天下制覇

A very free action.

Impressions:

The pacing of this episode was kind of godawful. I think maybe sixty seconds passed over fifteen minutes. Was it a budget issue? Were they just afraid of blowing us all away with a high octane fight scene distracting from the mountain of telepathic conversation and/or villainous monologuing? Episode 15 was spectacular, and it didn't have to going into bullet time. Everything was in slow motion… corny slow motion… for so damn much of the episode when they could've been milking the hell out of it by showing Shinpei struggling, his body falling apart or being battered, or Ryuunosuke being a Big Damn Hero. He's been around and being somewhat heroic, but this episode feels like it absolutely should've been his to completely steal the show before Shinpei comes in as the final trump card, preferably also with Team Human delivering the final blow to ghast Shide to get their final licks in.

What was exceptionally on point was the music and the visual direction going into the ending. It really was a beautiful and emotional sequence to end the episode, and could've functioned perfectly well as an ending to the series. I'm not a huge fan of them just erasing everything from the whale-origin, but it hasn't been concerned with abandoned timelines or paradoxes so far. Still, this Shinpei and this Ushio (clone) deserve a happy ending, more than giving one to their other selves in another timeline. Same for Ryuunosuke. He and Haine could've gone off together to be immortal friends instead of being erased. Maybe they'll show in the (presumable) epilogue next week that Ushio2 and Shinpei are still around, perhaps acting as 'Haine' to resolve said paradoxes (and I guess kill Shinpei's parents then?), but I'm pretty sure it's just a happy ending for all. They do deserve one.

Next Episode:

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