Where are the clergymen? Someone take the knife away from these kids. It’s clear that we’re going to keep Taiju alive, but at this point unless someone levels up big time, or we get a secret weapon, someone else is going to die. Takemitchy probably has main character immunity, but Mitsuya and Yuzuha are not looking so lucky right now.
Let me be honest right out of the gate. This episode… was a bit of a slog for me to get through. The drama is through the roof and while I would typically be very engaged, I just feel like things are incredibly drawn out. The amount of times we were knocked down and got back up, gained the upper hand, and then immediately got knocked down again was ridiculous. There were so many potentially cool moments that got entirely overshadowed by these developments and it was such a bummer each time! And then for it to start all over again? This episode felt so much longer than 23 minutes. I mean, as much as I like seeing people fight, watching Taiju just punch people over and over without really moving from his one spot isn’t the most exciting form of entertainment.
And I know that we still have a decent number of episodes left in this season, but how many times can we find rock bottom? Unless the two members of Black Dragon turn on Taiju, or we finally break Hakkai out of his fear, I don’t anticipate any of the Toman members making it out of this church alive. I’m sorry Takemitchy, I just do not have faith in your fighting skills. It really is going to take something major to turn this whole fight around and the fact that Mikey and Draken have taken a major back seat this season tells me that Toman is likely not coming to the rescue. I mean, Mitsuya already confirmed that, but there is always a little bit of hope in these situations… right?
I think I’m just really bummed that Mitsuya’s arrival didn’t have more of an impact. It was a surprise and I was happy to see him, but everything that he did was just overshadowed by Taiju beating everyone to a bloody pulp. I wish we could have heard more conversation from Mitsuya about what being an older brother is like. More flashbacks to him helping raise his younger siblings. More juxtaposition with how Taiju runs his family. There was just so much I would have loved to see and they gave us none of it. I really hope they didn’t bring Mitsuya in to be a momentary hero and then just stay knocked out for the rest of the fight. Personally, it would mean so much more if he, or Hakkai, deliver the final blow. Sure, Takemitchy can play the hero when it comes down to it, but there’s a deeper connection to the situation with those two. (I mean, yeah arguably, Takemitchy has to deal with the aftermath in the future, but that is besides the point!!). They’ve set this up to be about family disputes and dynamics. If we’re going to bring up that theme, let’s actually run with it!!
Despite all my critiques of this episode, there was a bit of a light at the end of this episode. I feel like all of the budget for the episode really went into those final moments after Takemitchy stops Hakkai from killing his brother. I’m still thoroughly annoyed with how Takemitchy broke up with Hina and it feels a little funky to see him call on her for support, but man I think it was a pretty well done scene. I don’t think it makes up for the rest of the episode, but as long as he keeps on fighting I’m willing to stick around and see what happens next.
