Episode 04 – “Bitter Orange”

So ends the intro of the series, and I’m still not too sure how I want to feel about it yet. I love the animation, the atmosphere, and the characters are intriguing, but the story itself hasn’t done much to suck me in. I suppose what I’m looking for is a centralized conflict to bring the plot elements to together towards a common goal. We’ve seen bits and pieces of mysteries, and I want something to tie everything together.

I guess if we consider what Akihito says at the end, in regards to the Hollow Shadow still at large, we might be able to assume that it will appear again in the future. If this is true, that would explain why Mirai was able to take it out with relative ease (besides “killing” Akihito). It was incredibly intrigued by the space that the “Hollow Shadow” created, with the labyrinth of escalators and subway trains. In addition to the giant Yui Inami, I was definitely getting a Catherine feel about the whole scene. That and Shingeki no Kyojin because, you know, giant people.

Mirai may have thought that she was the only one with a troubled past, but that is definitely not the case. Akihito has his own bag of fun to deal with. Despite knowing the consequences, he lets Mirai stab him to extinguish the “Hollow Shadow.” Putting him on the brink of immortal death like this brings out the youmu side of him, in which he has very little control over his actions. During this time, he decimates his surroundings as well as several trained Spirit Warrior including Hiroomi. It takes Mirai’s warm, human touch to restore him to normal.

What I wonder now is what Akihito’s father must be like, if Akihito is that powerful as a half-youmu. His mother’s such an…interesting character that it would be odd if his father happened to be some ridiculous monster. Also, this series is determined to never show me Mitsuki’s true powers other than her ability to control a familiar. Though, we do see that their older sister happens to be that woman that we’ve been seeing frequently. With this chapter of the series closed, we’ll move forward to what will hopefully be more of the good plus a more solid story.

B.W.