Break Blade 4: Sanka no Chi
Mimi: Woah. Out of all the Break Blade movies, this has got to be the bloodiest, most action-packed one yet. What’s more is that the focus isn’t on Rygart and Zess this time, making room for a couple new characters to step into the spotlight. In fact, Zess only appears in one scene at the beginning, and now there’s someone more impressive than Rygart fighting on his team–the former prisoner named Girge who turns out to be General Baldr’s son. What, couldn’t you see the resemblance?
And really, Girge’s appearance makes this a whole lot more interesting. He joins Rygart and a few other guys under the newly assigned Captain Narvi, but no one really likes him. Apparently, he got locked up for killing a group of comrades in a training session for no reason whatsoever, and most were against releasing him to help the war effort, including his father. But hey, they’re desperate and really need the guy. He may have a few screws loose, but he is an incredibly gifted Golem pilot. The first half of this film focuses on an intense training session, as Rygart has to strengthen his defense and learn how to aim accurately. The second half delves into the real fight, as it looks like both sides are pulling out their best guys yet, and they’re capable of the most sadistic killings ever. The final match between Girge and Borcuse is really intense and exciting, but it just had to end at such a good part…
There is one thing that has been bothering me though. What’s up with all the Sigyn fanservice? We’ve already seen her naked before..do we really need three more random scenes of it? At this rate, I’ll only remember Sigyn for her undergarments. The fanservice makes her character feel a little more shallow every single time. It’s like–who cares about her cool personality, it’s her looks that really count. In this film, we get a deeper insight into her obvious feelings for Rygart, but other than that, she’s just a showcase. Overall though, I really enjoyed the 4th installment of Break Blade, but it still feels like it’s lacking that special something, which is why I can’t bump the score up yet. We’ll have to see how the rest of it goes~
Mimi’s Score: 7 Meeps out of 10 (Good)
Presumably the fanservice is there to help the movies make money. I agree that it does Sigyn’s character no favours. Though the fanservice is a reminder that Sigyn’s desirable, and therefore that it’s still possible for Rygart to do a Lancelot and collapse poor Hodr’s kingdom. (Which probably won’t happen, though it would be fun.)
But hey, this is mostly about robots fighting, which Break Blade handles competently.