[DreamSword]

Episode #09: Alive

Incase it wasn't obvious up to now, Heroman is alive.

Yes, he needs Joey's' helps for many things, and he can't speak, but he still has a level of autonomy, and most importantly, emotion.

Sure, up to now one could maybe see it as Heroman being an extension of Joey himself rather than the robot being his own being, but the way Heroman react when Joey's' life is threatened makes it clear that Heroman has a mind of his own.

The entire sequence makes for a very emotionally charged climax for the battle with Kogorr. And speaking of Kogorr and things being alive, I really gotta note just how smart of a design choice it is for the Skrugg to have eyes on their chests. It adds a while new layer to how they express themselves as well as being able to read what exactly they're thinking in a given moment. It's an aspect of the character design in this show that I feel goes underrated.

And on the topic of aspects of this show being handled intelligently, Heroman is one of the few shows I've seen where it's acknowledged that just blowing up a console won't just stop a programmed command from running. There's a reason Kogorr had confidence when deciding to flip the self-destruct, afterall.

Heck, even more on that line of thought, this episode surprised me in many ways when I first saw it. Not just the sequences described above, but also how the subplot involving Minami is handled. I expected Minami to take credit for our heroes' efforts, but surprisingly no. Everyone is able to see clear as day that Minami's' plan never even got the chance to start, and he gets no credit at all.

Everything together makes for a wonderfully memorable end to the first arc of this anime, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

Oh, and speaking of memorable, this episode features a preview of the most iconic song in the entire show. Unfortunately, the exact version of it they use isn't on the official soundtrack, so instead I'm provided the version made for Super Robot Wars, which is close enough in execution. I'm going to hold off on gushing all over this song for right now though, because let's just say when the fully realized version of the track comes into play, it makes for one of my favorite things I've ever seen in an anime.