So finally, we’ve got the first big hint at what the second half of this series will be about. In this case, it’s in the form of a bunch of characters who just showed up from out of nowhere. Okay, that can work. It’s typical that everything about them screams fashion, and this indeed is a show in which clothing plays a very important symbolical role. The way in which that girl claied to just be Ryuko’s father’s killer is probably some sort of lie (otherwise I have no idea how they’re going to explain the killer’s silhouette that Ryuko saw), but i’s a good start for a solid second half that will indeed move things beyond the school and let things escalate.
It’s also good that they didn’t go the formulaic route and they just skipped the last fight against the student council, however these two episodes did have a bit of an unfortunate effect on the four of them, in the way that at this point it stopped taking them seriously. They’re in danger of becoming like Krillin from Dragonball Z: characters who are just there for comic relief and can’t keep up with the incredible rate at which the main character powers up. That’s the downside of not killing off your enemies: you’ve already put a lot of development into them, so itd be a shame to not use that later on.
Still, this was a really fun episode. I think it helps to have this battle split up in two episodes with other stuff around it, rather than just dedicate one episode to it. It helps keeping things fresh and also prevents formula.
Probably not going to do ratings again, because they became pointless at this point. They were useful when I blogged like, 12 series at the same time, but now they’re just redundant. They only had one purpose left, which is something I do want to stress: the amount of criticism I have for a series does not equate how much I disliked it. It’s a very common misconception I see, but some series just aim really high, resulting in lots of flaws, while the worst series are the ones so unremarkable that there’s hardly anything to say about them.
pleased that the production in the last episode and a half went back to trigger. makes such a difference in the feel of the show for me.
Still love your site because you still watch my favourite two series of this season, Samurai Flamenco and Kill la Kill. I am really glad that you got rid of the rating system because I have always thought that it was a broken system. How does a 6.5 make an episode of a show I like more watchable than and a 4.5. I am happy to say that I love your reviews, and for the last 6 years I have enjoyed the same anime as you.
Awesome episode, finally things are getting real! Second half of the serie sure looks promising.
Btw, the soundtrack is definitly top notch. The music playing while new charachters were introduced really gave the momentum, so powerful.
Concerning the rating, I did enjoy them, was always wondering how much you would rate those episodes I did especially enjoy.
I completly understand your decision though.
Too bad the legendary 8/8 will never come out now :p
The explanation for the silhouette is actually quite simple:
http://i.imgur.com/DwKXzdU.jpg
As stated, the silhouette in her earliest flashback is consistent with how Harime looks. It’s only the later ones where they look like Satsuki which seems to indicate that Ryuko is just getting too focused on Satsuki that it’s affecting her memories/image of the killer.
Correct-a-mente.
Yea no matter how much this show is saying to empower your body. Becoming a sexual object doesn’t empower you, it empowers men. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/14/the-sexy-lie-tedx-talk-sexual-objectification_n_4597316.html