What They Say:
System (Those Who Arrive at Heaven’s Will in an Only Human Body)
Kuroko continues searching for Kosaku, but after exhausting every possible hiding spot in the building, she must reexamine her situation. When Mikoto’s transformation hits a critical threshold, it is time for Gensei to unlock Exterior’s limiter.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This episode starts with a recap of the events that happen in the previous episodes. This is a good point to have a recap to remind people of past events. Shirai serves as the narrator for this recap and comes with her quirky personality to lighten things up and have some humorous moments.
Saten is the perfect character to be the dumb character in this series. She gets made fun of in the recap by Shirai for past events and later on in the episode by Uihara. She helps out Shirai in her battle with Kosaku and comes up with a brilliant idea to help her. Uiharu throws her a compliment but also makes it into an insult. Saten is always trying to do good but sometimes it ends up in disaster and it leads to exceptional comedy.
The battle between Shokuho and Gensei had seemed like there was a definite ending last episode as Gensei appeared victorious but the battle continues. Shokuho accounted for all possibilities in her battle and that includes a version where she would end up losing to Gensei and made a hidden plan for it. There was a failsafe code to shut down the Exterior and damage the person who is in control of the Exterior. She used Mental Out to change her perception of the two codes by swapping the code to activate Exterior with the code to shut it down in her mind and then erasing her memory of doing so. She does this to trick Gensei at the last minute when he has revealed all his cards and feels he has come out on top. Her plan was ingenious and serves as a great way to win this battle. Her plans remind me of the plans that Light Yagami from Death Note and Lelouch from Code Geass would come up with. It’s at the same level that those two would come up with and has a tremendous impact.
Shirai continues her battle with Kosaku and it played out beautifully. They are both constantly thinking of strategies to best their opponent till one comes out on top. Shirai also had the advantage of having her friends supporting her behind the scenes. This led to a cheerful scene where Saten and Uihara are drawn in a chibi style celebrating their actions. Kosaku is fooled into thinking that she has defeated Shira and lets her guard down similarly to Gensei’s battle. It was satisfying seeing how Shira beat up Kosaku. The despair painted so vividly on Kosaku’s face along with blood dripping down her face as she realizes that she is about to lose was a delightful moment.
Dolly serves as a source of motivation for both Kosaku and Shokuho. It’s understandable why she serves as a positive note for Shokuho because of a prior episode that demonstrated their bonds. But it a bit confusing about how she is an influence on Kosaku. It was mentioned that Dolly and Kosaku had a relationship similar to the one that Shokuho shared with Dolly but it is never shown on screen. I would have wanted to see what led Kosaku to become the way she is and how Dolly played a role in it. She has anger towards Academy City and wants revenge at the cost of her life because of what happened to Dolly but there aren’t clear details on what happened between them.
In Summary:
The battles in this episode were top-notch. Shokuho and Shira had great battles that were won not by might but by the mind. I am amazed in the manner in which Shokuho came out with her plan to defeat Gensei. The battles also made exceptional use of Shirai and Shohoku’s powers as they were used in unexpected methods. This episode almost ends in a happy tone until they realize they have to deal with Misaka. Misaka has gone deeper into the abyss since she is no longer being controlled by Gensei.
Grade: A+
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
