天下制覇

Nice face, big boots.

Impressions:

Awwwww… they made it 16 minutes putting together a relatively interesting and well paced episode with no awkward half-assed awkward exposition. Then they decided to spend 4 and a half straight minutes on the phone with characters totally unrelated to anything going on at all to explain what the deal was with Hyouka. Now that’s how you take the momentum an episode had, tie it up, throw it in a pit, and scream at it to use the lotion or it gets the hose again. This did mean that the plot slowed down a bit, but things actually flowed well for once. The only big reveal was that Hyouka’s actually some kind of autonomous golem thingy (at least Sherry calls her the same kind of monster as her golems) with a magical whatsit sealed inside her.

Regardless, they still did 2/3rds of the episode pretty well and Touma’s entrance at the end was pretty awesome. Certainly can’t complain about that. I found the little bit with Judgement’s telepath more interesting than I probably should have, although in retrospect, it makes a fair bit of sense. Touma’s immune because of his Imagine Breaker, Index’s brain isn’t normal anyway, and Hyouka’s a golem. I was ready to write it off as an excuse to toss in another girl to make faces at Touma, but it actually ended up being some clever little foreshadowing about Hyouka. Neat.

Brief Summary:

Index and Hyouka drag Touma around town until they stumble into an area being evacuated by Judgement because a terrorist is on the loose. None of them could hear the telepathic broadcast warnings. As they leave the area, one of Sherry’s eyes finds them, and the whole place is locked down for CTU operations. Index and Touma get into an argument over who’s going to protect Hyouka, and when they hear a noise, get in each other’s way trying to jump in front of her. It’s just Misaka and Kuroko, although Index and Misaka immediately get into a fight over Touma. Kuroko eggs them on, and then decides who’ll stay with Hyouka by teleporting Misaka and Index away with her.

As the fighting breaks out, Touma leaves Hyouka to go help. The soldiers are all easily taken out by Sherry’s golem. Touma steps forward to fight, but Sherry recognizes him. Hyouka followed him as well. Sherry’s golem attacks a wall, sending a wave of shrapnel at the two. One piece strikes Hyouka in the face, destroying half her head. Inside is a glowing crystal. She panicks and runs, but Sherry pulls her forward and her golem smashes her into the ceiling. Hyouka gets up again and runs off in a panic. Sherry follows, collapsing the tunnel behind her.

Touma gets a call from Komoe and Himegami. Blah blah blah Hyouka’s true nature as a phenomenon of nature and sort of not part of the scientific world (believe me, it doesn’t make much sense) and the magical widget powering her yada yada yada. Hyouka collapses, and her face regenerates. Sherry tells her that she’s the same kind of monster as the golem, and now she’ll die. The golem attacks, but Touma appears and blocks its punch with one hand.

Preview:

Index’s quest to become a bird.