Review: Knights of Sidonia “Resolve”

There’s much to be said about a man who never knows what goes on around him. See: Nagate.

Spoilers Below

After the ending of “Salutations,” I was amped for “Resolve.” We see a massive Gauna pod coming towards Sidonia, and we fast forward to the end of the fight, where Nagate wakes up. He seems a little…cold to the news that Hoshijiro died in the battle. Luckily, we get what happened in the battle now.

This was a plot twist. I wasn’t expecting Kunato to make Nagate out to be the failure here, at all. But when you don’t get your honor and glory, things like that tend to happen. Again, this is mostly conjecture, because we only have one isolated incident with the switched comms and Kunato’s normal cold demeanor when it comes to anyone that isn’t himself. The good thing is that Nagate is actually going through the fight records, and sees the actions that transpired. These actions show Hoshijiro getting shit-whipped by the Gauna, via Nagate going through the fight data. The writers let Nagate show a little more emotion than in “Salutations” when it concerns Hoshijiro, but not the same as anyone else would show.

What strikes me odd in “Resolve,” is how Kobayashi is steadfast in keeping Nagate. Normally, the person in power would not hesitate to ground someone who screwed up as hard as Nagate did. However, when Ochiai tells Kobayashi about what the public thinks, she doesn’t really care, and is going to keep going on this course. A leader who remains steadfast in her decisions is something to speak of. We see too much wavering in anime, especially when someone screws up. I am liking Kobayashi even more.

That feeling gets tested, though. Later on in “Resolve,” Kobayashi is just floating in a white light, and is just acting rather weird. Check that, floating naked without her mask, with Ochiai on a video feed. However, my interests are piqued again when Kobayashi puts the Ressurection Ritual with Professor Yure. There’s a lot that is getting interesting this week.

I was on the floor laughing when Hiyama busts down Nagate’s door, because Nagate acted like a vampire. No, not the diamond skinned fruitcakes from Twilight, I’m talking about the ones who can’t live in light. This bear just takes Nagate, and throws him out of the room so she can clean. Hiyama is easily my favorite character, because she’s a strong bear woman, and she don’t need no man!

Finally, we get to see the reactions of other pilots, and the citizens of Sidonia. The reactions of the citizens is a microcosm of the reactions fans in real life have to their heroes when they falter or do something that the fans don’t like. It’s like when a quarterback has a terrible season after going to the Super Bowl the previous year. His fans are ready to proclaim him king, then ready to get a lynch mob the next season. Nagate is going through that now, because citizens are throwing rocks at him. All of this reaction leads me back to how I feel about Kunato. I think he’s trying to frame Nagate so Kunato can get his glory.

With Seii getting deployed as a pilot, Yuhata is now the Probationary Commander of Sidonia. As she is walking into command, she finds the planet where the Gauna fled to. She relays this to Kobayashi, who then wants to use a planet busting Interplanetary Missile on it. As I am watching “Resolve,” all I can think is that this is a terrible idea. After the missile detonates the core, three objects are making their way out. It looks like my suspicions were confirmed.

After Yuhata forms a supression squad, the three objects take a very surprising shape. To see it, you need to watch “Resolve.” The surprise is well worth it.

Overall, I feel rather slighted. I wanted to see more of the fight at the beginning. Instead, we got a lot of the aftermath. I know we need it, but we need more of how bad Nagate supposedly screwed up. I can’t buy that he did all of this, especially with what Kunato said in a closed comm channel. I want to be excited about the next episode, but I feel like I am just going to get let down again.