Eureka Seven AO



Eureka Seven AO is an anime and manga series that is a Sequel to Eureka Seven. The animated series began airing in April 2012. The manga was released on January 2012 and is still ongoing.

The series takes place twenty years after the events of the original anime. It follows a boy named Ao living on the island of Okinawa, which has recently declared independence from Japan. Ao is the orphaned son of a foreigner who moved to the island, which causes him to be subjected to less than Fantastic Racism. Despite this he's still close friends with Naru, a girl who comes from an influential family on the island.

Recently, there has been a rash of attacks from the G-Monsters, which seem to be attracted to Scub Coral (a strange material that appears in relation to catastrophic meltdowns of Earth's antigravity technology). When one of these beasts attacks Okinawa, not only does Ao find himself Falling Into the Cockpit, he also learns of his strange lineage related to the main characters of the previous series. Saving the island also pulls him into the middle of many political issues, including Okinawa's struggle for independence.

The series has been licensed by FUNimation. Subtitled episodes are released weekly on their website, one episode behind the current episode in Japan.

Official Japanese website

Tropes:

 * Airborne Aircraft Carrier: The second G-Monster is a massive floating carrier which launches swarms of smaller G-Monsters that resemble the first one (albeit scaled down to fighter size).
 * Génération Bleu's assault landers like the Triton are much smaller versions, being able to carry up to three IFOs.
 * Alien Geometries: The G-Monsters come in various shapes and sizes. The weirdest one is in episode 6, being essentially a giant, weaponized swing carousel.
 * Aliens in Cardiff: Génération Bleu's main base is in the tall and scenic, but otherwise pretty unremarkable Mt. Eiger in the Swiss Alps, above the town of Grindelwald in the canton of Bern. Well, if you discount an enormous Scub-related structure the base is built in, which sticks out of the mountain's northern face like a dragon's neck.
 * Alternate History: Secrets have been around as early as 1752.
 * Alternate Universe: It's fairly clear this isn't the same universe Eureka came from, even if they haven't come out and said it yet. The Scub is also implied to come from the original Eureka Seven universe, as evidenced by the fact that random objects are found inside it. Among said objects are pile bunkers (used to suppress the Scub in the previous series) and humanoid limbs.
 * Amplified Animal Aptitude: In episode 3, Noah tries to untie Ao while the adults aren't paying attention.
 * Arc Words: "Welcome Home", for the first two episodes, at least. The message changes to "Welcome, Ao." in the third episode.
 * Arm Cannon: The Nirvash gets one of the Kryie's spare cannons to replace its missing arm in episode 4.
 * Armor-Piercing Question: In episode 5, Fleur asks Ao, "Why are you here [at Generation Bleu]?" He doesn't get it the first time, but when she repeats it with more emphasis, he finally understands.
 * Balkanize Me: The island of Okinawa has declared itself independent from the rest of Japan. There are still tensions between the two, hence the Okinawans' mistrust of foreigners (which includes people from Japan).
 * Big Damn Heroes: Gazelle rescues Ao when the men of the island have kidnapped him.
 * Bring Him to Me: Both the Japanese government and those vying for Okinawa's independence resolve to bring Ao into their custody after word gets out that he has blue hair and managed to make the Nirvash work. The former because they could never get the titular Humongous Mecha to work, the latter to sell him to the former in exchange for independence. The Americans are also after him, evidently to test their mettle against the Nirvash and the boy piloting it.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Rebecka is the only member of Team Pied Piper that isn't eccentric in some way. This is to be expected of the children, of course, but even Ivica has his moments of daffiness.
 * The head of the maintenance crew also seems pretty normal.
 * Call Back:
 * The last scene of the first opening of AO is exactly the same as the one of the first opening of Eureka Seven.
 * The opening sequences that include Eureka show her wearing the exact same flower hairpin Renton gave her in the final episode of the first series.
 * Ao also appears to use the Cut-Back Drop Turn in combat in the second episode.
 * There's a picture with shot by shot comparisons of scenes and symbols from the original series to Ao, seen here.
 * The logo behind the singer during the protest rally looks identical to the Gekkostate logo, and even has "GS" written on it.
 * Calling the Old Man Out: Gazelle calls his father out on treating Ao like crap, and by extension teaching the next generation to do the same.
