Rommel of the Sea of Sand

Rommel of the Sea of Sand

Manga Chapter 16-3

Manga Chapter Summary:

The Conductor announces the 999’s next stop as “Desert Fox”, but says the layover time is not decided, it is something that is very fluid. As the 999 approaches the planet Tetsuro looks at it, realizing it is filled with sand. The sand dominates the landscape as the 999 approaches land, with some pockets of civilization seen within a giant sand sea. As they enter their hotel room, Tetsuro feels as if the building is shaking and Maetel warns him to lock the glass door to the deck properly. Tetsuro is disappointed that there are no stores around and when he goes to the restaurant is served sand crab, sand shrimp, sand octopus and sand sardine, none of which he’s fond of, although he still eats them.

As they return to the hotel room, Maetel tells Tetsuro to take a shower. Tetsuro is shocked to find sand coming out of the faucet instead of water and opens the bathroom door, making a mess of their hotel room. Maetel claims sand serves the same role as water on this planet. Tetsuro and Maetel go to bed. That night Tetsuro hears singing from outside. The door to the deck opens and an electric tube goes through, grabbing one of the suitcases. Tetsuro sees a woman outside controlling it, with long blonde hair and a black body suit and mask. The woman dives into the sand and Tetsuro runs after her. Maetel warns him not to go on the sand and that it is dangerous. Suddenly the thief grabs Tetsuro by the ankle with her hand and drags him under with her.

The phone rings in the hotel room and the voice on it tells Maetel that if she wants to help Tetsuro she should put her trunk on the sand outside, including her pass with it. Maetel is told to look outside where a skull is thrown out of the sand. The voice on the phone asks her if she wants Tetsuro to become like that skull. The voice claims she is the Desert Fox’s subordinate. The Desert Fox was the name of someone on Earth, Rommel. Maetel is confident Tetsuro will return and the voice continues to insist she provide her suitcase. Maetel relents and throws the suitcase outside, with it sinking into the sand. Maetel demands Tetsuro be returned but nothing happens, and she realizes she was lied to.

Meanwhile Tetsuro finds himself drifting in a stream of sand. He tries to make his way to the shore only for some shots to nearly hit him. He sees that there are many tanks off in the distance and realizes his only choice is to continue to swim through the sand. He eventually makes his way to a fork and we see several long necked, dinosaur-like creatures off on the horizon. Suddenly a large mouth opens up underneath Tetsuro; it is a large, leviathan-like creature. Some people talk in front of a control panel and Tetsuro passes out.

Tetsuro wakes up in a room that appears to be on one of the tanks. He is told by a voice that he is inside Rommel’s battle command vehicle. Tetsuro is questioned about what he was doing in the sand, the thief and being dragged into the sand. He confirms that he is a 999 passenger. The voice refuses to show its face and claims to be a secret organization within the Desert army that cannot expose itself to the public. He is told the planet will be peaceful someday. Tetsuro is hit by another shot and passes out.

Tetsuro wakes up in the hotel room with Maetel sitting next to him. Tetsuro wonders if it was a dream at first. Maetel points out to Tetsuro outside, where the thief is crucified on an X-shaped platform. Maetel says the thief was executed by Rommel for violating the desert fox’s military rules. Both suitcases have been returned. The thief’s intent was to ride the 999 to another planet to buy weapons. They wonder why she needed to steal 2 passes, wondering if the other was intended for a family member or lover. We see a child, alone out on the sand calling for his mother. Maetel says a disciplined rebel can’t win and says on this planet Rommel is a devil fighting for the future. Tetsuro asks Maetel if Rommel’s forces can win as the 999 leaves the planet. Maetel says she’s not sure. Both sides are fighting, believing they are correct.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

The 999’s journeys to planets with some sort of weird twist continues in this chapter, as it arrives on a planet where sand is the equivalent of water. As can probably be expected, we get some comedy from this, as Tetsuro tries to take a shower, only for sand to come out! When Maetel first mentioned it was time for Tetsuro to take a shower I knew something seemed odd, as she’s always pushing for him to take a bath instead. She must have known ahead of time what would happen! For seemingly the millionth time, we have a plot about Tetsuro and Maetel’s passes being stolen. Will the usage of this plot ever end? I suppose not. Tetsuro being grabbed by the ankles by a hand makes me think back to when the same thing happened to him in chapters 3-12/4-1, “Mud Maetel”.

Tetsuro’s journey across the sand stream features several sand sea creatures, which were interesting to see. It was especially surprising when the mouth of one comes up right underneath Tetsuro! My mind initially went to the sand worms from Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, although the creature looks more like a cross of a leviathan and dragon than Dune’s sand worms.

Eventually Tetsuro is saved, waking up in a tank possessed by one of the local military powers, although he never meets his savior. The thief has a rather gruesome end by being crucified and left out in the sand by the hotel for Tetsuro and Maetel to see. It is rather depressing to find out that she was a mother, and her child is out on the sand all alone afterwards.

The chapter contains several references to Erwin Rommel including the character name and the name of the planet, “Desert Fox” which was Rommel’s nickname. Erwin Rommel was a general for Nazi Germany during World War II and led battles in France as well as North Africa. Although it’s not part of this chapter, Matsumoto has also referenced in the past El Alamein, a location in Egypt where battles had taken place during World War II in the chapter “El Alamein’s Singing Voice” (chapter 2-3).