スノウボールアース

I still don't like Sagami, but from the perspective of those kids whom he saved, he is indeed their saviour. Given how Sagami is not dead by now and how everyone is crying in the preview of the next episode, I am predicting the story will give him the ultimate redemption arc by sacrificing himself to save Tetsuo and everyone else from the snow humanoid kaiju. The snow humanoid kaiju has already been shown to be extremely powerful by freezing earth. The ability to disguise itself as a human such as Riko and Nadare makes it even more terrifying. Lastly, that was a wonderful dropkick from Tetsuo! From a viewer's perspective, the counter punch from the snow humanoid kaiju was impactful too, proving itself to be the main villain.

Going into this episode, I was like 'I won't demand Tetsuo be the one to kill him, but if they try to end this with Sagami not dead, I'm dropping this show. With all the horrible things we've been shown he's done, there's no way I could stand it if he didn't get what he deserves." And then by the end of the episode, I was like, "Fuck, What Sagami did is still horrible, but the way he took care of those kids shows that there was a decent human being in there, somewhere. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten so bad if the Humanoid hadn't been playing him like a fiddle." What he did was still unforgivable, but now I won't be upset, and quit the show over it being completely unearned, when he does his inevitable self-sacrifice.

Tetsuo never wanted to be the Savior. He never cared about it and all the responsibilities that came with it...but in his desire to be with Yukio, to fight Kaiju, and protect others for the sake of a calm and peaceful world, he ended up becoming a true Savior. Something that Sagami, who was only out for fame and glory, could never understand...even as he acknowledges that, deep down, he just wanted to be saved. Dang, Yuma can run! And point a gun! I'm not surprised she's not taking Sagami's defeated state well, let alone that he's admitting how much he used and brainwashed the kids for his own ends and is just ready to die...but for all of Sagami's faults, taking care of the kids was not one of them. Because he could have just as easily abandoned the Vierde kids. He could have left them behind or only treated them as tools. But he saved them, fed them, and even straight up carried them in a sled when they couldn't walk any more. He truly protected and kept them safe. Of course then they found a cavern where Hercules was frozen with another Kaiju and they all got stuck in it. Eventually they had to resort to eating Kaiju meat and went through the same thing Ao's group did, with only Sagami and the six kids we see now managing to survive. But Sagami quickly formed a mental connection with Hercules to get them out of there and back to safety...so they can bury all the children they lost. Sagami did something right being the father to these kids, even if his own ego steer them all wrong, but maybe there's a path for them forward that doesn't involve fighting against their fellow humans...at least until Hercules' lower half starts attacking and lead by...Riko! Wearing nothing but a cloak that does little to hide her side-boob or butt! But it's not Riko at all. When they encountered that Humanoid Variant Kaiju? It ate and replaced Riko. And it's not even just a humanoid variant...IT'S NADARE as well. She's been manipulating Sagami this whole time, she caused Snowball Earth, she ruined the Final Battle plan, she's behind the Kaiju Attack...she's behind EVERYTHING. Yet before she can Hyper-Beam Sagami in "thanks" for his efforts, Tetsuo kicks her into missing! Because for all of her plans, the one thing she never counted on was Tetsuo surviving to be able to fight her now. "Drink together!" - Uh, is that why Lonely Iwaki is absolutely drunk while doing the next episode preview?

Hmmm. I wonder why the humanoid kaiju/Nadare is taking the cautious route to rule Earth. Maybe because it's highly intelligent? That's the only reason I could think of. Or maybe it is highly cautious because it's just its instincts to be careful considering people like Tetsuo exists? I think it wants to avoid a battle against prime TetsuYuki combo knowing full well it could end with its loss. I guess that's how powerful the aforementioned duo is. Kudos to the kaiju though, it definitely has the brains and patience to implement such a long-term plan.

I knew they were going to move into redemption mode for Sagami, now we've gotten to see him take care of all of these children and keep them safe so clearly he's not the evil idiot that he 100% is. And still no update on Ao! But on the positive side that was a great drop kick by Tetsuo, all this time it's been confusing for him since it was humans he had to fight but now that we're back to kaijus he locks in. Talk about an awful fate for Riko, but at least it was probably fast given how quickly her skeleton was reused. Assuming I'm interpreting that correctly.

Sagami saved those kids but then brainwashed them and made them accomplices in his foolish and pathetic desire to be humanity’s savior. How many people did he kill? How many lives ruined? This guy might be realizing what a dipshit he’s been, but it’s too little too late. Guy single-handedly set humanity back a decade because he let himself get played like a goddamn fiddle by Nadare. And now that bastard’s back.

