Please keep Hikari safe.
Impression
Holy shit. That was tense. I’m still not particularly happy at how Takami has treated her reunion with Hikari, especially given that she didn’t even see Hikari off, but it’s now very apparent to me that Operation Freyja is really, really dangerous. Only once everything was underway could I properly appreciate that fact, I think. Hikari is indeed the main character, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved that Hikari didn’t take part in that large-scale confrontation at the start where Grigori released so many smaller Neuroi that the entire sky was filled with them. At least I can be assured of her safety if she’s sitting quietly on her train with Eilanya.
Speaking of which, I couldn’t believe it when Sanya and Eila actually turned up! Was I right or was I right? Although to be honest, it was more of an unfounded hope than anything else. I’m still really happy. I know their appearance is probably in part due to the reality that Silver Link have already brought their seiyuu on board the Brave Witches project, and so if anyone was going to appear again it’d be them, but they’re still my two favourite 501st Witches and seeing them again is like a second Christmas present from the show, except this time it’s actually in season! Ahh, they’re so cute. When Sanya mentioned that there was a backup Suomus force, I entertained the thought that we might even get to see them participate in getting rid of Grigori, but as things stand I think it’s too late for them to do anything. And given that they don’t have their Striker Units, the backup force probably doesn’t include them.
This begs the question as to exactly what Hikari will do now. Takami’s idea of lifting the giant missile was indeed very Hikari-like, but Hikari is going full Gurren Lagann with the sort of odds she’s trying to beat. Where is she going to find a Unit from? And is she going to run by foot towards Grigori? How will she find the comms equipment she needs to yell at Takami to not overuse her powers? The only way I can imagine Hikari somehow getting a Unit is if something bad happens to someone in the 502nd and Hikari ends up temporarily inheriting their Unit after they crash near where she is. Couple that with the fact that Takami is about to do something super reckless and that she’s got Hikari’s Chidori, and I have a feeling that the sisters will be swapping places after all.
As for Grigori itself, I think we could all tell that things weren’t going to be as simple as they initially seemed. In this franchise, that especially applies whenever humanity tries to rely on machinery and not the feelings of cute girls. I must say though, I’m a little disappointed that they seem to be just reusing the ‘core inside a core’ gimmick with the main Grigori Neuroi as they did with one of its offspring. It doesn’t make it any easier for either Takami or Hikari, but after a season of really innovative Neuroi I was hoping to get something nice for the last boss. Once upon a time it might even have been a high-budget dogfight between Hikari and a cute Witch Neuroi, but we can’t have everything. Eilanya is already extra effort on Silver Link’s part. I’m not actually sure how Hikari is going to identify the core (if she ends up having to) given that Grigori looks like a very big and very hostile snake that she’s very unlikely to be able to physically touch without getting blown out of the sky, but we’ll see. I’m just really wary that the episode is titled as it is. ‘Shining With Light’ could also refer to a shining Hikari, and if our experiences with Takami have told us anything (and I suppose Yoshika too, although this series has repeatedly hammered it in that it’s unwise to make that comparison) it might be really bad for Hikari to be overusing her magical power, especially given that she hasn’t got very much of it to begin with…