Note: I originally posted this on the episode forum for the last episode, but then I saw another thread discussing the ending. Deleting the first post but unsure to put it in the new thread or post it in the same thread again, I ended up canning the idea and just posting here instead. More of a selfish desire to write out my thoughts then discuss...but hey if someone is lurking here and wants to chime in, feel free. I would have felt dumb to write all this out but then delete it in the end : /
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I find myself a bit disappointed with not so much the open ending, but that it missed out on the opportunity to dissect the argument of creating a utopia vs reality. As they say, it's about the journey and not the destination...and for something so extreme an outcome coming from an idealistic belief such as forcibly reverting humanity back 100 years, it's not surprising that the story cuts off when the Jormungand plan begins. That's how stories like these work, so I don't feel that ending as it did was a cop-out.
Something others have touched on in this discussion was how so many of the people in the story so readily accepted the fate of the new world order, despite knowing about it. That's the point I have contention with. Set aside for a moment how in the "real world" they could have just assassinated Koko/destroyed the research facilities/etc. and game over. What's frustrating is that Kasper mentioning how humans will never stop fighting is the only small bit of criticism against the plan, that and Jonah running away briefly. On the flip side, what Kasper says encapsulates a large number of moral questions.
Is Koko naive that this will stop humanity from waging war? Sure, probably. History shows that humans will kill other humans, no matter the time period or the level of technological advancement, so long that we never stop thinking and feeling emotion. I think that only some would feel shame in a new world order where the means to continue their way of life, making war or supplying war, is rendered difficult or useless. Humans are fickle creatures though, and as time goes on and generations pass they'll have their own feelings. Is Koko hoping to pass down the technology to rule over logistics to maintain the status quo? Is Koko alone entitled enough to decide what's best for humanity? She hates the world she had been forced to live and given the ability to change it with her own hands, why not? We know that she hates the contradictions that war creates, but ultimately I think she is more interested in simply seeing that the new kind of world looks like rather than thinking is it right or wrong. I think that's the kind of stuff the anime could have spent more time on; instead it focused more on some actions scenes and episodes to show how slowly and methodically Koko was working to put her schemes to work. Not that the actions scenes and gun fights weren't cool or anything...
I'm not a soldier nor a merchant of death, so the effects of how it would weigh on my conscience is something that I will probably never know. Sure, all of Koko's crew are loyal employees, but living and breathing in that world of gray morals, I was hoping for the series to spend more time looking into themes like this. Would a soldier who's spent his whole life killing want a world like that? We as viewers probably all vehemently disagree and reject Koko's new world order. Why is that? Because we're all cynical and know that humans will never change? Or is that we don't like the idea of somebody making decisions for everyone? They missed an opportunity to delve deeper into these sort of thematic ideals with Jonah instinctively rejecting Koko's ideal world at first. I guess the point that Jonah and Koko were alike in the end makes sense. Absent the Jormungand plan, Jonah would keep killing as a job because that's all he knows. With the Jormungand plan, there would still be fighting. He would never stop killing (except that the enemy might be wielding a club rather than behind a rifle), but it would come with the hope that the plan would eventually end conflict. It follows that Jonah chooses Koko's world in the end, and that's because if you had the option of sticking with the status quo or a shot at changing everything, regardless of success of failure, it'd be worth a shot, right? Being cynical about humanity, I can't help but be frustrated that more people in the anime weren't going against it, but maybe that was the author's goal. Who says humanity can never change, and if you have a shot to change it and the means to do so, why let it go? If given the chance, what's 700k people dying if less people will die in the long run? Maybe that's why I found Kasper to be the most interesting character because he's more of a realist than an idealist.
Ok, so that got long fast. My point in all my griping is to say this: I personally feel that the story's author could have used his platform to spend more time digging into these sort of things rather than providing the conclusion with a lack of thematic struggle on a platter at the end for us to digest. For me, that's what separates this anime from being a cool and entertaining show to having the chance to be a great anime. Then again, what sells, anime characters standing around engaging in monologues and philosophical technobabble, or cool action scenes?
First season 8/10. Season two 7/10. Still a load of fun though. Really cool combat fights, and there's something wicked fun about hot, toned babes who could kick my ass. Also, preferred the English dub, though they sometimes used Australians voices for Englishmen.
Best line of the series: (Episode 19/ S2E07) "Never mind that, you see the jubblies on that one bird? Bleedin' massive! I'd throw myself on those grenades!"
Special mention: Valmet babe hunting in season 1, episode 9.
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