“4th Day – Wednesday of Transformations-I”

Man, this week’s episode was quite the pleasant surprise.  Continuing off from last week, Hibiki is confronted with the split path between Hotsuin’s route and Ronaldo’s route.  After some tension between the group and Alcor, Hibiki boldly declares that he will follow neither of them and use his own powers as he sees fit.  This scene was pretty enjoyable and included a remixed version of the game’s main theme, which I liked a lot.  After hearing Hibiki’s decision, Hotsuin warns the gang about the next Septentrione attacking at three locations simultaneously.  Hibiki is entrusted with the protection of Osaka and Ronaldo is left to care for Nagoya.  In the game, we got to choose which of the three to defend, but Osaka makes sense for the anime.  Following these events, we don’t have much action for the rest of the episode, but plenty of character interactions.  This episode featured the physical examinations event from the game and focused on pairs of characters talking to one another and expressing themselves.  I thought this was pretty cool and enjoyed how the characters got to show their personalities a bit more.  Things get interesting when Daichi and Joe decide to go peeping on the females during their check-up to get a better look at Io.  As expected, Hibiki gets dragged into their “scientific investigation” and the three dudes are instantly caught by Io.  While the guys reflect on their actions a bit, Airi interrupts to reveal that they accidently peeped on her too and then proceeds to go tsundere on them for a bit.  With their examinations complete, everyone prepares themselves for the upcoming battle.  Hibiki and his two friends are teleported to Osaka, where they meet up with Hinako, who has survived and is now heavily bandaged.  Oh and if you were wondering which party members get to take care of Tokyo, it’s just Hotsuin.  Unfortunately, the episode ends on a perturbing note as Fumi reveals to Makoto that Io is the best candidate for a “sacrifice.”  As one who has played the game, I know what that means and I really hope that no one else in the party has to die.

Yay! She’s alive….kinda.

So, this episode was actually a good change in pace and surprised me with Hibiki’s decision to make his own route.  I felt like this was a good decision for the anime, as I didn’t really like how the game’s endings were limited to you pairing up with a particular person based on their ideals and goals.  By making his own route, Hibiki has found a way to ease the tension between the party members and somewhat unites the group for their upcoming challenges.  The physical exams event was portrayed well in this episode and the character interactions were a great way of showing off their personalities more.  Also, the anime appears to making Io’s crush on Hibiki more obvious and reveals that Daichi has a thing for Io.  Overall, this episode was fairly eventful and an easy watch.  Well until next week, “Let’s survive.”

The gloves are on…