Gunslinger Stratos Episode 4 [ Price in Blood ]

Every week this show makes me kind of lose my shit and this week is no different. After last weeks incredibly sudden actual death the show immediately went, well you know how this show has guns? Guns make people bleed. This show now makes people bleed. There is death and mayhem everywhere, and to top it all off Sidune wasn’t the only one to die in the last fight. Nope, Sidune threw out a bomb as she died and that killed the other Kyohma. I mean these guys just kill each other really simply, but I guess they have to in order to make sure their real counterparts don’t die. Sidune and Kyohma are both powerful members of either team so I’m pretty sure that’s just a slight sociopath survival instincts.

After Sidune dies every member of the other teams blame themselves. Tohru and Kyohma in particular are devastated because Kyohma let Tohru search for the ghosts, but they resolve to be the first fighters on the next mission and I’m actually surprised at how ruthless the Timekeepers are. Pretty much hours after the fight they say, well let’s do this shit again. Both sides seem distraught over their losses and Tohru of either side is determined to get vengeance for the people they lost.

I think what’s so surprising is that from the beginning this show didn’t really set the tone to be an asshole show. When I say a show is an asshole it basically means, what you would normally attribute to an asshole. It hurts your feelings for no reason. And of course the show’s true premise is to ultimately kill all of the other team, but the tone of a show really does set how you feel about it. Gunslinger’s first two episodes had a very slow tone where when people were dead, it wasn’t a brutal sight in front of you. Sidune gets her torso blasted out and this episode alternate Sidune and the teacher get into a gun battle where both are heavily wounded. Namely, there is a lot of blood everywhere and it’s definitely different than how the first 2 and a half episodes set the tone.

But is that bad? No, not really. I think it kind of does the show a favor to make it a little more gritty. Nothing about it being a slow paced show with epic gun battle would be motivating. This kind of show needs some ferocious fighting and some really intense moments, and the more it says to me ‘This is a very serious situation and anyone can and will die” the more I can forgive it’s flaws. For instance, Tohru is a very ambiguously powerful character for no good reason and his romance with Kyoka is a stale sandwich half the time. But now well?

Tohru has to fight himself and we see his other self is more charismatic and almost has a different tone, we can see another side of Tohru that makes him more interesting. Meanwhile other Kyoka flaunts that she and other Tohru are in a relationship and that’s kind of funny. She even does it to be cruel and make Kyoka upset, and the mind games are pretty sweet. I also like that Kyoka is an inversion and is a fighter who basically destroys all rather than being a barrier maiden that is typical in these shows. No, we’ve got a psychic lab baby for that shit!

The whole premise of the new fight is basically a race, and the episode ends without telling us who won. The preview heavily implies we’ll be learning something important next episode, and I’m actually impressed? The show moves quickly enough to keep me interested but also horrifies me, because if it’s this intense this soon into the show I know I am going to be in for a fucking gigantic mindfuck. And you know what? I’m all in. Bring it on Gunslinger. PS: I fucking hate this show for killing Sidune and then showing me all the reasons she is awesome. OTL

Oki