List of Simoun episodes

Episode list

Neviril and Amuria appear to be on the verge of successfully completing the Emerald Ri Mājon when disaster strikes. Their Simoun has a head-on encounter with an Argentum dragonfly fighter. Neviril sees the enemy pilot inside his cockpit and meets his gaze, which forces her to see the attacking enemy forces as people rather than machines. She loses the will to kill them, and her resulting moment of hesitation causes the Ri Mājon to fail. The failure of the Emerald Ri Mājon causes an explosion similar to the detonation of a nuclear weapon. The remaining Simouns of Chor Tempest escape the blast, but the entire attacking fleet is annihilated, and Neviril's Simoun is crippled. The upper fuselage is a twisted wreck, and the sagitta cockpit is missing entirely and Amuria with it. Tragedy strikes Chor Tempest in its first battle against the air fleet of the Argentum Archipelago, and two mysterious new Sibyllae join the choir.

Three Sibyllae from Chor Tempest were killed in the initial battle. After the battle, three more announce their intent to leave the ranks of the Sibyllae and go to the Spring to choose a permanent sex. The remaining Sibyllae are all too demoralized to act as an effective fighting force, especially Neviril, who cannot even bring herself to leave her stateroom on the Arcus Prima. The only bright spot for Chor Tempest at this time is the arrival of two promising new recruits: Sibylla Aer, an excellent pilot with unshakeable morale, and Sibylla Rimone, a child prodigy who was recently made the youngest Sibylla ever.

Although both Simouns manage to destroy a portion of the attacking force, the enemy has adopted new tactics that disperse their aircraft to make them less vulnerable to the Ri Mājon effect. The two Simouns destroy a portion of the enemy fighter wave, but are pursued so closely by the surviving fighters that they are unable to complete further Ri Mājons. Wauf orders the Messis to exit its position of concealment, thereby drawing the enemy fighter attack onto his own ship to buy the Sibyllae some time. In a desperate response, Rimone and Dominūra perform the Emerald Ri Mājon and succeed. Their Simoun vanishes without a trace in a flash of light as the rest of the choir—including the four missing Simouns, who happen to appear just in time to see it—look on in horror. Unlike in the first battle, however, the Emerald Ri Mājon has no effect on the attacking aircraft or the outcome of the battle, but the day is saved when Arcus Prima, now fully repaired and operational, conveniently appears to drive away the remaining attackers.

During the battle, Aer and Neviril discover that Aer's music box, though closed and deactivated, plays its song around the entrance to the Ruins. Instead of joining the dogfight, they land to investigate... and discover the Spring inside, and Onasia. After the fight, the remaining members of the choir land, and discover another of the ancient Simoun inside the Ruins. Inside it, they find Anglas' dead body sitting in the auriga seat.

Realizing that the Simouns seen at the Ruins were most likely piloted by Plumbish priestesses, the Simulacran Defence Minister orders Chor Tempest to locate and destroy the airborne supply base that Messis had discovered, using the Messis as their base. Aer and Yun are ordered to stay behind, with Mamina taking Aer's place as Neviril's pair. They ignore their orders and follow along in Chor Tempest's wake anyway. Neviril splits her patrol in half, taking Alty and Floe with her, and assigning a different sector to the other two Simouns.

The two ancient Simouns land next to Mamina and Neviril's crippled craft, and the four Plumbish priestesses who were piloting them emerge, wielding pistols. They explain that they hold the Simoun Sibyllae in great reverence, and regret having to fight them. They try to help Neviril and Mamina escape. Instead, Mamina sacrifices herself to save the foreign priestesses, who would have been executed as traitors for helping them escape. The rest of Chor Tempest arrives with the Messis and scatters the allied troops on the base ship's flight deck, but it is too late—Mamina had been shot through the heart by one of the priestesses to avoid the dishonor of being killed by the Argentum soldiers. Roatreamon is disconsolate, and Aer is in shock.

With the secret of the Emerald Ri Mājon revealed, we are finally shown what happened to Rimone and Dominūra. They landed in the far past, in the aftermath of a destructive war and a long period of lean economic times. Humanity had forgotten the secrets of the Simoun and the ways of their faith. The ancient Simoun found at the Ruins sit idle by the edge of the town where the two land, reduced to mere playthings for children. As the two are summoned to explain themselves to the townspeople, Dominūra explains to Rimone what she saw in the helical motors that upset her so much: she saw herself landing in this very town, explaining to the townspeople about the Emerald Ri Mājon, and thereby causing the entire war and all of the ensuing suffering. She asks Rimone for advice, and Rimone explains that if there had not been Simouns, she never would have met Chor Tempest or Dominūra. This admission overcomes Dominūra's reservations, and history unfolds exactly as Dominūra and Limone remember it.

Despite Chor Tempest's partial success, the Simulacran authorities realize that the war is lost, and sue for peace. The allied peace terms include Plumbish and Argentum occupation troops aboard the Arcus Prima and the disbandment of Chor Tempest. Halconf is forced to resign his office as a result of the defeat.

Years pass. Plumbum and Argentum have a falling out, and a cold war develops between them. Paraietta manages an orphanage, funded by Roatreamon's family business. Alty and Kaim reconcile, and move back in with their parents. Guragief and Anubituf stay together. Morinas and Wapōrif marry and have several children. Wauf remains as the captain of the Messis, which reverts to being a freighter again in peacetime. Eliph and Morinas join the *Messis''' crew, and as they load cargo one day, Morinas briefly catches sight of Aer and Neviril's Simoun as it fades in and out of reality. Vuraf and Floef are drafted by opposite sides for the coming war, and Vuraf comes to visit Floef on his farm by the shore of the lake where the wreck of the *Arcus Prima'' has settled. The two part with a wish that they never meet on the battlefield, and as the sun sets, Floef catches sight of an ancient V-tailed Simoun as it appears in the sky.

In the red glow of the sunset, a record player starts up in the deserted ballroom of the wrecked Arcus Prima. Neviril and Aer dance happily in each other's arms. As they dance, the ballroom is transformed back into its old self, until the pair vanish.

Distribution

Japan

The anime has been released on DVD in Japan by Bandai Visual. The series consists of nine DVDs, with two episodes on the first volume and three on each of the others. They are encoded for Region 2 and do not have English subtitles. A 7-disc DVD box set was released in Japan on 28 January 2011. The box set includes all 26 episodes but none of the on-disc extras or liner notes from the original DVDs. Megami Magazine released a 30-minute promotional DVD for Simoun in September 2006. The offer was limited to the first 1000 readers to mail in a coupon from the magazine. The DVD includes cast commentary and interviews, a Tsukkomi segment similar to that on DVD volume 8, a "voice-over" for the first installment of the Megami manga, and other promotional material.

North America

Media Blasters announced the Region 1 license for Simoun in May 2007. Their releases are subtitled only (no English dub). The series was released in five volumes.

References

References

1. (September 3, 2017). "SIMOUN". [[Agency for Cultural Affairs]].
2. "EMOTION the Best Simoun DVD Box". cdjapan.co.jp.
3. Megami Magazine, volume 76 (September 2006), p. 32
4. (2007-05-14). "''Simoun'' Yuri Anime Reportedly Licensed by Media Blasters". [[Anime News Network]].
5. (2007-10-26). "Simoun Vol. #1 review". Mania.com.
6. (2008-03-19). "Simoun Vol. #2 review". Mania.com.
7. (2008-05-16). "Simoun Vol. #3 review". Mania.com.
8. (2008-06-06). "Simoun Vol. #4 review". Mania.com.
9. (2008-08-07). "Simoun Vol. #5 review". Mania.com.