Summary:

Maria and Yunyun are saved from Natsume by Alphard, and Alphard lets them go. Alphard knows everything about Natsume, including the fact that she’s after the Borner research data, and Alphard decides to hand it over. Even though Alphard herself has no interest in continuing the research, she doesn’t mind if someone else does because the only group who would be able to stop those weapons would be her own. Natsume then leaves, and Alphard does too after setting the place on fire. Minoru meanwhile wakes back up outside with Canaan, and although Hakko has disappeared again, they’re soon reunited with Maria and Yunyun. Canaan senses however that there are Black Hawk helicopters coming, which are the special forces that Natsume called, so she sends everyone back to the car while she alone goes to look for Hakko and for the medicine for Yunyun. Since Maria isn’t content with just waiting, Minoru suggests that her goal should be to take Canaan’s picture when she returns.

Inside the facility, Liang Qi has been arming herself to defend against the assault, but she’s paid a visit first by Alphard and Cummings. Alphard wants to see Cummings’ love, so Cummings tries to appeal to Liang Qi to go back together with them, but Liang Qi doesn’t want to hear it and smacks him around instead. After Cummings gets knocked down, Alphard decides to attack Liang Qi with a knife, and this time it’s Liang Qi who gets beat up. She enjoys it and wants more, however Alphard doesn’t finish her off and leaves it to Cummings. It drives Liang Qi nuts that Alphard is still more concerned about Canaan – who is at the moment running through the place fighting the special forces troops – and that prompts Liang Qi to run to a back room to do something desperate. Alphard and Cummings follow her there and realize that Liang Qi has actually consumed some of the experimental medicine that would make her similar to Canaan.

The transformation bleaches Liang Qi’s hair and turns her eyes bloodshot while causing her much pain. Alphard takes this opportunity to bring out the letter from Siam that she got, which she knows is actually from Liang Qi. Liang Qi’s plan had been to let Alphard get captured by the CIA by using Siam’s name so that she could then go save Alphard. What really drives Liang Qi crazy now is Alphard revealing that Siam didn’t call her Alphard, he called her Canaan. Liang Qi then looks into the mirror and sees Canaan, and she tries to get Cummings to kill this Canaan. He agrees only on the condition that she loves him, and after she agrees, he shoots her in the chest. She dies in his arms, and Alphard leaves Cummings to cry by himself, feeling that love is troublesome. Alphard does acknowledge though that she’s caught up in the ghosts of her own past, which is not her true self. Elsewhere in the facility, Canaan finds Hakko naked with Santana’s corpse, telling him that she loves him. Hakko gives Canaan the medicine that she’s looking for, but she wants to stay there with Santana’s corpse, and Canaan has no choice but to leave her since the building has started to collapse.

When Canaan returns to the car, she gives Yunyun the medicine, and Maria takes her picture. Maria then hugs Canaan and welcomes her back.

Preview

Well I think it’s pretty safe to say that Liang Qi was the star of this episode. The crazy, batshit insane star, but the star nonetheless. It was fun watching her masochistic attitude, and I was almost sad to see her go like that…almost. It was a fitting end regardless for someone who hated Canaan so much, and that entire scene was pretty intense. Maybe not the same kind of intensity as episode seven, but it was like watching a Liang Qi trainwreck that you just can’t turn away from. I do wonder now though if Cummings survived (since obviously Alphard got away) or if he died there with her after the building collapsed.

I’m also appreciating Alphard more as the story goes on because there’s a lot of complexity to her character, and she’s not the typical villain. Maria, on the other hand, is getting more and more annoying. As the plot has progressed, her role in it has dwindled, and her character is pretty useless at this point. I mean, I can see that they’re heavily focusing on the themes of love and friendship and that Maria is essentially Canaan’s love, but that’s not where most of the recent plot development has been. I can only hope and assume that they’re going to work her in more in the final two episodes.

41 Comments

  1. with hakko and liang qi dead, i don’t really have a point in watching this anymore…
    i agree that all the canaanxmaria crap is really annoying, and frankly, i’m sure nobody cares about them.

    beeboobeeboo
  2. Based on the opening, I was really looking forward to seeing Liang Qi fight at her best, with qipao and everything. Instead I got the pathetic death throes of a pervert, abandoned and shot like a rabid dog.

    It was appropriate, I guess. But I’m still kind of sad about it.

    2DT
  3. Funny how the comic relief Yunyun and the goofy photographer Minoru came out more useful than Maria. Hopfully Cummings died too. He was just as useless as Hakko. Maria can’t die because of plot protection otherwise she be dead too.

    ssj4jw
  4. Liang was definitely the star of this episode. It was an appropriately insane ending for her character.

