天下制覇

FRIIIIEEENNNNNNNDSSSSHHHHIIIIPPPPP.

Impressions:

Any of this might have been at least a little convincing if Yayaka had at any point in the entire show actually been a friend in any way to Cocona. It's been entirely lip service about how they supposedly were, and the occasional not acting like a murderous sociopath, which, yes, I understand from countless harem shows is the Japanese equivalent of being the most valiant and chivalrous person ever. But it's time for her face turn, so here's some goddamned flashbacks retconning in how they were totes besties in the past, but not so much that screaming a name over and over again doesn't trump all. At least they included more action than usual, and they remain relatively deft at that. Would that this was just 10 minutes of the animators doing their thing instead of the writers screaming about friendship and the director approaching symbolism like it's a mack truck.

The really frustrating part is that they had the pieces here at the start to make it work so much better. Cocona's throwing another passive aggressive temper tantrum, 90% about Papkia offhandedly calling her someone else's name (revealed at the end to be her former partner) and 10% being a sociopath, so the door was certainly there for them to contrast the two girls and their relationship with Cocona, as nonexistent as it's really been for both. Instead, flashbacks, friendship power, jealousy over who's the friendiest friend based on self-sacrifice, and one grand gesture, of self-sacrifice obviously, absolves everything. I'm really starting to wonder if someone snuck "The Making of Psychopaths" into the Japanese writers' educational system and everyone was too embarrassed to say anything.