How could I enjoy this episode when Washio/Togo was erased from everyone’s memories, with everyone acting like it was all normal? It made me very uneasy. Very eerie.
The episode starts off very wrong as we don’t see any sight of Togo (guess I should call her that now?) in the Hero Club, however we do see Sonoko (!!!) taking her place. Once Fu stepped up and said everyone was there and Togo wasn’t in the room I was already freaking out. The episode plays like a usual SoL cute Yuuki Yuuna episode of the girls hanging out, studying, eating cake, and planning a little play for a kindergarten. Doing the usual things these girls and the Hero Club are supposed to do. Sonoko integrated herself into the club rather quickly, and I absolutely love the dynamic between her and Yuuna. They make a great and funny pair, seeing them get along so well made me smile. Sonoko mentions how long she’s watched the club and imagined herself joining it, going back to school regularly which the Taisha have allowed for her. Basically, they’re all happy but the first person to be restless and uneasy was Yuuna. She knew something was wrong when she saw a girl in a wheelchair, when Fu cut too many slices of cake “out of habit”, and during the play. Sonoko realized it first, however, when she visited Gin’s grave with three containers of yakisoba. Grabbing the girls from the play, Sonoko and Yuuna explain that their memories are wrong, and they finally mentioned Mimori Togo’s name and the others suddenly remember her too. What follows is a quick scene from before their memories were changed, with the girls concerned and confused for their missing friend.
Usually the funny and serious moments were handled pretty well in this show, but in this case I thought the placement of the Defense Mask Togo was badly executed. We go from a serious and tense scene of the girls trying to remember Togo, to suddenly a comedic scene of Togo being a vigilante, and then back to the present scene. It felt really off and ruined the mood of the episode, where I wish instead they had just cut to the chase, or maybe had done the Togo vigilante scene a little differently.
In that scene we learn that Togo is donning her uniform from the prequel and being a vigilante, and Fu finds her and drags her to the club room. Togo explains the reason why she’s doing this is because she still feels the guilt of destroying the wall and putting everyone’s lives at stake. She wants to make up for it with everything she can do, meaning she’s become a vigilante. But since that moment, the girls have forgotten Togo. My guess is that as a punishment for destroying the wall and practically trying to murder the Shinju, the Shinjyu grabbed Mimori and is literally making her burn in hell while also erasing her very existence from everyone. Which is awful, the Shinjyu are making themselves more and more like the villains they are. So now, it’s easy to predict that the rest of the season will be the Heroes trying to save their friend and also probably trying to take down the Shinjyu. Which is what I predicted they would do, but not for this reason.
Again, I liked that this season started out with a punch. No action or fighting happened but very important plot details were given to us that we’ve now jumped right in. Like I said, the episode had strange mood shifts that didn’t work out, but the episode was still good and left me intrigued. I also would have wanted more from the Wasshi/Sonochii reunion. But Sonoko being healthy and happy…sniff makes me happy too. :’)
I only made this First Impression just for formalities because this is separate from the prequel, so…
Possibility of watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of blogging: Guaranteed
The instant Fu said “All right, we’re all here now” I did a double-take and stopped the player. I restarted the episode and replayed the first minute and a half several times trying to see if I’d somehow missed Togo, but no she wasn’t there. Worse, she’s even missing from the photographs she’d been in at the end of season one. Someone’s put in some significant effort to remove every trace of her existance, and I am VERY worried.
If ALL the girls, Togo included, don’t make it out of this season intact, I will be most displeased.