It appears that Kei Narutani can’t stand about Phantom stomping everyone after beating both Eagle and Gripen on the previous episode.
However in Haruka Yashiodori’s defense, the reason why Phantom is so damn good during the mock battle is because Phantom was Yashiodori’s first creation. Not only that, but Phantom has far more experience than any of the Anima stationed in Komatsu Air Base, which is why Eagle and Gripen couldn’t land a hit on her.
And speaking of Gripen, seems that she waited for Kei Narutani to come out of the director’s office for so long that she’s very, very hungry.
Um Gripen, if you’re hungry, I think you should get some food right away instead of waiting for Narutani.
Anyways, both Kei Narutani and Gripen ate some lunch at her secret base, although Gripen wants to share this delicious karaage to Kei as if she’s acting like a girlfriend to him. Hmm, I wonder if Gripen has some intimate feelings to Narutani?
By the way, it turns out that when it comes to creating Anima, only one will be created from a specific airplane. For example, if one created an Anima based on an F-15 Eagle, no one will create another based on that fighter plane. So yeah, they can’t create an army of F-15 Animas.
Now let’s move onto the next scene as Kei Narutani is spending his rest day shopping with Song Minghua. C’mon, Kei needs some time out after days of taking care of Gripen at Komatsu Air Base.
Then again, Kei Narutani’s rest day will be halted as he was called for an emergency sortie. Sorry Minghua, but Kei has important things to do like saving the world from the Xi menace.
In any case, the Independent Mixed Test Unit are called in to destroy an enemy Xi base at an uninhabitable island at the East China Sea. And really, it’s gonna be a long fight!
Anyways, Kei Narutani asked Phantom on why she fights against the Xi in the first place.
Well, Phantom gave him a simple answer. She went through hell… a lot!
You see, Phantom became a seasoned Anima after undergoing various simulations that broke her spirit countless times for over a century. Not quite a century, but Phantom saw people die through various scenarios.
Over time, Phantom learned how to deal with the Xi effectively, even at the cost of sacrificing a country like Japan because protecting the majority of humanity is important to her over the lives of one particular nation. For Kei Narutani however, he won’t accept her cruel methods.
Now then, it’s time to begin their missing as Eagle fires a salvo of missiles against the Xi. While Eagle mostly took care of those small-fries, she’s not prepared on what comes next.
You see, the Xi are relentless that they took down the Eagle daughter plane with only machine gun fire.
Well, laser machine gun fire but still, seems that Eagle has disappointed the entire fighter plane family yet again as she got shot down. Oh, and it’s even worse when Eagle sustained damage during a real dog fight. Then again, this is just the beginning…
Turns out that the Xi’s forward operating base has a secret weapon where it launched a missile straight to the air.
And what happens next is that the missile explodes, which releases tons of shrapnel that jams the daughter’s sub-systems ranging from radar to weapons control.
As you can see, Kei Narutani and Gripen are not prepared to this attack that continuing the mission will be impossible. In fact, being exposed to this shrapnel for too long might bring their daughter down.
Thus, the Independent Mixed Test Unit made their retreat to a nearby island for resupply. Of course, time is not on their side as the Xi will finish their base and launch an attack against Japan.
Still, the reason for their failed mission is because Eagle blamed Phantom for not cooperating with her fellow Anima. Then again, Phantom countered her claim as she told Eagle that she’s suck at surviving the enemy’s attacks.
Oh and to make it worse, Kei Narutani mocks Phantom that the mission is nothing compared to the Xi’s attack at Komatsu Air Base where Gripen shot most of the enemy down, including the boss. That made Phantom angry as she’ll eat Kei’s words once they returned to the battlefield.
But anyways, seems that the Independent Mixed Test Unit is not looking well, teamwork-wise. At this point, they’ll end up shooting each other instead of destroying the Xi. So until the next episode comes to turn things around, there’s nothing that Director Yashiodori can do but to face the inevitable!
The Anime Rambler - By Benigmatica 