What They Say:
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The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The previous episode had me hoping that the blatant time paradoxes that came from it would manage to be explained away somehow. Unfortunately, this episode doesn’t really make any attempt to do so, and Mahiro and Yoshino seem even less surprised by what Hakaze learned than she did. There is some dialogue regarding the causes of her death and how each person may have contributed to it, but it all dodges the issue of each cause being a part of the paradox, rather than a solution or more logical explanation. Overall, this scene felt a bit too cold, but that was clearly by design, as Hanemura soon interjects to bring some more emotionally-driven feelings to the table.
Hanemura has probably been the closest to a comic relief character Blast of Tempest has, but in a lot of ways he’s also been the most likeable, occasionally even the smartest, and his first major scene in a while may not paint him as the most friendly or rational, but he certainly feels the most human. Hakaze’s personality in the second half of the series has felt like a departure from what she was like initially, often not for the better, but it set her up to be a lot more emotional than she used to be, or at least we hear a lot more from that side of her than we used to, but despite her misgivings regarding Mahiro and Yoshino’s reaction, she keeps quiet. Mahiro and Yoshino have recently had some time to let their emotions out a bit more than ever before, especially the former, but they remain fairly aloof at this point. Samon and the others of course act cool and unemotional at all times. All the while, Hanemura is an anomaly in that he’s actually controlled by his emotions like a more realistic person, and even though he usually acts like a coward around the aggressive people he’s surrounded by, he eventually snaps from having to deal with this atmosphere of straightforwardness and apathy so much. Attacking his comrades for weighing the situation calmly and intelligently may not be the most admirable course of action, but it’s a breath of fresh air to remind everyone that these characters are all still human beings, and they should act like it once in a while.
Other than Hanemura’s outburst (followed by a brief moment of comic relief at Yoshino’s expense), most of this episode is spent setting up for the next, and presumably final, plan of action. Although the episode is named after her, there’s really not all that much of Aika, although even outside of the scenes showing her she’s often a topic of discussion, and this episode does reveal the somewhat surprisingly recent first time she met both Yoshino and her “brother” Mahiro. Although it’s not as captivating as the previous couple of episodes, it offers some welcome insight into her character and her interactions with the boys, and propels them forward when their initial objective is no longer a factor.
In Summary:
As the episode title suggested, Aika was definitely an important part of this episode, but Hanemura had the more memorable moments for me. Lost in all the seriousness of what’s at stake, it was a good time to kick a little sense into everyone and remind them why caring about loved ones is more important than simply accomplishing a plan. The background on Aika and her relationship with Mahiro and Yoshino was also a nice touch.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Toshiba Satellite L655-S5191 PSK2CU-1C301U Notebook PC.
don’t mean to bash your article but deja vu was implied in the dialogue of episode 21 “I’m confused haven’t i already been here before” she visited before that encounter probably for a different reason in alternate timeline where she hadn’t commited sucide the result of the sucide was another time travel expedition figuring out why she died . A paradox is only in this case is only when two events conflict but there are multiple theories to why and how it isnt a paradox you sir are asking for spoon-fed space-time principles go read a book to learn to read in between the lines. You also think they won’t explain it as part of another concept that will be introduced later? This is a debrief episode for the situation to each character . 3/5 is it doing it justice since your grading it on what should probably or what you expect to be shown ? You should be rating 4/5 if not 5/5 because its gives a 3rd person omniscent feeling to the episode fulling explaining how each character is feeling after the death of Fuwa Aika or for some the Mage of Exodus.