Mars Daybreak Volume 2 (DVD) - Anime Reviews


	Number of Episodes 5 Language Options English/Japanese/English Subtitles Released by Bandai Entertainment Extras None
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Mars Daybreak Volume 2 (DVD)

Gram, after having mysteriously found an underwater mecha called a “Round Buckler”, signed on with the crew of the infamous Ship of Aurora. He’s now a pirate, and he’s discovered that life with pirates is unpredictable at best – dangerous at worst.

After narrowly escaping from the Earth Forces Fleet, Captain Elizabeth is still hot on the trail of the fools who scarred the Ship of Aurora’s new paint job. They track them to an abandoned city-ship for some pirate-style vengeance, and wind up with... another crew member. She is the kidnapped granddaughter of the Earth President. But once she meets Gram and the others, she decides that she wants to stay.

The crew is ordered to attend a fancy dress party on board a ship to receive a mission from their benefactor. But they’ve also become the target of the renegade pirate Kuberness! Even their brief period of R&R is interrupted by an undersea crisis that threatens to destroy the ship. The Ship of Aurora may be a pirate ship, but it’s home.

The Ship of Aurora has just managed to escape a rather dangerous trap, but is back on the heels of those who defaced their ship. The rogues are in bad enough of a shape carrying a hostage, but with actual pirates on their six, they are in big trouble. It’s going to be a quick 5-pack of episodes, so let’s go for it.

Episode 06: Alas! O Revolution of Glory and Passion?!

Our hapless criminal masterminds have managed to sneak past the dragnet in the confusion, and are making for their home port at full speed. Their base of operations? An abandoned city-ship that previously was the home of a university – it was the site of a rather large and organized student-protest but was shut down. The three criminals are remnants of the original protestors, and are way in over their heads with having kidnapped the granddaughter of the President of Earth. The Captain has managed to trail them back to the city-ship and she has placed a little incentive on catching the villains – whoever catches them DOESN’T have to clean the ballast tank. Good incentive indeed.

Most of the crew of the Ship of Aurora has split up into smaller groups and is now searching frantically for their prey. The protestors are having a hard time moving with a tied up girl, so they decide to untie her after she proves that she wants to stay alive as well (who wouldn’t?) and she quickly becomes the informal leader. As Poipoider uses a bit too much force to try and catch them (explosives), they are not only on the run, they are running for their lives. They head into the cafeteria, and

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Enora has the trio barricade the door but they stumble on a leftover from the revolution – a hidden control room that houses a giant robot to defend the students… so they intend to use it. Enora quickly takes the controls and starts fighting against the attacking crew, but Poipoider manages to defeat it and the collateral damage reveals the hidden room. They now enact the room’s emergency evacuation system and are being spirited away – unfortunately they end up right in the path of Gram.

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The Captain is losing her patience, with no word on progress she decides to up the stakes and motivate the crew by shelling the city-ship… but that turned out to be not such a good idea, as the damage causes the ship to start coming apart at the seams. Gram manages to save the girl, but not the three fugitives as their escape system begins to fall apart.

Episode 07: Friend or Foe?! The Mercenary Pirate

The loss of Enora isn’t particularly sitting well with Anna Grace, the Governor of Mars, her political career may very well rest on whether she can recover the daughter of the President of Earth and so she’s going to take desperate measures to get her back. She’s offered a large bounty for Kubernes, to recover the girl and sink the Ship of Aurora.

The crew is heading to Libertania – a free port that offers supplies and some anonymity if you have enough money. Gram is going with the away team (Milch, Poipoider, and Junior), but Enora wants to tag along and it’s somehow his responsibility to take care of her. As soon as they get separated, she manages to get into trouble – she buys a “treasure map” and manages to run into the wrong crowd immediately. Gram rushes to her aid, but the enemy don’t intend to fight fair and he’s saved by the intervention of Kubernes, who claims to want to speak with his Captain. Not knowing him from any else, he runs away with Enora and gets back to base. Unfortunately, Kubernes follows them back to the Ship of Aurora.

Captain Elizabeth tries to play off not knowing anything about Enora, but the ruse fails rather hard when she steps onto the bridge to talk to the Captain. Kubernes then pins the ship to the ocean floor and boards using the breach point in the ballast tank. In the confusion, Enora runs to go convince him to leave (yeah, that’ll work) so the Captain orders Gram to see what he can do to save her, and warns him that he’s only got 5 minutes. So Gram gets there in time to stop his escape and starts fighting against the pirate, but his goal isn’t to win, just to stall for time and he manages to hold off until the Captain floods the tank (but he’s holding a rebreather). As he’s being swept away, Kubernes notices the pendant around Gram’s neck – he tells him to guard it and tells him that they will meet again.

