Score 6 – “Sunshine Wings”

We finally get some closure for Gareki’s past, as well as some more exposure for the other members of Circus. Gareki’s also turning out to be turning into quite the complex character in terms of his motives. There are times when I feel like he’s the typical cool lonewolf, hothead, or even an antihero. We HAVE spent a bit of time exploring his complicated past, so it’s expected that he have some interesting character development as well.

He does show some of his vengeful side this week, though. After Hirato and company take down the demented scientist Meiga, Gareki still feels a twinge of hate towards him for destroying his “family.” At the end of the episode, Gareki claims he never had a family, but I doubt he truly feels that way. After all, he’s been paying for Tsubame’s grandfather’s medical bills all this time.

It was nice to see the other members of Circus in action. Kiichi (CV: Eri Kitamura, as in Sayaka from Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica) surprisingly uses a giant death scythe in battle. She also has a big superiority complex when comes to dealing with the Second Ship crew, and we saw some of that when she spoke with Tsukumo a couple episodes ago. Hirato also shows us the gap in power between him and Yogi, as he easily apprehends Meiga with a set of automatons that he pulls from his hat. Not exactly rabbits, but electric puppets are pretty useful too. Kiichi’s partner Jiki (CV: Yuuichi Nakamura, as in Gray from Fairy Tail) gets a bit of screen time too, but we don’t get to see him fight yet.

The easy-going Tsukitachi (CV: Kouji Yusa, as in Vincent Law from Ergo Proxy) also shows up again. He takes Tsubame away after they find out she has Varuga cells in her. Well, she gives herself up to them. At first it’s because she thinks she’s alone in the world, but later she realizes that Gareki’s always cared for her and the rest of his surrogate family. She then resolves herself to help the cause in anyway possible; in this case it’s giving up her body for science, which is pretty awesome.

There’s also some mixed feelings about the mission of Circus, which is to “set free” (note: kill) those afflicted by the Varuga cells and to annihilate Kafka, the mastermind organization. I’m sure they all realize that they’re just killing people, but Yogi seems to be the only one who feels remorse for the actions of Circus. Surely there must be a more humane of doing things? I suppose we’ll have to wait and see…

B.W.