天下制覇

That has GOT to hurt.

Impressions:

It seems like just yesterday that I was watching the previous episode. Ah right… it very nearly was.

I kid though. Holy hell was this an intense episode. The entire second half was balls to the wall awesome. The death count for side characters in this episode was a little nuts though, as was everybody coming back to life to fuck up Yagyu’s shit in the cliffhanger, but honestly, I’ll forgive it. They did a great job in impressing how much of a sheer badass Yagyu is and how hopeless all of it was without Aoi’s ability to bring people back from the dead (well, temporarily). Only one more ‘real’ episode to go, and hopefully this time around, it should be awesome. Note that there are a couple more episodes after next week’s, but going by the episode titles, they’re sidestories of some kind and not related to this plot.

I’m uploading… well… basically the entire last half of the episode as we speak. It really was flat out amazing and why I didn’t bother to replace any of the caps with stuff like Kyouichi’s sword through Yagyu’s face. It’ll be up in probably an hour or so, depending on how much of by bandwidth downloading StrikerS 26 takes up.

Overhead, the news team films ground zero of some disaster. Dead people are floating down the river with strange ‘veins’ on their backs. Alan asks a hobo where Sera is… but she’s dead, covered in the same veins.

We then flash back to when it hit. She used her powers to protect all the other hobos when the disaster struck. They told her to run, but she just turned to them and thanked them. They all think she’s an angel for protecting them. Alan walks away to go face what did this.

Team Good Guys looks over the wreckage of what appears to be all of Tokyo. None of them can believe what just happened. Komaki is in tears over her family, but everybody else is saying to be calm and pull themselves together to deal with this. They’ve all gathered at what appears to be the school and are thinking about what to do next. Hiyuu is standing apart from the rest while they talk.

The conversation turns to the kind of power that Yagyuu unleashed to cause this kind of massive disaster. It’s similar to the same kind of power of Suzaku, Genbu and all the rest.

Flashback to Yagyuu floating in the air in front of an also floating Ryuuji briefly, but then back to the power conversation. They reveal that Hiyuu is the center of it all, yada yada, only one who can oppose Yagyu using all the powers etc etc. Basically that Hiyuu is the center of it all and nobody else can fight Yagyu but him.

As they keep talking about it, we also see Maria, the Detective and the coroner all in the hospital in various stages of health, but all still alive… or as alive as the undead can be in Maria’s case.

The elder continues, saying how Yagyu awoke Ryuuji’s true powers and then basically fused with him in his body.

A little later, Komaki is rooting around, looking for something. Daigo tries to  comfort her and she says that she’ll definitely fight, even if it’s useless. He agrees with her and says the same.

Marie is also trying to cheer up Hiyuu, promising him strawberry cake and the like. The others are doing their own preparations too. The twins are saying a prayer for the other (in unison no less), Aoi smiling at people, and Maiko is being worried about random crap she left around elsewhere, while also hitting on Sagaya.

Even Inugami is lurking around the fringes of the area looking up at them. Kyouichi thinks the elders are a bit weak and stupid for letting it get this far and not putting an end to it already. He’s resigned to fight anyway though.

Everybody is waiting in the courtyard when a chopper appears.

Out of it comes the little blacksmith elder, here to provide them with something they’ll need for the fight. Out steps Mibu… and the rest of the Kenbu. They’re all in this together.  The blacksmith even brought better weapons for Team Good Guys.

Everybody readies their weapons, including flirty fan girl. Kyouichi tosses his sheath to Tohno, telling her he’ll be back for it. The chopper takes off with all of them and the elders say to go with god.

It takes all of a second and a half for the chopper’s alarms to go off that they’re in danger and Yagyu is nearby.

Tohno looks at a photo she took of her and Kyouichi where both were smiling. Heterosexual love for Kyouichi? No bloody way.

The survivors of Tokyo are stumbling somewhere.

The chopper apparently landed and everybody unloaded at some point. The blacksmith guy gives a voice over that the godbeasts of Suzaku, Byakko and Genbu are all here, and Seiryuu will find its way there. Yagyu turns around and his face has been completely youthened… though it still has the scar through the middle.

All of Team Good Guy starts chanting a spell around Yagyu and a huge seal forms around the area. Yagyu effortlessly breaks it and gives the usual badguy speech that it’s all worthless. The Kenbu are the first to attack, but Yagyu just grins evilly. His eye glows and great bloody slashes appear across most of their chests. He leaps forward and attacks Fangirl. She blocks the first attack, but is about to be slashed when Raito intercepts it and decalres that he’ll protect her.

