SYNOPSIS

Harulu meets with mecha designer Gilbal Doku, who claims his experience with heavy mecha means he can beat Ideon. He sets out with a unit to defeat the colonists. Onboard the Solo Ship, the colonists are having trouble contacting other Earth settlements, who disbelieve their story. However, they finally get a response from Brazillier, though Bes is reluctant to land there in case the Buff Clan follow them. The discussion is halted when Doku's unit arrives, the Ideon jets launching in response. The Ideo-Delta is damaged by Zlow Jicks and separated from the others, with the gunners dead. At this point, Doku moves in with three Zigg Mack mecha, forcing the jet to crash into an asteroid. Cosmo is trapped inside as Doku steps up the barrage. Moera and Kasha arrive in time to save him, and prevent Doku from capturing the Ideo-Delta. The Ideo-Nova tows it back to the Solo Ship, which, out of options, heads to Brazillier via the DS drive.

They are greeted by the station's military, led by Commander Camyula Lanban, who dismiss the threat of the Buff Clan. Cosmo is heavily traumatised from his ordeal in the Ideo-Delta, and Camyula takes him under her wing. The rest of the crew set about repairing and resupplying. Cosmo takes to Camyula as a mother figure, but as they bond the Buff Clan arrive and attack Brazillier. Camyula takes Cosmo back to the Solo Ship, but their shuttle is caught in a blast. She is crushed under the vehicle, and a furious Cosmo heads for the Solo Ship. Ideon is formed, and launches a massive missile attack, devastating the Buff Clan force. As it returns to Brazillier, both Cosmo and the Ideon let out an agonised roar.

NOTES

Cosmo Yuki: Cosmo likes hamburgers. Not particularly fascinating, I know, but surprisingly normal for a teenage mecha pilot with a huge ginger afro who can throw a knife through a reconnaissance probe. He didn't get along very well with his mother, though - it's vaguely implied that he didn't actually see that much of her. This is one of the few times (aside from his occasionla petulance and chauvinism) he's seen to behave like a particularly young boy, and he latches on to Camyula as a substitute mother figure.

Sheryl Formosa: Sheryl seems to believe in God (though what god is anyone's guess). This is a little strange, as it doesn't really gel with her strict scientific views on everything else at this stage.

Bes Jordan: It's possible Bes knows Camyula from before he was assigned to Solo - though Brazillier seems to be the nearest Earth base to Solo, and was most likely a launching point for the colonists.. She seems to recognise him, anyway.

The Ideon: Seemingly a reaction by the Ide to Cosmo's anger, the All-Directional Missile Attack is seen for the first time. The move involves firing all of the Ideon's missile ports simultaneously, and when the Ideon Gauge is active, these seem much more powerful. The Ideon also displays some evidence of sentience, or at least the Ide's control over it, when it roars in unison with the distressed Cosmo at the end.

Earth Union: Solo (or its' military force) was apparently in the 208th district. Brazillier (built inside a massive, semi-enclosed asteroid) is a front-line Andromeda base - it seems Solo is the furthest colony from Earth, with Brazillier the next furthest out.

Cutlet: An Earth Union fighter type, designed for space combat. These are based on small pentagonal satellite bases.

REVIEW:

The idea of Camyula becoming a mother figure for Cosmo is a little mawkish, especially as they really can't spend much time together between the Solo Ship arriving on Brazillier and the Buff Clan following them (it's also a maternal take on Matilda from Mobile Suit Gundam, with the doomed female officer befriending and inspiring the shell-shocked, pressured teenage mecha pilot).

However, this is a fine episode for Cosmo, as his cocksure nature is knocked out of him. The scenes with him trapped in the crippled Ideo-Delta are genuinely harrowing, and he gropes for something to hope for, only to have that taken away from him, and this is the first time he really goes off the scale.

Sadly, after improving for a little while, the cheap animation's back for the robot fight scenes - although the All-Directional Missile Attack is suitably cinematic.