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| Plot Synopsis | Interesting and Fun Details |
| Episode Review | Character Development |
| Episode Analysis | |
For the first in the series, an episode opens with an actual date - March 26, 2033. The location is Houston, and in the background is the song "Say Yes!", sung by the 2033 idol singer Vision. While the music is playing, a large building maintenence truck is driving through Huston. At a stop for gas, the driver exposes a large tiger-embossed ring on his left hand, and in return he gets a data disk containing information on the Gulf and Bradley Corporation from the gas station attendent. In another part of Huston, a meeting between a Genom representative and the Chairman of Gulf and Bradley is taking place where the two companies are entering into a joint venture to develop a new Boomer. After the deal is finalized and the chief scientist chosen, the VIPs leave the building only to be attacked by a large vehicle or robot that tears through the building maintenence trailer and looks remarkably like a giant blue crab. The crab easily destroys the Boomer bodyguard, then the Genom representative and the Chairman, and then goes so far as to pursue the chief scientist into the G&B building itself. Failing to retrieve the terrified scientist before the police arrive, the crab leaps out of a window, falls 20 or 30 stores, lands, and runs off into the night to avoid pursuit and capture.
On June 8th, Vision is flying to Japan on the next leg of her tour. After being given a drink by her friend Kou, she tells him that she's afraid of failing on her mission, and a quick camera shot shows that she is wearing a ring that is very similar to Kou's tiger ring. Later, after landing, a press conference takes place where Vision talks about why she has decided to tour after several years absence. Priss, Nene, and Linna are watching the press conference when Priss says that, while she doesn't mind Vision's music, she does have something of a problem with her marketing technique. Apparently, Vision is a total unknown with regards to her personal life, history, etc. Nene thinks that's rather funny, considering that Priss is just about the same, and Linna thinks that she might know Vision herself somehow.
The next night, Vision, without any makeup or green hair dye, watches a letter from her sister, a woman who looks remarkably like Irene from Blow Up. While he is watching the letter, there are several pictures of a bridal shower with Linna in the pictures too, and the letter disturbs Vision so much that Kou sneaks up on her. Vision, now revealed as Reika Chang, is humbled a little when Kou's rating of her response to his threat is a mere 20 out of a possible 100. She and Kou head for the research center, where the good Doctor McLaren of Gulf and Bradley is working on the new Boomer, in the blue crab combat robot, also known as the Genki Battlemover. Upon arrival, they try to blast thier way through into the building in an attempt to kidnap Dr. McLaren, but Reika can't bring herself to kill an innocent person, even if that person is a scientist working for Genom, and the assault is aborted.
The next morning, Quincy and McLaren discuss the recent attack. While the Doctor wants out of the agreement between Gulf and Bradly and Benom, Quincy won't allow it before the Boomer is complete. Quincy also reveals that he suspects the Hou Bang, an organized crime syndicate headed by the Chang family, i.e. by Reika's family, and that he suspects that the Hou Bang are after the new prototype, not McLaren himself. At the same time, over at the damaged research center, Leon and Daley are investigating the attack. After noticing that the center had a very expensive ceramic blast-proof overlay, Leon attempts to gain access to the research facility without a warrant, but is kept out by an employee who activates a very secure and even lethal security system to keep Leon from getting in. Leon naturally suspects that Genom might be involved in illegal Boomer development, a suggestion which the scientist automatically rejects.
Later on the 10th of June, Sylia and Fargo meet in an amusement park, on the Ferris wheel specifically. While Sylia again has some ethical problems protecting someone like the amoral Doctor McLaren, the paycheck (50 million yen) changes her mind.
On the 11th, Chief Todo again orders Leon to drop yet another case. After Leon loses his temper, Todo gives Daley the papers that indicate that both he and Leon have been put on a week's paid leave and that they have been forbidden to work. This gives Leon and Daley free reign to continue working unofficially on the case if they choose, which they do. After Leon and Daley have gone off duty, Nene's close friend reveals that she had been able to get two front-row tickets for the Vision concert, and Nene nearly goes ballistic.
Leon and Daley begin watching Genom holdings to figure out why someone would attack Genom, and in the process, they see Quincy talking to several men on Genom's giant artificial island in Tokyo Bay. After Quincy heads back to the Tower, Daley and Leon go to the St. Regis hotel, a very expensive and elite hotel where Dr. McLaren is staying for the duration. Uknown to the two AD Police officers, the Knight Sabers are also keeping tabs on the good doctor through the use of surviellance cameras and a transmitter bracelet that Dr. McLaren is wearing himself. In addition, Nene has taken a job working as a poolside waitress as a means to stay close to the Doctor. Sylia's and Priss' surveillance also spots Leon and Daley sitting at a table, wearing his sunglasses.
