The end is near…

“Last Day – Sunday of Realizations I”

Alright, so with this week’s episode, we are practically at the end game for this anime.  If you watched last week, you’d know that practically the entire party has died off.  Since Hotsuin is certain that he wants to kill Hibiki, Alcor has decided to stop him in order to allow Hibiki an audience with Polaris.  Alcor soon engages Hotsuin in a death match (and proves to be quite the overwhelming opponent),   as the gang receives dead-face clips of them.  Makoto, being completely devoted to Hotsuin, decides to sacrifice herself to save him from a fatal attack and buy him time to summon a new overpowered demon.  While I can’t say that this event surprised me, I was still depressed as Makoto wasn’t a bad character per se.  Her portrayal in the anime was surprisingly accurate to the one in the video game.  In the game, you could have shown Makoto the importance of friendship and convince her to follow you instead of Hotsuin.  It’s a shame that the anime didn’t offer this opportunity, but that’s only to be expected with the current flow of the plot.

A very sad end for her. T-T

Alcor is the next to perish when he suddenly decides on detonating himself with Hotsuin, right before bidding farewell to his “Shining One.”  Hotsuin somehow survives the explosion and decides to troll Hibiki by admitting to be responsible for the deaths of Makoto and Alcor.  Continuing his streak of douchebaggery, Hotsuin tosses out his new demons to stop Hibiki from seeing Polaris.  Daichi and Io luckily arrive on the scene to hold off the demons long enough to convince their friend to stop Hotsuin and create a better world.   Sadly, the two are slowly consumed by the Void while entrusting Hibiki with the future.  Upon teleporting at the last second, Hibiki finally confronts Hotsuin without hesitation.  The two summon their symbolic demons and prepare for the final fight.

Nooooo!!

I found it pretty interesting how Hibiki and Hotsuin are depicted to be opposing figures in the anime.  Since the MC in the DS game was kept neutral in order to allow the player to somewhat project themselves onto him, the main opposing figures were originally Hotsuin and Ronaldo.  This episode was pretty enjoyable to watch for me, although it was a bit tough watching more characters die (I couldn’t imagine Hibiki’s two closest buddies dying like that).  I was also a bit bothered by the heavy amount of crying by Hibiki in the episode, but it’s understandable considering all of the things he’s been through.  I must say that this series has surpassed my expectations and proved to be more enjoyable than Persona 4 the Animation.  Despite the limitations of being a thirteen-episode series, Devil Survivor 2 the Animation has proven to be a fresh experience with several surprises.  I look forward to the final showdown, but can’t help wondering how Hibiki will interact with Polaris.  Since everyone is dead, I can’t imagine Hibiki trying to fight Polaris in a similar fashion to what happened in the game.  Well…we’re going to find out next week so, until then, “Let’s survive.” (Unlike Makoto, Alcor, Io, and Daichi).

And then there were two….