What They Say:
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The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The journey to Tokyo has certainly been a revelation as the group has progressed underground and dealt with a lot of dangers. The creatures that are there are pretty scary in their own right, never mind the Monster Rats that are chasing after them. There’s also the potential that they themselves may be a real problem as the Power that could be leaking from them is affecting everything here, and it’s something that’s been building over the long term. Bringing themselves itno the loewr depths in person could only add to it as it progresses, or alter the landscape more. As Saki says, most people view Tokyo as a real Hell, but the ugly truth is that they may all be making it that way themselves.
The further down they get, the stranger and more surreal the journey gets, especially when they realize they need their submarine in order to progress further up the river. That causes them to split into two groups in order to throw off their pursuers while the other gets what they need. There’s logic in what Kiroumaru says, but there’s also a certain level of distrust towards him because of what he’s suffered and been through and what his own end game could be. There’s also the lingering issue that he’s been in Tokyo before and that leaves the humans in the party fairly unnerved since it wasn’t something that they expected. Though he comes across well with the way he works with them and provides them with useful information, you have to hedge with him a bit as to what his own game may be.
Saki and Inui’s journey is pretty exciting and one of those great action sequences as they rescue the sub to bring with them, but have to face off against a Ragworm that inhabits the area, a massive and dangerous creature that would and should scare anyone. Yet we get to see the way the Power that the pair has can be just as dangerous. Inui and Saki are an interesting pair overall and you can see how Inui’s distrustful nature in general is infecting her just a little. Their journey gives Saki a little out of body experience in a way that paints a thin picture of what’s to come, notably that what she thinks is an Ogre isn’t, but it’s just a tease more than anything else. Their journey continues to take them through a beautiful if frightening underworld of a long forgotten and gone city.
Things take a decidedly terrible turn the closer the two get to their destination as their submerged journey has them coming across a blocked section that forces them to make their way on foot. It’s a creative bit of use with the Power to accomplish it, one that I hadn’t thought of, but they pay a terrible price for it as it goes along as another Ragworm has found them when they were just so close. For Saki, it’s another loss in this prolonged journey of hers from child to now, but it’s also a loss that has gotten her closer to her goal. Saki has long been my favorite character in the seris and watching her on this journey, with the revelations she gets and the places it takes her, seeing the culmination of this episode is simply breathtaking,both in scope and in presentation.
In Summary:
From The New World narrows its focus down to just Saki and Inui for most of this episode after the decision is made to split up in order to achieve their goals. Inui hasn’t had much depth at this point which is to be expected, but we get to know him a bit better and he works well in conjunction with Saki for the way their journey takes them, providing a different kind of experience from what she has while she still largely holds her own. There’s some great danger to be had here and a really engaging journey that they’re on, but it’s those final moments with Saki, alone with the Library, as she returns to the surface and makes that kind of game changing discovery that leaves you screaming at the screen.
Grade: A-
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.
