AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline

Episodes 9-10

With our heroes' requisite good deed for the month done, you'd think it would be time to return to the battlefield for some more robot-exploding action. But instead AMAIM sees fit to follow up its quietest episode with an equally somber character episode for Gashin. That's something that's been necessary for a while now, since besides not liking vegetables and having a dead dad, our dark and brooding second-in-command hasn't gotten much development beyond his introduction. And sadly he doesn't really get much here either, as his troubled reunion with a former friend leaves off on a decidedly inconclusive note.

To an extent that's understandable, since the ideas Yuu brings forth are genuinely interesting, and something that could be explored across multiple episodes. Rather than continuing an unbalanced fight in the armed resistance, he left to build an autonomous community within the strictures of foreign occupation. In a lot of ways it's just a larger and more complicated version of what our heroes did in rebuilding that village: working towards building a stable and dependable life for the people at large. Working within a corrupt system to make things better isn't new to the mecha genre – it's basically what Suzaku spent half of Code Geass failing to do after all – but it's at least an engaging idea that can compare to our heroes' more lionized freedom fighting narrative, and in a well-written story, it could provide an intriguing perspective.

Unfortunately episode 9 doesn't really do much with the idea, as the focus is almost entirely on Yuu being a spy for the occupying military. Now yes, this does bring up the issue of just how “autonomous” his city could ever be when they are still beholden to the whims of an authoritarian military leadership, but as has become the norm in AMAIM, the topic isn't really delved into beyond a surface-level conflict. Also I'm pretty sure the city is literally called “Autonomous City”, which doesn't help make this feel like less of a first draft that inexplicably made it to publishing.

But hey, that could be forgiven if the story at the center – Gashin struggling with whether or not to trust the closest person he has left to family despite all signs pointing to betrayal – was delivered well. Unfortunately it just kind of stops, without any real conclusion besides letting Yuu get away with some bad info and not shooting him in the back. Even ignoring all the questions this raises about the Resistance's security that they knowingly let an enemy spy into their current base and be alone with their trio of important pilots/AI companions, that just doesn't feel like an ending. Maybe Yuu will come back later and we'll bring this topic back up, but the episode we have right now just squitters to a conclusion that's supposed to be bittersweet, but feels more like the writers forgot to write a third act to the story. Doesn't help that Amou and Shion are completely cut out of this whole thing; having them learn more about Gashin, even helping him through this, would have been a great way to let our characters feel like a real unit.

Things at least pick up on the action front in episode 10, even if it also winds up feeling incomplete by the time the ED lands. This time we're introduced to yet another foreign military commander, and Major Zelenoy looks to actually be sticking around in the grand scheme of things. He's yet another stock antagonist, but at least his brand of dandy and refined villainy is amusing to watch. The animation goes all out in showing just how fancy this off-brand Gundam antagonist is, and since he's actually here to be more than just a cardboard cutout for our heroes to knock down in an episode, he even gets some personality and motive outside of being evil! He's very much the honorable fighter who desires glory and respect on the battlefield, and faces off with the kids in a manned AMAIM of his own. It's not a lot, but compared to most of our past enemies, a little still goes a long way.

The actual fight is pretty fun too, even if the clever scheme our heroes work out to win doesn't amount to much. Gai and the other AI mascots have been convenient tools for bypassing the stickier aspects of our heroes trying to stay under the radar, but it turns out a sci-fi war story where one side can instantly and effortlessly hack the other's security and sensor systems makes for a pretty lopsided offensive. I was actually somewhat hoping that Amou's idea for countering the enemy's surveillance web would involve him building or tinkering with something, but alas it's just Gai and the other two digimon doing everything offscreen. Thankfully the skirmish against Zelenoy is solid. It's fast, tense, and our heroes actually have to work together to counter him. I do hope he eventually gets a cooler-looking custom AMAIM, since the one this episode is just silly looking in the wrong way, and undercuts the danger he legitimately poses.

Unfortunately there's not much followup to that fight. Our heroes help another group of anonymous Good Guys get out of dodge, and Gashin apparently re-learns that fighting oppression is good, but otherwise not much has changed with our cast. And that's the main issue with both of these episodes. Neither is bad, but they never come out feeling like much has been accomplished or developed. That could just be a consequence of setting up things to be resolved later on, but for now it leaves things feeling hollow.

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AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline is currently streaming on Funimation.