Ayumu in his emo corner, followed by a trash ending.
So, this ends the plot-based portion of this anime. I didn't really expect it to end this week - but, instead, they chose to end it a week earlier and thus have a hot spring episode next week. So now, every anime other than Madoka gets a swimsuit episode. Fanservice ftw? I'm pretty disappointed with how this episode ended. It left me feeling empty.
So, this episode picks off just where the last one left off, with Ayumu getting blown up. I can't help but think this "ending" could have been done better if it was expanded into two episodes instead of just one. It felt like it was put together with glue and made very little sense.
First of all, Ayumu was shown throughout series to favour Yuu - but, to the extent of Super Emo Mode? I mean, that was just WTF? He lost the "koolness" that he exuded the entire season of being rational, something that doesn't exist in main characters lately. He was always very clear-cut about what he wanted and went for it, so to be broken so easily felt kind of empty.
I did like Dai-sensei's appearance again. I like her a lot; it's a fake modest super mage, so what's not to love? With Ayumu being super emo now, this leaves her as the only decent character.
This episode spiralled further when Seraphim was approached by the other ninja seeking her help. They made a huge commotion a few episodes back (with Tomonori) about how big of a deal the ninja rules were. Sera breaking one and then still being on such good terms just doesn't sit well with me. It just serves to baffle me more when they all dress up as maids and continue on to pwn gaint flying whales with music. That really needed a better explanation of what was going on.
The episode didn't get any better with delving into the main storyline, the King of Night. They failed to explain what the 7th Abyss was, so I guess it was just dropped into the anime earlier for no reason. This story just made no sense at all. It was clear from last episode that he wanted to die. We learn here that Yuu refuses to pwn him off because she doesn't want to lose any more friends. So instead, she's gonna watch them get owned by him. Also, that doesn't add up since she just rushed him with her scythe the first time they met again. Really, wtf was that? The ending resolution was just "accepting" Ayumu's speech (which meant, "can take him out now.") God, this just made literally zero sense. Why would Yuu be fine with it now? He was played out to be so strong and had some secret hidden agenda, but then really turned out to be trash. This is riddled with so many holes that it hurts me when I think about how I said it might be best anime of the season.
We finally get to hear Yuu's voice (as I predicted in the last post), although it was obviously coming. What I don't get is why she suddenly decided to keep talking; I was expecting for it to be one line. What happened to the huge consequences of talking? It feels like a cop-out for the fans to hear her voice, even though it totally breaks the storyline.
This storyline arc really ruined the anime for me, and especially after it started off so strongly, too. They still never explained what that picture of the other shadows during the opener is. That really seems more interesting than the current story. They should have stuck with humour; clearly, a plot-based concept is not the author's forte.
~Pearz
