「DAY 3 – 不穏の火曜日II」 (Fuon no Kayoubi II)
“DAY 3 – Tuesday’s Disquiet 2”

I’m grumpy and tired from all the sleepless nights I’ve pulled over the last few days, so forgive me if this episode post comes out rough and short. There’s just a couple of points I want to get through, so I’ll start with the positive stuff.

First up, Hibiki. I’ve said a lot about his one-note characterization over the last few posts, so no, I won’t torture you with a re-tread. But for what it’s worth, this episode did get me caring a little more. I liked his short conversation with Otome, which highlights his self-awareness as a tool -“The most powerful summoner”- to be used. But even as a tool, he wants to choose a master that he agrees with; it was abhorrence of Yamato’s cold methods that made him turn to Ronaldo, who treated all life as equal. Otome challenges whether his perception of Ronaldo was right, but whether right or wrong quickly becomes irrelevant; it is apparent in the subsequent Septentrione battle that Ronaldo’s faction just doesn’t have enough fighting power. Even the great saviour Hibiki is shown to be fallible at a time of crisis, and so it fall to Yamato and JP’s to once again save the day. Whether Hibiki likes it or not, the circumstances does seem to be forcing him to cooperate with JP’s.

Now, two things I’m miffed about this episode; the first being the way Ronaldo calls Yamato out on his plan to rule over his Social Darwinist paradise. Honestly, the way the anime puts it out there seems far sillier than I remembered, without any sort of rationalisation for his goal. It’s largely due to Yamato being a damn enigma as far as the anime’s concerned; we just haven’t learned enough about him, or seen enough of a development in his relationship dynamics to understand why he’s taking the actions he does. What prompted him to rescue Hibiki this episode? And echoing Hibiki here, why was it so necessary to sacrifice the JP’s army in the battle against Merak, and not step in if he had the power to do so? I’m hoping for a clearer answer in the coming episodes, but I’m not holding my breath.

The other is the fight with the third Septenrione, Phecda. I’d first say that the fights themselves are typically the most impressive parts of DeSu2A, and the presentation wasn’t what I was disappointed with. Plus, Hibiki’s death clip added a nice bit of tension with the possibility of someone not surviving through the episode. No, rather, I’m hating how the Septentrione battles always seem to be resolved so underwhelmingly; all that tension and desperation in the fight seems for naught when it all it takes is one illogically powered character -before Hibiki, now Yamato– to take down the invader in a few swift strikes.

That said, I didn’t hate the episode; it is standard fare coming from DeSu2A, with nothing in particularly that wowed or disappointed me. There’s little to talk about, unless you get a kick out of seeing Airi being Airi, or Jungo being Jungo. (Probably the two characters least changed from their game counterparts) The episode does end at an interesting place with Hibiki and Yamato at a standoff, and Alcor –certainly the most enigmatic of the lot– butting in with his sparkling/shining one schtick. Whatever plans Alcor suggested he might have had for Yamato seems to now to be falling onto Hibiki, and I’m curious to see how the anime will develop this third faction from there.

Full-length images: 16.

Post was slightly delayed this week due to assignments and deadlines and whatnots. Final semester being a bitch. Next week’s post should be out in better time.

 

Preview

18 Comments

    1. In anime terms, I actually think it’s quite normal to walk around with a bunny eared hoody… In fact I’d go as far as to say that a bunny eared hoody is quite normal in comparison to some outfits I’ve seen so far (in anime in general, that is)

  1. I really liked this episode, if they keep up this momentum until the end, we’re in for a hell of a second half. All I ask is that there’s more Fumi next time, as she’s barely gotten any screen time… =(

    katsudon
  2. I wonder if people will have a different opinion of Person 4 the Animation after watching this adaptation. People actually disliked the Persona adaptation because it strayed from the game, but it was actually extremely faithful to the source in comparison to what’s happening here.

    Tre
    1. Eh,I’ll say that the Persona 4 animation stuck very closely to the actual game, only rewriting here and there to introduce social links, as well as the introduction of the actual Aiya, which is a nice shout out to the game. The two episodes where they somehow introduced a few social links in a row (Nanako investigating Yu’s so-called dating) was a hoot. The other parts are based very much on source materials, especially the part when they went to Persona 3’s Tatsumi Port Island for their field camp, and Yu had…let’s see…three out of four of the in-game options in being a boss at having…Chie sitting in his lap/Rise resting her head on Yu’s legs/Yukiko’s drunken hugging.

      I mean…they even added that part where Teddie imitated Takaya from Strega! I was so hyped when I saw that in the anime.

      If only they added Yosuke’s piggy back ride though…

      Zackie
  3. Its official, Yamato has been completely ruined. Yamato was supposed to be a fascinating Anti-villain. He would treat the weak as complete garbage that deserved the die while to those under him (people he deemed strong) were treated with respect and as valuable resources. He was a fair and competent leader (not nice mind you but very fair) and JP’s was loyal to him for good reason. In fact, if he deemed his troops incapable of winning he would do the fighting himself!

    Who is this incompetent douchebag and what has he done with Yamato!? He’s like every textbook Evil Overlord mashed into one. Chess Pawn analogies!? “You must obey obey my orders completely and absolutely”!? I will rule the world!? The last part is especially awful, Yamato himself explicitly stated that he had no desire to rule the world. If they could derail him anymore the train crash would have destroyed an entire town. The writers done everything to make turn him into everything he’s not supposed to represent.

    The irony is that Ronaldo is portrayed more or less correctly (him being former-JP’s isn’t too bad in hindsight). He’s a self-righteous idealist devoid of any competence or leadership abilities. For all his talk he couldn’t do jack when Phecda showed up.

    Hibiki is getting worse. He’s within inches of being in my hated character list along with *insert any whiny protagonist voiced by Yuki Kaiji here*. I have never seen a protagonist so powerful and yet so inept in trying to accomplish anything meaningful to the plot. His only contribution so far is to angst about others. Over and over again. What does Alcor see in this guy?

    I can’t belive I’m wishing for autistic MC, or even Chick Magnet MC. He at least wouldn’t be as boring and useless as Hibiki.

    fragb85
  4. I see what you did there

    I like Jungo and Airi.They’re funny and cute together.Jungo is a boss too while Airi seems like a tsundere genki girl.

    I can’t wrap my head around how Cerberus is stronger than Byakko, I call bullshit on that, but as Yamato explained, he’s using cheat codes like a noob.

    Magoiichi
  5. No, he is Show Spoiler ▼

    He is as hax as that. Oh, and I wouldn’t worry about Phecda. Out of all the septentrions, Phecda had always seemed to be… weak. It is the Merak Alioth, Mizar battles that seemed more grand and they better handle Mizar properly.

    On the side note, it seems that Ronaldo’s route seemed to be nothing more than a passing thought now. Guess we know what it meant with that scene in the OP with MC, AO and Yamato facing off but no Ronaldo in sight.

    Karides
  6. When Jungo called out for his Neko Shogun so casually I died a little in the inside from an overdose of cuteness from his demon and adorableness from him himself….Airi if you don’t take him then I will!

    SDFSDG
  7. Oh well, one problem with your strongman utopia mr Yamato…
    is that multiple weak fighters will take down even the strongest conqueror.
    You might be able to defeat Septentrion one on one, but beware knife in the back, poison in the drink, attack in the sleep… or just snipers bullet from mile away.
    And with your attitude you won’t be winning any popularity contests.

    ewok40k
  8. Gee, can they give Daichi a kickass demon to summon already? I can’t help but cringe whenever he yells something about how he’s going to protect Hibiki, yet can’t contribute to a fight…

    Elle
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