Now, why don’t our armed forces have tanks like these? -_-

Well….my back log is growing again… -_-
Gotta try and get back on top of that…
For now…here’s So.Ra.No.Wo.To. Episodes 2 and 3 reviews..

Peek-a-boo…I see you!

Episode 2
After her dismal efforts at playing the bugle, Rio decides to teach her the basics of instrument playing. But first, they head back inside the fortress to have breakfast.

As they prepare the table, 2 more members of the platoon join them and the introductions begin. Rio introduces Kanata to the members; the tank commander, Felicia Heidemann, the pilot, Noel Kannagi and the guner Kureha Suminoya.

Kureha reluctantly takes Kanata for a tour of the base, under Rio’s orders. As they journey through the fortress, Kureha explains to Kanata some of the general rules and practices of the fortress. Meanwhile, on the outside, a tired looking Noel stares up into the building and sees a ghost-like figure in one of the windows.

Kanata’s tour of the fortress ends at the tank hangar where Kurehaw shows off the platoon’s tank, the Takemikazuchi. The only thing (and it’s quite a big thing, I guess) is that the tank is in desperate need of maintenance and parts; something that the platoon don’t get much of. Kureha goes into a slight emotional rant, saying how therest of the army looks down on their platoon, calling them extra baggage.

Rio and Felicia are talking and commenting on how Kanata and Kureha are similar to how they used to be when they first started. They are interrupted by Noel who tells them that “it’s here”. The group gather and Noel tells them about the ghost she saw. Kureha tries to deny it furiously but Kanata agrees with her, saying that she’s seen it once before.

As a result, Rio sends Kureha and Kanata together to go and investigate the building and notify them if they encounter an enemy.

Kureha puts Kanata on point as they travel through the building. Their search leads them to a music room, which makes Kanata think that the building they are in used to be a school before it was turned into a fortress and drifts off into thought, imagining them all together playing instruments. She snaps out of it and turns to Kureha saying how she thinks everything about the town is amazing, as well as the platoon and fortress.

An owl flies in from outside and scares them into running away. As the two girls run, Kanata trips and falls. The owl flies over her looking to attack her, before Kureha fires her gun and shoots theowl, injuring it.

The owl is captured and brought back to the fortress, where Rio identifies the owl as the culprit who stole her bell and threatens to cook it, before bieng stopped by Felicia, who shows them the symbol of their platoon.

Kanata mentions that she had a great time exploring the building yesterday, despite nearly getting killed, which Rio points out.

The next day at the breakfast table, Kanata finds that she has been given a matching chair to use at the table, which Kureha got for her.

“Alright, who the f$£%&’s been messing with my pills!?! You know I need these for my addicti-….I mean… ‘high blood pressure’…“

Episode 3
It’s sunrise at the fortress and Kanako once performs her terrible rendition of the wake-up call. At the breakfast, Kanata treats everyone to a dish that she picked up from her hometown, much to the delight of everyone.

Felicia makes Rio aware of her plans to go with Kureha and Noel to travel to Treize in order to resupply. Rio uses the opportunity to give Kanata a music lesson.

First on the agenda, Rio demonstrates to her the importance of controlling the flow of air through the mouthpiece of an instrument and gives Kanata the chance to try it for herself. Her attempt is….bad, to say the least.

They take a break and sit under a tree where they talk about the reasons they joined the army. As the conversation goes on, Kanata eventually passes out, which seems to trigger a flashback of something that happened in Rio’s past.

Rio takes Kanata inside and puts to lay down; all the while, Kanata is calling out to her mother. In her deliriousness, Kanata asks to eat snow and Rio frantically searches for the snow, she realises (in rather comical fashion) that she’s not going to find any snow. She then tries to find some medicine to give to Kanata, but only finds an empty bottle, being reminded of Felicia’s words.

She is left with no other option to travel out into town to try and find help for Kanata. She finds herself ata church where she asks a sister named Yumina to help her.

Back at the fortress, Yumina tends to Kanata and diagnoses her as having Tertian Malaria. Despite the diagnosis, she tells Rio that she’ll be fine. Before Yumina leaves, she gives Rio some medicinal tea for her to give to Kanata.

As Kanata lays there, she dreams of the bugle player she saw when she was a little girl. She wakes up to see Rio in front of her, humming the same song and cutting an apple. She reaches out and touches Rio’s back, giving her a shock and making her cut her finger. Kanata gets up and apologises to her and calls herself useless like the waste from the beans that she cooked for breakfast that morning).

Kanata also mentions the song that she heard Rio humming, saying that she heard it before and wants to be able to play at some point.

Rio takes Kanata into the tank hangar and she jumps into Takemikazuchi. She turns on the tank and plays the same song from the speakers in the tank, but a more complete version of the song.

As the song plays in the background, Rio explains how everyone in the team have an important role to fulfil. She tells Kanata that seniors exist for their juniors to annoy, so she can annoy her as much as she wants to. (I wish I had someone who’d let me annoy them as much I want to…)

Back at the fortress, Kanata is put back to rest, while the others (who have returned) talk.

Ok….I’m actually a bit more impressed with this series now. It got a lot more interesting fo me with these 2 episodes. I’m a little interested in Yumina from episode 3. She seems to have a past with Rio. In fact…I want to find out everything about Rio’s past. She’s an interesting character. And from what I could tell, it looked as if the person that Kanata saw as a child, was the person who taught Rio how to play the bugle. I want to know about her too, whatever her name is.

Feel free to drop a comment and let me know what you thought of these episodes, or even just say hi! =D

Anyway, here’s the gallery of screenshots!

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