Another week, another adventure for our favorite hot red and gold tin-man; who we can all recall is not having the best first week in Japan.

Plot Outline:

The chapter starts with a view of a cargo liner drifting in the sea all by itself with no crew in sight. It would seem that the poor crew met their fate by the mysterious individuals sneaking on board in the helm room and the familiar silhouette in front of a radioactive material in the cargo hold. The view then shifts towards the day of the nosy (no pun intended on the massive nose she has been drawn with) reporter Nanami-chan and her trying to gain better insight on Mr. Stark but wait; breaking news Tony has been called in for a hearing in front of a special investigation committee, no doubt formed in regards to theft of the hazardous item in the cargo liner. The government it would seem are harboring suspicions on our young buccaneer since the Arc Reactor Technology requires plutonium in order to function. Things get heated as Tony coolly defends himself by stating that he has been set up and the government restricting him from investigating into the incident. Naturally, if you tell Tony not to do ‘something’; it is best to prepare yourself for the repercussions that are going to follow after the fiasco he is going to create by definitely doing that particular ‘something’. His personal investigation leads to another confrontation with the Zodiac organization who are revealed to the engineers behind the ‘missing nuke’ plot and Tony also gets to opportunity to vent his fury on their warrior Cancer and a few other unfortunate and dismissible members. Also it would seem that the Japanese government, the defence minister in particular, have an agenda of their own and we are introduced to Mr. Sakurai (the Good Samaritan).

Rating: A/A+

The Good:

Well if you put everything else on the side, the action sequences in this episode were amazing and we finally get to see that tin-suit in action. A battle of the armored warriors on top of the high seas and a car chase spanning across the highway and the city more than makes up for the absence of it in the first episode. Also I am highly pleased with the introduction of Mr. Sakurai which from the opening title of the show we can guess will be another series regular. The pace of the episode was quite good, personally which for me was like watching a thriller movie all packed into 20 minutes. And you also get to see the nifty gadgets Tony has built to play around with which remind you that beneath that extremely laid back and womanizing persona hides the mind of a highly inventive genius. The ability to control the traffic signals from the onboard computer to even the Iron Man metamorphosis in the car makes his car even better than KITT from Knight Rider.

The Ugly:

Personally this episode pretty much cemented my dislike of Nanami, whom I didn’t dislike that much in the premiere of the series but in this episode she was downright annoying with her lack of common sense and the school girl attitude makes me want to bang my head on the wall. Instead of character development, I see more degradation. Sure she redeems herself in the end by writing a supporting article for Tony, but I was left disappointed she was given preference over Dr. Tanaka; who sadly made only a brief cameo appearance.

The WTF:

Okay, I know this is an anime but there do tend to be some sequences that boggle our minds and make us wonder what the animators were doing and almost lead to us going bald due to the frustration and hair pulling that follows. This time it was the absurdity of Nanami being able to give chase to Tony first in her dingy car and than on a scooter (seriously a scooter) against Tony’s modified silver sports car. And her further being able to out run one of the most modified tanks which even impressed Mr. Stark. And how the heck did they manage to sneak that tank into the city in the first place. Seriously whacked but highly entertaining still nonetheless.

Bottom-line:

A good episode which leaves you lusting for more. I was disappointed in the beginning and with Nanami but the episode is saved with intense and furious pace of the action sequences and especially the brief sneak peak into what the Defence Minister and Mr. Sakurai are up to at the conclusion. And we can all assume from the way the warriors are named in the Zodiac that Tony still has to go up against ten more.

Preview:

Next week, Tony continues to try and improve the opinion the public have of him. And what better way to do so while a natural disaster such as a giant tornado threatening the populace occurs. It’s Iron Man to the rescue.