Taito’s quest for power comes with a high price that he’s not even aware of.
What They Say:
Taito has promised to become stronger so he can become protect Himea, so he knocks on the door of the student council office. Gekkou opens a dimensional rift for Taito, who finds Edelka inside. Will Taito receive the power to protect Himea, in return for a price? At the same time, Gekkou finds a suspicious-looking man in a suit who claims to be a new teacher waiting in the student council office.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Taito’s quest for power isn’t a surprise after all that’s said and done nor is it one that he’s going to Gekkou for it since he’s the only other person he knows that has anything resembling power that isn’t actively trying to kill him on the spot. Working with Gekkou is dangerous though since he’s not actively trying to help him or save him when things go bad either, so going through a portal that he creates that will lead Taito to a place where he can grow and gain power for a price is a double edged sword, one where it’s hard to really put any amount of trust into Gekkou. But with the desire to protect Himea, covered with a flippant attitude of sorts, Taito will go the distance because it’s what’s required of him to man up at this point.
Inside this otherworldly place, Taito’s struggles are laid bare for him to see but also more of a truth about Himea herself, with what she sacrificed in order to save Taito earlier. It’s difficult for him to watch it, to understand what it is that she did for him, and to realize that he’ll have to pay a significant price as well from Edelka in order to gain the power that he needs. It is amusing to watch him go through the process without knowing what it is that he’ll have to pay in price, especially after seeing what she paid, only to panic when the something very important and special to him is removed from him without him understanding what it is before he’s sent back to the human world.
Though Himea isn’t exactly thrilled with what Taito has done, she’s just glad to have him back and to try and get back on track with him for a bit. School life is unusual at this point in time,es pecially with the addition of a new teacher the last time around that’s causing a bit of trouble while wearing all black and a hate and gloves no less. He adds a little flair to it, but a bit of menace as well as his role here is starting to be realized, particularly when he admits to Gekkou that he’s there from the military, something that really panics him. For Taito though, he’s still struggling with the newfound powers that he has as it seems that they do overload his body, which in turn can kill him. Or at least, kill him as much as you can kill an immortal body. It’s a curious turn of events, but not a surprising one considering how Edelka works and the kind of wonky feeling that the series gives in general.
In Summary:
The further into the series we go, the more I get the same feeling I did from the Legend of Legendary Heroes. It has some interesting ideas, colorful characters and definitely some great looking animation and designs. It’s use of color really gets me, particularly with Himea’s hair. But the story… the story continues to feel like it’s so haphazardly told that you almost feel like you’re to blame in that you should be working harder to understand it all. But it moves in such awkward directions at times, focusing in unusual areas and not making things clear that you’re left just being puzzled. Puzzled as to the point of it all. With this being just the first quarter of the planned twenty-four episode run, it has plenty of room to grow, but as we’ve seen with the other series by the author whose novel this is based on, it could just as easily collapse under its own weight as it progresses. The show is one that I continue to want to like, but feels like I’m fighting against it each week.
Grade: C+
Simulcast By: Nico Nico
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.
