The penultimate episode has arrived and the stakes couldn’t be greater.
What They Say:
The battle against the Septentriones is complete, and the final battle line has been drawn. The Void continues to expand, devouring all of existence, and Alcor and Yamato finally resolve their long-brewing conflict. In the end, only Hibiki will remain, determined to stop Yamato in his attempt to remake the world — but will the strength of his convictions be enough?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Devil Survivor 2 has made a good show of things across the series in having some characters drop like flies at times in the face of an overwhelming threat. While you never got the sense that they would be main characters, it wasn’t something where you expected that they’d drop dead along the way, at least at first. With the sacrifices made in the previous episode and the revelation of what kind of power is in Daichi, the final onslaught by the Septentriones was pushed back at least a little bit. Now things started to come down to the characters themselves and the stands they’re trying to make against what’s yet to come as the powers that be that exist on some fantastic level start to go at each other.
There’s some really engaging animation to be had with the way they have Alcor and Yamato go at it, all with the knowledge of how the Trial of Polaris works and the stakes involved in how the surviving members of humanity can bring about a new world with the vision they have of it. This temporarily puts Hibiki and the others in more of an observational role since they’re worn down from the fight before, and because they are seemingly outclassed by what Alcor and Yamato are capable of as they fight it out with their abilities around Tokyo Tower and what remains of Tokyo itself. Which is to say, not a lot outside of a ton of ruins. Naturally, there’s a good bit of dialogue between the two as well as each has their point to prove and wants to be able to get the last word in, especially when they both have Dead Face clips arrive for themselves.
The episode largely works through these kinds of back and forth moments as Yamato and Alcor go at it, alternatively fighting with their powers and dueling with words and ideas, especially when it comes to Yamato wanting to fix the world and save it while Alcor is fairly dismissive of it overall, almost looking at him as naive in a way. Not surprising, though done decently enough, is the twist that happens as Yamato gains the position he needs and Hibiki realizes he has to face him down since everything is at stake. The show has worked well with its scale and scope before, but even against all of that – and we do get a good bit of it here – it comes down to the core trio as lead by Hibiki to do what needs to be done. This gets them on the right and final path, setting up for what’s to come in the last episode to follow, and does it in a pretty engaging way.
In Summary:
Devil Survivor 2 sets everything up for the finale here in the next episode and it does it very well. The way the world is falling apart, the trial that’s being faced, the battle between Alcor and Yamato and the helpless feeling that Hibiki and the others have is all good mood setting material that does things right. It may not be hugely character driven, but they set things up well and especially at the end as the realization of just how far gone it all is comes into effect. The series has largely worked on mood and atmosphere with some real sense of power and scope to it and it ties all of that together well in this episode, making it tense and engaging as the world inches ever closer to the end all while leaving you grimacing that you have to wait a week for the final episode.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.