That evening, Linna, while delivering room service, overhears Dr. McLaren ordering a call-girl for the evening. The call is intercepted by Reika's men, and Reika herself "becomes" the call-girl. Showering before sleeping with the Doctor, Reika extrudes a small needle from her ring, and then, after exiting the shower, drugs the Doctor with it. While this is happening, Leon and Daley are discussing the blatant hatred between Chang Industries and Gulf and Bradley. Apparently, Gulf & Bradley might have been responsible for the deaths of the current Chang Industries president's son and daughter-in-law several years earlier.
After the paramedics show up to take Dr. McLaren out of the hospital, Priss follows the ambulance. The ambulance doesn't go to the hospital, instead heading off into a deserted street where Reika's companions posing as paramedics are confronted by Priss. Unfortunately, the Genki battlemover, driven by Kou this time, is also there and in a short battle where Priss' weapons have absolutely no effect on the battlemover, Priss is knocked unconscious. For some reason, Kou decides to leave Priss alive instead of killing her outright as he feels he should. Back at the St. Regis Hotel, the real ambulance has finally shown up. Leon, standing nearby with Daley, leaves and heads back to the AD Police HQ. Linna, acting alone to track Reika, follows her from the St. Regis to a graveyard where Reika places some flowers on Irene's grave. Linna, however, gets her transmission to the rest of the Knight Sabers cut off when she is captured by one of Reika's bodyguards and companions.
Later that evening, Sylia has Nene begin looking up information on Irene for any possible connections to Dr. McLaren. At the warehouse where Reika and company are set up, Linna identifies Reika as the singer Vision and the two of them carry on a relatively civil conversation about Irene, Vision, the Hou Bang, Reika's parents, etc. While Reika and Linna are talking, Reika's grandfather Mr. Chang calls Kou and asks for an honest assessment of Reika. Kou's response is that she is too soft, but that he and everyone else will protect her no matter what the cost.
On the 13th, Quincy, in McLaren's lab, is watching the final touches being put on the new Boomer when Kou calls him to set up a personal meeting with him. Kou has to lean on Quincy a little, and Quincy appears to lose a little of his cool for an instant. Later that day, Leon starts leaning on Nene, essentially blackmailing her into looking into Irene's past, the Hou Bang, etc. which Nene was doing anyway. Later that evening, Linna attempts to convince Kou and the other Hou Bang members to stop Reika from avenging her sister, but they just won't listen.
Finally, on the 14th of June, Nene finally breaks into Irene's past with a little help from her friend and an interesting password. The revealed information on Irene's past shows that she's one of two granddaughters of Mr. Chang, the head of the Hou Bang and Chang Industries, and that their parents were murdered by Gulf and Bradley. At that very moment, Reika is in the process of confronting Quincy and demanding his life in return for her sister's.
After some very flippant and unconcerned remarks, Kou shoots Quincy several times, but Quincy again turns out to be an android. Combat between the new Giant Boomer prototype and the Genki Battlemover plus the Knight Sabers ensues. The Boomer and the Genki appear to be equally matched, and Linna, Sylia, and Reika herself are all nearly killed by all the scattered boobytraps and/or the Boomer itself. The Boomer damages the Genki enough that Reika and Kou have to use the eject mechanism before both the Boomer and the Genki are destroyed when the Genki self-destructs. Leon, Daley, and Nene are all on the way to the docks. In transit, Nene tells tells Leon that she has thinks she's figured out all the connections between Irene, Reika/Vision, the kidnapping of Dr. McLaren, etc.
The episode ends when Linna, after slapping Reika for being to vindictive, gives her Irene's engagement ring as a replacement for the Hou Bang leadership ring she had been wearing up until that point. Leon, Daley, and Nene show up at the dock where Kou and Reika and the Knight Sabers have put ashore and Kou, in an attempt to protect Reika, turns himself in to Leon. However, both Leon and Daley ignore Kou and Reika's obviously illegal activities and arrest the Doctor instead, for his role in developing an illegal new Boomer. They then escort Reika, as Vision, to her concert where Vision publically thanks the Knight Sabers and the AD Police for thier help. Nene and her friend from work are in their front row seats while the rest of the Knight Sabers are in attendance.
Interesting or Fun Details
- Watch the Vision video at the beginning very carefully. It is excellent use of foreshadowing, and encapsulates the entire rest of the episode.
- At the press conference, the emotions that Vision says she is touring to explore are almost exclusively negative.
- Maybe it's just me, but hasn't Linna always worn a yellow headband up until her pink band in this episode?
- There is a very good (or bad, depending on your perspective) visual pun between the Genki and the logo on the truck that carries it in MegaTokyo.
- Priss actually says "Leon" outloud when she sees him pulling up in the boat at the end.
Quincy comes very close to losing his cool at Kou when meeting arrangement are being made. That's twice in two episodes....