 * Ao and Fleur plan to do this to Christophe Blanc in episode 8, only to discover that what looks like callousness on his part was actually a Batman Gambit to save the day while keeping the Americans from interfering.
 * On a related note, Ao plans on doing this to his father if he ever meets him.
 * Children Are Innocent: It's being shown that the next generation of children are finally subverting the "blame everything on the blue-haired people" trend, with Naru's little sister and a young boy (in the manga) who ignored his mother's warnings to stay away from Ao.
 * Child Soldiers: Generation Bleu's IFOs can only be run by children, and the Nirvash responds to Ao alone. Averted by the American IFOs, which are flown by adults.
 * Death From Above: The G-Monster in episode 8 shapeshifts into a giant missile to take out the Scub Coral.
 * Distressed Dude: Ao is briefly abducted by some of the men of the island because they hope to offer him to the Japanese military in exchange for their independence.
 * Or Chinese, because Okinawa apparently seceded with Chinese assistance and is now their dependency or protectorate. Or whoever, really -- it's pretty clear that for the most part they did it simply because they just fucking hate the guy.
 * Dream Sequence: Subtly hinted at in episode 7 with regards to Ao.
 * Dull Surprise: Ao certainly wasn't given the best Seiyuu (especially apparent when he does his "battle cry").
 * Dye or Die: Eureka has brown hair in some flashbacks, and is seen dying it in one of them.
 * Dynamic Entry: The above-mentioned Big Damn Heroes is accomplished by Gazelle and his friends driving their FP through the wall of his father's house.
 * Elaborate Underground Base: Génération Bleu's HQ is built within an excavated structure in the Scub Coral which looks suspiciously similar to the Tower Cities from the first series.
 * Epic Fail: When Ao launches the Nirvash for the second time, he disengages two pistols built into its side. Since he's missing an arm, one predictably falls into the sea.
 * Everything's Better With Spinning: The swing carousel G-Monster in episode 6 spins, as befitting the carnival ride it is based on. This allows it to attack with its flails (the cars on the ride) and kicks up seawater into a hurricane that shields it from attacks.
 * Evil Is Not a Toy: Didn't really think that whole "use a Secret as a weapon against our enemies" plan through, did you, Lt. Nakamura?
 * Evolving Credits:
 * Episode 2: Ao's hair color is brown in the opening (it doesn't change until Ao starts the Nirvash later on in the episode). It's blue-green in subsequent episodes to reflect current events.
 * Episode 3: There's an added shot of Eureka in the opening, facing away from the camera, when Ao is chasing the bracelet.
 * Episode 4: Eureka turns to face the camera in this episode, revealing the jewel on her forehead which she had in the final episode of the previous series (up until this point, every flashback shot of Eureka takes care to obscure her forehead, either by having her bangs block it or using camera angles to avoid it). Following episodes use the same shot.
 * Episode 5: The Nirvash gets repainted in this episode, which is reflected in the ending credits. The opening isn't changed.
 * Episode 6: The opening credits use the Nirvash's new color scheme, as with the ending credits in the previous episode.
 * Episode 8: The HUD in the opening shows a systems overlay of the Nirvash on top of the targeting reticule.
 * Exotic Eye Designs:
 * Ao has the purple-with-red-ring eyes of a Coralian. Unlike the previous series, this is actually explored beyond simply marking him as part-alien. The design of his eyes allows him to perceive wavelengths beyond the visual spectrum.
 * Truth has irises which form a line straight through his pupils.
 * Expy: Naru has a few similarities to Anemone, including an illness and a Gulliver-esque pet. They also physically resemble each other to some extent.
 * Falling Into the Cockpit: Literally; Ao is launched from Gazelle's FP and lands on the Nirvash. Ao does at least rationalize that the controls are similar to a normal FP, but he didn't know the Nirvash was an IFO at the time. It's lampshaded later on, when Ao can't figure out any of the subsystems and comments that it's not as easy as it looks in anime.
 * Fantastic Racism: Ao and Eureka get a lot of flak for being foreigners. The fact that they seem to attract monsters certainly doesn't help. The worst part is that Gazelle's dad pretty much outright admits that Ao had no control over the circumstances that lead the adults to hate him, but he won't forgive him anyway.
 * Finger Gun:
 * Flying Car: Trapar allows modified cars, called FPs ("Flying Platform"), to hover off the ground. Okinawa has the largest concentration, but trapar mining allows them to be used in other places.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Preferred weapon of the G-Monsters. The humans are shown to use them in a limited capacity, too.
