The world slinks closer back to the fires of war.
What They Say:
Episode #7: “Black Agenda”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The beginning of this episode of Chaika season two gave me flashbacks to playing Dark Souls. Toru and Akari are busy infiltrating the castle to steal the remains. Those fins and snorkels we saw them with down at the beach come in handy when they sneak in through the moat and have to dodge some swinging blade traps. What is it with secret passageways and swinging blades?
However their progress is blocked by Shin, another member of the Acura tribe of saboteurs. He won’t explain what he’s doing there, but the older saboteur isn’t going down easily. The two younger Acura siblings turn tail and flee realizing that they are outmatched.
They regroup back with Chaika, who tells them about Guy taking off with Niva. Toru decides that since they know where the final remains are they don’t need to listen to Guy anymore and it’s best just to avoid him. Toru decides the final course of action is to go ahead with the tournament, despite the fact that it will bring him up against his mentor once more.
While they plan Guy takes Niva to Hartgen, telling him exactly what she is and about how she is capable of plunging the world back into war once again. Hartgen is pleased to have the means to do so, because once he ended the 300 year war he realized his life had no meaning beyond fighting.
The contest begins after a rousing speech from Hartgen, which all but confirms the suspicions of the reconstruction team. However, Vivi also wants to bring in the Chaika girls, and takes a brief moment out of the contest to have a conversation with Toru and Chaika about what is going on. She knows that they took the weapon from the lab, but didn’t seem to know anything about Guy’s role in all this. She tells the two fugatives about the black Chaika twins and Chaika is surprised. Information exchanged the two forces return to being enemies.
Akari and Frederica are off fighting their own battles. Federica has once again taken on the form of her dead master to be more fighting fit. All the teams work their way to the next round, but red Chaika is confined at the orders of a third black Chaika who is revealed to be in charge of the other two. Yup, there’s a third one, and she’s sitting behind the scenes plotting. I think we found our real mastermind.
Back in the capital there is added distrust and unrest. Hartgen isn’t the only one wishing for more bloodshed. Several other leaders are itching to leap back into battle. The others are still trying as hard as they can to be patient and come up with a peaceful solution. After 300 years of war the rulers don’t seem to know how to live without it. They were semi-united in trying to take down the Emperor, but the war machine chugs along even in times of peace.
In Summary:
The race for the the final pieces of the emperor is underway, but the good guys are at a distinct disadvantage in knowledge at this point. Red, White, and Vivi against three black Chaika is sure to be one heck of a showdown. Will Niva be used against them, or is she now linked to white Chaika? Will any of that even happen in the next episode? The tournament is just a means to a bloody end, and right now we’re still moving everyone into place. There’s plenty of time left for more surprises in this story, and I’m waiting for the next big reveal.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.9.5, via Safari 7.0.6, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
