Haha, the creators actually found a use for Origami’s powers! Usually when a character has weak or unusual powers, the creators hardly ever make full use of them. And this episode did exactly what I hoped with Origami by turning him into a spy.
My only complaint is that he’s a bit of a bad actor. Apart from that this episode was all about the parts about Superheroes that don’t involve fighting: hostages, public relationships, politics and infiltration. It was a nerve wrecking episode because of how easily the villains would be able to kill off half the city if they run into something they don’t like. The part after the ED shows that Origami indeed had been found out, so who knows what could happen to him? This arc so far has looked really eager to subvert some superhero tropes.
Also, I love how at first, this series appeared to have all sorts of convenient plotholes… that actually make perfect sense. Now that’s some good writing here. If Ouroboros is indeed in control of some of the most powerful figures in the city, then these people as opposed to Origami Cyclone, are some great actors.
Oh and this episode also revealed something major about the backstory of this series: the original hero guy? He’s dead right now. This gives a very interesting twist to his whole backstory: was he aware about the corruption in the city when he was still working? Or did he die fighting that exact corruption?
Rating: ** (Excellent)
This was just a ‘meh’ episode for me. I’m not complaining about the lack of action, but something about this episode just made me feel disappointed. I hope next weeks episode will be better.
It was never stated or implied that Ourodoros was in control of the higher ups. That’s why they needed to force the leaders to let Jake go.
The subtitles I read said that Oroborus WANT to control the country but aren’t there yet, although they certainly could have one or two of the bigger players in the city already in their pockets.
And I’m sticking to the theory that Mr. Legend isn’t dead but instead he’s the older man who took charge in this episode (haven’t superheroes “died” before so they could retire peacefully?).
If i remember correctly, it was implied long ago that Mr. Legend has been dead in quite a while, hence his monuments etc.
Also, it goes without saying that ouroboros is in control with some of the higher ups, thats almost a given. If not, it would be the first series ever.
And im eager to see if Lunatic makes his move.
The politicians are useless! Even if the terrorist group made a promise, they should have had another plan that would help protect their citizen just in case the terrorists don’t keep their word. And…WHERE IS THE ARMY?!!! I know they are trying to improve the heroes image, but the army is vital in large scale operations.
Side note, on the forums, it was brought up that a nameless red head with a scarf has appeared in 7 of the 11 episodes, thrice being rescued and twice in a dangerous situation. Here is a forum post with her appearances in the first 10 episodes- it is listed under the spoiler tag for ‘That Scarf Girl in each episodes’. In this episode she appears 5 mins into the episode, when one of the city’s pillars was being destroyed. LINK: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=3643728#post3643728
Wait a second, after checking out the forum THATS MY PICTURE! I posted it on /a/, damn you animesuki! :p
This episode really pointed out the fact that Sternbild is basically being run by the sponsors, and that Maverick is basically the sneaky right hand man. Really, the way the mayor acted here reminded me of Japan and how the Emperor functioned throughout history as a figure head even before he officially became one.
Maverick basically pulled all of the strings here and Yuri didn’t really like it at all (and I find myself a bit weary of some of the choices and decisions he made as well). Of course, Yuri doesn’t like Ouroboros either (something to note: on the official website under the character section, both Jake and Kriem have Ouroboros signs next to their character blurbs while Yuri does not).
Some people also took note of the seating arrangement in the conference scenes, in which Yuri was on the opposite side of the table from Maverick and was separated on each side by an empty chair from the rest of the sponsors.
While it may just end up being speculation, a lot of fans for a while now have been getting creepy vibes from Mr. Maverick and so him pulling some strings and having some connection to Ouroboros wouldn’t seem all that far-fetched to me.
Though Mr. Maverick being Mr. Legend isn’t something that I can really see, especially considering that the two look nothing alike. Keith resembles Mr. Legend more than Mr. Maverick does, which has lead some fans to wonder if perhaps Keith is Mr. Legend’s son.
As for Ivan’s fate, I’m going to expect the worse (that he’ll die, especially since it looked like Jake was activating his NEXT powers right at the end there), but I would love it if he didn’t!
@Rex, I didn’t repost the picture but thanks for it, I’ve been trying to keep an eye out for her in all the recent episodes but I missed her in this one. 😛
I’m totally expecting some sort of twist here – that Blue Rose is masquerading as the other Ouroboros girl, for example. That’s not too far-fetched – get Origami Cyclone in the helicopter and then somehow… hijack it. Eh, knowing her powers, I guess it is too far-fetched.
Oh well, worth a shot.
@Rex: Thanks for that picture, you spared me from having to re-watch the episodes to spot her ;).
and, what is /a/?