Earth Engine Open Fire

Earth Engine Open Fire
(アースエンジン火蓋を切る, Āsuenjin Hibuta o Kiru)
Episode Data
Next	The Name of the Gun Is Livlaster
Writer	Yōji Enokido
Director	Yoshiyuki Asai
Airing Date
Japanese	April 5, 2014
Characters[Show/Hide]
Daichi Manatsu, Teppei Arashi , Hana Mutou, Akari Yomatsuri , Taiyou Manatsu, Tsubaki Yomatsuri , Tsutomu Nishikubo, Peter Westvillage , Toshiaki Manatsu
Mecha [Show/Hide]
Earth Engine, Malkin

Earth Engine Open Fire (アースエンジン火蓋を切る, Asu Enjin Hibuta o Kiru^?) is the first episode of Captain Earth. 

Synopsis

Daichi Manatsu sees a rainbow circle on TV that reminds him of when he was young. On the first day of summer vacation, he goes to Tanegashima Island meets a mysterious girl named Ariel and a giant robot named the Earth Engine deep below the ground .

Plot

Act One

A rocket launches, the young Daichi Manatsu watches the large column of exhaust and he hears the words If your dad ever dies...

Now a teenager, his Uncle, Toshiaki Manatsu, knocks on Daichi's door as he wakes up to start the last day of the first semester of his second year of high school.

Toshiaki sits beside him while his teacher, on the other side discusses his grades and poor performance. Usual things like video games drag him down but as Daichi explains, instead of studying, he reads other things that interest him and he realizes that. The teacher tells him that he has to start thinking about what he'll do after high school and asks if he has dreams like following in his father's footsteps. However, Toshiaki informs the teacher that his father has nothing to do with his future plans. Sometimes, Daichi thinks there's something wrong with him, the way he is.

But, most likely, he's only imagining it, and he's actually trying to escape because he doesn't feel like studying the stuff they assign at school, as his high score at a motorcycle game at an amusement arcade comes on the screen, his friend, Kagawa is amazed, his family actually owns the arcade.

Daichi goes over to Kagawa's home in apartment block, his parents are not home. Sasaki and Aizawa play a fighting game while eating take out pizza. Daichi plays the game and wins, much to the amazement of Sasaki. Aizawa tells Kagawa to invite Daichi to a villa in Izu, as it would mean Ayano would also come. Kagawa proceeds to invite both Daichi and Sasaki. Sasaki asks if Toshiaki (or as she calls him, that old guy with glasses) will complain. Kagawa is verified by Daichi when Kagawa asks if the man isn't really Daichi's father and Daichi asks Kagawa how he knew. Kagawa explains to Aizawa and Sasaki that Daichi's father was an astronaut. Daichii was surprised that Kagawa knew. Sasaki questions the was, Daichi tells her that he died. She startles and accidentally changes the television channel with the remote. In footage taken by local resident, a strange rainbow circle appeared in the sky over the town of Minamitane in Tanegashima for five minutes, before disappearing. Daichi begins to have strange flashbacks and a voice asks Is it you? causing him to leave Kagawa's home, he says he can't go to the villa but thanks them for inviting him.

As a kid, Daichi came up to Globe facility number six, amazed by it's huge size. On the other side of the fence he meets another young boy (Teppei Arashi) who asks what the blue thing around his neck is, Daichi says it is the Blue Star and that his dad gave it to him. Teppei says it is very pretty and asks Daichi what a dad is (showing that he must have had limited contact with the outside world).

Back in the present, Daichi, leans on a railing at the edge of the river. Meanwhile, in a skyscraper. Moco looks at the rainbow that appeared above Minamitane on Amara's device, she asks if it is the Albion Rainbow and he confirms it. Moco then is informed by a colleague that tommorow, she'll finally be able to pilot the Machine Goodfellow, another colleague asks her if she and Amara are an item, to which she replies they are not, so he offers a date with her on the next day off. Amara tells Moco that it is harvest season, that they have finally found the last person and the Machine Goodfellow will activate.

A girl (Akari Yomatsuri) looks keenly at one of her many computer screens at the Albion Rainbow footage. Another girl, stands beneath the starry night, a creature, Pitz,  runs up her to her head. The teenage Teppei sleeps with a rainbow above him and Daichi's Blue Star around his neck while being observed by scientists. One is glad to hear that his body temperature has dropped to 38 degrees Celsius. As the scientists say, it is Teppei's singularity causing the phenomenon and that he is an avatar.

