Rinne no Lagrange - Episode 8

Now that all of the differences between them are resolved, everything seems to be going swimmingly (or should that be flyingly?) between Madoka, Lan and Muginami both on the ground and in the skies.  With no immediate danger in sight, this is surely the best time for the chairman of the Novumundus council which holds ownership over Pharos to pay a visit?

Rather than put in an appearance himself, we're instead treated to a flying visit from the chairman's great-granddaughter, a diminutive girl who is no less feisty for her youth and small stature.  The real reason for this "inspection" is, perhaps predictably, the incident involving Madoka's Vox Aura during Villagiulio's last appearance - a strange happening which seems to concern Novumundus rather a lot, tying into the legend of which we've heard murmurings previously.

As this legend is still of some concern to Lan, she pulls Madoka to one side (with Muginami in tow of course) to explain exactly what this legend is, revealing the story of an ancient and advanced civilisation which lived on Earth 20,000 years ago, only to be forced to escape to the stars in the wake of the Vox Aura and its ilk causing the obliteration of the planet and life upon it.  Essentially then, Lan and Muginami are still descendants of humankind, but more importantly recent happenings with the Vox Aura sees Novumundus ground the craft and its pilot rather than see this legend come to pass again.  It's the kind of decision you might expect to see Madoka fighting against, but instead it's only her two fellow pilots that kick up a fuss, with Madoka herself taking a decidedly mature and reasonable view of things.

Although all of this makes for rather a slow episode of Rinne no Lagrange, it's also rather important in terms of filling in a critical part of the show's back story, while its closing scenes also suggest some decidedly fluid loyalties between various individuals within the supposedly conflicting organisations within the series.  Couple this with Madoka's intriguingly grown-up behaviour this week (a far cry from her enthusiastic self earlier in the series), and things are as fascinating as ever within the series - it does, however, feel like we're a little overdue something more major to kick things up a gear, although I feel that hoping for too much action from the series is perhaps a futile one.  Still, for now Rinne no Lagrange remains reasonably enjoyable without pushing itself too hard.