Will Vivi-san find a way?
Impression
A fracture? I mean… I’m glad that Miura is okay and all, but at the time it didn’t look so much like a fracture as it did her ribs getting disintegrated completely. But it’s also true that Ixpellia is a walking miracle of a loli, and so it’s not impossible that her first aid resulted in Miura’s overall injuries being less severe than they otherwise would have been. As I suspected, Rinne didn’t manage to win that match the way she wanted to – at the time, she recognised that Miura was dangerous enough to the point that she had to end it quickly (if that Bakken strike had connected I think she would have lost) and so she’s resorted to mentally beating herself up post-match in frustration. Her mentality and everything that motivates her isn’t a positive influence at all, but at the same time it’s not something she can be blamed for. Rinne seriously needs hugs. An interesting tidbit was that Jill isn’t a professional competitor due to having been involved in a horrible accident in the past. I don’t think it’s something they’ll ever explore in much detail, but it gave me a shock when Fuuka was told that she was similar to Nove in that circumstances involving her body prevent her from pursuing a competitive career. I thought she was a Combat Cyborg for a moment.
You know, I found myself thinking halfway through her match with Vivio that Vivio might actually win. Vivio still has that protagonist’s aura around her, and no-one is better at befriending than she is. The pre-match hype was even complete with lots of reminiscence over how she’d gotten this far together with Nove and the rest of her friends. Most of all, she’s strong. And it kind of feels like Rinne is still a little hung up over her loss to Vivio in the summer. I could already sense it in the previous episode, but despite her world ranking I think she’s beginning to be portrayed as being less invincible than she previously was. Maybe it’s because she’s spent a lot of the match on the defensive so far, but I couldn’t see the same overbearing and destructive power to every one of her strikes – Vivio still seemed okay after that barrage when she was caught. It might also be because this episode seemed to have a little less budget than the previous ones, although there loli Rinne remained as cute and perfect as ever.
In the end, it’s not necessary for Rinne to win, right? If Vivio wins, then Rinne has already agreed to fight Fuuka outside of the Winter Cup. The downside is that the tension wouldn’t be as high, and it’ll feel like part of the arduous task of befriending her will have already been done by Vivio when it’s more or less supposed to be Fuuka’s job this time round. Still, even if Fuuka and Rinne do both advance and face off in the Winter Cup, it would only be as semi-finalists – which is weird in itself, as I always assumed they would only match up as finalists so that it’d coincide with the climax of the series. As things stand, the both of them will only have won their respective blocks, and the winner will have to fight Einhart which, as interesting as that sounds (especially if it’s Fuuka) would not be as passionate and emotionally-charged a match.
I noticed the budget issues pretty fast here. Oh well. Jill might simply have cyborg components as a replacements for damaged parts. Not really making her a combat cyborg but still either giving her an unfair advantage or disadvantage depending on if they’re military grade or simple civilian grade cyberware.
You don’t want to consider Rinne evil, but evil is more dependent on actions in the real world. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Her goals may be noble, but her actions are getting increasingly twisted. Do the ends justify the means? She’s already planted a toe over the edge. How long until she’s striding through it like a boss?
I think it’s partly a budget issue and partly because the Winter Cup is a martial arts tournament without a focus on magical abilities, hence the reduced grandeur and the absence of Corona and Rio. But yeah, this episode didn’t have the same visual oomph as even the Rinne vs Miura match, let alone the first ViVid. When Miura used her Bakken I realised I actually really missed seeing oversized magic circles in my Nanoha.
I just get blinded by her cuteness sometimes. It’s been pretty apparent for a while that she’s anything but benevolent. I’m not even sure she herself knows what her ends are – so what if she wins the U15 Winter Cup? How will her strength as assessed in the context of the U15 category help her if she’s outclassed right now by older people who want to do her harm? Or those who have served in the military like Nanoha or Fate and have a huge amount of combat experience?
The road to hell really is paved with good intentions. Reminds me of an excellent Nanoha fanfic I first read many years ago, set 50 years in the future.
Chris, Vivio’s device, is specialized in support: particularly in strengthening the defense that she otherwise lacks. I suspect some precision support by Chris is why Vivio held up better against those hits.
Rinne is sabotaging her own desires through the approach she’s taking. She wants her grandfather to smile, but he can’t smile because she’s suffering. She wants to keep good people from being hurt, but she’s personally beating good people into the hospital and not even noticing what she’s doing to them. She wants to prevent tragedies, but her desperation and lack of control are causing them instead. I really hope someone can make her see what she’s doing.
Aha, so that’s why we briefly saw Chris in her body before Rinne tried to
break her bonespunched her.The only way she can see the damage (and hypocrisy) in what she’s doing is if a certain someone cools her head a little and shows her the light. I’m just hoping Vivio avoids hospital this Saturday.