SYNOPSIS

Cosmo tries to persuade Kitty to come with him when the Solo Ship leaves Kyaral, but has difficulty expressing his feelings, though it's clear he's fallen for her. Back onboard the ship, Bes asks Karala to show them the location of Buff - she takes some time to think it over, however. The ship launches to attack the Gabro Zan, with the support of the remaining Kyaral military. However, Daram has received reinforcements from Harulu in the shape of the Dero Zan and a pair of Zigg Mack mecha. A new mecha specifically designed to counter the Ideon will also be arriving soon. Nevertheless, the colonists' attack takes them unawares, and fierce fighting ensues. Initially the element of surprise gives the colonists the upper hand, until one of the Solo Ship's engines overheats and explodes. However, an attack by Gije causes the Ideon Gauge to rise, and Ideon disables both Gije's mecha and the Gabro Zan. Daram's Ganga Lubu is then shot down by the Solo Ship, and he escapes towards Kyaral.

The Dero Zan is also soon destroyed, but Gije uses the explosion to leave his damaged Ganga Lubu and plant bombs on the Ideon. Cosmo spots him, but can't prevent him from attaching several charges. Struggling with an injury from the intense battle, Cosmo duels with Gije on the exterior of the Ideon while sending Moera and Kasha to dispose of the bombs. Seeing he has failed, Gije leaves, but Cosmo collapses from his wounds. Moera takes control of the Ideon as Gije returns to his Ganga Lubu and attacks once again. With Cosmo's help, they destroy the mecha, though Gije escapes once again. By now the Buff Clan force has been destroyed, and the remaining colonist craft return to Kyaral. However, on the surface Tom, one of Kitty's charges, has found Daram's escape pod. He shoots at them, despite Kitty's attempts to stop him. She also fires to cover him, but Daram shoots her dead. Having repaired the pod, Daram leaves. Back on the Solo Ship, Cosmo is unconscious due to blood loss. Upset over Kitty's senseless death, Karala relents and shows Bes the location of Buff. She also provides a blood transfusion for Cosmo, despite being from a different planet.

NOTES

Cosmo Yuki: Cosmo has Type O blood. He's very much in love with Kitty, though her feelings for him are left relatively unexplained - she's fond of him for sure, but how much is left up to guesswork.

Kasha Imhof: Without wanting to sound boorish, she does seem a bit jealous of Kitty...

Karala Ajima: Karala is also Type O, lending further weight to both races being basically the same biologically speaking.

Daram Zuba: Daram isn't quite a complete bastard - he clearly regrets instinctively shooting the young Kitty. Well, for a few seconds, anyway.

Karioka: I think that's the Solo Ship's Karioka (picked up from Brazillier, and last seen in episode 15) that gets destroyed early in the battle, as Cosmo refers to it as the Karioka (assuming the subs are correct).

Solo: Solo is located 2.3m light years from Buff, and the same from Earth. It connects the two in a straight line.

Cutlet: These fighters make up the bulk of the Earth attack force, and this time are seen launching with a second stage that gets jettisoned before combat.

REVIEW:

A superbly structured episode. It's fantastic to see the colonists be proactive and finally take the battle to the Buff Clan, and the fight scenes are glorious - well-animated, hectic and dramatic. Then there's a lovely spacewalking duel between Cosmo and Gije. But just when you think the good guys might win, Cosmo gets injured and Kitty dies an utterly futile death.

The impact Kitty makes in just three episodes (and probably about ten minutes screentime combined) is huge, and the scripts do a good job of showing how much Cosmo cares for her, without overwhelming everything else - aside from Camyula in episode 14, she's about the only person he's seen to have actively wanted to spend time with. And then to cap it all off, we have the revelation of Buff's location thrown in at the end, firmly plotting the next stage.

A real rollercoaster for just 20 minutes of action.