Alcor likes sugar in his coffee.

“5th Day – Thursday’s Shock”

Another episode has appeared, and it has somewhat relieved me of the bitter taste from last week.  The beginning of the episode continues the interactions between Hibiki and Alcor, and I must say that they’re pretty funny.  I really like how they portray Alcor in the anime, as he is much more whimsical and lively compared to his in-game version.  Some more hijinks occur as Io and Daichi enter the room and are confused by Alcor’s presence.  The rest of the episode focuses on the destruction of the fifth Septentrione, Alioth.  As a boss, Alioth was one of my favorites due to his unique designs and abilities.  I find it kind of odd that they left out Alioth’s ability to drop toxic bombs from the Ionosphere and rushed the intricate plan that JPs implemented to snipe him out of the sky.   This scene in the game had much more depth as the demons had different dialogue depending on who the MC chose to perform the summoning ritual.  The fifth Septentrione was defeated pretty quickly, which I found to be fairly disappointing as there wasn’t really a fight.  The aftermath of the battle was where things got real, as Alioth’s shell falls upon the city and kills a few civilians who couldn’t evacuate in time.  Hibiki is very pissed about this event and resolves to go against Hotsuin’s plans (which always lead to some death).  After a not-so-lovely dinner, Hibiki attempts to talk to Hotsuin in the elevator, but things quickly heat up.  Hotsuin gets dangerously close to Hibiki and explains how Hibiki will remain by his side until the very end.  The episode then finishes off with Makoto finally confronting Io about JPs’s future plans to sacrifice her.  This does not bode well, as I am worried if Io will actually end up dying.  She seriously has a crush on Hibiki, so he better be man enough to save her.

This must be driving the yaoi fans crazy right now…

Overall, this episode went by very quickly as they decided to rush the hell out of the Septentrione event.  I really enjoyed the interactions between Alcor and the others, as they were generally hilarious and interesting.  I was mostly disappointed by the way they completely blitzed through the Alioth fight and didn’t give it as much depth as it had in the game.  It makes sense that things are getting rushed, as the anime is rapidly coming to an end, but I wish they could have fleshed out more details.  While the anime has been fairly good with the presentation of in-game events and the development of certain characters, it does have many weak points.  I actually found several elements in the anime so far to be too rushed or somewhat shallow.  As for this week’s episode, I definitely enjoyed it, but to a lesser degree in comparison to the earlier episodes due to the pacing and development.  Well, until next week, “Let’s survive.” Two more Septentriones to go.

Why did this guy have to die so fast?