The investigation faces the worst kind of explosion they could imagine.
What They Say:
The investigation into the serial bombings continues, and Shibazaki goes to Aomori in search of clues about who the culprits are.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sphinx and the investigation, particularly Shibazaki, have acknowledged each other and have truly begun their game against each other, a game in which any wrong move could directly lead to disastrous results. They’re pretty even right now, but now that things can really move forward, something has to give. While Sphinx seems to have everything plotted out perfectly, the investigation is scrambling to uncover any indication of who these enigmatic criminals are, only to find that they’re so competent they’ve managed to seemingly cover every track they could’ve left. But the investigation never had much of a chance outside of Shibazaki, so all eyes are on him once again to deliver. Although he doesn’t succeed much more in this effort either, he’s the best riddle-solver Sphinx could hope to face, and despite making his stance that they shouldn’t be treating this like a game, he ends up choosing to spend most of the episode choosing to literally play a game they made rather than join the rest in finding the bomb again. It’s certainly a trend that Shibazaki is just short of a perfect investigator in a team that otherwise manages to screw things up, and the chief reason for that is that, although he’s taking the challenge from Sphinx the most personally, he realizes that he has to play by their rules to avoid the worst outcomes.
And so the balance of the game indeed gets upset, with Sphinx chalking up a point by no fault of Shibazaki’s, but instead by the fault of those who berated him for choosing to play the game Sphinx had set up. In the real world, it’s true that most cops would act as these ones do, but given the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Sphinx, the full extent of which still remains largely unrevealed, it takes a bit of an eccentric to think outside the box, and the investigation doesn’t stand a chance against Sphinx until they realize that listening to Shibazaki is always the way to go. After what happens here, I think they might be starting to come around. It’s a story very much like Death Note or Breaking Bad, and while Sphinx seems to continue succeeding at avoiding any death resulting from it, it’s becoming appropriately intense, and any solid comparison to those two is a sign of praise.
The only thing that could get stale is how perfectly Sphinx has planned everything out, and even with Shibazaki answering their riddles correctly, it’s hard to imagine how they could slip up. Fortunately, there’s been one wildcard in their work since the first episode, and now they finally come face to face with the beginning of the potential unpredictability it could introduce: Lisa Mishima. Through gestures and chess metaphors, Nine makes it clear that it’s a bad idea to include her for this reason and that’s likely true, but Twelve makes his own case to keep her around, which remains as valid as Nine’s if they really want to do this without killing anyone. That fact and the first cause for real question of how Sphinx will deal with their predicament serve to add some greater interest in the protagonists, something that’s extremely important for any story.
In Summary:
If I’m comparing this show to Death Note and Breaking Bad, you know I’m feeling good about it. The game is becoming more and more intense, and along with the usual impressive maneuvers from both sides, the more concrete addition of Lisa on the Sphinx side allows for a much rockier ride for our protagonists, the one thing the series was really missing before now.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.