    As for Hakkoo, I was hoping she could be redeemed, but she decided to pick a dead body over Minoru…

    TJ
  5. Liang Qi was indeed the star this episode but a lot of interesting people died and that is something I don’t find amuzing. Hakko,cummings and Liang Qi, who’s left? the canaans,Maria,YunYun and Minoru. I wonder what importans Minoru and yunyun have now that hakko died and yunyun having her medicine. that leaves canaan and canaan. I guess that can fill 2 episodes.

    Anonymous
  6. @splash hehe i doubt actual “boning” was taking place, unless they was some serious rigor mortis going on. but yeah that was yucko! i mean “to lay on a COLD corpse naked” EEEEEEWWWWWWW ,gives me the shivers. and lets be real, how long is one bottle of meds gonna last yun-yun?

    BROOKLYN otaku
  7. im pretty sure maria is going to play a very important role later on, because alphard asked her in one of the last few episodes if she truly forgot everything which to me seems like a hint towards her true role and also her father is the inventor of the cure to the ua virus so it could have something to do with that

    sean
  8. To Maria’s credit, at least she didn’t go back (even if it needed some persuasion from Mino). You can’t really expect much from a photographer without any combat experience/training.

    Liang Qi was crazy. Fun crazy. I hoped for more craziness, but her last moments were gold. Major props to the voice actress. No one will probably ever look at that woman the same ever again.

    Definitely an episode for the side characters. Now to see what’ll be done with the main cast.

    Charlo
  9. Poor Liang Qi, turning herself into some weird albino freak. All she wanted was some rabu! DX Hakko choosing to stay with Santana’s body in the end was very sad and bittersweet (necrophilia notwithstanding). I always figured she’d end up with the reporter guy, though, so I guess she forgave Santana for his role in what happened to her family and village.

    Raiju
  10. I thought it was a great episode.

    I love how there are so many people who hate the Maria x Canaan essence, when it’ a great part of the overall series because it gives the anime a little bit more than ACTION ACTION ACTION BLOOD BLOOD ACTION GUNS! ACTION BLOOD! NECROPHILIA!

    Just sayin’ that I think it’s sweet.

    Ameretat
  11. @brooklyn otaku
    considering yun yun knows the girl who’s father created the cure to the virus, i’m pretty sure he can analyze the pills and duplicate them. it’ll be interesting to see how the final canaan/aplhard battle turns out and what role maria plays in it.

    curious one
  12. I like CanaanXMaria myself. Sucks about some good cast members dying, hopefully the series will spare our two main heroines(alphard is probably going to die, villain redemption seems to always equal death in anime)

    Jazz
  13. amazing episode! Liang Qi!! insane like always, I liked that XD poor Cummings :S
    Hakko…poor girl..

    so people alive: Canaan, Alphard, Maria, Yun-Yun, Natsume ummm nice, I believe the end is gonna be awesome, just 2 eps more!
    What’s wrong with CanaanxMaria? I like it xd and Im sure that a lot of people like it too xd

    lol
  14. Yeah, I’m also pretty disappointed that Maria’s role dwindled down. It looked like they were on the verge of something, but then they went heavily into the UA virus hellhole and Maria’s been left to wait. I guess they couldn’t hostage her again since it already happened once? Haha… But even though I’ve already been spoiled by other material (concerning her), I figure there aren’t enough episodes to get everything across – and Alphard already implied *something* while Maria was under their capture, “You really don’t remember anything?” so I want to know what she knows!!

    Hopefully it’s executed well.

    tenkaichi
  15. What can I say, I truely love this anime. It has big potential of becoming my favourite actually. There is only one problem I have with this anime that is maybe not even a problem but a factor that makes it all the more fun. I was watching up to episode 11 and 12, and only then I actually was finally getting a trail of what the story is about. Was I alone in this or do more people have that with Canaan? Anyways, since Canaan is going to be 13 episodes long, I think and hope for more, it felt so weird only getting to know the story at the end.

    Also, I can see a lot of character hate here. xD Well, I personally think all the characters are cool. Alphard keeps interesting me more and more and Maria does get more annoying but I think that annoyance is from a humans emotion point of view just what it needs to be.

    Rii
  16. So a tad late commenting, but just saw the episode tonight. I have to agree with the post that Alphard is really interesing in herself. I like ehr. She seems to take Siam’s training and view of her a lot differently then Canaan does and she sort of has this detached interest in people that I just find kind of neat. Ruthless, but she just doesn’t seem to get people and likes to see how they sort of squirm.

    Also good fights and such things didn’t hurt. I think if anything in the end I wish Liang Qi could of gotten a bit more to play with that sword. She some cool fight here, but it is sad we had to wait until her death to get her going all-out with it.

    And stuff.

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