First Impressions / Medaka Box

「これで決着だ!!」 (Kore de Kecchaku da!!)
“This Is the End!!”

Ah the monologue. A staple of any good psychotic antagonist. For this finale to the disciplinary committee arc, the lines between right and wrong are thoroughly blurred. Both Myouri and Medaka would make fine antagonists in this state. Myouri manages to retain his smug air of superiority despite being beaten seven ways to hell and Medaka proves just how monstrous she can be when the situation calls for it.

We learn this week that this is only the second time Medaka has lost control and resorted to using her War God Mode. The first time was not against a special like Myouri, but as a result of repeated acts of inhumanity by a normal human being by the name of Kumagawa. Given her apparent desire to reform all humans, it’s no surprise that repeated failures would drive her to anger and frustration, especially when the acts committed appear to have been more than a little serious. I wonder if it was Zenkichi who brought her back to her senses on that occasion too – it doesn’t seem like something that would happen while her opponent is still amongst the living.

It’s an impressive show of friendship to see the rest of the student council still willing to stand by her even after all they’ve witnessed. They even put themselves in the way of her finishing blow (which I imagine would have been quite fatal had they screwed up and taken the full blow instead of restraining her) in order to protect her from herself. It seems pretty likely that had she succeeded in finishing off Myouri as she’d intended, the act of killing one of the humans she so loved would have stained her soul forever. Heck, those sorts of experiences can change a person entirely – the Medaka we would’ve been left with could have turned into a completely different person, someone far closer in nature to Myouri.

Surprise surprise, as our crazed and self-righteous antagonist, Myouri’s arsenal contains a weapon which can immobilise his foes, allowing him to freely give extended monologues while his victim is forced to remain perfectly still or risk being filleted like a fish. This was a pretty dialogue heavy episode again, though I can’t say I’m particularly surprised by that. There was a fair bit of combat (mostly displays of monstrous strength by Medaka) to break up the monotony of rehashed arguments on justice though.

What did surprise me was how quickly Medaka snapped out of her War God Mode with the help of her friends. The contrast between both sides of her personality is huge, especially given how easily she asks Myouri to be her vice president only moments after she was about to kill him. That I did not see coming. Myouri’s decision not to harass the student council in future also felt a little abrupt, but I suppose it could be attributed to relief that he somehow managed to survive and the realisation that if he screws with Medaka again, he’ll probably not get another chance.

Shiranui gets a brief appearance towards the end of the episode. It seems something big is going on behind the scenes and the academy director (her grandfather it turns out) has some form of plan that relates to the Thirteen Party. I wonder if this plan has something to do with why we never see any teachers in the academy and why no-one appears to do anything about these large-scale school-demolishing battles. Or maybe they’re just too scared to get involved – not much a normal teacher could do against a couple of people capable of tearing down the entire building with their bare hands (and the help of some explosives).

Next week we’ll be getting an anime original episode with two new characters who were created specifically for it! Whether it will be the finale or not is still a little uncertain, but it does seem like it could be a good place to end the first season with some solid conclusion but enough questions to bring people back for a second season.

Random thoughts:

  • I still think younger Medaka is far more kawaii… even in black and white.
  • Being ‘benevolent as a god to strangers’ and ‘cruel as a devil’ for the sake of your friends actually seems like a fairly promising creed to me. You show kindness to everyone, but as soon as someone threatens your friends, you destroy them.
  • ‘I’m supposed to be able to move this school!’ Uh… I don’t think you’re meant to be able to move it in quite that sense…
  • It’s kind of interesting to see the repeated imitations Medaka has performed over the course of the series used in some meaningful fashion.

Full-length images: 03, 06, 11, 13, 15, 24, 33.

 

ED1.11 Sequence

ED: 「お花畑に連れてって」 (Ohanabatake ni Tsuretette) by 豊崎 愛生 (Toyosaki Aki)

Preview

41 Comments

    1. 1: No
      2: Yes. In the manga, the inside of the building was trashed, there was severe structural damage around where Unzen got blasted through the walls, and from where Medaka ripped apart the building, but she didn’t actually drag half the school around with her.

      Shiden
      Reply

  3. Wait, don’t tell me… Is this Dragon Ball? What’s with power-boost accompanied with hair color change to a shiny neon color?? Ptttts. Look at me, I’m all mad and I become unstoppable fighting machine~~~!! until my friends help me come to senses and then everything becomes normal. kamehameha~~!! ah ha ha ha.

    I keep waiting since people say good parts will come later, but, it’s just getting sillier and dumber.

    worstof2012
    Reply

    1. >Wait, don’t tell me… Is this Dragon Ball?

      Nope. I mean, it’s not like in Dragon Ball, where the Super Saiyans represented a level up in strength… Sure, the War God Mode makes Medaka physically stronger, but it’s more a physical representation of a state of mind.

      As for the good parts, well… Show Spoiler ▼

      TheDoorIntoSummer
      Reply

  8. If this ends at 12 episodes, this could be my most hated anime of the Spring 2012 season! But that’s also the fault of NOBODY telling ANYBODY how many episodes this anime actually reaches!

    starss
    Reply

    1. 12 episodes. The next episode is anime original(written by Nisio himself). It’s on the official site.
      And Amazon Japan has listed 6 volumes of DVD/BD with 2 episodes each. If you can provide another source telling that this will go on farther than 12, please do so. I’m pretty sure this will just be 12 episodes.

      anon
      Reply

      2. Show Spoiler ▼

        Beedle
        Reply

    1. This is Medaka Box :’D Every arc thus far has ended in a similar, anti-climatic manner. XD Heck, for one of the fights, the chapter opened at the very end of the battle XD

      Beedle
      Reply

  16. WTF did i just see some DBZ rip-off? This should have ended a few episodes back its just to ridiculous to watch anymore. No originality whatsoever. Don’t know which one is worse MD Geist or this.

    Casshern
    Reply

    1. Thank you for voicing out your opinion, now allow me to voice mine. You wasted your time, get out. Next time you want to post a comment about saying how much you dislike the series, make sure your opinion is the popular one, or the rest will eat you up.

      ion62
      Reply

  17. after watching 1st 10eps & now this ep yea better late than never give watching it all find it ok series give way of medaka doing oh my yea red hair mode she over 9000.

    yea one more ep then it all check.

    KLAC_OF_PERSONALITY
    Reply

  26. @DragonBall References
    Really? Just cause she gets super powerful you call DragonBall? You really need to expand your anime knowledge. DragonBall isn’t the first(or last) anime to use “power-ups” they even use it in games!

    Now back to something that really matters! The ending of the season. It’s always sad to see an anime you like end and this one is no exception. It has been a wonderful adaptation of the manga, that leave me wanting more. I do agree that it’s not a wise choice to end with an Anime Only season finale unless it will connect or otherwise announce the following season of the series. Which I would love to see. IF this series in not getting a 2nd season I wound be saddened but at least I still have the manga to read.

    Shiroryuu
    Reply

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