Episode 11 – “Black World”

I’m pretty sure that I said I would come to love this series once everything came to be explained. Well, I think I’ve come to love this series, or at least I like it a lot because love is a strong word, kids. Mirai is gone and Akihito finds that he’s been asleep for three months, dreaming sweet dreams of Mitsuki in a swimsuit thanks to Mirai’s blood. In reality, Mirai’s been fighting the Kyoukai no Kanata remains in the youmu world. She even has different glasses because she left her old pair with Akihito.

It turns out that the extraction of Kyoukai no Kanata had some adverse effects on everyone. Not only did it weaken the Nases’ powers and create the strange world over the city, it removed Akihito’s immortality. Oh yeah and as far as they know, Mirai’s been wiped off of this plane of existence, and the one who takes it the hardest is Sakura. This is what happens when you remove the center of the shipping web!

During this time, Miroku has also been quite busy. Mostly, he’s been stealing the Kyoukai no Kanata carcass and pumping it with raw horsepower from his car. It’s a plan that’s completely stupid and genius, and I think it’s awesome. Especially because it actually works in sending energy to the Kyoukai no Kanata remains in the youmu world. With this, all youmu are sucked up into the world, and I assume that the remains use them for power. But what of Ai and Ayaka?

Thankfully, Izumi explains why she had to use Mirai to kill Kyoukai no Kanata. The answer is as simple as “because only a member of the blood clan is able to do it.” While that seems almost too coincidental for me, I’m glad that they actually gave a purposeful answer. It at least explains why Izumi sought her out in the first place, and also gives Mirai a new sense of purpose. For the first time in her life, she feels like her powers can be used for some good: protecting Akihito.

By the episode’s end, the gang receive an impromptu visit from Akihito’s eccentric yet incredibly mysterious mom Yayoi. She gives Akihito the youmu stone retrieved from within himself so that he can use it to travel to the youmu world to save Mirai. I can’t help but feel she’s hiding something even greater from all of us though. The action-packed cinematic that follows is probably one of the highlights from the series for me, and I can’t believe that there’s only one more episode left!

“If it were left to you, who would you have killed?” ~ Izumi Nase

B.W.