hontou ni sou omou?

Lunamaria Hawke: My own sister, Meyrin. And Athrun. Branded as traitors and spies. They said that they attacked our military police, hacked into the computer system, stole a Gouf and tried to escape only to be shot down. And Shinn apologised to me for killing my sister and the man I like. I just broke down there and then and I let him hold me in his arms. I don’t know what’s going on anymore. (Nb: Reporting from Lunamaria’s POV involves dramatic irony.)

Zyl: It’s a heartbreaking episode for Lunamaria and kudoes to Maaya Sakamoto for carrying it off. I’ve been anticpating a possible Shinn x Lunamaria pairing since the GSD 26 ED (when Lunamaria and Stellar are featured behind Shinn) and the GSD 25 OP (Shinn and Lunamaria walking together) but especially in GSD 32, 33 when Stellar fell off the wagon. And now this.

I didn’t like the idea as I found Shinn annoying and didn’t think they had any chemistry. With this episode, perhaps the foundation has been set for a romantic relationship between the two that isn’t incredulous. This is anchored in their friendship from their academy days. The catalyst could be the events of this episode. Lunamaria is badly jarred and needs to be comforted. Shinn, who has treated her rather shabbily (e.g. GSD 35, 30) despite her desire to remain friends, might feel a guilt-driven responsibility to take care of her given his very direct role in Athrun and Meyrin’s MIA (presumed KIA) status. Well, we’ll have to wait and see how it goes in future episodes.

Oh and I’ve finally caught up with the series. (Does little dance)

Edit 2005-07-08: Have found a good GSD 37 summary with extensive screencaps by Omni at Random Curiosity. And it’s also occurred to me that Lunamaria might also be feeling guilty. Her ’stalking’ of Athrun in GSD 28 initially looked like harmless hilarity but is used in this episode to denounce Athrun. Also given that she knows about Meer impersonating Lacus, the situation could become very dangerous for Lunamaria.