One of the tensest and scariest anime episode I’ve seen in years.
What They Say:
No episode information given.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the series inches closer towards its conclusion, we’ve seen the way the various Colonies have interacted and the scale of the plans that some of them are working with. It’s gone big in a surprising way when you really look at what’s going on and it’s almost intoxicating in watching how the colonies have operated. But even more so because of the way that the humans who thought they understood everything and had it under control are finding themselves being outmaneuvered. While it’s impossible to know what’s going on in the rest of the world and just how much humanity there is, you can see this as the start of the tipping point that will push humanity towards extinction and as a lower species.
A good reason for this kind of line of thought is the way that the adults here are continually underestimating the Monster Rats. Whether it’s their numbers, intelligence or ability to make war, they’ve continually surprised people with what they’re capable of. But now there’s some dialogue showing that they may actually understand what’s going on at some level and are trying to be more cautious. The investigation they go on in the cover of the night is particularly worrisome since they’re starting to sense more of what the Robber Fly colony is capable of in terms of power and it’s getting to be unsettling. But it’s what happens from there that really puts them to a panic, enoguh so that they almost overreact in a way with how they deal with the Monster Rats there. The show provides us some intense reactions from the group here that’s really striking.
The revelations – and danger – only increases as the group makes their way into the biulding and discover more of the Monster Rats in there, violently so, that have gone very far in what they’ve done tot he people they’ve captured in there. It’s like the realization that the creatures that they’ve always had an affection for suddenly show a darker side than they believed possible before. It takes on a bigger horror movie feeling than one might expect based on past episodes, but the intensity keeps ramping up and up. And holy freaking intense it does get as they try to avoid the karmic demon that’s there and hunting them. The panic is palpable and the way the creature moves is positively fear inducing. While the show has had some fantastic episodes prior to this, what it does here truly sets it apart.
In Summary:
Few episodes of any series really leave you feeling breathless, but From The New World has completely impressed again here in a very different way. There’s a lot of intriguing material at the start about how the group is viewing the Monster Rats, but it turns into more of a house of horrors story as it progresses. And not guts splattered everywhere kind but rather a very tense and scary work where the uncertainty about what’s going on is paramount combined with flashes of death, deadly silence and a growing understanding of what it is that’s hunting them all down. The change to the dynamic of how they view the Monster Rat colony wars is altered here, but the more immediate problem of survival is paramount.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: FUNimation
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.