Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms

Episode 12

With its final episode, the consistently fun Mecha-Ude culminates in its most extended battle sequence yet, as Alma and Fist finally fight out their ideological differences, brother- to-brother. During a brief flashback, we learn Fist was originally derized to Tsukihito, who sacrificed himself after the Ordela-caused explosion by donating Fist to his injured brother Yakumo, saving his life. The loss of Tsukihito, especially once he learned the explosion was caused by human interference, led to Fist's general hatred of humanity – a hate borne from love, a contradiction at the heart of Fist's Mecha-Ude supremacist ideology. Fist's traumatic loss led him to mind-control Yakumo's body and steer both the Kagami Group and ARMS towards his agenda. At this moment, the only two who can stand in his way are his own brother Alma and his partner Hikaru.

Alma has processed his grief at losing Yakumo in a far healthier way, making friends, and forming a new, equal partnership with Hikaru. In contrast, Fist has moved on from Yakumo's disintegrating corpse and forced Jun Kagami to be his new host, against his will. Alma and Fist's treatment of their human partners couldn't be more diametrically opposed. So what happens with competing ideologies in anime-land? Massive showy fights! For some reason, Hikaru fights bare-chested, as he and Jun both sprout glowing wings, allowing their conflict to move into the sky.

Studio TriF goes all out with the fight scene here – it takes up the majority of this episode's runtime, which doesn't leave much room left for plot or relationship resolution. I'll repeat myself again – Mecha-Ude is a great show, but would have been even better at twice the length. Important plot points flash by in the blink of an eye, leaving barely enough time to digest their significance before it's on to the next thing, the next fight sequence.

Although the frame rate is kept consistently quite low, Mecha-Ude's sheer style and verve keep the action moving at a breakneck clip, with expertly-staged composition and fight choreography. The camera is always in motion as we skip quickly from one creative angle to the next, but without sacrificing coherence. That's a big deal for such a fast-moving show, it's testament to its animators' skill that the viewer is never confused about what's happening, or where. I felt a little worn-down by the length of the final fight, but that's just me; my mind tends to wander with overly-elaborate fight scenes, it's not a flaw of the material. After all, the action animation is one of Mecha-Ude's primary attractions.

Once Hikaru and Alma are ultimately triumphant and the world is saved, we quickly skip through some brief concluding scenes, as the central pair make a heartfelt farewell. For some reason, Mecha-Ude decides to throw in a random new story arc about a new group of Mech-Ude users who look like they're utilizing left-over bits of Amaryllis, the Mecha-Ude That Is Unable To Die. I'm not sure why time is wasted on this when it feels like the primary plot's events are wrapped up too quickly, even if we do get a lovely montage during the closing credits that hints where our characters go next. Hiroyuki Sawano's slightly modified ending song for this episode, “Arma,” with its altered lyrics, made my eyes a little moist. I'll miss this daft, rapidly-paced, overstuffed, but ridiculously fun show. It's a miracle that its YouTube short Kickstarter was successful enough to spawn an entire 12- episode season. I wonder what it would take for Pony Canyon to fund another?

Rating:

Mechanical Musings (discussion of potential sequel details from closing credits montage): • Human-shaped homeworld Mecha-Ude look kind of scary, as does the enormous King Mecha-Ude.

• Aki and Hikaru go on a fairground date! Aki stuffs her face! Meru stalks them in the background, because of course she does!

• Hikaru and Alma reunite at some point!

• There's a Mecha-Ude-users' rock band? Could this be a tease for a music-based spinoff??

• Looks like a reformed Fist gets repaired and derizes with Jun, because Jun's got blue hair again, and he's using a Fist/Alma-like Mecha-Ude.

• That shot of Jun, Hikaru, and Aki standing ready to fight as the King Mecha-Ude casts his shadow over them is super-cool. We absolutely need a second season to show us what happens next.

Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.