Blue Melon Duel

Blue Melon Duel

Manga Chapter 17-4

Manga Chapter Summary:

The Conductor announces the next stop as “Blue Melon” with a layover time of 1 hour and 10 seconds. The 999 approaches the planet, which looks like a watermelon.  Tetsuro says it is a very short stop time and Maetel says it’s because the 999 is replenishing itself here. Tetsuro’s stomach rumbles and the Conductor says their ramen supply has run out! He says this is a planet with a lot of food and they come here to replenish it. The 999 makes its way down to the planet, over a large ocean. Tetsuro sees a lot of round objects in the water and says they are floating like jellyfish. As the 999 gets closer to them we realize it is a whole bunch of watermelons floating in the water. Maetel says this is like a giant watermelon field and they act like islands. Tetsuro is impressed, comparing it to the planet where they saw round pigs and cows.

As the 999 approaches the water there is an eruption of water and Tetsuro and Maetel get soaked. As there are more eruptions, Tetsuro gets carried out of the 999 and into the water below. The 999 continues on without him as if it hasn’t realized he’s fallen out. Tetsuro makes his way to a nearby watermelon but has a hard time gripping onto it so he can climb it. He eventually finds one with a hole in it and crawls towards it, being grateful to whoever left it here. He sees the inside is red like a regular watermelon. Suddenly a giant pair of eyes appear in the darkness and ask why some annoying person is coming in without permission. It is a giant worm-like creature that comes out and forces Tetsuro back into the water. The creature tells Tetsuro to not worry; it came out due to the surprise, but won’t eat him. Tetsuro is surprised to realize insects here are intelligent and can speak like humans.

The creature invites Tetsuro in. Tetsuro worries it is going to eat him and continues to tread water, but finds his body getting heavier. Tetsuro starts sinking into the water below. Meanwhile Maetel and the Conductor have gotten off at the station, finding the city there in ruins. The Conductor hadn’t noticed Tetsuro falling out and wonders how he should report it. Maetel says the explosions from the sea were from a battle and it’s not his fault. She realizes the atmospheric composition has changed here. Tetsuro wakes up inside the home a man has made within one of the watermelons. The man claims he is a stubborn one and was almost eaten by a worm. We see the worm coming out the backside of the watermelon and Tetsuro compares the worm to a guard dog.

The man, whose name is Forks says there have been recent attacks and counterattacks here. This area is his clan’s watermelon field. He says insects biting into some of the watermelons is a natural occurrence. Even if worm-eaten fruit won’t sell, Forks says they can be self-sufficient here. Forks says mechanical people rule this planet; they couldn’t live here though so they commanded watermelons to be grown. Mechanical people don’t eat watermelons, but they have been able to export them to the many living humans in the universe. Tetsuro wonders what will happen to him and Forks says he can ride a bug to the station. He claims the rebellion they are staging hasn’t been settled yet and wonders if in a final battle he’ll end up battling the ruler. He says this planet is no longer useful to mechanical people due to the costs to transport the food and the worm-eaten food. He would like for this planet to be forgotten by the mechanical people and for them to be self-sufficient. It can be a paradise for real humans.

Tetsuro gets on the giant worm and rides it away. We cut to the 999 where Tetsuro is holding a giant watermelon seed given to him by Forks. He wants to plant it somewhere. The Locomotive claims a high speed destructive object is approaching from the center of Andromeda towards Blue Melon. Blasts head towards Blue Melon and the entire planet explodes. Tetsuro says Forks’ side lost the battle, but Maetel claims humans won in a sense since the mechanical empire couldn’t control them. She claims mechanical people won’t allow the existence of a living paradise for humans. Tetsuro asks if they are scared. Maetel says in the center of the Andromeda galaxy there is the planet that gives a machine body for free, known as the terminal station. As the chapter comes to a close the narrator explains how Tetsuro knows his journey is nearing its end. He wants to realize his hopes and dreams to live an eternal life, but also hates mechanical people.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

It is a rather simple, fast moving chapter this time as the 999 heads to the planet “Blue Melon”. Blue Melon is a stop where the 999 comes to replenish its food supplies, and reminds me much of the planet we visited back in chapter 2-5, “Giant Cows in Space Pastures”. Tetsuro clearly feels the same way as he references his experience from that chapter! It wouldn’t be a new stop without a little bit of adventure, and that comes as water eruptions from a battle there causes Tetsuro to fall out of the 999, into a giant body of water where giant watermelons are being grown! Tetsuro has a briefly scary experience with a giant worm, but soon meets Forks, who is part of a rebellion on this planet against the machine empire.

As we get deeper into the Andromeda galaxy we continue to get further examples that living humans and mechanized humans are unable to peacefully co-exist with each other. The mechanized empire at one time had a use for this planet, using it to grow and export food. But now that has become too expensive and bugs have eaten too much of the food. Those actual humans on the planet like Forks are rebelling and hope to make the planet their own paradise. Unfortunately for them they aren’t able to succeed and the planet is destroyed by the end of the chapter. Despite the descriptions of the conflict, the most we get out of it is a few eruptions of water and the blast at the end of the chapter that destroys the planet. Matsumoto probably could have elongated the chapter with fighting if he really desired, but decides to skip over that part and stick mostly to exposition.

I have no big complaints with the chapter, but at this point we’re so far into things, there isn’t really anything all that special here either. We’ve seen the concepts explored here in previous chapters. It may be for the best at this point that we are getting pretty close to the end.