 * Gratuitous English: All over the place, though it's pretty good English most of the time. Episode 6 has a notable instance of an entire report written in English, and not very well at that.
 * Grievous Harm With a Body: Ao beats the first G-Monster by impaling it with the Nirvash's severed arm.
 * Groin Attack: Gazelle learns the hard way that Rebecka is not to be trifled with when he rolls out of the rear compartment of the Triton and right onto her chest.
 * He Knows Too Much: Rebecka is prepared to eliminate Gazelle and his friends after they learn the secret of how Génération Bleu neutralizes the Scub Bursts. Fortunately for them, Christophe Blanc decides to give them a job instead.
 * Homage: This series (like the original) is clearly inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion; parallels can be drawn between the characters of both series. One of the characters even deliberately quotes Evangelion -- see Shout Out below.
 * In Episode 7 we find that there is something buried under Generation Bleu's base, and members of the organization are willing to go to extreme lengths to prevent others from reaching it (see the No MacGuffin, No Winner entry on this page). This is almost exactly like a similar plot point in Evangelion.
 * To further elaborate (and YMMV):
 * Ao shares some similarities to Shinji Ikari in their past (lost their mothers at an early age), problems (don't feel accepted at first) and initial relation with their mechas (rejection of the idea of piloting them).
 * Truth is similar to Kaworu (having inhuman traits and possibly being an anthropomorphic version of the Secrets).
 * Gazelle has a similar drive to Ryoji Kaji (finding out the truth of the world).
 * Rebecka is Misato minus her alcoholic and personality problems.
 * Fleur could be the Asuka of the series (both being good pilots, having an European ascendancy and a rivalry with the main character).
 * Hot Mom: Eureka, duh. It helps that she never ages, as shown in the previous series.
 * Humongous Mecha
 * Real Robot/Super Robot: Despite the fact that they can only be piloted by children, the IFOs are Real Robots - they don't even use lasers like the LFOs in the original series (the Nirvash does, but it's special). The Nirvash Mark I hasn't even moved on its own and the reason it can only be piloted by Eureka and Ao probably has more to do with genetics than destiny. On the other hand, the G-Monsters are something out of Evangelion, while Truth is from a different genre of show entirely.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Like the first series, all of the episode names are direct Shout Outs to existing songs.
 * Jerkass:
 * Gazelle's dad, whose half-assed apology to Ao for behavior he acknowledges but refuses to change only makes him that much worse.
 * The sister of the guy who helps out Ao in episode 4. The guy took Ao by her shop so he could get something to eat, and she wastes no time ratting Ao out to the Allied forces because she thought she'd get a good finder's fee.
 * Incredibly Obvious Tail: Invoked in episode 8. After Ao tries to take the Nirvash to look for Naru, Christophe Blanc lets him off with a warning, only to have Gazelle and his friends spy on him with all the subtlety of a brick to the head. Fleur quickly figures out that he ordered them to behave that way on purpose; the purpose wasn't to spy on Ao, but to make it clear that he was being watched.
 * Ironic Echo: In Episode 9, Fleur jokes that she won't rescue Ao when she drowns. Later on, the Nirvash runs out fuel and begins sinking. Elena helps pull it and Ao up. Elena then calls Fleur out on this.
 * Keystone Army: The Airborne Aircraft Carrier's fighters explode when it does.
 * Kick the Dog: The adults living on Okinawa encouraged their children to practice Fantastic Racism against Ao and Eureka and to harass them, simply because they blamed Eureka for the first Scub Burst.
 * Burning down Fukai's house, even though the culprit is never shown. This is after they covered the fences in graffiti and broke all the windows with rocks.
 * Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: In contrast with the previous series, where beam weapons were fairly common, humans seem to primarily use conventional firearms in this setting.
 * Latex Perfection: In the Wounded Gazelle Gambit broadcast mentioned below, Pippo wears a face mask that makes him look completely different. A somewhat more realistic example than most, since the mask does not have to pass most types of inspection. Pippo's scene is short and non-speaking, so the mask isn't upset by facial movements and the viewer doesn't get a very good look at it.
 * Legacy Character: The Nirvash isn't the original, but rather one built by the Japanese using parts from various nations. Curiously, several characters recognize it and remember it with the original paint job.
