi is depressed for leaving the Innocent dome, and Biel. She starts talking as if she is in love with him and gets annoyed at the Sand Rats not being more thankful of him. She also complains about none of them changing after having been in a place of such high culture. They compliment things such as the food being good and the toilets flowing, and all break into laughter. Elchi tells Kotsett to turn the ship around and that she’ll become one of the Innocent. Kotsett says she’ll need more blue stones and a license to get in, and Elchi starts having a tantrum. Meanwhile on Bigman’s Devarace Galan landship, he realizes the Iron Gear is looking for a new bazaar. He is still committed to fighting the Iron Gear, especially with someone aboard it breaking the law. Elchi continues to cry in her room and Lovely Rose and Plopopieff console her. Later, Elchi orders everyone to go camping, and throws some bound tents at Jiron, causing him to fall down the stairs. She says they’ll engrave memories in their hearts by being near the sacred grounds. Rag tells Jiron she’s going along with it as she’s got nothing else to do, although Blume would rather be out stealing. Rag tells Dyke and Blume she’s got plans to get their hands on the Iron Gear someday. Meanwhile one of the Walker Machines travels from Bigman’s landship, having trouble with the muffler. Bigman is told the Iron Gear‘s crew is camping rather than going to the bazaar. He wonders if they are taunting him and says he’ll answer their call with all his forces. Now night time, Elchi looks to the distance and thinks of Biel. Jiron tells Chill that Elchi burst out things she was holding in after they saw the Innocent’s dome. Later that night, Elchi walks out of her tent and runs up towards the Iron Gear‘s deck. Some panthers that were on the cliffs nearby attack but she throws knives at them. Elchi finds Fatman and Kotsett drunk and passed out. Making her way to the bridge she tells Biel she is combing to him and gets the Iron Gear started up. She starts heading off, leaving everyone else behind. Jiron realizes she’s going back to the relay point and runs after the Iron Gear, trying to jump back aboard it. Kotsett realizes what is happening, but they are locked in. Fatman accidentally trips him into the door, knocking Kotsett’s teeth out. Suddenly the Devarace Galan appears before Elchi. Bigman orders his forces to start bombarding the Iron Gear. Elchi orders those in the engine room to fight back. Kotsett shoots his way out of the room, and a ricocheting bullet causes Fatman’s pants to fall down. Kotsett makes his way to the bridge and realizes they left the others behind. Jiron and the others continue to run towards the Iron Gear while panthers chase them. Kotsett wants to hide behind the mountains and transform the Iron Gear into Walker Machine mode, which they quickly do. Bigman orders his forces to keep attacking and surround it. The Iron Gear starts backing up and transforms back into landship mode just as Jiron and the others make their way to it and inside. Jiron gets into one of the Xabungles and heads out, quickly transforming it. Bigman proclaims he’ll get it during the second half of the episode.

Plopopieff, Lovely Rose and the dancers continue to run from the chasing panthers. Jiron jumps off the Iron Gear deck in the Xabungle, with Rag piloting the other Xabungle and getting a weapon from Blume. She wants to end things with one shot and fires right at Bigman’s landship. She then quickly falls back to where Jiron is. Dyke tells Elchi they should fire back but she says she is thinking of their strategy now. She orders Kotsett to transform again now that Plopopieff and the others are back. The Iron Gear proceeds to do so and fires at the enemy Walker Machines. Untrained crew members of the Iron Gear also fight in Walker Machines. Jiron and Rag aim towards one of the landships and are resupplied by their colleagues. Elchi thinks they could be done for and asks Biel what to do. She wants to use the photon cannon they got from him, even though Kotsett says it may not be ready yet. The cannon is raised onto the deck and Blume works on aiming it then fires. The blast hits right above Bigman’s landship and emits fireballs below it. Elchi is gleeful at the results and thanks Biel. Bigman realizes that the Iron Gear has the same weaponry as them and orders his own photon cannon to be fired. It is fired just above the Iron Gear. Elchi realizes that Biel gave the same weapon to the enemy. Blume has a hard time seeing through the smoke and asks them to bring the Iron Gear forward so he can aim it. Jiron instead decides to lift the photon cannon off the Iron Gear and bring it up close to Bigman’s landship. Bigman is told his two supporting landships have fled. Blume fires the photon cannon right into the middle of the Devarace Galan, destroying it. Elchi has a hard time realizing that Biel lied to her about only her being provided the photon cannon. She tells Jiron to search the wreckage of Bigman’s ship. Jiron goes inside and finds the injured Bigman on the ground; everyone else having fled. Jiron asks him why he chased them all this time. Bigman says because they broke the law, but now that he knows they had the photon cannon, and when he thinks about Timp, he realizes they may have been manipulated into a test. Bigman passes away. Jiron wonders why the Innocent would do something like this. Dyke and Chill tell Jiron that Elchi has fled. Jiron says they should return to the Iron Gear and Bigman’s men may return. Elchi meanwhile is riding a small craft towards the woods surrounding the Innocent’s dome, denying to herself that Biel could have lied to her. Jiron yells out to her to return. Timp appears in his Gabament Walker Machine. Timp tells Jiron that the Innocent are letting Elchi get close to their dome so they can barbecue her. He jumps aboard the Xabungle, but Jiron is able to throw him off and he flees. Elchi makes her way to the Innocent dome and begs to be let in. Over the loudspeaker she is told she’d only be allowed in if they were doing business and that the Ascension of Light will occur soon. If she doesn’t obey their orders, her life will be forfeit. Elchi says she doesn’t mind this, but Jiron grabs her with the Xabungle as lights start emitting from the Innocent dome. Jiron tells her the lights were weapons aimed at her. She refuses to believe Biel would be behind something like this. A giant light glows in the mountains, behind the dome and a smaller light ascends into the sky, as if propelled by a rocket.

Commentary

Another good episode with a strong battle between the Iron Gear and Bigman’s forces, with our heroes coming out on top. With Bigman now dead I wonder who the next adversary for our heroes will be. Elchi’s quite obsessed with Biel, a reaction that I admit is kind of expected with how obsessed she is with culture and the Innocent. Even her trying to abandon the Iron Gear and everyone else isn’t the biggest surprise. That said, she is a bit naive, not only thinking that Biel would only provide a key weapon to her, but also that the other Innocent would be the same way as him. This episode makes it quite clear that the Innocent are manipulating the fighting, having provided the same weapon to both sides and lying to them about it. “The Ascension of Light” that occurs at the end of the episode is also an interesting twist. Is it the Innocent launching a rocket to space? In addition to the big battle this episode includes numerous slapstick gags such as Kotsett getting all his teeth knocked out (completely ignored in later scenes) and Fatman’s pants falling down. Bigman breaks the fourth wall, which seems to be a recurring theme in this show. The part I found the funniest though was at the beginning when the Sand Rats were telling Elchi that their favorite part of the Innocent’s dome was the properly flowing toilets.

Overall Rating
4.5/5

Xabungle Info

Director:
Yoshiyuki Tomino

Writer(s):
Tsunehisa Ito
Fuyunori Gobu
Soji Yoshikawa
Yoshihisa Araki

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Yutaka Izubuchi
Tomonori Kogawa
Yoshiaki Akutagawa
Yoshiyuki Tomino

Character Designer:
Tomonori Kogawa

Musical Composer:
Koji Makaino

Format:
50 episodes; 1 compilation movie

Airdates:
Japan 02.06.1982 – 01.29.1983

Theatrical Release:
Japan 07.09.1983

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