Shadow’s Impression
After the massive cliffhanger last episode left us on, I was incredibly curious to how everything was going to work out. And… I’m honestly not quite sure how I feel about everything as a whole. This episode definitely felt like they had to cram a lot into it, making everything feel pretty rushed and certain things felt a little anticlimatic. Especially with what happened with Momo and Yuki in the end. But that’s just me. Though there were definitely some things that left me fairly curious.
Yuki is already having worries about not hearing from Momo and immediately becomes suspicious of Toma when he seems rather nervous on a TV program since he was the one to have called Momo before he disappeared. And there’s absolutely no way Yuki wasn’t going to do something about it considering the last time he was worried for Momo, he came to Ryo’s place with a freaking metal baseball bat. So of course he immediately goes to Toma to question him about what happened to Momo. And being someone who does care a lot about others and because of the threat Ryo gave to him about his family and former band mates, of course he was going to try with all of his power to protect them. However, because of what happened with Banri, Yuki is all the more determined to not lose another partner. And I couldn’t help but go DANG at how he said why he thinks he isn’t as terrifying as Ryo.
I’ve had my gripes about Toma ever since the last episode of part 1 this season and I am SO GLAD that Yuki literally calls him out for it. The biggest reason why I just do not feel for Toma right now is because he literally put himself in this situation. He CHOSE to join an agency that stooped to using underhanded methods to ruin another group. He CHOSE to let his pettiness get the better of him and didn’t think through what possible repercussions could happen if he went down this path. And because he chose this path, he’s now having to deal with the consequences. And while it was fairly harsh for Yuki to say that he didn’t care if Toma had people he cared about hanging by a thread, I’m still glad that someone finally voiced that Toma did this to himself. To which I hope this finally makes some sort of breakthrough to development in Toma’s case to realize everything he’s done and supported during his time with Tsukumo has been utterly wrong.
I think the character that most surprised me during Yuki and Toma’s conversation was actually Torao. The way he responded to certain things felt like something we haven’t seen before. While I think he’s still somewhat traumatized by what happened with Re:vale, he seemed to be a bit more protective of Toma when Yuki sought him out. Even following them and trying to intervene in the conversation. He also showed more of a child-like demeanor at certain points where he seemed… a lot more naive about procedures and protocols about the law and sorts when Yuki expressed disregard to them. I couldn’t help but scoff at the notion of Torao being concerned about how the law is important. That’s rich coming from someone like you especially with him working under someone who is the literal opposite of a law abiding citizen. And it felt incredibly satisfying for Yuki to call him out and literally call him a kid. Looking back at how Torao carries himself, it does seem rather childish. The way he tries to get under peoples’ skins by trying to illicit a reaction out of them and especially in this episode where he shows he doesn’t doesn’t seem to understand how “talking things out” actually works. As he would opt for having lawyers deal with it instead of doing it himself, which is something a sheltered rich kid would do. When things get difficult, it seems as if he doesn’t know how to handle it. Which is probably why he was so uncomfortable when Yuki took his leverage away in a previous episode as his words didn’t seem to have any effect on Yuki. And with all of this in mind, it makes me wonder how he would react to finding out that Ryo nearly committed murder. And where exactly does ZOOL draw the line in morals. I also couldn’t help but notice in this one shot where Yuki and Toma were shown outside of the stair rails but Torao was completely covered by it. Makes me wonder what his situation is and why that scene was portrayed like that…
Also oh my gosh, I wanted to vomit over hearing that one fan saying that ZOOL was so much more honorable than the other groups. I know the fans are none the wiser what happened behind the scenes, but it just kills me as a viewer who knows everything they did and are getting praised like that. spits
Thankfully Yuki was able to make it in time before Momo was flung off the side of the building. However, what I didn’t like was that Momo was still trying to keep Yuki out of harm’s way and continue trying to keep secrets. It was honestly pretty frustrating watching Momo argue with his kidnappers about letting him talk to Yuki so that he would talk him into leaving. I understand Momo just wants to protect Yuki, but Yuki doesn’t even want to be protected. He wants to be able to fight side-by-side with Momo. It all goes back to what happened with Banri as Banri always protected Yuki, which inevitably ended with him leaving in the end. Yuki wants this partnership with Momo to be different and wants it to be equal.
However, things go from bad to worse when Ryo makes the call for the thugs to take Yuki out first. And when one of the thugs points a broken bottle at Yuki, it took me a moment to remember that Yuki is afraid of sharp objects. If only he had brought his bat… though I guess there wasn’t any time for him to go back home and grab it. But despite his fear, Yuki ends up showing us his acting chops, similar to how Yamato got himself out of some precarious situations. And I couldn’t help but snort when he said that Re:vale’s history was filled with blood and violence. Even going as far as to say that he was the one responsible for the “Bloody Eve” incident despite that being Momo XD. Yuki sure knows how to strut his stuff even when he’s bluffing lol.
Thanks to Yuki’s bluff however, he was able to stall out some time. Because while all this was going down, Ryu ended up bumping into Ryo because that’s not going to be the least bit confusing. I love that Ryu was able to just lay into Ryo verbally and basically refute everything Ryo throws at him. And honestly, Ryu is probably the best person to go up against Ryo since Ryu is such a genuine soul and doesn’t let Ryo’s jabs get to him and even turns them around into positives while also isn’t as quick to turn to force or violence. It isn’t until Momo’s well-being is brought up that Ryu becomes a bit more forceful since a freaking life could be hanging in the balance. But of course, Ryo uses that as an opportunity to make it seem like he’s being assaulted. Because of course he would. But even then, I love that he actually turns it around on him again by claiming that they’re filming so him getting a little rough with Ryo. Thankfully he didn’t have to actually resort to using too much force but was enough to intimidate him and had him call off the thugs’ assault before they could call Yuki out on his bluff. Though it did feel relatively easy to get him to do it without actually having to do anything.