 * Male Gaze: Ao is treated to a nice view of Fleur's ass when she bends over his console in episode 4. The best he can manage is to shrink back in his chair without commenting on it.
 * Meaningful Name:
 * Ao is a Japanese word meaning blue or green. Ao's hair eventually becomes blue-green.
 * Ao and Naru's full names are "Fukai Ao" (Deep Blue) and "Arata Naru" (Arata means "New", while Naru has multiple meanings).
 * Team Pied Piper tries to lure the G-Monsters away from the Scub Coral, like the actual Piper leads kids from their homes.
 * Episode 10 is actually subtitled "the pied piper of Hamelin".
 * The G-Monsters are also called "Secrets". Episode 6 introduces a character that calls himself "Truth".
 * Episode 9 mentions a group of hackers called the "Fire Crackers". Also an Incredibly Lame Pun.
 * Mind Screw: Episode 7.
 * Multinational Team: Pied Piper and Génération Bleu in general.
 * Ivica is Croatian or Serbian (probably former, as Ivica is a much rarer name in Serbia)
 * Rebecka seems to be Swedish
 * Fleur is Swiss
 * Elena is American (but still looks like a Mukokuseki)
 * Cristophe Blanc, the head of the Génération Bleu and Fleur's father, is also Swiss
 * Maev and Chloe McCaffrey are Scottish
 * Mysterious Past:
 * Eureka quite literally dropped out of the sky one day, gave birth to Ao not long after, then was taken by the Americans during a Scub Burst when Ao was three.
 * New Age Retro Hippie: While the independence protesters in episode 4 are a fairly diverse crowd, several of those featured in prominent shots fit this trope.
 * NGO Superpower: Apparently, Génération Bleu wields such a clout that it can pressure the Swiss government into issuing passports to its agents on a moment's notice.
 * A backdated passport with the fake visas and entry stamps of previous countries (Gazelle's new one is dated 2022 and has a US entry stamp) is something that even real life spies don't get all that often.
 * No Communities Were Harmed: Faisal Arabia in Ep. 8 is an anti-American Arab republic explicitly shown on the map in the place of a modern Saudi Arabia, which is an absolute monarchy. Apparently, the Arab Spring continued in their world, however why the population elected to rename their nation after one of their former kings just after overthrowing the current one is an open question.
 * No Holds Barred Beatdown: In the manga, Ao simply beats the first G-Monster to death (with one fist since it shot off the other arm).
 * No MacGuffin, No Winner: In the event that the HQ is compromised and the item in the basement can potentially be stolen, Stanley, Generation Bleu's overseer, is ready to destroy the entire HQ and the item with it.
 * Not So Different: When the Japanese carrier is sunk in the second episode, the Okinawan navy moves in to rescue the survivors, with one of the captains yelling that they all have Japanese blood in them.
 * Oh Crap: Everybody starts crapping their pants when the Nirvash, which hasn't been operational for over 10 years, suddenly starts moving again.
 * Only the Chosen May Wield: The Nirvash only responds to Ao, and Eureka before him.
 * Outside Context Villain: No one knows what the G-Monsters are, just that they show up when the Scub does and attempt to destroy it. Then there's Truth, who is so outside context he doesn't even use a Humongous Mecha.
 * Painfully Slow Projectile: In episode 2, Gazelle's FP is fired upon by what is very clearly a Phalanx CIWS. Even though it's supposed by be a warning shot, and thus it's understandable that they weren't hit, the rate of fire is ridiculously slow, like it's just a regular machine gun. Here is what the Phalanx being fired actually looks like. Averted later on; a military FP with a roof-mounted heavy machine gun tears through a drug farm so fast the people being shot at barely get to react.
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: After being Locked Into Strangeness, Ao tries to hide his turquoise hair with a cap. It doesn't really work. He gets a hooded sweatshirt later which does a somewhat better job, but he had to pull the hood down eventually.
 * Plot Armor: Truth slaughters Red Shirts by the dozens, but leaves the named characters conveniently alive. Particularly noticeable with Rebecka, who ends up knocked out by the same attack that was instant death to everyone else.
 * Phlebotinum Overdose: The Quartz found in Scub Bursts draws Secrets to it. Damaged Quartz, the byproduct of a Scub Burst, does much the same thing if enough of it is gathered in one place. If a Secret destroys it, a city-sized explosion occurs.
