As the series winds down, the tension ramps up.
What They Say:
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The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Well at this point I’ve almost managed to completely forget about the time travel nonsense a few episodes ago, so that makes things a little bit. The major focus on Aika and the past has faded away, and now our characters are looking straight toward the future. It’s a good time to do so, too, since there’s only one episode left after this one. I have no idea how closely this has been following the manga, but it feels like this is probably reaching the same point of conclusion as the source material. There’s a very strong sense of finality in the air throughout the episode, and despite all the setup and slow character moments, it actually gets a fair amount into the final mission in the last few minutes.
This isn’t to say that these character moments are filler or drag the episode down; they provide some of the strongest content. There are some lighter comedic moments scattered throughout as we’ve come to expect from this series, possibly more than I would’ve expected from the penultimate episode, but it may be the last chance we get for this kind of relief before a dramatic climax. And although Aika may not be quite as present as she has been for many recent episodes, it’s becoming more and more important as we head to the end of the series to keep in mind that this needs to become a “comedy” in a sense, as the alternative seems to be an unavoidable tragedy. The end of this episode looks to risk the latter as a possibility, but I doubt it at this point.
Throughout some of the slower moments, specifically the more serious ones, Aika is still brought up in several important instances, and she continues to play a major part in the mentality driving the characters. Hakaze has always been one of the most likeable characters, and even though it’s a shame to see what kind of character she’s become in the second half of the series, once you accept that her feelings are real it’s easy to feel sympathetic for her situation. Yoshino has been growing gradually throughout the story, and while it’s easy to wish he could give Hakaze the answer she wants, the stance he’s taking is more realistic given his history. Mahiro is still not an especially good person despite his lead role in the series, but it can be enjoyable to watch his competence in executing a plan… if you don’t just want someone to slap that smug smirk off his face. The other characters mostly serve as necessarily combatants, stoic figures, or comic relief in this episode, not getting as much emotional material as the main cast. Hanemura has his moments, but he’s been pretty good lately, so I’m not complaining anyway.
The climax starts in the last few minutes of the episode and will surely continue for much of the finale. Some of the characters look very silly in their appearances at the end, but the tension starts to pay off and is backed by very solid animation and some very nice use of epic music.
In Summary:
The finale is almost here and we spend the traditional penultimate episode preparing for the final climactic event it will contain. What’s most important here is the characterization being at its best just before the most deadly risks the characters have ever had to deal with, and this episode does a decent enough job. There’s nothing too out of the ordinary here, but it continues to show off some of the more solid traits that the series has been offering up lately, and hopefully the series can end in a way that makes it feel like everything has paid off and the potential the it showed at the very beginning can be reached.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Toshiba Satellite L655-S5191 PSK2CU-1C301U Notebook PC.