Episode 08: Dazzling! Extravagant Ball

Vess and her CO have been given a rather different duty, they are to attend a ball on board a luxury liner as guests of the Lauren Corporation (that her family runs), but the gala looks to be a rather involved affair. The Ship of Aurora is going to make an appearance as well – Gram, Enora, the Captain, and Yagami are there to meet with their benefactor Niall Poe who has asked to meet with them. He has a mission for his pirates, and delivers the details in person. Other visitors include Madam Anna and an uninvited guest: Kubernes. Meanwhile, Vess is not having a particularly good time but when she catches a glimpse of Gram she’s not on his trail until she runs into Poe and formalities must take over. Thankfully, she’s extracted by Madam Anna who wants a few words (or a fist) with Poe. He slide-slips the commotion and dumps her off on poor Yagami who then repeats the trick on his unsuspecting Captain.

Gram has gone below decks to spend time with the cooks – he wants to learn how some of the dishes were made. Eventually Yagami finds him and brings him to meet Poe – who then offers to have him join his crew at a much higher pay. Unfortunately, Kubernes ruins the meeting, he also wants Gram and claims that his necklace is the key to a great treasure. As the situation degrades into a gun-fight, even Vess arrives to exchange fire with the pirate. The crew plans on making their escape until Kubernes attacks the vessel with his personal RB, one that is much larger than anyone’s aboard the Ship of Aurora. Gram stalls for time until Junior arrives with his and Yagami’s RBs and the fight is quickly joined. Against the larger foe, both RBs are being abused – and Kubernes manages to beach the two into the hull of the ship. Gram has a flash of insight, he grabs the anchor chain and uses it like a flail against the larger enemy. Doing serious damage – he’s forced to retreat just as the police arrive.

Episode 09: Gulp! A Bath Full of Swimsuits

It’s time for the obligatory onsen episode! All characters get to show off their best swimsuits. Once a month, there is no satellite coverage and the Ship of Aurora can surface for some much needed sunlight and relaxation. On the deck of the ship, they have a series of pools and hot tubs which allow for some great fun. Most of the crew attends, but there’s always one absentee – the young girl Megumi who is a psychic and a telepath. She finds group settings difficult and prefers to pass her days alone in her bunk despite what Milch (who mostly looks out for her) would prefer. Junior also is worried about her, and he tries to convince her to come out and play. Megumi makes contact with a nearby biological – a giant manta-ray creature who has been separated from its’ pod. The being gets near the ship and the crew runs back inside and the Captain orders a crash dive.

The being attaches itself to the ship’s hull and begins draining power at an alarming rate, the Captain intends to separate it from the hull than use weapons to kill it. Megumi is completely against it, but despite her fears she manages to leave her room and convince Junior to help. As the RBs are prepping to launch to remove the beast, Junior arrives with Megumi and convinces Gram to help – Megumi jumps into his RB and they are going to head out to find the rest of the pod. As the separate it, the Captain orders Milch to fire torpedoes but once Megumi begs him not to, he disobeys the order and will not fire. Thankfully Gram returns with the pod, and they didn’t have to kill it.

Episode 10: Sightsee! The Romance of the Mars Aborigines

The Ship of Aurora is heading out to complete the mission that Poe gave them, they are to deliver a large cache of desiccant in exchange for an artifact called the Box of Guidance. The Captain and Yagami will make the transfer while everyone else is left to their own devices – their contact is Garma, an elderly aborigine. As they visit her, they learn that she is being harassed by a local thug (Doze) who has been stealing artifacts and reselling them. He wants to force Garma into giving up the Box of Guidance, but the Captain will have none of that noise from his thugs.

Most of the crew heads out into the city, and Gram manages to save an older lady from a near accident in traffic. She notices his necklace, and manages to suck him into her schemes to carry her around and recover Aborigine artifacts that were stolen. While carrying her back home, Gram runs into some of Doze’s thugs who identify her as Garma (not that it means anything to him) – he knocks them down and continues on to the village. On the outskirts of town, she has him stop at a mountainside and tells him that they need to climb. Gram’s had enough of chauffeuring her around and turns to leave, but as she struggles his pride gives out and he starts carrying her up the hill. In the village, her son is speaking with the Captain and learns that his mother is climbing the mountain with the help of some young guy – the group then heads to the scene.

At the top of the mountain, Garma explains that his pendant is actually an aborigine artifact called the Mark of the Chief (traditionally worn by the leader) and explains that because he is such a good man, she wants him to keep it and also gives him the Box of Guidance which was hidden on the top of the mountain. With the treasure revealed, Doze’s thugs come after them and Gram quickly dispatches the pair… but they’ve got reinforcements. A swarm of men head up the mountain after them in powered suits and Gram starts to hold them off. The Captain finds Doze and after “convincing” him, the villains stop pressing the attack. Garma explains that the Box leads the way to the Aborigine treasure: the Stone of the Gods. She combines his necklace with the Box and a map appears.

This was a really plot heavy disc of Mars Daybreak, I hope the series can maintain this pace throughout. Good disc.

- Tazman

(April 2, 2006)

"So now I was a published writer, but my life had become boring. As boring as a bad metaphor or a similie. Whatever, I'm not a writer."

- Steve (American Dad)