Episode Review Double Vision is my third favorite episode. I love the music, even if it's not quite in the same mood as Konya wa Hurricane or Mad Machine, and I really like the main character Vision. I find that having the Knight Sabers encounter yet another opponent that they can't deal with is rather nice too.
There are a couple of fantastic visual puns in this episode too, mostly regarding the Genki iteself. And, in my opinion, the Genki is one of the coolest looking combat robots that anime has produced. The blue, crab-like battlemover is just way too cool. And finally, yet another major force in the world has been revealed - the organized crime syndicate and secret society of the Hou Bang, who are also the leaders of Chang Industries. That an organization like the Hou Bang is powerful enough to create a combat robot which beat out even Genom's Boomers in a weapons test indicates that even Genom isn't nearly omnipotent, as we've been led to believe up until now. The character interaction is the main reason I like this episode, though. Linna's and Reika's conversation is beautiful and serious, and Kou's conversation with Quincy is one of the two best exchanges between enemies in anime (the other is in Macross/Robotech).
Unfortunately, this episode isn't quite ideal nor is it perfect. Priss takes some major wounds in her battle with the Genki, yet somehow she can get up again. Not only that, but less than two days later, she cuts off the cast on her broken arm and is able to fight at full strength. I guess that either Priss heals impossibly quickly or medical technology is a hell of a lot more advanced than it seems to be. But the major problem is this episode's relation to Born to Kill, where we were introduced to Irene. My perception of Born to Kill has always been that Linna and Irene weren't really close friends from aerobics. Yes, they knew each other, but they weren't necessarily close until Linna approached Irene after the encounter with Brian J. Mason. Add into the equaton the fact that Born to Kill seems to take place in the span of only a couple of days, where did Irene have the time to have pictures taken with Linna at her engagement party, which would have supposedly happened before meeting Linna in the first place? This stretches my ability to suspend disbelief quite a bit, and because of it I'm not convinced that the two episodes should have been tied as tightly together as they are.
All in all, this episode has good music, a plot which hangs together internally even if it's externally inconsistant, great character interaction, and even some cool action.
Character Development
- Linna: In this episode, Linna is probably the main character that is most important. However, while that's true, her personality doesn't seem to change much in this episode.
Linna does show a couple of interesting bits and peices, though. First, Linna again shows her pragmatic side, although in this episode it's mixed a little with a bit of impulsiveness too. When Reika drugs Dr. McLaren, Linna follows her to Irene's grave. While it's a bit impulsive of Linna to follow Reika like that, without any backup, it also makes quite a bit of sense. After all, she needed to discover Reika's identity and what relationship she had to Dr. McLaren, and the most efficient way to do that was to follow Reika. Calling to report to Sylia was also a wise move on Linna's part. It was pure bad luck that Reika happened to have an armed and discrete bodyguard who took exception to Linna's presence.
The most interesting scenes with Linna in this episode are the one where Linna, already dressed in her hardsuit, picks up the engagement ring which she'd taken off Irene's dead finger in Born to Kill and the scene where Linna slaps Reika around a little bit for acting really stupid. I found these interesting because Linna is taking a keepsake from a dead friend to her sister. Linna's reminding Reika that there's more to living than revenge and pain shows some emotional depth to the usually topical Linna that we don't get to see very often.
- Priss: Like most of the rest of the main characters, Priss develops very little in this episode. There are a couple of exceptions, though.
The first exception is Priss' reaction to Vision's press conference. Priss indicates that she likes Vision's music well enough, but that she doesn't like Vision's marketing technique of remaining a complete unknown. As Nene says, though, Priss is the very same - a talented singer whose background is unknown. Priss' tone of voice indicates something else that I don't remember hearing from Priss before - jealousy. To me, at least, Priss seems to be jealous of Vision's popularity as an idol singer. Considering that Priss is still in singing as a relative unknown in Hot Legs, her reaction to Vision is only natural.
The second exception is related to Leon. Just as in Red Eye's, Priss seems to be showing a little more feeling toward Leon in this episode. Specifically, when Leon shows up on the docks and arrests Dr. McLaren instead of Reika and Kou, Priss' reaction indicates more than just surprise. Her tone of voice seems to indicate a little pleasure at seeing Leon again. The same occurs when Sylia points out Leon to Priss when they're both watching Dr. McLaren at the St. Regis Hotel. It's almost as if Priss has started to fall for Leon and is falling faster and harder each episode.
Finally, this is the first episode where we see Priss really seriously hurt and beaten totally. Sure, Largo and his Superboomers beat her, but that was four against one. Here, Priss gets her arm broken by the Genki and the only thing that saved her from having her back and neck broken was her hardsuit. The battle was quick and efficiently lost by Priss, the first time this has happened.
- Leon: Up until this point, we've known that Leon had a lot of guts, but in this episode we see that he's got balls of steel too. I'm refering to his attempt to talk his way into Genom's new research facility without a warrant or permission from the employees. It almost worked, too.
