That was fucking brutal.
Impression
I’m shocked. I think this is the first time I’ve been outright impressed with an episode of God Eater, because this was full of tension and surprises – and holy shit, was it depressing or what?
You see, the thing about Hiatus Eater is that up until now, it’s followed its tropes fairly religiously, and that makes things predictable. Soma is still an ass, and proceeds to practically haze the new kid even though Lenka has probably been through just as much shit as he has, if not even more due to the fact that he came from the outside. In fact, it should be the other way round – this entire fiasco is his father’s fault, so surely he’s the one who’s least entitled to be a dick wad about everything. When I saw a group of terrified people running out of the Vajra lair, I knew they were going to die. And they did. But I didn’t manage to guess exactly how they died – when everyone was trapped between the three Vajra, I thought Sakuya was going to devise a plan which involved them using the Muggles as bait to get one of the Vajra killed, and to then make a break for it while they could. To be fair, that probably was her plan, until Satan showed up. Then the plan changed to just running for their lives whilst abandoning the outsiders and using them as sacrifices. It might even have worked, if not for the fact that everyone’s favourite semen demon decided to charge straight at it. It’s all her fault. She’s still the best though
After the Dyaus Pita easily wiped the floor with all of the puny humans who dared to challenge it, I thought it was over at first – especially when no-one seemed to be coming to help them defeat it, much less Lindow like I’d expected. Then Lenka started screaming, and was clearly accessing some kind of new power in his angsty rage. I thought this was the bit where he’d turn the tables and save the day – and it did seem like it at first.
But then Satan snapped his Jinki in two, and stabbed him through his spine. And started laughing as it killed all the outsiders. I swear the thing started smiling as well. It even skewered them in front of him, like a kebab, and showed it to him before eating them. I think Lenka was about to harness even more power at one point, but his Jinki was immediately broken into even more pieces before he could try. I don’t even… I’m not even a fan of Lenka or anything, with his only virtue being how he sometimes does cool stuff, but he doesn’t deserve all this suffering, right? He did nothing wrong.
I mean, I kind of get why Alisa feels so much hate for it – because if she’s had an encounter with it before, and survived, then she must have lost… well, everything. I know in earlier posts, I talked about how it would be good if the story moved along, if stuff actually happened that progressed the plot and characters beyond routine Aragami hunts – and yes, I suppose we got that this week. But isn’t this a bit… much? This thing feels so utterly broken on the power level scale – it’s like these guys glitched and accidentally ran into an endgame boss way before they were supposed to. It’s like I had a Pegasus Knight destroyed by an unsuspecting enemy Archer. It’s like ufotable decided it would be funny to hand the reins to Urobuchi for a week and watched with horror as everyone suffered. My expression started to mirror Lenka’s face of despair about halfway through.
In a way, it’s actually good that it was Lenka who took all the damage – better Lenka than Kota. If Kota was that terrified at firing the finishing shot towards a normal Vajra, he would probably have quickly died from getting his back torn open. Then again, Kota doesn’t have that much plot armour – hey, come to think of it, last week I said Kota would end up dying soon, didn’t I? He’s still alive! Hooray! And meanwhile, Alisa has almost no clothes on and yet suffered no external injuries despite getting beaten up. Looks like Dyaus Pita also knows who best girl is.
P.S. As far as I know, this will go on another hiatus while ufotable tries to get their shit together again. Episode 6 is in two weeks. I’m okay with it if they churn out animation of similar quality to this, but… damn, it still hurts.
The entire downhill (literally) battle at the end utterly annihilated any and all sense of resistance and fighting spirit, every and anything other than hope, that the opening sequence usually leaves you with. It was… truly catastrophic beauty o_o
At this point even the fans of the game are quaking – to varying degrees I’m sure – in their boots as of this episode. That Dyaus Pita isn’t something they’ve truly witnessed before as artwork reveals it comes straight out of God Eater Resurrection!
However, hope remains. First of all and I hope to answer a “question” you posed in the review, Lenka and Alisa still have all their limbs and one of the limbs on each of them has a God Arc. I’m not sure if it makes them extra tough due to what must be Oracle Cells within, whether it gives them slight regenerative properties or a combination of both, but they’re still a good deal beyond human in a sense. All they need to do is stay out of Satan’s way until Sakuya and Kota, and more importantly Lindow and Soma arrive. As great as distance often is in combat, this Aragami is one speedy demon and it DESERVES an up close and personal touch!
On the matter of the Dyaus Pita’s intelligence and in light of the fact that it’s a cut above the Dyaus Pita that has been witnessed in-game… who’s been looking for who more – Alisa or the Aragami? D: In any case, if it wasn’t after her already then their reunion has surely painted a target over her head as it certainly recognizes the danger of a New-Type.
Speaking of danger, it might be a good thing that Alisa’s knocked out for at least a little while. Lenka already had trouble negotiating with her when she had her mind set on saving people, so who knows how much less negotiable she’d be while seeking revenge, intoxicated by a cocktail of PTSD and pills. On the other hand, Lenka’s seriously wounded and Alisa has been slowly recognizing the reasons that he and her should be classed together. Recognizing that he just may become the closest thing she has to family in due time… What a pity it would be to lose that before she even really had it.
