Ah, you know the cliches: a character is certain to die: there’s some kind of deadly projectile heading in his direction, and only a miracle can save him, which indeed happens as he is saved at the last moment by a friend of his. Or take the cliche in which the lead villain has lost most of his powers, only for suddenly another end boss to get introduced. This episode had both of these cliches, yet it did not, if that makes any sense.
This show has fun playing with these cliches, strangely enough. I really thought that Takashiro at the end saved Yuki there. But nope, it’s a completely new character. This character however isn’t anything like Reiga’s boss: he’s just another one of his subordinates. His intervention makes perfect sense as someone who prefers to work in the background, realizing that Reiga is overpowered with his emotions. Speaking of which, I really thought that Reiga’s emotions would cause him to turn into one of the good guys. Instead, they end up trying to kill Yuki. I mean, this was just subversion after subversion after subversion.
At the start of this show, I tended to laugh at it. But really: this episode had two FREAKING DRAGONS duking it out. Now if that isn’t awesome, then I don’t know anymore. This finale is really progressing smoothly so far: it uses these semi-cliches, but it also shows how the characters have developed, it is well paced and takes its time without dabbling in endless quiet before the storms (this episode again took 5 minutes for everyone to catch their breath, only to move over to the real finale: the storming of Reiga’s castle). I mean, the second half of this series has been really skillfully written.
I only have two beefs with this episode. The first I’m a bit iffy about is introducing a character, right at the end of the SEMI-FINAL episode. I mean, I know Luka’s brother versus him is going to make for an awesome final episode that will very likely delve into Luka’s past in order to explain how he left his clan (to save that for the final episode… excellent idea), but couldn’t his introduction have happened a tiny bit sooner?
Also: Reiga’s motivation. Humans are evil, they pollute the planet. Copied and pasted directly from the Evil Handbook of Generic Villains. I expected better from you!
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I disagree on Reiga in two instances. First, I don’t think he actually meant to kill Yuki, instead he decided to return his memories. Judging from everyone’s earlier remarks, those memories are anything but happy. We still don’t know how she died last time, but hints are: it wasn’t of old age.
I also disagree that Reiga’s motivation is “human’s are evil” because he became his current self back in – i think – Heian era. In fact, despite his tirade this episode, I believe we are yet to see his motivation and reasons behind him switching sides.
On that subject, note that both Luka and Reiga are traitors in this series. I wouldn’t be surprised if their motivations are identical and it was a woman that drove Reiga to betrayal. Just guessing.
i smell a second season
@reyani6
I sure hope so! This episode was intense. The graphics were also amazing. Love the use of red in this episode.
Love the Reiga vs Luka summoning scenes in this episode. But felt that the creators tried too hard to re-balance the difference in strengths between the two sides during the Zweilts’ fights.
@reyan16 Agree. That would be awesome!