Out in the real world, Sion discovers things are far different from the reality he grew up with.
What They Say:
Sion gives up everything he has to escape No. 6 with Rat. They manage to arrive safely at Rat’s home, but it isn’t long before a black blister appears on Sion’s neck, just like the one that was on Yamase’s. Sion is in a great deal of pain, but Rat is able to save his life. However, his body has been completely transformed. Later, Sion and Rat analyze the black blister. They discover that it is the pupa of a special “bee” that infests human bodies and matures at a rapid rate.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sion’s life hasn’t exactly been easy for the last few years after his first encounter with Rat, but he’s found himself a decent place in the scheme of things and has generally been happy, though he knows he’s missed out because of what happened four years prior. So when Rat returns to his life and things go even crazier, it’s not that much of a surprise that he just rolls with it while trying to take it all in. The escape wasn’t hugely exciting, but it was well tempered and the reveal at the end about how the world looks on the outside was definitely a good moment. No, tucked away in Rat’s secret place that’s filled with books and classics that they were discouraged to read, he’s trying to understand what it is that’s going on.
Where things take a dangerous turn is when Sion discovers a black blister on his neck that’s similar to what happened back at the park with his coworker. It’s a blistering amount of pain for him, nearly driving him to madness, but Rat is able to remove the root cause of it even as Sion’s body begins to change in strange ways that neither understands. His hair has turned white and there are strange marks on his body that seems like they wrap around him, from neck to arms and to his legs. It hasn’t impacted his veins, meaning that it hasn’t changed him dramatically or is causing him further pain, but it’s a radical shift when Sion tries to take in what’s happened. The strain of all the changes since Rat came into his life is definitely having an impact, but at his core is an important thing in that he wants to continue to live.
Rat does start to detail a bit about the world and how things work, and how No. 6 has been a hotbed for things that are going on with experiments and more. It’s a lot for Sion to absorb on top of everything else and continues to be a theme of the last episode and this one. But there’s still a bond between the two of them and you feel like Rat is taking advantage of it, but there’s something more to it than just that. With Sion’s desire to know the truths of what’s going on, his desire for survival becomes tied to that, which is rather charming in a way because it does feel out of place in the situation that he’s in. It’s a noble kind of thing in a way, in a world where there’s little like that anymore either on the inside or outside.
In Summary:
No. 6 lays more of the groundwork for how the world works outside of the walls of the city of the elite and it’s a dark, dirty and depressing place, but it has a different sense of freedom about it. As Rat points out, those within the protected areas readily accept all information they’re given without question, and it’s blinded them to what’s really going on because they’re so trusting. Sion, changed physically or not by the parasite that made its way inside him, is now on a quest for truth as he’s believed he’s discovered the path he wants to be on. He’s a bit too much of a positive good guy here, but it’s wholly appropriate for the kind of life he’s lead so far and feels right for him, as does the way Rat provides a somewhat darker contrast to him, but one that still has something more to it. The series is slowly exposing its layers and it’s keeping me quite entertained and interested in seeing where it goes.
Grade: B+
Simulcast 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.