 * Power Trio: Génération Bleu rapid response teams seem to operate on this principle. Pied Piper was short one prior to Ao joining.
 * Private Military Contractors: Génération Bleu
 * They're more of a United Nations Is a Super Power, in that they aren't completely on their own, though they offer their services for a price.
 * Ramming Always Works: The G-Monster fighters in episode four simply smash through their targets to attack. The one in episode 8 takes the novel approach of just dropping on the Scub like a missile from the upper atmosphere.
 * Reality Subtext: Episode 8 has interference from the Americans due to it being election season. At the time it was broadcast, the American 2012 elections were only six months away.
 * Refusal of the Call: Ao tries to give up piloting the Nirvash after the first incident because of all the trouble it brought him. Unfortunately, The Call Knows Where He Lives, and burns his house down.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Noah the sloth. He barely ever moves, which somehow makes him that much cuter.
 * Scenery Porn: Naturally, seeing as how this is a Studio BONES anime.
 * The Scottish Trope: The mysterious thing at the bottom of Generation Bleu HQ is referred to only as "that".
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: When the military tries to kick Génération Bleu out, Rebecka orders Elena and Fleur to deploy anyway, so when the military inevitably finds themselves out of their depth, Génération Bleu can swoop in and save them from their own ignorance.
 * Shock and Awe:
 * The Nirvash can turn its fists into tasers.
 * The G-Monster in episode 8 dumps ionized particles into the air, apparently as part of its propulsion method, resulting in lightning strikes all around it.
 * Shout Out:
 * The episode titles:
 * 1) Born Slippy (Underworld)
 * 2) Call it What you Want (New Kids On the Block)
 * 3) Still Fighting (Sabres Of Paradise)
 * 4) Walk This Way (Aerosmith and Run DMC)
 * 5) Tighten Up (The Black Keys)
 * 6) Light My Fire (The Doors)
 * 7) No One Is Innocent (Sex Pistols)
 * 8) One Nation Under a Groove (George Clinton)
 * 9) In the Dark We Live (Aphrohead)
 * 10) Release Yourself (Graham Central Station)
 * 11) Plateaux of Mirror (Harold Budd and Brian Eno)
 * 12) Step into a World (KRS-One)
 * Elena seems set up to be a one woman shout out machine.
 * Ep 3: She's seen wearing a wig and striking a pose that quickly brings Hatsune Miku to mind. She's even got a leek to complete the ensemble.
 * Ep 4: She references the Musou gauge before her Macross Missile Massacre (as a joke) and when asked if she's ready, claims "I can easily be replaced." In the latter case, she even says she's quoting anime.
 * Ep. 5: She offers Ao a contract while hiding her face behind the tablet so that only her cute helmet is shown. She also says "Fanservice, Fanservice" while taking a shower.
 * Ep. 8: A rather obscure one when Elena shouts "A hot day in little Russia"
 * The trapar-mining facility seen in episode 4 looks suspiciously like a Mako reactor.
 * The move Ao uses to defeat the G-Monster in episode 6 is very similar to the Buster Collider. At one point, they call the objects that slide down the G-Monster's wires Options.
 * Shown Their Work: Trapar density is measured in millimoles, which is an actual measurement standard used in the real world.
 * Also, during his first battle, Ao briefly blacks out from the severe G-forces he's experiencing. The Génération Bleu pilots wear uniforms with helmet straps to prevent whiplash from the same source.
 * Sky Surfing: The IFOs do it, though we've yet to see if humans do like they did in Eureka Seven.
 * Soft Water: In a flashback, Eureka drops out of the sky from a significant height, hitting the water head-first. She was already unconscious on arrival, and nearly drowning seems to be the only concern when she's pulled out.
 * Spell My Name With an "S": More in pronunciation, though. Ivica's name is pronounced with a "ch" in the series, while in real South Slavic languages that use Latin script, such as Croatian and some dialects of Serbian, it's actually pronounced as "ts". Zigzagged in that in his surname, Tanovic, the same letter is pronounced as "ch".
 * Justified, because in Serbian Cyrillic that's two different letters. Actually, in Croatian Latin, too, as that properly should be Tanović. Ironically, on the official site his name is spelled exactly that way, but the authors apparently didn't get that a one small accent means a completely different sound in this case.
