天下制覇

Have these writers ever met an actual human?

Impressions:

I sort of despise this episode. Yes, for the usual reasons that it was a fat lot of nothing for twenty minutes, but also because we're three episodes from the end and should be building towards a climax, and instead are having a big ol' hug session that just makes no sense to me. Even the slightest bit of conflict would work so much better, whether you come at it from Mangetsu being hurt and resentful about being created to be Shingetsu's little friend, Mangetsu wanting to fight for her right to exist, or hell, just going full "I am the goddamned avatar of magic incarnate, the answer to your wishes, and the embodiment of everything you truly desired and you will accept me."

Instead, she talks about how sure, Kuon was wiped out from existence, but her sister says that it's a nice name, so it's okay to die for a friend she's had for like three months. That's how deep her devotion goes, and with the swelling music and insert song, we're supposed to take that as true friendship, not deeply unsettling and unhealthy obsession. The rest of the episode is just kind of more of the same. They friendship around, then Mangetsu once again preaches how great death will be as long as Shingetsu gets her ill-defined wish based almost entirely on a couple bad experiences. Really having a hard time getting behind these motivations for the final battle. Still mostly want Suishou to stab some sense into both of them.

Next Episode:

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