What they say:
Manon finally reveals her secrets to Akari about herself, Pandaemonium, and the looming threat approaching Libelle. Can Menou stop the newly empowered Manon from destroying Libelle and possibly the rest of the world?
Content (Please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Picking right where we left off last time, Akari confronts Manon about why there have been so many changes in history unknown to Akari. Manon decides it’s finally time to spill the beans on her history and reveal everything. This exposition takes up the entire first half of the episode. Not much else is happening but this bit of infodumping is important. It turns out Manon is the child of a Lost One. This Lost One also wasn’t summoned like the others, but rather got “lost among the stars,” so to speak. This means that she was a genuine Lost One whose existence was not known by the Church, giving the Fourth a huge advantage. Manon’s father married the Japanese woman to lock in the deal and make her an ally of the Fourth. However, along the way, Manon’s father really did fall in love with the woman and stopped asking her to use her powers. With each use, the user’s memories start to fade, which is why Manon knows and why Akari is slowly forgetting all her experiences in Japan. Manon’s father didn’t want that for his wife, and so convinced other high-ranking Fourth ranking members that Manon had inherited her mother’s power. This is untrue, though. Flare shows up and kills Manon’s mother by stabbing her and threatening to kill Manon if she used her Lost One powers. (This is probably the person Flare is alluded to have killed in Menou’s memory of Libelle in the beginning of episode 8). Flare explains that Pure Concepts are unique to the soul, not the physical body. Thus, Pure Concepts cannot be passed down to a child. As a result, the Fourth grew angry and disappointed with Manon calling her a failure who couldn’t hope to live up to her mother and this twister her personality. In an attempt to gain a useful power, she becomes “taboo.” She gives herself a Pure Concept, and the little girl who couldn’t speak was the catalyst for the Pandemonium Human Error. That’s why the timeline seemed different. Manon acquired a power in this timeline.
It’s a bit confusing how all of this happens. I’m not sure if I missed something or if I need to rewatch the episode more carefully. I rewatched some bits a few times to make sure I got it but was still a little lost as to how Manon gained her ability and how exactly this girl became Pandaemonium. Also unclear is the initial individual who provided Manon the means to produce Monstrine in exchange for Manon getting revenge on the Fourth members. The results of that investigation are still ongoing so perhaps that will be revealed later.
Speaking of that investigation, that leaves Ashuna the only one truly looking into the matter since Momo is currently out of commission from that trap. It’s a small scene in this episode that barely takes up screen time but I was fond of how Ashuna misses Momo’s company. Her use of the phrase “stood me up,” indicates that she feels very strongly about their relationship. Potential side ship, perhaps? Their interactions provide some of the stronger character chemistry in the series and I was just as melancholic as Ashuna that there was no Momo to banter with this week. You can tell from their interactions that Ashuna genuinely enjoys Momo’s company but it’s nice to see a softer side of Ashuna here. Notice how she’s on the right side of the frame, leaving a lot of empty room next to her where something or someone should be. It leaves the rest of the frame barren. This moment only passes by for a moment but it was honestly one of my standout moments from the episode so I wanted to mention it.
Back to the action. Menou arrives to snap Akari away from Manon’s new powers, although Akari hasn’t regressed again yet so now Menou has seen her in the new state. With the immediate threat, there’s no time to go over it. Menou has questions but the “taboo” in front of her is more important. No doubt this will be explored very soon, though, and I can’t wait to see how Menou takes the new Akari.
We’re treated to an amazing action scene as always and the color contrast here is beautiful too. Unlike between Menou and Ashuna, the colors here are black for Manon to indicate how twisted she is, and gold for Menou to show how saintly and pure she is. Unfortunately, it ends rather quickly. While beautifully choreographed, I feel it’s a bit too short to hold my attention. Menou lands a blow to Manon by removing her arm (!) but Manon just shrugs it off and the fight between the two ends. The meat of this scene is that Manon is now free and independent, the true embodiment of the Fourth, and she lets Menou know that she too can change, declaring that she doesn’t like to kill. “So transparent,” says Manon when Menou lashes out about that accusation. Manon also implies that Akari is the cause of this change within Menou and that it’s not too late to change.
This is something that has been addressed more and more frequently in this arc but it’s becoming more direct. From the beginning of the series, it was obvious that Menou would have trouble killing Akari, but more and more people around her are becoming suspicious of her hesitancy to pull the trigger. Eventually, Menou will be forced to choose between her career as an Executioner and her budding feelings for Akari. To choose Akari would mean going against the world, but that’s okay, as Manon notes. After all, that’s what Manon herself is doing. The seed has been planted in Menou’s mind. She’s not going to be able to avoid this for much longer. Also, should Menou choose Akari (and I’m inclined to believe she will), that may entail an encounter with her former master, Flare. That is an encounter that will be a long time coming and one that will be pivotal for the narrative. Whether or not the anime has the time to get to that point (and I don’t know if it has even happened in the original light novels), remains to be seen, but should Menou abandon the Church for Akari, it will become more inevitable.
However, once Manon breathes her last breath, the girl from the iron maiden emerges, having claimed there have finally been enough sacrifices for her to finally regain speech and some semblance of a realized form. Turns out this little girl is Pandaemonium itself. I’m still a bit confused as to how this is the case, so hopefully, that is explained a bit more later. For now, we’re headed to the big climactic battle, and Pandaemonium has allies. Manon laced all the food she gave the Fourth in Libelle Monstrine and Pandaemonium uses that to summon a multitude of monsters. Also, she can’t die because she can continue to use her own death as a sacrifice as a catalyst for her own summoning, giving herself infinite lives.
Just like that, the episode flies by again. Another strong episode was made stronger by finally noticeable music this time. The animation and artwork also remained on point. What took the hit this week was the script. While the narrative was revealing and interesting, it, unfortunately, led to an infodumping first half and a shortened fight scene and despite that, it was still missing some important details that made some of these reveals a bit confusing. Nevertheless, I look forward to the next episode, and my hopes are high that things are cleared up and this battle ends on a strong note.
In summary:
A lot was revealed in this episode. Maybe a bit too much all at once since this led to the first half of the episode being an explanation of a back story. Had this been done in a more interesting way, it would have felt fresher but what it amounts to is Manon explaining everything as footage rolls over. An unfortunate slipup in a series that tends to make use of its visual storytelling prowess. This also led to a fight scene that was a lot quicker than I was hoping. Just as my jaw was about to hit the floor with the amazing animation used, the fight ended and there was more dialogue. It’s far from all bad, though. The animation remained solid, the music finally stepped out into the forefront, and we finally got some answers that weren’t tired or predictable even if it was a bit confusing along the way. I also missed the banter between Momo and Ashuna but this is a minor nitpick. I’m also very curious to see where these revelations lead and the future interactions Menou will have with both Akari and Flare now that she is becoming more aware of her personal situation. It’s all building to something I’m sure will not disappoint.
Grade: B+
Streamed by: HIDIVE