 * Spin Offspring: It's pretty obvious who Ao's parents are even before the show comes out and says it (for his mother, anyway). Confirmed by Word of God; Ao is the son of Eureka and Renton. Given the setting, any relations to other characters from the previous series are unlikely.
 * Spoiler Opening:
 * The opening spoils the fact that Ao will join Team Pied Piper, which doesn't happen until episode 4. His hair color change wasn't spoiled, oddly enough, even though every other bit of media gladly gives that away.
 * To a lesser extent, there's Team Goldilocks. The girls appear in the opening, but their leader does not, foreshadowing that he doesn't walk away from their first appearance.
 * The Stinger: End of Episode 6, where Truth begins his attack on Generation Bleu.
 * Team Pet: Noah becomes this to Génération Bleu after he takes a liking to Ivica.
 * Theme Naming:
 * Génération Bleu rapid response teams are named after fairy tale characters, including "Pied Piper" and "Goldilocks."
 * Similarly, all of the IFOs (besides Nirvash) seemed to be named after Orthodox and Catholic hymns: there's Kyrie(os), Allelujah, Credo, Requiem, and Gloria.
 * Traditionally for the franchise, each episode is named after various songs. In the prequel they used electronic music, but this time they've switched for the rock.
 * Time Skip: Happens sometime after Eureka Seven but either long enough for those events to have been forgotten and nations to return, or something weirder is going on. A minimum of 13 years plus Eureka getting pregnant with Renton's child.
 * The Tokyo Fireball: Tokyo no longer exists, having been pretty much vaporized by a Scub Burst 70 years ago. Nagoya is now the capital of Japan.
 * Too Dumb to Live: The Okinawan government tries to kick Génération Blue out of the country after the first G-Monster is defeated, reasoning that they can handle the Scub and refusing to believe it's still active even though Génération Bleu are the experts on such things (and possess the only weapons capable of harming it). Predictably, they end up needing help when things fall apart.
 * The entire population of the island the action takes place, really. After the first episodes they, with a few notable exceptions, come off as dumb, greedy, inefficient racist bullies who just vented their frustration on Eureka and Ao and tried to exploit them however they can, instead of figuring them out and, maybe, finding a solution. And then they wonder why they get their asses whupped by G-monsters. One high-ranking member of the Okinawa military at least had the good sense to apologize to Génération Bleu when it becomes clear that their arrogance created another window for a G-Monster to appear.
 * Génération Bleu also expresses frustration at how they constantly have to remind their clients that conventional weapons are ineffective against G-Monsters.
 * Japan's Ministry of Defense hatches an absolutely bonkers plan to capture a Secret and use it as a weapon. Predictably, this fails horribly.
 * Try Not to Die: Toshio Fukai has Ivica pass this message on to Ao.
 * Wave Motion Gun: The Triton (and presumably others of its class) has two.
 * Wham Episode: Episode 7, also a Mid Season Wham Episode: Coming on the heels of a Mind Screw, it's revealed that
 * The Worf Effect: Team Goldilocks is deployed and quickly defeated in episode 5, which means Team Pied Piper is called in as backup.
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In episode 8, America tries to cancel Pied Piper's mission in Faisal Arabia, as a Scub Burst there would potentially cripple the country, which supports various terrorist groups. In response, Christophe Blanc has Gazelle and his friends portray victims of the G-Monster on television, garnering international support for their rescue and thus forcing America to concede to public pressure.
 * You Can't Go Home Again: After defeating the first G-Monster, all the various factions (of ambiguous motives and morality) are trying to find Ao and the Nirvash, forcing him to go into hiding. Then his home actually burns down. This convinces him to join Génération Bleu and leave the island entirely (well, this and the fact that doing so might allow him to find his mother).
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In episode 8, America tries to cancel Pied Piper's mission in Faisal Arabia, as a Scub Burst there would potentially cripple the country, which supports various terrorist groups. In response, Christophe Blanc has Gazelle and his friends portray victims of the G-Monster on television, garnering international support for their rescue and thus forcing America to concede to public pressure.
 * You Can't Go Home Again: After defeating the first G-Monster, all the various factions (of ambiguous motives and morality) are trying to find Ao and the Nirvash, forcing him to go into hiding. Then his home actually burns down. This convinces him to join Génération Bleu and leave the island entirely (well, this and the fact that doing so might allow him to find his mother).