Anyways, here’s Rhino as she told Kei Narutani that she found a fuel tank at the hangar. Well, at least she found something for their daughter planes because having no fuel sucks hard.
With that said, Kei put some fuel on the Gripen daughter plane in order to get out from Shanghai Pudong International Airport and reunite with the Independent Mixed Test Unit.
Sure that the airport is working fine, but being stuck in enemy territory for much longer doesn’t sit well for Narutani.
In fact, Kei Narutani felt something ominous that he’s in danger. I mean, it doesn’t help that the sky is always dark!
Well, at least Kei has Rhino to accompany him during these harsh times, but something feels off towards the Anima?
In fact, Rhino’s body is surrounded by these weird crystals. Oh, and Rhino has a gun in which she’s about to shoot Narutani.
Wait, don’t tell me that the Xi brainwash Rhino to kill Kei Narutani? Well if that’s the case, I guess it’s time for him and Gripen to get out of this airport as quickly as they can.
Also, Rhino is a lost cause as she becomes the enemy now thanks to Xi’s influence. With that said, time for Kei Narutani to distract Rhino and get the hell out of this place!
But first, time for Kei to wake Gripen up as he’s being chased down by Rhino. Good thing he didn’t get shot in the head because really, that was a close call as Kei got a scratch on his face.
Anyways, Kei Narutani went to Gripen’s room where she’s currently sleeping like a princess. Of course, he’s worried that the Xi took over her mind…
In fact, Gripen’s consciousness is trapped inside a dream. Damn, I don’t want Gripen to become an enemy.
However, it appears that there’s still hope as Gripen saw some of her memories, mostly fond ones with Kei Narutani.
Honestly, Kei is the one who gave Gripen on how to be a human being, and a reason to defend humanity despite being made using Xi technology.
In any case, looks like Kei Narutani managed to get inside her room and took Gripen out of the airport. Still, getting out of the facility is one thing…
Escaping is the most difficult part as Kei must fly the daughter plane out of China and return to the aircraft carrier. Let’s hope that he has enough fuel to get out of enemy territory.
And so, the Gripen daughter plane takes off as Kei Narutani will escape the airport together with his Anima partner.
But of course, he and Gripen must deal with Rhino as she’s begging them to get back at the airport or Rhino will shoot them down.
Speaking of Rhino, she look so hideous and menacing that the Xi took over her psyche and become a deranged Anima. Maybe the reason why she became an enemy so easily is because Rhino is being treated as a tool.
Seriously, it’s sad that she’s being treated as expendable by the United States Air Force. It’s no wonder why Director Haruka Yashiodori criticize his colleage William Shankle when it comes to treating Anima.
On the other hand, it appears that the Xi attempts to brainwash Gripen, which is bad because Kei Narutani might be in danger if his partner attempts to kill him off while inside the airplane.
So, the only thing that Kei can do is to snap Gripen out from the enemy’s influence. Let’s hope that his words would reach Gripen.
Fortunately, Gripen got a hold of herself thanks to Narutani’s words. Even though Kei manage to stop the Xi from brainwashing Gripen, it’s not over yet because they need to deal with Rhino.
So, the only thing that they’ll do is to fire a missile against Rhino. Oh yeah, and they have only one shot of finishing her off because their daughter plane don’t have another spare missile to bring Rhino down.
Luckily, the missile managed to bring Rhino down. Then again, it’s regrettable that Kei Narutani and Gripen didn’t save Rhino from Xi’s powerful influence. So while they manage to destroy their former ally…
…Kei Narutani and Gripen will have to deal with these small-fries in order to get out of China.
Problem is that they don’t have any missiles to bring them down and their autocannons might not hit them. Basically, they’re sitting ducks!
Just kidding, it appears that Kei Narutani and Gripen got lucky as someone managed to save them.
And what do you know, it’s the Independent Mixed Test Unit where Phantom and Eagle are here to rescue their comrade from getting destroyed by the enemy.
By the way, Phantom told Kei Narutani that they’re gone for 3 hours. Come to think of it, I feel that time has slowed down upon entering places that are controlled by the Xi.
Oh, and the mission to reclaim China was cancelled as the Brawler planes gone haywire and attacked its allies. Looks like William Shankle will have to go back to the drawing board on his unmanned plane project.
On the other hand, there are some who are disappointed at the outcome of this perilous mission like Eagle for example, who really wanted to shoot more Xi because she’s itching for a fight.
Then again, Eagle is just carrying out a rescue mission. And also, looks like her prey got taken out by someone else…
Someone like Viper Zero in which this daughter plane made another appearance. I guess Eagle got so mad that she didn’t shoot down anything.
With that said, looks like the Independent Mixed Test Unit managed to rescue Gripen and Kei Narutani. Well, apart from Rhino of course in which she became a full-fledged Xi.
And afterwards, Director Yashiodori told Narutani that the joint mission was a failure. Maybe invading China when they only have 4 daughter planes and a bunch of hackable drones is a bad idea.
Also, Director Yashiodori told him about Rhino’s unfortunate fate as it turns out that the United States Air Force put some restrictions on her thoughts and actions. Of course, Rhino became a different being once the Xi destroyed those safeties and took over her mind that Rhino almost killed Kei Narutani in China.
While Director Yashiodori explained that Gripen and the rest have safeties that will prevent them from becoming rogue, there’s no telling when will those safeties removed. In any case, he told Kei to treat the Anima as humans so that they won’t become enemies later on. I mean, Kei’s friendship with Gripen has proved that humanity and Anima can co-exist.
But speaking of Gripen, maybe it was fate that brought her towards Kei Narutani that they’re meant to be together. Then again, it was Kei’s decision to rescue Gripen at the East China Sea that they became partners in the end.
Of course, they’ll remain friends for now but their battle against the Xi is just the beginning. Come to think of it, I still don’t know why the Xi existed in the first place and why they wage war against humanity. Maybe they want humanity not to fight each other or they’re just want to wipe them out, but I’ll never know the truth unless you pick up the light novels.
And thus, we’ve reached the ending of Girly Air Force. It’s an interesting show by Satelight who are know for creating stunning air battles just like the Macross series. Sadly, that’s not the case as this anime has some faults that it wasn’t the best. At least there are characters that are interesting like Gripen, Phantom, and even Rhino in which it was a total surprise that she became a villain.
So, will there ever be another season? I don’t think so as you’ll rather read the novels instead. Then again, I don’t plan to read them since I might not stick to it for far too long. In any case, I’m done watching this show and I hope you have a good day!
The Anime Rambler - By Benigmatica 