OH...MY...GOSH....
This episode literally took my breath away. All the reveals, all the carnage, all the mayhem....just wow...
Cain finally showed his hand, and how! Slaughtering students left and right, using poison gas, he is serious about this. L-elf expected Cain, but we find that despite this, he still is not prepared for the onslaught of his former teacher and master. And if L-elf is scared, you had best be too.
Haruto joins up with L-elf after Cain literally kicks their buts. However, it is only when Akira takes her place as the last of the Valvrave pilots that things take a turn for the better. Well, that is until Cain truly reveals his hand. It seems VVV2 is an unfinished Valvrave, but all it needed was the missing piece that was the green crystal in his birdcage. This crystal becomes the AI entity known as "Blue", who is not only the angry shadowed image behind VVV-tan ("Red"?), but is also her elder brother, and has a hatred for humans. And for the first time, his activation, allows "VVV-tan" to speak!
Going back to Akira, we find that her agoraphobia, is a result of her being violently bullied in school (what is it with Japanese anime schools that they allow bullying of this intensity and blatancy?). Through a conversation with her, Shoko, and her brother, and then Shoko being knocked out by the oncoming drill, Akira finally finds the courage to come forth from out of the shadows in order to protect her friend. She becomes the pilot of VVV6, which seems to have the ability of "hacking" any object it touches with it's staff.
Akira is the only one able to stop the drill, just as it reaches the school, as the other 3 Valvraves have been put out of commission by Q-4 and X-1.
Saki is another amazing plot point in this episode, as we get another future shot of her with a young boy who happens to look like a wide-eyed version of L-elf! Is this her son? Is is L-elf and not Haruto that she gets together with? Was it their family photo that was in her locket and did she make her promise too him some 14 years before the last flash forward and 11 years before this one? And if so, how does he become an immortal? And if he is then that means he's not dead, so what's going on?
Also, we see that this is 3 years before the last flash forward, and the 3rd Galactic Reich has taken over the galaxy. She speaks of "The Founder" and how he was first fighting for "Module 77" in those days, and the first time he had contact with a Magius. Is the Founder Haruto? L-elf? I'm guessing the "Magius" she's referring to is Cain, but that's not clear, though we do notice that she where's the Magius symbol on her thigh.
And who are the Magius? Well, it looks as if we are delving into the "secret society that runs everything" trope, as we learn that not only Cain, but also the BOTH world leaders, as well as the Fuhrer's council, are also also Magius. and that they basically run the world. Well, I can honestly say that I didn't expect that.
Haruto and his fellow pilots aren't as unique as they thought, and Haruto is a "third generation" according to Cain, and he doesn't seem too impressed. Speaking of Haruto, Saki of course denies his proposal, saying that she is an idol and is above all that, and that sexual assault is something that an idol has to live with. However, even naive Haruto sees that it's a front, and we can see that Saki is trembling from emotional pain inside her cockpit. Now whether that's because she loves Haruto, but knows that what's happened between them will only cause them misery, or because she is remembering that night, or a little bit of both? That is up for interpretation.
Well, back to the Magius, we can see they are somewhat magical vampires, as Cain speaks a spell or chant over himself to create the green bubble he uses to break into the room with VVV2. A-drei (who it seems is through with L-elf's noncooperation) and H-neun (who it seems honestly just really wanted to share tea with Kriemhild) as well as L-elf and Haruto witness his powers and discover that he is in fact not human but Magius vampire. He can use Blue to power any Valvrave he wants so, it's possible that it's the entity that allows you to pilot and not the machine. So if Haruto's vehicle was destroyed, he could, in all possibility take out VVV-tan's "crystal" and place it into another frame and create a new Valvrave!
I can hardly wait for next season, a whole 3 months or so away. This show looks like it can easily become Sunrise's next franchise. It's obvious that the Magius win and take over the galaxy, but we need to see how it is that they get there. What troubles will Haruto and his friend come across along the way? What is the nature of the 3rd Galactic Reich?
Oh, I have never hoped for October to come so soon! I give this episode a 9.98/10, only because I hoped for some named characters to die. Yet, with Cain with a Valvrave of his own, I think that the students of Module 77 aren't out of the woods yet.
I give this season a 9/10. It kept me highly entertained, and even with some rather ridiculous moments, I know I've found a keeper. I'll be awaiting the second season with high anticipation. |