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Forum URL: http://www.eyrie-productions.com/Forum/dcboard.cgi
Forum Name: Source Material
Topic ID: 143
Message ID: 34
#34, RE: Gedankenexperiment II: Fly Girls
Posted by Gryphon on Sep-07-14 at 09:34 PM
In response to message #33
>That one shot
>of P-51 in a too small RAF uniform sums up pretty much every Fly
>Girls
wall scroll I've seen at a con.

That's almost certainly the most popular one. And it's good! I like being serviced as much as the next fan. My favorite, though, is much more serious. It's sort of a super-stylized re-envisioning of the key scene from episode 206, "Honor Doesn't Compromise" - the part where Zero, having shot down P-40, protects her from the local Japanese Army unit, because (on the CO's own recognizance, it is strongly implied) they've started killing downed flyers instead of taking them prisoner.

It shows Zero in her dream-sequence samurai-girl outfit - hakama, gi with the sleeves tied up, geta, got her Murder Face on - standing with her sword drawn over 40, who's sprawled unconscious on the ground. The background is just a wall of fire, and the black smoke amid the flames forms the Japanese for "victory without honor has no meaning".

It's a beautiful interpretation of a terrific scene from one of my favorite episodes, and perfectly encapsulates why Zero & 40 are many people's favorite rivals on the show. Including mine, even though, canonically speaking, 40's rival should be Hayabusa, since Zero is a sailor and China-Burma-India was a land campaign. I understand why they made that exception, though. Zero is by far the most popular of the Japanese characters, she's far more engaging than Haya (who is too ruthless and amoral to be likeable even as a so-called villain), and they had to telescope the cast a bit. It's an editorial decision, not a mistake. I'm OK with that.

>But the A-plot about 39 going from an underachiever on the American
>side to one of the Russian all-stars? Really some of the best writing
>in the early seasons. The arc's concluding episode, "Fight On,
>Kobrastochka!" where 39 and Yak team up against the Germans and
>totally clown Fw 190 is one of the most heartwarming bits of
>asskicking in modern anime. :)

I know, right? 190 really shouldn't have gotten on the radio and sung the P-39 song, however funny her accent made it. :)

--G.
Don't give me a P-39
With an engine that's mounted behind
It will tumble and roll
And dig a big hoooooole...
Don't give me a P-39

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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
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