‘In two days, those who don’t obey me may die’
Synopsis: Alcor, aka the Anguished One, has by now not only revealed his true nature, but made good on his pledge to give humanity the tools to fight for survival. As he adjusts to his new life among the others, Alioth, the fifth Septentrion, manifests in the area of Hokkaido.
Impression:
In the wake of lasts weeks’ great episode I was worried that episode 9 wouldn’t live up to it’s predecessors prior success… and I was right. Now, of course, that’s not entirely Devil Survivor 2’s fault, I mean, there are always going to be good and bad episodes, but it’s the fact that this anime is continuously wavering in quality and it’s starting to blur the lines between and ‘good’ episode and a ‘bad’ one. I don’t know if this episode was good because by Devil Survivor 2 standards it wasn’t too bad… but the hell does that mean? I think we should list good and bad points and use simple points to find out… Good points: nice humor, nice aftereffect from the battle, great conclusion… now for the bad points: battle was anticlimactic, boring in some places, plot comes across convoluted in some areas and… is it wrong that when Yamato said their struggles are ending in two days I smiled and almost celebrated? Yes, I would say so…
So let’s talk about that first half of the episode. Firstly, I was sad because we didn’t get to listen to that opening (as I’ve said before and will say again, that opening and that ending are two of the shows only redeeming features at this point) and therefore I entered the episode in sour tastes… but that was quickly rectified by the humor (mainly Daichi, let’s be honest) and the exposition between Hibiki and Alcor. Thing is, the exposition isn’t by any means amazing, the Monogatari series has some great exposition, I mean, that’s what the whole show revolves around anyway (character dialogues, that is) and this show fails to emulate any of it’s potential greatness. At times I found myself wondering, ‘where’s the survival aspect?’, I mean, they spend most of their time underground or talking, what the hell is going on?
Also… is Yamato ill? I noticed him clutch his chest in the first half of the episode and that got me thinking… what is Yamato isn’t that bad guy everyone is making him out to be? Sure, he’s pretty much been a douche all the way through the series and in this episode he sacrificed the lives of civilians to achieve his goals but… what if he has another motive? What’s his driving force? Surely he isn’t as cliche as he appears, I mean, wanting to place the strong in control of the world and rule it anew… surely not? Impending plot twist me thinks…
When they were sent off to battle (Airi and Hinako, that is) I immediately thought ‘someone’s going to die’… and a lot of people did but they were all unseen and I think that entire thing would have been more epic if we’d seen the civilians panicking as they were crushed… throw a couple babies in there to make it more of an impact, y’know? So I guess you can say I called it? Also, a demon that likes little girls? I can tell why it’s a demon… and why it’s in Japan… stereotypes aside, even though the battle was anticlimactic (and I guess it was meant to be that way) I have to applaud the use of strategy to take it down and the result of the battle. Both were nice to see and I think we’re finally beginning to see just how ruthless Yamato really is. He’s not going to stop until he gets his way and it’s awesome!… I think… Oh! And that Septentrione crashing into the city, yeah, that’s the survival feel I’m talking about!
So I guess Yamato’s plan is out in the open… I’m not going to talk about it too much because not much happened really. Yamato’s plan isn’t even that dastardly really, I mean, sure, it would be if the Earth (which now only consists of Japan) was full of humans, but the bulk of humanity is gone and if it were up to me I’d want a ‘strong’ leader to rebuild humanity after it’s fall y’know? I just don’t see what’s so wrong with Yamato’s ambition when it’s put into context? Sure his way of doing things may be considered immoral, but at least he’s trying! Without Yamato humanity would already have fallen… I’m just saying…
And finally Nitta… is going to die. That is all. I’m sure that Nitta probably won’t die and it will be Hibiki that saves her BUT it was still a nice cliffhanger to end off on. Sneaky bastards trying to trick me…
To conclude, this was an ‘alright’ episode with a few redeeming features and the same old faults. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t getting tired of this series and I’m kinda glad it’s ending soon… as harsh as that sounds… To episode 10! Don’t die Nitta… the ending would feel empty without you…