He still kind of brainwashed them into believing in him as the absolute savior who had to kill everyone and Tetsuo to be able to validate himself as a Savior...but he still took care of them as the dad that stepped up. It's kind of funny how the Kaiju just doubled down on revealing how they were behind everything to establish their absolute main villain cred. The transition from Riko to Nadare to the Kaiju form was pretty effective.

Everyone's got their own reasons, even if Tetsuo's seem foolish to Sagami, it's what gives him strength and keeps him doing the right thing I do feel for Sagami, not that he's been forgiven but it allows us to understand him His VIERDE minions are loyal, Sagami does genuinely care for the kids, even if he got manipualted by Nadare, he's still the Savior for them, Hercules already existed before? I thought he was a tamer enhanced Kaiju and was created because of that Ah man, ofc they couldnt all have survived This reminds me of another white/silver haired character, he was quite the Odd Jobs taker and a strawberry milk enjoyer Shouldn't have jinxed it Yukio!!! So Nadare was not human afterall and was posing as Riko and is actually the Snow Kaiju too???? that thing is terrifying and I feel bad for Riko NICE DROPKICK TETSUO!! Yeah u tell it Tetsuo!! This ep had a crazy lore reveal at the end, i had guessed that Nadare could've been a Kaiju due to her body movements last ep but to think she's actually the Snow Kaiju!! It looked terrifying and Riko didnt deserve what happened to her, maybe she could be saved and is just trapped in its body Also Tetsuo dropkicking it in the face was both hilarious and cool lol. Him declaring to it's face that even tho they failed in the Infinity Laser Final Battle, he's still alive. Maybe it was fate that led to this so that Tetsuo and Yukio can kill it Well only one more ep left, im gonna miss this anime it's actually pretty good and fun Tetsuo and Yukio vs Snow Kaiju next week

Didn't expect the bigger bad shows up right now, even explaining how it infiltrated Sagami's gang for so fast. (Seriously, bodyswapping in a few seconds? That's terrifying) Also, they prepared for that 20 years ago, so even way earlier than Tetsuo piloting Yukio? Yeah, Sagami was an asshole for most of the time, but given how he saved the kids back then, their loyalty are pretty much given. That said, now he's pretty much a broken man on both sides, a swift death for him probably is for the better. And Tetsuo is defiant to fight against kaiju for anyone, which pretty much defines him, and it's actually good.

Now that I think about it, there's a running theme in Munehisa Sakai's recent works that I've seen now between Zombieland Saga, Dance Dance Danseur and Snowball Earth. Namely an exploration of masculinity throughout these shows that he helmed. ZLS's plotline with Lily grappled with her growing up with the demands by his manager father (who couldn't look any more masculine compared to her) and her fear of looking more like him growing up as she kept getting overworked prior to her death. DDD was about Junpei's conflicts with societal expectations regarding wanting to participate in a "feminine" activity like ballet, and the expectations enforced on him when he does perform and the struggles he faces as he continues training to dance. And now we have Snowball Earth where an introvert like Tetsuo was forced at a young age to become the world's savior such that he became so emotionally stunted and aloof from everyone else, but that hot-bloodedness from being a super robot pilot is what keeps him going to be a caring person despite his lack of social skills. And we also have Sagami, whose jealousy towards Tetsuo and his demand for validation had him sign a devil's deal with a kaiju that inadvertently led to the second ice age, yet he still couldn't let go of that grudge when he meets Tetsuo again. But his care for the child survivors that he trained to control kaiju was what for a time kept his worst impulses in check since he did get the validation that he craved, just in a less forceful, more positive way, that faded when he turned his attention to getting rid of Tetsuo. And then was brought back somewhat when it became clear that he was used by the kaiju. Guess hot-bloodedness is the antidote to toxic masculinity after all. Found it quite interesting when watching these recent episodes of the show.

I am absolutely tired of Sagami. Please let us move on from him. I don't care for him or the brainwashed children at all. Idk, this show is weird where it's not as if it's terrible but often times it feels like nothing happens? Or it's just very boring? To me, everything feels dragged out. Tetsuo is alright as an MC but his altruism is getting a bit annoying, imo. And we hardly saw Ao! I actually love slow build up stories but Snowball Earth has been all slow without buildup. At least the big boss finally made its appearance. Suspicions were confirmed correct when Nadare did turn out to be the humanoid kaiju's avatar however the Riko switch was unexpected. Does this have 13 or 14 episodes? I'll stick until the end but not sure if I would return for a season 2. But the OP and ED are absolute bangers! Definitely in my top 5 for this season.