While we already knew he was pathetic, Ryo just went the extra mile of just showing what a sad, pitiful little man that he is. Especially with how much shorter he is compared to Ryu lol. He talks himself up to be like a god and Ryu just responds with the sickest burn of “Go to hell.” His cool and calm responses were literally the best thing to combat Ryo’s loud and overbearing words since Ryo depends on getting a reaction from others. It just felt so satisfying for Ryu of all people to look down on him all the while basically saying “wow you’re sad.” Man, Ryu just had the best things to say to this guy without having to use physical force with him, aside from him grabbing his jaw at one point. While Ryu never physically came into contact with Momo or Yuki, he proved to be a fantastic support for them in their situation and the two would have probably gotten into a worse situation if not for his interference.
After the dust had settled, Yuki and Momo end up getting into another disagreement since the two are obviously at odds with one another of what they want to do. Momo wants to protect Yuki as he doesn’t want him to have another breakdown when Banri left happen again while Yuki doesn’t want to be protected because of what happened to Banri. The two of them still have so much trauma regarding to what happened with Banri that still needs to be unpacked and it still seems to hold a place of contention between the two.
I do think Yuki is still kind of underestimating how much others would end up suffering if Re:vale went down. At the beginning of the episode, Okazaki even tells him that if Re:vale were to fall, the agency would go down with them. Which is why when Yuki brought up in an earlier episode that Re:vale can rise up from the ground up again kind of rubbed me the wrong way a little. They are at a point where they can’t afford to lose everything they’ve built up because it’s not just the two of them anymore. I can understand why he’s desperate not to lose Momo, but he really needs to think more about his own worth as well. Both of them have valid points of why they want to do things. However, there needs to be a middle ground between their two views as alone, their views are two extremes that always tip towards the negative. It’s not good for Momo to be so self-sacrificing all the time and it’s not good for Yuki to be willing to throw it all away given the situation. Though I did have to laugh at how Yuki just immediately couldn’t accept Momo’s wishes. I do hope they can find a middle ground between their two extreme perspectives though.
And while ALL THAT has been happening, Nagi’s situation has gone from bad to dire. Not only do we find out that the lyricist was threatened to put the hidden message in the song, but it was heavily hinted that it was probably someone from Nagi’s homeland, possibly even Thornwald. And then we get the official Nagi and Minami confrontation that the series has been building up to since the first episode of this season. Especially since Minami has been withholding a lot of information about Haruki’s situation as he was actually the one to deliver the living will to Kujo. And while I don’t believe that Haruki ever hated Nagi, it was incredibly tragic to find out that he doesn’t have much time left to live. Because he was so close to Nagi, people sought to use him so they could have leverage on Nagi. Made even worse to find out that he had an illness he had been suffering from for some time. Which makes sense why Minami has such a hatred towards Nagi. However, it’s also unfair and misdirected anger because Nagi didn’t even know this was all happening. If he had, he would have done everything in his power to protect Haruki. While I don’t like the use of force in these types of shows, I would be lying if it wasn’t super satisfying seeing Minami finally shooken up when Nagi threatened him. Like FINALLY, the guy actually reacted and his air of fakeness had been cracked a little. While it wasn’t much, I think we finally got to see the person underneath the fake smiles and punchable face. A bitter and angry young man, who desperately wants to be able to save Haruki.
The nail in the coffin had to be Haruki wishing Nagi a happy birthday but was afraid he wouldn’t be able to spend the next one with him. After that, Nagi just seems beyond depressed and it was hard to see him just try and find an ounce of joy in the things he used to love. And I found it sad how it seems like Yamato really wants to help him, but he just doesn’t know how to get Nagi to open up. Yamato is suddenly put into Mitsuki’s shoes in regards to what happened between the two of them and he probably realizes just how much pain it is to watch a friend you care about slowly descend into despair and there’s so little you can do to help them. He tries his best to help lift the mood, but again… there’s not much he can do. And then we get treated to Mitsuki finding Nagi asleep with all of his things packed away. A large contrast to showing Nagi’s room lit up with all of his stuff in the beginning of the episode. Now in the dark with the room being devoid of his usual stuff. It’s honestly really heartbreaking but also a great representation of Nagi’s state of mind. Nagi had been the mental and emotional support for the group and seeing him trapped in his despair is hard to watch. Not to mention the punch to the heart where it just zooms in on the picture Nagi took of all of them from one of the Vibrato episodes. We finally get confirmation of who Nagi is, though I think it was fairly obvious early on. But with his official title being dropped like this, it almost feels as if we’re losing the old Nagi we met in season 1.
This episode was pretty heavy and while certain things felt a bit rushed and off, overall looking back at it, it was still pretty good. Yuki and Ryu being the standouts in this episode with just how much they were able to accomplish. With Yuki being the one to talk down to Toma and Torao while Ryu just taking Ryo’s words and forcing him to eat them. With how rushed this episode felt, I’m a bit worried how the next episode is going to wrap things up since it still feels like there’s still quite a bit to cover. Since there’s MOP, the twins scandal possibly being revealed and now a confrontation between Kujo and Gaku from the after credit scene. For sure everything with ZOOL isn’t going to be concluded until probably next season and I’m pretty sure that Nagi is most likely just going to disappear back to Northmair at the end of the episode. Hopefully this season ends with a bang despite it most likely going to have a cliffhanger.
