Shogo Hamagishi, a 29-year-old Japanese office worker, suddenly regains consciousness inside the body of Jowain Date, a middle-aged Lieutenant Commander in the military force New Balance from the cancelled OVA anime Trismegistus: New Order. Disoriented, he stumbles to a mirror and sees a face that matches the anime’s character—a man in his late forties or early fifties with a failed pompadour and an ill-fitting mustache. He realizes he has not been reincarnated as a baby or given any grace period; he has become the hated, incompetent villain at the very moment the story begins.
Jowain is the second-in-command on the battleship Mirandora, serving under Colonel Anferu, a ruthless and politically savvy commander. The organization New Balance is the antagonist of the anime, an elite unit that seeks to establish a new order through extreme measures. The protagonists are space colonists fighting against Earth’s tyranny. Jowain’s role in the anime is that of a bumbling nuisance who repeatedly attacks the heroes, fails every time, and eventually dies in the sixth episode—betrayed and assassinated by his own subordinate, Lieutenant Mark Casey. According to the anime’s plot, Jowain is set to commit a massacre on the colony planet Byblos in just twelve hours, using a doomsday weapon called the Planet Killer to destroy the rebels and cover up the fact that New Balance’s own prototype robot Trismegistus was stolen.
Shogo is horrified. He has no time to prepare: the attack is only half a day away, and he cannot simply refuse to give the order because Colonel Anferu will pin all blame on him. Even worse, Mark will eventually kill him out of rage over Jowain’s incompetence and cowardice. Shogo can access Jowain’s memories, but they are filled only with sycophancy, arrogance, and abuse of rank—exactly the traits that have made the entire crew despise him. He has no allies, no honorable reputation, and no way to avoid his fate unless he acts immediately.
Shogo uses Jowain’s authority to examine the ship’s files. The Planet Killer is indeed stored in a classified container in the hangar. He knows from the anime that Mark already suspects something and will confront him. When Mark enters his office and asks about the container, Shogo makes a risky decision. Instead of hiding the truth like the original Jowain would, he openly tells Mark that the container holds a Planet Killer and explains that the weapon is meant to destroy the rebel colony and silence any witnesses. He also reveals that Trismegistus was not built by the rebels but was developed by New Balance itself and then stolen—an embarrassing fact the military wants to erase.
Mark is stunned. The Jowain he knows would never admit such things or criticize Colonel Anferu. Shogo further explains that he has no intention of using the Planet Killer, because doing so would make him a scapegoat and a slave to the Colonel’s orders. He suggests that the Colonel’s plan is reckless and that the new model’s true capabilities are being hidden. Mark, while still suspicious, is forced to reevaluate his opinion of his superior.
Shogo recognizes that Mark is a skilled and intuitive pilot nicknamed “Wild Boar,” and that his assassination of Jowain in the anime is motivated by Jowain’s attempt to abandon him in battle. To survive, Shogo must not only avoid triggering that betrayal but also find a way to abandon his role as an antagonist. He concludes that the only viable path is to side with the protagonists, the rebel colonists who pilot the stolen Trismegistus. However, he has no direct contact with them and must first secure the loyalty of his own crew.
Before the crew can be addressed, Shogo places an encrypted call to Colonel Anferu. Pretending to give a routine pre-operation report, he carefully raises doubts about using the Planet Killer on a civilian world. Colonel Anferu dismisses his concerns, stating that the stolen Trismegistus must be destroyed at all costs, and that they can fabricate a story blaming the rebels. When Shogo points out that the ship’s records will show they fired the weapon, the Colonel coldly responds that they will sink the battleship afterward to erase the evidence. This confirms Shogo’s worst fears: he is disposable.
After the call, Shogo resolves to gamble. He orders all crew members to gather for an emergency briefing in ten minutes. He intends to reveal his true stance—that he will not carry out the massacre, and that he plans to break away from Colonel Anferu’s orders. He knows this will shock the crew and Mark, but it is the only way to prevent the destruction of the colony and his own death.
Shogo’s immediate goal is to convince his officers and soldiers to join him in defying New Balance and, eventually, to ally with the rebel army piloting Trismegistus. His ultimate aim is to survive the war and avoid the assassination that awaits him in the original story. The path forward is unclear; the anime was cancelled, so he has no knowledge of what will happen beyond the first few episodes. He must rely on his own judgment and the trust he can build with men like Mark, who was once his enemy.
The story reaches a turning point as Shogo, now fully aware of his precarious position, prepares to address his crew. He has thrown away the security of his old role and stepped onto a course that could lead to his court-martial or death, but he believes it is the only chance to escape being a disposable pawn. The meeting will determine whether he can rally the Mirandora’s crew to his side or if he will be arrested or killed before he can even begin.