On a ship , starting his summer break Daichi overhears gossip about the rainbow. Daichi has seen the rainbow before, when he met Teppei. After climbing over the fence, Daichi said that if Teppei could do anything that surprised him, then he'd give Teppei his dad's blue star. Teppei jumps from a tall fire escape set of stairs, without any harm at all, much to Daichi's shock. He hands the Blue Star over to Teppei as promised. Teppei is unsure, so Teppei offers to give it back if he did something to surprise Teppei instead. Daichi throws his boomerang, which amazes Teppei due to the lack of contact with the outside world. The new friends sit on a rooftop watching the sunset together. Teppei offers to show Daichi one last amazing thing, he holds out his hands, and forms a rainbow above it.

The ship arrives at the island of Tanegashima, and Daichi visits the grave of his father. Friend of his father Tsutomu Nishikubo, is already there with flowers on the gravestone and tells Daichi that once he’s done there, he should head home, as Daichi tends to the grave, he asks Tsutomu if his father really died in an accident.

Tsutomu had also witnessed the attack by the Kiltgang when Daichi's father launched himself from a rocket as an Impacter to save the Earth. He told Tsutomu that hope means believing that the future will be better than today and real hope can only come from the choices one makes, he swears he will stop the attack because he is a captain.

Tsutomu tells Daichi that his father was a wonderful captain.

Act Two

Walking through the forests of Tanegashima, Daichi remembers being told by Toshiaki that if his dad ever dies, his dad will die with a smile on his face. Ever since Daichi's dad died, he never returned to the island, it was the last time he saw Teppei and her was three months before his father's death.

After making friends with Teppei, Teppei invited Daichi into the facility, the door however was locked but Teppei managed to remove the lock. They both ventured deep into the facility and beyond the darkness, Daichi saw her. A girl floating in a bubble glowing with blue light grasping a device, Daichi touched the bubble and a brilliant flash shone and she approached Daichi and Teppei. The three escaped out of the facility together. Just as Teppei was about to return the Blue Star to Daichi, they were caught by the authorities and that was the last time Daichi ever saw Teppei.

Back in the present, Daichi returns to the old Globe facility once more, he cannot get in but the lock drops from the door as it did when he and Teppei went in there for the first time. Seemingly lost inside, he hears a girl playing the recorder and decides to follow her.

Meanwhile, Moco tests her powers in Setsuna's capsule on the Moon, Moco turns into her true form, the robot, Malkin. At the Globe Tanegashima facility, operator Sander detects her as an AEO (Approaching-Earth Object). Tsutomu rushes in, he has been informed by Governor Yomatsuri on the space station Tenkaido that their observation satellites have detected an AEO and it matches the Kiltgang's manifestation pattern. Operator Mia says the AEO's manifestation area is within defensive zone 1, and Operator Rena deploys the defensive zone 1's impacter and says that the Russian base's Markovs have already activated their intercept systems. Daichi, on the other hand, follows the girl he met down a strange invisible elevator, after an apparent black out, he and the girl are in a room with the gear covered floor lighting up. The girl raises her left hand, pointing upwards and Daichi sees a negative image of Malkin advancing towards the Earth, he is frightened and asks the girl if the thing is heading for the Earth and she nods her head. The Markovs fail to stop Malkin from advancing to the Earth. Daichi continuously asking the girl what he can do to help, suddenly, the girl points to his hand and a gun is in it.

The gun glows brightly and he is transported to a room where a giant robot is being prepared for battle. Scientist, Peter Westvillage, asks Daichi if he knows what he's holding and asks if he's the captain. Daichi remembers Tsutomu's words to him about his father being a wonderful captain and answers that he does not know if he's a captain or not but he has to stop that thing falling from space. All of the Markovs have been destroyed and the Kiltgang is heading straight for Earth at 50m/s. Just as Governor Yomatsuri asks if there are any Impacters in the Lambda sector, she's alerted by Mia that the Expansion Sequence has activated. Three satellites (Sky Gate, marine Gate and Road Gate) align.

Back at the Tanegashima facility, operator Trias tells Tsutomu that Alonzo has begun the Earth Engine emergency startup sequence. The Pegasus rocket launch pad opens and it takes off carrying the Earth Engine and Daichi inside.