Wow… what an intense episode. I can’t believe we have to wait another whole week to see what happens next. I’m almost at a loss for words, I was just so enraptured with the climax of this episode that I’m pretty sure I forgot to breath for a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I still have some questions about what just happened, but man this was an intense and satisfying episode to watch.
We get to start off the episode getting to learn more about Ilpyo’s history. His introduction episode was pretty solid, and I genuinely thought they weren’t going to give us anymore back story, so I was pleasantly surprised to get to learn his reason for fighting in the tournament. If I’m honest, I completely forgot what the prize for the victor would be – Yeah, we did have full episodes for Mira and Daewi about their wishes, but it’s been a bit since that’s been the focus. Ilpyo’s wish is very sweet, but it definitely changed pretty quickly. He had quite the conviction to save his friend’s leg, but after a few words it seems like he’s abandoned the wish. I think that was mostly a victim of pacing, they had to get that information out there and change Ilpyo’s focus for his actual match – but at the same time it really does give us context for his absolute hatred for Taek. A couple episodes ago I thought Ilpyo just beat up the guy after the match for absolutely destroying that one opponent, but nope, Taek has been on Ilpyo’s bad side for quite a while.
I’ll back track briefly and talk about Daewi’s fight, but honestly after that last third of the episode his battle seems so far away at this point. I mean it was cool that he was able to take down his opponent without having stability or clear vision. I mean, I’ve had that happen to me before and I was out of commission for over a week. But the rest of the episode? The choreography? The music? Wow. Like, take the emotion I felt with Mori and Daewi’s fight (post receiving the note) and multiply that by ten.
I don’t even know if it was the actual fight between Mori and Ilpyo that was the highlight of the episode. I mean Mujin goes to confront Nox and things just really start getting crazy from there. I think just having everything happening in quick succession was really what made the last third of this episode seem so stand out. You know, we have two teenagers battling it out in a stadium, but we also have (potentially) God coming down from the sky to grab his sword to presumably reign something down on the world. And not to even mention we have the percussionists on the rooftop? I genuinely can’t remember if we’ve met them before, but whatever they were doing, they were certainly adding on to the intensity of the situation. And we got to see fighting with the commissioners and Nox?? Oh man, there was just so much going on, it was so intense and exciting!! I really can’t find the words to even explain how cool I thought this whole situation was! Animation and music really helped capture the intensity of the moment!
Looking back on it, I kind of wish that Mori, Ilpyo, and everyone else in the arena would have known what was going on outside, but understandably, they were preoccupied. I loved the way that Mori’s match turned into a learning experience for him. It was cool to see him utilize both Mira and Daewi’s moves – although I’m interested to see if they’ll provide any justification for it. But what’s more I’m happy that we got so see another interaction between Mori’s grandfather and young Ilpyo and see that come to fruition. It’s moments like that that really put a smile on my face. Oh but, it doesn’t even stop there because even though Mori has completely overcome his weaknesses and rightfully took out his opponent? Ilpyo comes back this time with ears and white hair awakening into the key that everyone’s been looking for so long. I don’t really know what they’re going to use the key for – I mean, there was a potential for both Mori and Ilpyo to be the keys and quite frankly I don’t think either of them are going to help Nox… So, I am interested to see what will come out of that.
Overall, I think this was a pretty stand out episode! There were some parts that were a little bit slow, but things really ramped up as the episode went by. Honestly, I can’t wait to see how next week’s episode will top this one!!
