Chaika discovers her origin story, but will she accept it?
What They Say:
Episode #4: “The Writhing Island”
Chaika arrives on the island where the emperor’s fortune is said to exist, but she’s quickly attacked by a pack of Orthros, followed by a group of demihuman soldiers.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Things looked very bad for our heroic troop at the end of the last episode. A kraken had taken out the ship Toru and Akari were on, sending it to the bottom of the cursed sea. On the same boat was Red Chaika and her retinue, who also found themselves going for a swim. Chaika had been riding on Frederica when they were attacked by dragons and sent plummeting.
The show doesn’t keep us in suspense for a moment. Everyone survived the ordeal with ease. Chaika is split up from her dragon companion and finds herself facing off against a pack of monsters before becoming surrounded by some mechanical sounding humanoid beings in cloaks. They whisk her away at the same time the others encounter the same guard patrol.
Red Chaika’s team is captured and escorted to the dungeon at the secret facility on the island. The Emperor entrusted one of his sorcerers, Izhmash, to go to the secret island and him and his team continue working in the laboratory surrounded by demi-humans guards.
Izhmash talks down to his demi-human soldiers and thinks they’re disposable. He let’s one of them know that, which is never a smart move. The team which captured Chaika doesn’t realize who or what she is. They’ve vaguely aware of others on the island who might be moving in, but the saboteurs are quick to find the facility before the guards find them. Akari remains outside while Toru sneaks in and frees Chaika. They wander lost through the facility until they come across a giant indoor pool with the remains of monster and one dying kraken.
The kraken explains what the lab is used for, a factory for manufacturing fake fayla monsters which can be controlled. It also knows what Chaika is willing to tell her all it knows. It starts by explaining magic and the rise of the mightiest human wizard, Arthur Gaz, but before it can tell Chaika anything more they are interrupted by the demi-humans and captured. It’s only then that Izhmash learns there are two Chaikas on the island and it’s time for a chat.
Izhmash tells the girls what the audience basically already knows, they aren’t Gaz’s real daughters. They were orphans who were brainwashed and altered in order to finish out some project of the Emperor after he was gone. Many, many girls were implanted with the false memories and the same goal to collect the remains. The Chaikas do not take the news well.
Elsewhere Vivi and Zita are in the town and hearing stories about flying fortresses long before they should have been invented. Are they closing in on the island as well?
In Summary:
The reveal in this episode isn’t so much a reveal as it is a confirmation of what many of us watching guessed when it came to the Chaika project. It still doesn’t answer what their true final goal is, but if you can trust a kraken it might just be the fate of all living things. Does Chaika bring salvation or destruction? Now that she knows at least part of what she is, what will she do with that information? And who is the girl behind the glass tube and what’s her story?
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.9.5, via Safari 7.0.6, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
