What They Say:
Black Rain
The Akudama struggle to survive as the hunt for their heads intensifies. While Doctor and Hoodlum run amok, Swindler takes on the role of big sister.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Everyone had been allowed to run free but their time is up. They have to face the music and live up to the consequences. They had abandoned society but society didn’t forget about them. Swindler and Sister rocket to the moon comes crashing down hard. The moon remains forever out of their reach. It was never a possibility since the moon was broken to pieces in the war. Swindler faces the bleak consequences of her unwanted trip with the Akudama. She was branded as an S rank Akudama with a high bounty. Society refuses to accept her as their own and she becomes the ultimate outcast. There was suspicion that she wasn’t an ordinary girl and there was more than meets the eye from her from the beginning of the show. But those suspicions are eradicated as she truly becomes an Akudama.
It always a frightful moment when a woman drastically cuts her hair in an anime. Swindler is left with no other option as she has to cut her hair. This is the moment that breaks the old her and a new one can begin. She and Sister are on the run and they find temporary peace in some criminals’ hideout. They get caught and the criminals want to sell them to be sex slaves. Swindler does the unthinkable for her and kills two of them. That’s right: sweet, innocent, naive Swindler kills two people. There is no questioning the fact that Swindler has become a full-blown Akuduma.
On the other hand, Hoodlum status is in question more than ever. He shares the same bounty as the other Akudama because of their journey. But does he deserve to be considered at the same level as the others? He couldn’t even kill the Pupil Executioner. Hoodlum returns to his natural role as the joke of the crew. I was a bit disappointed with this sudden regression of events. He takes one step forward and three steps backs. It’s a bit understandable as he lost Brwaler and is unsure of how to move forward. It’s not like he is in a situation like Swindler where she took the responsibility for Sister.
Doctor is living the best of both worlds. She is no longer technically an Akudama in the eyes of the law but she is free to perform her criminal activities. She kills a couple of researchers and no Executioners are batting an eye at her. She forces Hoodlum into her service by gruesome unconventional means. She is bending the world to meet her ends and find out the unsavory truth behind the two children. There is no force strong enough to keep her down.
In Summary
Swindler becomes the star of the show as things head completely downhill. Very few characters made it out unharmed from the journey to save Brother and Sister. It’s great to see how those characters are dealing with the consequences of their new reality. Happy endings are quickly becoming impossible but the next episode title has me worried for this loveable cast of misfits. The name of the next episode is The Shining and if you know the book and the movies then we’re in for a rollercoaster of a ride.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Funimation