This pretty much was an aftermath, entirely dedicated to the twist at the end of the previous episode. And boy, was it worth it.
Nearly the entire episode showed a search for where the heck Gauche went, along with what happened to Roda after she fell into that canyon. We actually saw some scenes of the previous episodes, from her own perspective, and learn that even she had no idea what happened to him. On top of that, it was also very nice of the creators to bring some of the characters from the first season back. It’s great to see how they have changed.
In any case, Gauche’s eventual appearance at the end of the episode really was worth the wait. This episode built that moment up really well, and really established that the entire heartwarming part of the previous episodes… was just an act. At this point, I do believe that Gauche got his entire memory back, but at the same time also refused to let go of his identity of Noir, even after receiving Lag’s letter.
I also guess that Gauche himself spent this entire episode, looking for Roda, who he probably spotted somewhere in the previous episode. It just shows how different “losing your heart” is in this series compared to its conventional meaning of being heartless and incompassionate, because I think it’s now established that Gauche really cares for at least Roda, and probably Lag as well (otherwise he would not have chosen such a subtle way to run off during the previous episode). “Heart” in this show seems much more like memories and its combination with the meanings and values of those memories, rather than the usual cheesy definition.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I’m pretty sure Gauche didn’t get his entire memory back.
All that likely happened was as the doctor suggested at the end of the last episode. Lag managed to shoot enough of his memories of Gauche into Noir for Noir to fake it long enough for him to recover and escape.
Sure Noir has memories of Gauche now, but they’re not his memories which is likely why the Noir personality is still dominant
qwerty pretty much gave the gist of what happened Lag’s letter bullet pumped Lag’s memory into Noir, the fact that Noir decided to pretend to be Gauche shows that he’s still quite the nice guy. But in the end Gauche didn’t really return.
It’s rather creepy that Gauche is attracted to his former dingo/dog. Of course, I don’t blame him for leaving after seeing how that weird little boy keeps on making flustered love faces at him.
i’m a bit sad that they’re trailing off from the manga đ the part where lag realizes that gauche is still noir was a lot more heartbreaking in the manga, and plus it didn’t make him seem like such a cry baby like it did in the anime đ
lol@ Kyuubei. You’re funny, man.
@Rey: That’s true. The story got messy since they introduced Garrard and Valentine, but, even if they just short-circuited at last 10 manga episodes, it still keeps up quite well.
The only problem is they’re trying to tie down the broken plot by deus ex machina and events that make little sense. Let’s hope they don’t screw up this more.