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Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 6 Review – Quick Summary
In Unbreakable Machine Doll episode 6, “Facing Sword Angel II,” as we saw at the end of the previous episode, Yaya took a mortar shell to the torso. She crashed to the ground and a pool of blood formed around her. Though she survived the strike, only Raishin’s magic could restore her. But he was off on a mission with Komurasaki, and that mission was not going well. As he tried to infiltrate a laboratory, one of the enemy’s automatons sensed him using sonic magic. Can Raishin and Komurasaki evade this automaton? Or has their mission failed, which would likely doom Yaya as well?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 6
Raishin stuck to his beliefs, even when he was literally under fire. Capture from the Funimation stream.
You know, this show is a lot more sad than I remembered it. My favorite quote is an example. You’d think I’d remember something like that, given that the sadness is tied to one of the show’s main themes, which is that automatons are people, too. I guess sadness is one of the logical outcomes when one group of people treat another as disposable non-humans.
In this episode, Raishin and Komurasaki met Komi, the mother/prototype of Frey’s automaton. Or rather, she found them, even though they’d been concealed by magic. She’d been slated for decommissioning, because a newer model was available, and she cost too much to maintain. That infuriated Raishin, of course, and he invited her to come with them. Partly because of how he treated her, she agreed.
As agents of her owners chased them, she and Raishin were both wounded. Raishin tried to carry her up a ladder to safety, but too many guards below fired at them. Sooner or later, bullets would strike all three of them. She asked him to let her go. Raishin, being Raishin, absolutely refused.
“Go,” she said in an exhausted voice (14:33). “I want to stay here and sleep. Here, with my children… I had some fun, in the end. You have my thanks.”
Then she nipped him hard enough on the shoulder that he had to let go.
There’s a reason I want to treat any potential sentience as a being deserving of full rights. If I’m wrong, I incur a greater capital expense. As Ripley said, “They can bill me.” But if I’m right, and if it were something like this case, I could have prevented a mother’s tragic death. I think that’s a fairly straight-forward decision, actually.
Best in Show Moment for Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 6
Well, at least his heart is in the right place. For now! Capture from the Funimation stream.
Setup: Raishin Is Clumsy in Revenge
Raishin is at his best when he is acting out his core convictions. For example, in this episode, his spontaneous reaction to Yomi’s plight not only spoke well his his beliefs, it touched Yomi’s heart so much that she was willing to help him. He treated her as an equal, and she responded.
Raishin is less good when he acts in a way that’s contrary to his convictions and his nature. Remember back in episode 1, when he dramatically leapt out of a first story window to confront Magnus? The gesture fell flat. It was as if he told himself that he was prepared for revenge, and he even bought his sister’s ashes so his gesture of challenge would be valid. Still, he’s not a cold-blooded killer, and he can’t act like one. It doesn’t suit him.
We got another glimpse of that in this episode. My favorite moment was perfectly within Raishin’s character. It was also an act of complete stupidity, in spite of coming from an honest sentiment.
Raishin seems to remain obvious to this, but some of the other characters appreciate his sentiments. Capture from the Funimation stream.
It was towards the end of the episode. Raishin and Yaya faced off against Loki and Cherubim, Loki’s automaton. Yaya and Cherubim tore into each other, each landing solid blows, each showing powerful defenses. Yaya, far smaller than Cherubim, easily held her ground.
But Raishin remembered her being wounded before. He also remembered Yomi dying to protect him. Earlier in the season, Raishin tried to make the excuse that his family’s fighting style was team-based, but since he only had one automaton, he had to join in at times. I think he was just making an excuse. He just didn’t want to see Yaya hurt.
Delivery: Raishin’s Heart is in the Right Place
When Yaya’s attacks proved effective, Loki ordered Cherubim to change to a more blunt, more powerful form. Then, Cherubim went after Yaya with the intent of pounding her into the ground.
Yaya saw Raishin hesitate, and she tried to reassure him (in an exasperated tone) that she could handle this, that he just had to give her his magic. Instead, at the last second, he grabbed her and presented his own back to Cherubim’s blade (22:39). He succeeded in protecting Yaya. He also succeeded in getting just about split in half.
It was exactly the sort of thing Raishin would do. It was also very stupid. Yaya is a top of the line automaton, and she’s proven her abilities time and time again. She could have taken the blow, or diverted it, because she done the same thing before.
Yaya could hold her own against Cherubim, at least at the start. Capture from the Funimation stream.
But Raishin’s back? That’s nowhere near as resilient!
The act did prove something, though, and it’s that Raishin is not a calculating, cold-blooded killer. He doesn’t want to put others at risk so he can achieve his goals, even if those others, like Yaya, were perfectly willing. He’s just not cut out for this sort of work. I think it’s interesting to see someone like him in this role. It’s a nice contrast to the usual powerful, rugged types.
What did you think of the secret Frey’s Father has been keeping? What were your favorite moments in the episode? Please feel free to let me know in the comments!
Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 6: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog: Unbreakable Machine-Doll Episode 6: Facing “Sword Angel” II
- Brave New Moe: Unbreakable Machine-Doll ep 6 impressions
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 1: Facing Cannibal Candy I
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 2: Facing Cannibal Candy II
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 3: Facing Cannibal Candy III
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 4: Facing Cannibal Candy IV
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 5: Facing Sword Angel I
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 6: Facing Sword Angel II
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 7: Facing Sword Angel III
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 8: Facing Sword Angel IV
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 9: Facing Elf Speeder I
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 10: Facing Elf Speeder II
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 11: Facing Elf Speeder III
- Unbreakable Machine Doll Episode 12: Facing Elf Speeder IV
What you say about treating any being of potential sentience as fully deserving of human rights? I just commented on much the same thing, but a bit more broadly, in a recent post about Robotic Uprisings. I notice that pretty much every instance of robots, AI, or other artificial creatures going bad usually stems from the mistakes of the humans that make them, including when they treat them as lesser things, as tools, objects, and slaves, instead of as people. It’s a fascinating observation to me.
Cool!
That’s a well-used trope in science fiction, and it’s interesting to me. It almost makes the assumption that AI/other non-human sentients would have a sense of justice; and finding us lacking, use our injustice as the reason to exterminate us.
On one hand, human extinction seems pretty grim. On the other, at least we taught our technological children the idea of justice!
On second thought, maybe mercy would be a better idea!
Yes, indeed. Heh, and I love how you referred to them as our technological children, because I basically said that our horror stories of AI, robots, and artificial life turning on us is, at least in part, an expression of our deeper fears of our children turning on us for our failures. It’s like an unspoken acknowledgement that the power to create life is indeed tremendous and should be used wisely and with love. (of course, I went on for quite a bit longer about it)
Sorry it took me until tonight to read your post on the topic:
https://merlinsmusings.com/2022/02/10/robotic-uprisings/
You wrote a great treatment of the topic! It’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile, probably because I’ve been a fan of a lot of the works you referenced in your post. I’m working on a series of books, and I’m blogging about the effort here:
https://www.terranceacrow.com/posts/progress-report-2022-week-07/
Non-human intelligence is one of the topics I’m trying to weave in. I’m trying to take a different approach, not to be different, but because I think there’s another option. I’m sure others have investigated it before, so I’m not claiming to be original. But I hope to at least look at it from a slightly different perspective.
All that said, your main point (an unspoken acknowledgement that the power to create life is indeed tremendous and should be used wisely and with love) is spot on!