Radical Acts of Friendship and Teamwork in World Trigger

Friendship and teamwork is epic in the anime World Trigger! It shows that even when aliens are attacking your city, you need friends to have your back.

Border, the organization of highly trained defense agents who fight against aliens known as Neighbors, develops into a close-knit group known for camaraderie, but it doesn’t start off this way.  At the beginning of World Trigger, Border is a hornet’s nest of competition and condescension. Kitora, one of the members of the popular Arashiyama team that also functions as PR representatives, starts off hating on our hero, Osamu. She doesn’t even KNOW him!  She just harps on regulations and the elite status of Border and declares that Osamu is weak and doesn’t belong.  At the same time, other teams hate on the Arashiyama team, calling them talentless hacks (to their faces!) that Border keeps around just for their pretty faces.

When Border Commander Kido sends some teams to snatch a Black Trigger from the Tamakoma branch, the top Border teams don’t say no, even if it means battling with their fellow agents. Orders are orders! Kei Tachikawa looks like he’s looking forward to it.  When the Tachikawa, Niwa and Kazama teams show up, there is much smack talk as multiple teams have no qualms about ganging up on Jin Yuichi and the Arashiyama team.  Then there is Niwa, who just doesn’t like anybody, especially if you are a Neighbor.

Yet, as the series continues, it features some stellar examples of radical acts of friendship and teamwork.

Osamu and Yuma

The most featured friendship is between Osamu, our protagonist who is also physically the weakest Border agent ever, and Yuma, a Neighbor with a Black Trigger.  At the beginning, Osamu is just a nerdy school kid and Yuma is a too-small-for-his-age transfer student who has no clue how Osamu’s world works.  Slowly, Osamu begins to see Yuma as a friend, stands up for him in front of Border officials and keeps his Neighbor secret, all while teaching him how his world works and how to be compassionate. At the same time, Yuma begins to understand what it means to have a friend and be self-sacrificing.  What is great about their friendship is that Yuma and Osamu are friends despite Yuma’s strengths and Osamu’s weaknesses. For example, when A-rank Border agent Midorikawa orchestrates a highly visible and embarrassing defeat of Osamu in front of trainees, Yuma challenges Midorikawa, on the condition that Midorikawa has to call Osamu senpai when he wins. In this way, Yuma gets honor back for his friend.

Jin Yuichi and his kouhai

While many A-rank Border agents come off as snotty, Jin is an exception. He clearly cares for Osamu and his crew, probably as much as cares about his fried rice crackers (seriously, dude just keeps boxes stacked in his room–at least he shares). Some may argue that Jin does what he does in order to shape the future to one he desires, but I think that he really cares about his kouhais.  Jin stands up to Border’s best teams to protect Yuma’s Black Trigger. He doesn’t even tell Osamu and the other kouhais what he’s doing. They are just chilling at Tamakoma headquarters while Jin battles Border’s top defense agents. Jin realizes that Border HQ will continue to send teams to snatch Yuma’s Black Trigger. In order to keep the peace and save his kouhai, Jin does the unthinkable: he gives up power. He gives Border HQ his own Black Trigger (noooooooooooo!), given to him by his now-dead mentor, in order to restore the power balance in Border. And he’s sooooo nonchalant about it. He tells Kido: “I’m just being cool here on the sidelines supporting my kouhais.”

Jin probably cares the most about Osamu. Jin is usually a good-natured guy.  Even in the heat of the second Neighbor invasion where stakes are at their highest and Osamu’s life is in danger, he’s got a smile on his face and is upbeat. But after the invasion, Jin looks devastated when he has to confront Osamu’s mom in the hospital while Osamu recovers from his injuries.  He feels really bad about it.

Konami and Kyosuke’s house

Konami and Kyosuke are two of Tamakoma Branch’s most talented agents. That doesn’t stop Kyosuke from messing with Konami because she’ll believe anything. They have a good-natured relationship, but the second Neighbor invasion shows them involved in a radical act of friendship. Konami just encountered one of several new weapons the Neighbors use for this “by any means necessary” attack and saved Osamu and other trainees. She’s about to head out to another part of the battlefield, when she notices the location of an explosion. It’s in the direction of Kyosuke’s house. He knows it. She knows it. Everyone knows it. Clearly, Kyosuke is attached to his house, but it doesn’t matter. Konami knows that it means a lot to Kyosuke. Without missing a beat, she heads over to protect Kyosuke’s house. Kyosuke can’t go because he has to protect the trainees. The look of relief and gratitude on his face is priceless.

Epic Takedown of Humanoid Neighbor

Konami’s actions during the Neighbor invasion is only a foreshadow of what’s to come. These Neighbors mean business, and they are beating down Border at every turn. They bring better weapons and even larger mechanized soldiers, and their Black Triggers seem to be even better than anything Border has. So when 10 Border agents from multiple A- and B-rank teams work together to take down a Humanoid, it is nothing short of epic. Using the talents of everyone, their teamwork overcomes the fact that they are out-matched individually. While a person may be weak in terms of weapons, wit can make up for it. I can’t even explain it, just watch the episode!

http://www.crunchyroll.com/world-trigger/episode-27-border-on-the-counterattack-679065

Yay, teamwork!

Radical Acts of Friendship and Teamwork in World Trigger by CeeFu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.