P.S.
I guess Hayama grew bitter after learning to be an excellent chef, yet one whose parents were often too busy to have a meal as a family. Leaving a bad taste in his mouth, he pursued a life of independence in the Big Apple where his acting career took off in what was truly an effort to become more open and sociable. Oh how the people and especially the ladies loved him, but Kekkai Sensen was never finished thanks to a not-so-otherworldly invasion. Enter the Aragami. Embittered once more as his mother exited the stage in her own way, for the first time in decades he donned his family name. However, he knew better than to simply assume his past identity. He would not reclaim his first name, but he would instead adopt the name of the first person who had ever beaten him, determined not to lose again. This is Soma Shicksal’s story.
…I’m sorry, I had to let that out somewhere, if only once.
P.P.S.
“Semen demon”? :v
I agree, they have to be beyond human to have pulled off the stunts they did. I’m thinking of what they did on the plane in particular. I guess they do still have their limbs, but I doubt Lenka’s Jinki is of any more use – and Alisa’s bullets can’t even puncture the Dyaus Pita, so I don’t know what else they can do other than run and hide.
Alisa looked for it more. I doubt one Aragami would chase its prey across continents, and the look in her eyes totally changed once she recognized it. From the way she took her pills, it was about to trigger her really, really badly. I do wonder why it didn’t kill Lenka immediately though, as intelligent as it seems to be.
P.S. The fact that Hayama, Zapp and Soma have all appeared in shows that aired at around the same time must be the oddest coincidence I’ve seen in some time. I can see Hayama becoming Soma, but Zapp… no way. Like I said in the first episode post, he’d have to have suffered through a few important bereavements to have that big a personality change 😀 (Also, who’s to say that Soma -Yukihira, that is- will beat Hayama?)
P.P.S. A meme referring to attractive anime girls, or just walking fanservice in general. Ever since this season, it’s adopted an uncomfortably literal meaning with Anna from Shimoneta (you should watch it if you’re not doing so already, it’s hilarious)
They can’t? I mean that single shot she fired when Lenka was downed didn’t pierce, but surely sustained fire could do something. Then again it might have just been dodging previous volleys due to being cautious of the unknown, hmm. Indeed, they’ll likely only run and hide, possibly even sharing stories about their pasts (I’d very much like that) and all in a way not unlike Big Boss and EVA in Metal Gear Solid 3. The rain, the rocky terrain and threat of death… Yeah, this could be good as far as character bonding and development – provided they’re both conscious at the same time.
It definitely likes to play with its food, or maybe it recognized/senses the Aragami in Lenka’s God Arc and wanted to take its time crushing the “traitor”. I think such a concept could exist within what basically amounts to an animal. Strange that it was all the way on this continent in the first place, unless Alisa wasn’t always living in Russia, hmm.
P.S. Indeed, the personality of Zapp is way too eccentric in comparison to the other 2, but an actor may play a crazy role now and then. I actually wanted to make it seem as though Kekkai Sensen’s events happened for real, but that’s impossible given all the extra species, whose superior technology would probably cut the Aragami down. It’s interesting that both series have some form of “blood arts” though. Also it’s a good point you make that Soma doesn’t have to win all the Shokugeki that he participates in, if one even occurs between him and Hayama.
P.P.S. I began watching Shimoneta from day 1 and while it’s not what I expected, it’s still relatively interesting. I’m still counting on Okuma to show you-know-who what true love is. I can definitely see why semen demon applies to Anna since she literally wants it. I still can’t figure out whether she knows what she’s doing is perverted or not :v Poor thing.
Yeah, I was thinking of that single shot she fired to try and get its attention away from Lenka.
As for Shimoneta, it was WAY more than what I expected. But it’s amazing. It’s what I’ve always wanted. (Fuwa Hyouka best girl)
In all seriousness I think Anna’s formed no connection between her conception of ‘love’ and the lewd things she’s trying her best to prevent – which shows how extremely sheltered she’s been, if she doesn’t get any hint from being naked. There’s a strong irony in it all – she’s been repressed to the extent that she doesn’t know how to handle all these new feelings now that she’s been exposed to them, and runs absolutely wild as a result. On the other hand, someone like Ayame seems irrepressibly lewd, but ends up embarrassed when she sees the real thing in a naked Anna and we realize she has limits of her own.
You think Dyaus Pita was bad, wait until we see Hannibal and Susano( if they appear)
Just the other day I was looking up various creatures of God Eater and came across those two. I wonder if we’ll see any of the [spoiler] humanoid types like Venus. Although, I guess my question is answered since Shio/Chiot is listed for the anime on MAL and she definitely counts even if she’s got a full human appearance (at least as far as anime standards go) [/spoiler]
I can’t actually imagine the Aragami getting even stronger from here – I know they exist, like that massive one in the clouds a few episodes ago, but none of them could even touch this thing :O