“ECHOES – Crimson Memories, Bleached”
What They Say:
Azur Lane, a combination of all the different Camps in the world, was once successful in repelling the underwater menace, the Siren. Now splintered, they must face a new threat in Red Axis, former allies who crave to wield this otherworldly Siren technology for their own nefarious desires! Who will be victorious in the never-ending war between these battleship girls!?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Enterprise is having that same dream again. Ships burning at the ocean, bodies everywhere. Alter Enterprise declares that it’s always the same. Across time, over every ocean, she continues to fight. It never ends. Soon, Enterprise will find herself in this very same scene. Eventually, she’s awakened by Belfast. It’s morning and she suggests eating breakfast. After all, breakfast is required to live a healthy human life. However, Enterprise snaps at her and says that it’d be foolish of her to pretend to be human. The Azur Lane shipgirls gather together and discuss what Sakura Empire’s next move will be. Now that Akagi is gone, what will Kaga do? What about the Sirens? These are all good questions that no one can answer. They’re also all worried about Enterprise. Is she going to go berserk again?
Javelin, Ayanami, Laffey, and Unicorn are all having fun at the sauna. Ayanami is conflicted about her feelings. She’s worried about her friends over on the Sakura Empire side. She cherishes them deeply. On the other hand, she also likes everyone on the Azur Lane side. She desperately wants to save her Sakura Empire friends. Javelin, Laffey, and Unicorn all promise to help her. The power of friendship! Speaking of Sakura Empire, they’ve decided to seal Orochi away. Without Akagi, they can’t move forward with it. Kaga is furious and claims it’s necessary for their victory. The decision is final though. She’s told to walk away. As she leaves, Kaga starts having visions of Akagi and her sister, Amagi. It’s clear that Akagi loved her sister very much and was heartbroken when she died. She witnesses another vision where Observer is whispering sweet nothings into Akagi’s ear. She’s convincing her to use the Mental Cube by promising she can bring back her sister. Kaga realizes that she could never be a replacement for Akagi’s sister. It doesn’t matter though because she’d still do anything for her.
Back at the Azur Lane base, Enterprise is hallucinating as she’s walking down the hallway. Alter Enterprise shows up and once again tells us that the ocean breeds nothing but war. Humanity yearns for that conflict. You know what? She’s not wrong. Alter Enterprise transforms into Amagi and it causes Enterprise to freak out. Who is she really? Is she even real? Oh, she’s real alright. In fact, she’s actually Orochi and she is a monster born from the will of humanity. Well, dang. Enterprise collapses a few seconds later. The next morning, she is awakened by Belfast. She informs Enterprise that she collapsed last night and then scolds her for living an unhealthy lifestyle. Enterprise gets up and tells Belfast to leave her alone. She admits that something is wrong with her and that she’s worthless if she can’t fight. Belfast smiles, grabs Enterprise by her tie, and drags her all the way to the cafeteria. Enterprise was squealing the whole time and it was adorable. Also, Belfast is awesome. The other shipgirls are fascinated by this sight. One of them even suggests that it could be a lovers’ quarrel, haha. I know a lot of fans ship Enterprise with Belfast. It’s not a bad ship, not going to lie.
Enterprise doesn’t want to eat breakfast but Belfast isn’t having any of that. She’ll eat it and like it. Enterprise can’t refuse and starts eating her food. Belfast sighs and remarks that she wouldn’t be lost in negative thoughts if she had eaten proper meals. She understands that Enterprise does not like fighting and that she’s afraid of the ocean. Why does she keep fighting then? Enterprise answers that fighting is her purpose. Belfast angrily tells her to stop giving easy answers. She knows the real answer and she should stop lying to herself. Have I ever mentioned that I love the interactions between these two? Suddenly, the Azur Lane base is attacked. Oh no! All the shipgirls deploy to confront the unknown enemy. Is it Sakura Empire? No, it’s actually the Siren known as Purifier.
Purifier has stolen the Mental Cube! The Azur Lane shipgirls go after her. Belfast manages to land an attack on her but she’s totally unscathed by it. Purifier mocks them and proclaims that it’s playtime. She summons a whole bunch of Siren battleships and fighter jets. A huge battle ensues! The Azur Lane shipgirls are doing their best fending off the enemy’s attacks. Enterprise shows up and shoots down a few fighter jets. Purifier notices her and gets very excited. I mean really, really excited. Elsewhere, Prinz Eugen is hoping to help herself to the secrets of Orochi but finds Kaga instead. She activates Orochi and heads towards the battlefield. Things are going to get wild next time! It looks like it’s going to be an awesome final battle and I can’t wait to see it…in about three months.
In Summary:
This episode was a setup for the final battle. Unfortunately, it was announced that the last two episodes are going to be delayed until March. Yeah, it’s true. The studio behind the series stated that they made this decision in order to improve the quality of the episodes. While I can certainly appreciate wanting to improve the quality, this news really bums me out. I was really looking forward to the next episode and now I have to wait three months to watch it. It kind of kills the momentum. That being said, those two episodes better be amazing or I’m going to be sad. Also, just a reminder that Belfast is awesome.
Grade: C
Streamed By: Funimation