In addition, I personally think that Leon has begun to suspect that Nene is a pretty decent hacker in addition to being an excellent data analyst and general AD Police employee. The episode is unclear on whether he actually knows or not, but I personally think that he does know. In addition, the fact that Leon is willing to blackmail Nene into doing some work for him was something of a surprise the first few times I watched Double Vision, but with a little thinking about his personality, it's really not too surprising that Leon might resort to moderately underhanded means to get what he needs.
Finally, Leon's willingness to overlook obvious illegalities on occasion has been shown several times already, like Priss in Red Eye's and the Knight Sabers in general in Blow Up, but it's never been so blatent as in this episode. Here, Leon overlooks the kidnapping of Dr. McLaren by Reika and Kou and instead thanks Reika/Vision and even escorts her to her concert. Not only that, but Leon and Daley actually arrest Dr. McLaren and leave the Knight Sabers alone too. Leon and Daley both are willing to look the other way if they feel that there are extenuating circumstances, something that neither had done at this level before.
- Nene: While this episode doesn't really focus on Nene, there are a couple of interesting scenes which serve to show the viewer a little more of her character. Specifically, Nene is again shown in this episode to be a powerful data analyst and hacker, although Nene also has some limits. Not only does Sylia entrust the search into Irene's past to Nene, but Leon blackmails Nene into doing the very same thing. It's unclear whether Leon actually knows that Nene is an excellent hacker or whether he just uses her because he has some leverage over her, but either way, she shows that she can not only gain access to a lot of information but also analyze it well too. However, she also finds herself attempting to crack the resources of the Hou Bang to get at the information, and she's literally stopped cold until her friend accidently types the correct password. After that, Nene pulls together a report which links everything together correctly. Nene is not a dumb woman, even if she acts her age on occasion.
- Sylia: Sylia is almost totally unchanged in this episode. The only exception, and it's really a minor exception, is that she seems to find more situations funny as the series goes on than she did in the beginning. The example in Double Vision is when she spots Leon watching Dr. McLaren too. It's almost as if she thinks it funny that the AD Police would have the same ideas and follow the same leads that the Knight Sabers do. Of course, Sylia could also find it funny that Leon's presence is an excellent way to tease Priss a little bit.
- Chief Todo: Chief Todo again shows that he's a decent human being in this episode. After informing Leon and Daley that the Genom attack case has been closed and that he's been pressured by the boys upstairs, he puts them both on 2 weeks paid leave. The point is that they can't work on an officially closed case without getting in trouble, but if they're on leave, then working on the case is thier choice and on thier time, not the AD Police's. After all, nobody likes to be pressured. As much as Leon gets angry at the Chief, and vice-versa, the Chief seems to have earned Leon's and Daley's respect, and they seem to have earned his.
Episode Analysis There are some interesting observation in this episode on culture and society, as well as personal obsessions.
As in so many other episodes of Bubblegum Crisis (Born to Kill, Blow Up, Revenge Road, Red Eye's), there is a strong underlying theme of vengeance. In most of the episodes which deal with this topice, though, the vengeance is accepted. Linna's desire for vengeance for Irene's death in Born to Kill, for example, or Priss' same desire in Blow Up. In Revenge Road, while J.B. Gibson's search for revenge is thwarted in some sense by the Knight Sabers, it is still partially successful and only through the damage that Gibson does to himself and Naomi do we really see the effects of being obsessed with exacting revenge. In Double Vision, though, we see what the quest for vengeance has done to Reika Chang.
It has driven her to kill, to consider abandoning her singing career to ascend to the command of the Hou Bang secret society, and to essentially sacrifice everything that she has held dear for so long. And yet, as Linna tells her and as Reika knows herself, killing Quincy cannot bring back her sister Irene, nor can it heal the gap in Reika's heart where Irene used to be. For the first time in Bubblegum Crisis, revenge is portrayed as something which, while it can be understood, has its own terrible consequences.
Some of the social commentary included in Double Vision includes commentary on tradition and family. By tradition, the Changs have headed up the Hou Bang for generations, with the reins of command passed from one generation to the next. Yet Reika's and Irene's parents didn't want any part of the Hou Bang, and neither did Irene and Reika. Reika even felt ashamed at being associated with such a secret society. To a culture so steeped in tradition and ancestory as Japan, this would indicate yet another breakdown of the society. However, the bonds of family shine through this episode as well. Reika was willing to sacrifice all her dreams for the sake of vengeance against the corporations and people who killed her entire family - Gulf and Bradley for her parents and Genom for her sister. And the Hou Bang members who surround Reika are as much a family to her as her real family might be. They're willing to sacrifice thier lives to make her happy again. A slightly warped sense of family, I'll admit, but a family nonetheless.
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Revised - September 21, 2000
