Congrats on that engagement Mira! But man, am I shaken up over the ending because I did not see that coming and it really did just come out of left field. What a way to end an episode… I really just want to watch the next one already.
So, I’ll be honest… this episode was kind of predictable. In fact, it was almost too predictable that I started to second guess myself. But I would still say that it was a perfectly fine episode and I enjoyed the focus on Mira, especially as a way to build on her character from the previous episodes. Despite the tournament not being the main focus of the episode, I’m surprised we’ve already made it to the semi-finals! With very little context coming in, I thought this would have been one of those series where there would have been a whole lot of fights, or at least had grand fights extending over multiple episodes. I mean, this week we had 2 (and a half if you count Mori and Daewi taking care of the bodyguards) and they were over ridiculously quick, but I suppose I’ll give it a pass because I think the build up to both of those fights were more important to the actual fights.
I liked seeing the weight of carrying on the sword style impacts Mira in this episode, I think they did a really good job expressing her connection with it. We got a solid backstory with her and it satiates my desire to learn more about her character. And quite frankly I liked that they inadvertently acknowledged that her and her fiancé were clearly using each other. Personally, if the two of them would have gotten married, I don’t think that it would have ended badly. Yeah, the guy was part of the cult and needed to obtain the sword and the wielder, but Mira was going to utilize his power and money to bring about a new era of martial artists carrying on her family’s style. They were mutually going to take advantage of each other, so it didn’t come across as one of them being strung along. That being said, Mori coming in to break up the wedding was predictable, but we got to see another character summon up their Nen-type powers. But he’s no match for Mira and is quickly disposed of… So, all in all…. I just want to know… What role does this cult have to play in this tournament?
Despite liking Mira’s portion of the episode, I think it was entirely overshadowed by the sheer emotion that was able to be conveyed with Daewi’s segment. Just the lack of dialogue from him since we leave the scene at the hospital till his “See you in the Finals” had me holding my breath. For a character who, in the previous episode, opted to not take an opportune strike on his opponent because the opponent slipped, to beat one of his friends bloody with such focus says a lot about the severity situation. It also served as a reminder that Daewi hasn’t actually expressed the reason why he wants the money to Mori and Mira or anyone for that matter, but I’m sure at least one of them has picked something up. If anything, depending on the future episodes, I predict that Mori will kick some sense into Daewi for attacking Mira so relentlessly in the finals, or they will have another moment outside of the ring leading Daewi to decide to no longer participate. If it’s the latter… I would be interested in seeing how he would be convinced to forfeit the tournament… But that’s just speculation! So, I’m excited to see what the next!
All in all, I enjoyed this episode! It was quite the predictable whirlwind, but enjoyable, nonetheless. I look forward to seeing what how Daewi’s conflict will play out in the future!
