The subtitle of this particular episode is Flying Girl, and if I'm quite honest a flying girl would most likely have been more believable than many of the facets of the plot of this particular instalment. After some of the usual banter between Momoko and Takehiko (with the latter threatening to throw the former out of a thirteenth floor window - Is there some kind of fund we can contribute to so that actually happens?), the big game changer for Kuniko's plan is revealed - A stealth fighter. I tried my best at this point to figure out how on Earth Metal Age have enough money to buy (or even hire) a stealth fighter, or how they'd manage to do so without somebody of import noticing, but such thoughts were soon banished to the back of my mind as Kuniko began her offensive against Atlas... In broad daylight. Now, I'm no military strategist, but I can't help but feel that using a big black stealth fighter on a sunny day isn't really the best deployment of your assets - Needless to say, it isn't long before the plane is caught on camera by Atlas' defence forces, bringing about some inept use of missiles and machine guns from said forces.
If the plausibility quota for the episode was already stretched thin, then it was soon taken into the red by Kuniko's incredible ability to run along the wings of her rented stealth fighter without any problems, while also throwing her boomerang around like a mad woman. This then progressed to jumping between fast moving airborne objects, and the liberal use of jet packs. Oh yes, I forgot to mention all of the Metal Age "troops" involved with the operation had their own personal jet packs to use. With the amount of money spent on military hardware in this episode alone, why didn't Metal Age just put that cash into building their own version of Atlas, but complete with hookers and blackjack?
As I think the above has amply demonstrated, this particular episode of Shangri-la works best if you switch off your brain, remove it, pickle it and donate it to science - As pure out and out action goes it had something going for it, but I really couldn't help myself but to pick holes in perhaps the worst invasion plan short of stealing a single tank and trying to invade Paris. Still, as episodes of Shangri-la go this was certainly fun-filled if action is what you seek, and for that I can be thankful as at least the adrenaline-fuelled thrills and spills can cover up for the plot holes you could drive a fleet of buses through.
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