Well, it’s heavily overdue, but I finally managed to get this out xD
Episode 10 Summary
Fear, Konoha and Haruaki hear about a series of murders that have begun in town, realizing that the culprit is in fact Alice. Though they go to apprehend her, she easily escapes and hints that the girls she is murdering all have something in common. Fear arrives at Kuroe’s hair salon just in time to realize that she may be related to the murders, while Haruaki witnesses Kirika’s self-torture brought by the Kurokawa Karen.
Episode 10 Impression
Murder mystery, yay! I now get what Alice meant by “I’m the culprit”, though we’re still completely clueless about her motive. I mean, she’s attracted Haruaki and Fear’s attention now, surely there’s no need to keep killing victims? The mystery itself was…pretty easy. Come on C³, you’re not UN-GO or anything. They’ve revealed that victims will be customers at Kuroe’s hair salon (hence why Alice went to visit the shop opening in the first place). Noticeably, both victims so far have had crosses around their necks, as does Alice herself. I don’t think Kuroe wears a cross normally, but she was given a bag, with a cross on the front – and some hair inside, that…glowed. This more than hints that she could be the culprit, or maybe even the next victim herself.
That was more or less all in terms of plot development xD The battle scene in which Haruaki and co. fought Alice in was pretty short, and ended up with everything getting blown up, as they tend to do in action shows. Far too obviously, Alice’s real weapon concealed inside the cello is in the shape of a cross as well – which leads back to the murder mystery case. We never actually saw what the weapon does, only that the cello surrounding it is made of this really hard material that I’m pretty sure isn’t wood.
There was an alternate plot unfolding in the form of Kirika and her blackmailer/guy who’s threatening her, as well as the fact that Haruaki finds out she’s secretly into hardcore BDSM torturing herself every night just because it relieves stress. And her excuse is the fact that she’s immortal -_- It was actually really painful to watch, I really felt uncomfortable watching her break all her bones then suffocate herself with the Kurokawa Karen. So that’s what she was doing at the start of the ep. They made it even more obvious that she’s fallen for Haruaki though, but its quite plain that its an unrequited love as of yet. Haruaki, you’re a fool.
Of course, no episode of C³ is complete without the compulsory weekly Konoha fanservice. Here you go!
Episode 11 Summary
Kuroe offers to restrain herself and play karuta (!) until the suspicion on her has been lifted, but Alice arrives soon after and holds Haruaki, Kirika and Kuroe hostage. She tells Fear that the Vivolio Families want to lift the curse off every cursed tool, and that their assumption was wrong – everyone arrived to Kuroe’s hair salon already dead. Kirika’s partner then arrives to rescue her from confinement, leaving Haruaki and Kuroe behind, however Kirika turns against him and kills him, going back to Fear’s house.
Episode 11 Impression
NOOO, KUROE WAS GOING TO PLAY KARUTA
Having recently rewatched Bakemonogatari in time for the start of its sequel next season, the moment where Alice told Fear the guests were already dead reminded me of when Senjougahara revealed that Mayoi was the oddity herself, and that she had already died. For a non-mystery anime, that’s pretty clever, and completely unexpected. Well played, Silver Link xD Still, they did prove my point about the corpses all having crosses around them, but instead of this being a sign or mark, they wore them because they were members of the Families. At this point all they seem to be is a bunch of mad lolicons fanatics that are willing to throw away their lives for the cursed tools, simply because they love them. Wait what kind of reason is that? I’ll assume the late Peavey was from a different faction, since she seemed intent on killing Fear. Also, if the corpses of the sacrificed Families members were able to move, doesn’t this technically point towards some sort of an undead army of sorts?
Most of the fanservice shifted to Kirika and Kuroe this ep, with Kuroe appealing to all you lolicons out there with her pantsu shot and offer to have her body used xD
Speaking of Kirika, her “partner” was finally revealed in full: a guy called Himura, that ended up saving only Kirika and leaving poor Haruaki and Kuroe trapped in there, the heartless bastard. Ah well, he’s dead now anyway, since Kirika helpfully crashed their car. Though I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he somehow managed to turn up again, they do that annoyingly often in a show like this.
At this stage, it’s clear that Alice will be the “last boss” of the show before it ends, and being the president behind the Families she’s probably going to be frighteningly powerful. Stay tuned for the inevitable deus ex machina everyone!