Heavy Object

Episode 12

Given the timing of this episode, I can't help but wonder what a Heavy Object holiday special would look like. Maybe the Baby Magnum team would be tasked with defeating an Object with advanced anti-aircraft weapons to stop it from shooting down Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Perhaps Qwenthur and Havia's ever-changing camouflage patterns could shift to a festive color scheme complete with bright red Santa hats. Unfortunately, since it's just business as usual for the show this week, I guess we'll never know.

The team faces two threats at once in this episode: in addition to tracking down and destroying the Break Carrier, they must stop a friendly unit from destroying a dam and flooding the area. Milinda takes her Baby Magnum to join up with Qwenthur and Frolaytia in their pursuit of the enemy Object, while Havia heads off on his own to deal with the dam problem. Qwenthur finds a way to relay the enemy's location to Milinda, allowing her to launch a surprise attack and destroy the Break Carrier. With the battle won, Havia manages to talk his fellow soldiers out of blowing the dam up with explosives. Once everyone makes it off the battlefield in One Piece, Qwenthur uses a particularly risky bluff to discourage one of Frolaytia's suitors from pursuing a marriage proposal.

Splitting up the dynamic duo of Qwenthur and Havia turns out to be an effective way to differentiate this story arc from some of its predecessors. Without a battle buddy to lean on, each of the guys is forced to resolve a dangerous situation using his own abilities. For Havia, this means relying on his negotiation skills (and a generous helping of gunfire) to stall the demolition long enough for the rest of the team to carry out their plan. Qwenthur, on the other hand, ends up running into harm's way in a situation where he might normally hang back and leave the action hero stuff up to Havia. The shift in tactics also allows Milinda and Frolaytia to play more active roles in the mission instead of letting the guys do all the heavy lifting. As a result, the four main characters feel more like a unified team here than they have in the past. I'm hoping that future episodes will continue to develop the characters by pushing them out of their areas of expertise.

I like Qwenthur's improvised solution of using the sound of his handgun to send a coded message, but that plan also plays into one of my problems in this episode. In general, Heavy Object has taken a “hard” sci-fi approach to each new storyline, keeping things as plausible as possible during its futuristic battles. This week, however, it indulges in a timeless action movie vice: bottomless ammo clips. Havia sprays a suspicious number of bullets from his assault rifle, but that's nothing compared to his partner in crime. In an even greater leap of faith, Qwenthur appears to somehow send a lengthy and detailed message in some hybrid of Morse code and binary with nothing but a handful of pistol magazines. It's the kind of sloppy math that can slip by unnoticed in a more over-the-top series, but it stands out like a sore thumb in a show as meticulous as Heavy Object. It's not a deal-breaking offense, but it is far enough out of character to be a distraction.

I also have some mixed feelings about the solution to Frolaytia's marriage problem. On paper, the idea of using Copacabana's upper-class snobbery against him is an intriguing one with the potential to bring about a satisfying ending. In practice, however, the script makes a few questionable decisions. It doesn't seem like Qwenthur would be familiar enough with that aristocratic society to be sure his plan would work, let alone be brash enough to actually carry it out on the spur of the moment. Frolaytia's transition from fury to gratitude is also suspiciously quick, more like the flip of an emotional light switch than a believable swing of emotions. Assuming that the fanservice-tinted presentation of the scene doesn't bother you, the conclusion is still suspiciously neat and tidy. You'd think that rumors of her sleeping with her subordinates would cause just as many problems for Frolaytia as a potential arranged marriage. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from a series that specializes more in machines than it does in humans, but this subplot seems shaky at best.

At the end of the day, it's difficult to stay mad at Heavy Object for having issues in an area that was never its strong suit to begin with. Missteps aside, this episode did a fine job of wrapping up the current story arc and setting the stage for another battle. The mysterious second Object provides an effective boogeyman for the team to face further down the line, which means we finally have some semblance of a connection between multiple groups of episodes. As long as things continue to blow up in spectacular fashion, and the script continues to present fresh challenges for the main characters to overcome, Heavy Object still works.

Rating: B

Heavy Object is currently streaming on Funimation.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.