He throws Yagyu back and towards Hiyuu. Both Hiyuu and Mibu try to attack, assisted by Kyouichi’s Kenbu swordsman boyfriend, but they’re defeated easily. Kyouichi comes in and tries to attack as well, but is just thrown away. Mibu is left alone against Yagyu. The two trade a few blows, but then Yagyu catches Mibu’s leg and twists it around, very grotesquely snapping it nearly in half.

Kyouichi’s boyfriend tries to attack from behind, but his slash is too slow and Yagyu blocks it. Yagyu grabs his arm and pulls downward, seperating his arm from his shoulder. Ouch.

Kyouichi and Hiyuu try for the X-Slash, but Yagyu nails them both. Pissed off at Tatsuchi being downed, Marie leaps into the fight. Yagyu holds her fire back and says that he’s disappointed in Suzaku. Marie suddenly looks shocked and stops attacking. The camera zooms back to show her spitted on Yagyu’s sword. He flips her off it and then kicks her away and into the darkness below.

Komaki and one of the priestesses shoot their bows at him from far below, but he dodges and leaps down to them. Daigo tries to attack, but he just flies into the air with a snide comment about Byakko as well. Sagaya and Maiko hold him for a moment with a barrier letting everybody left go for the attack at once. Yagyu ends up with arrows all through him and slashed by all three of the spearusers and the fangirl.

He just sucks the arrows in and then Komaki and her archer friend are pierced by them and fall. Aoi and the other one are likewise spitted like fish on their glaives. Everybody who attacked him in that last effort had their attacks turned on them and are now spewing blood and/or dead.

Hiyuu, Kyouichi, Daigo, Sagaya and Raito are the only ones left really. Kyouichi tells Sagaya to look for Ryuuji and some kind of opening. Sagaya apologizes for having to use his power again and turns it on, connecting Hiyuu to Yagyu’s soul. He looks through the mind of Yagyu and finds Ryuuji. He tries to wake him up while Hiyuu shakes Yagyu’s physical body. Ryuuji starts to wake up, but then Yagyu reasserts himself and blasts all of them away.

Hiyuu keeps yelling for Ryuuji to wake up, but Yagyu says it’s all over and done. Yagyu creates a ton of clones around Hiyuu and attacks. Hiyuu manages to blast one away, which Raito catches and then goes tesla on. Hiyuu leaps up and elbows it in the chest still yelling for Ryuuji to wake up. Kyouichi flies in from above and yells at Hiyuu to get out of the way and then plunges his wooden sword straight into Yagyu’s eye.

Yes, into his fucking eye.

The dragon veins covering his face, he rides Yagyu to the ground… but when they land, the impact throws all clear and right after Kyouichi lands, his sword flies through his gut, pinning him to a rock. Hiyuu cries out to him, but Yagyu (his face covered in blood) is already attacking again. He throws his sword at Hiyuu, saying that it’s over.

In a flash of movement, the sword is knocked away. Alan has arrived. He yells at Hiyuu to stand up. All the godbeasts suddenly power up, even poor Marie in a crater. The gold dragon symbol flashes and the elders realize that the four god beasts are finally all awake.

On cue, they’re all in their giant monster forms while Hiyuu floats upwards growing little tendrils in the shape of the golden dragon. Yagyu thinks this is interesting, so spawns his own purple evil dragon symbol and four dark versions of the godbeasts.

Aoi wakes up, wondering if this is really Hiyuu. Note that she still has a pike in her. All the godbeasts are fighting. She thinks that this fight is terrible. She sees Yagyu and Hiyuu fighting. Then the sky clears… and Hiyuu is plummeting to the ground, his arms bleeding immensely. All the godbeasts have been destroyed… and Hiyuu’s severed hand falls near Aoi.

Hiyuu’s voice reaches out to Team Good Guy, saying that he promised to protect them all and asks for them. The core members all open their eyes. Aoi nods at him… and then shifts into her fucked up yin-yang eye mode declaring that the fight is not over.

All those killed in the fights over the series appear and help up their friends. Aoi will not let any more killed and Yagyu will pay for his crimes. Even random hobos appear to help the other hobos lift debris. Every single person who died in the series, though conspicously… not Hiyuu’s parents, adopted or otherwise.

Hiyuu reaches out to the girl who appears before him… and notices that his hand is whole again. Kodzuno puts his arm around Hiyuu and says that they’re all with him on this one. It’s time to start… and finish this. They will all protect this world. The fight starts now.

The Battle Against Yagyu