「裏切りの空ほ鴨川」 (Uragiri no Soraho Kamogawa)
“Betrayal Over The Skies of Kamogawa”

Now that it’s over, I feel compelled to admit that I was a touch concerned about the direction Rinne no Lagrange was going in the past few episodes. Mostly I sat back and trusted director Suzuki Toshimasa and his team, because they haven’t failed me so far, but there was definitely that little creeping worry that all the slice-of-life type stuff wasn’t the LagRin I wanted to be seeing so close to the end. Hell, I might even look back at the end of this season and agree with that assessment in hindsight. Yet for now, I have but one thing to say about this episode: wow. Actually, let me make that two things: Oharuhi-sama what just happened there that evil laughter wooooow. Just…wow.

Okay, so I have a few more things to say. First of all, in an episode full of heroic characters running around at their absolute best, four got an extra smile and/or a whoop of glee from me. The first three were of course Izo, Array, and Kirius. Array and Kirius’ return was especially great, with them blasting back in just in the nick of time, as real heroes do. Boo yah! The other character, and perhaps the best of the bunch, was none other than Hiroshi-ojisan. Words can move mountains where guns and swords would do naught but chip at the sides, and his words of encouragement, seemingly so minor and a bit silly, were all the more touching for it. Though a secondary character without a huge effect on the plot, Hiroshi-ojisan shows the meticulous care that the director Suzuki’s team has given to every aspect of this show. Superb.

From the beginning of this episode I realized that the death flags I sensed last week weren’t for Izo, but rather for Villagulio. (I mistook Villagulio’s Ovid for Izo’s in the preview, whooops!) Charging off alone, leaving a worried Grania in charge, believing in Dizelmine when he was doing damn near everything he could to not deserve it…yeah, not smart, Giuvi-nii. I can’t hate him for it though, exactly. Normally I would, but I must admit I’m instantly taken in by the generally idealistic tone of Rinne no Lagrange whenever I load up an episode. In any other story I would scoff at him, but in a universe with Madoka, it seems more understandable to do as he did. Still not smart though, especially how things ended. Giuvi-nii…

As for Dizelmine, he is, as Madoka rightfully said when she kicked him in the head, a fucking idiot (emphasis and expletives are mine, though come on, you know she was thinking it). Yes, it’s cliche, I know, but when I saw Moid up on the ship smiling smugly to himself, all I could think was “keikaku doori.” You fell right into his trap, Dizel! It doesn’t surprise me in the least, but then again, that’s not such a bad thing. Instead of throwing us a curveball with the big bad late in the game, the series has quietly built up Moid as the only guy who could really be pulling all the strings and making things go bad, so his eventual defeat (I assume, I hope, oh I so so hope now, sooo much…) will be even more satisfying for it. Gods, I’m going to enjoy watching him go down.

But the big things about this episode revolved around Dizelmine, the vox he got from Moid, and what happened to Villagulio. Moid mentions “Feeding off a tainted heart…”, and it appears that this was exactly the reason he needed Dizelmine in a vox. He tried it with Madoka last season, but her heart wasn’t tainted, just temporarily distraught. Even this season when Asteria accidentally embarassed her into triggering the blossoming, the ring of flowers just stayed peacefully around the planet after that. Dizelmine is another thing entirely though, as apparently Asteria was 20,000 years ago. Villagulio’s betrayal, whether real or something maufactured by Moid, runs so deep as to allow Moid’s poison into Dizel’s heart. And how deep it went! His evil laughter as he stood over the beaten Villagulio was haunting, twisted, and thoroughly and utterly broken. And then… *winces* That’s it, that’s the end for Dizelmine. There’s no way out for him now. No way out other than death.

Now Madoka, Lan, and Muginami are trapped in the Rin’ne while the Earth is at a berserk Dizelmine’s mercy. Two more, just two more episodes to find out how Madoka and her waifus are going to stop Dizelmine’s madness, take down Moid, and save the planet – or, if Asteria is correct, the entire universe – from destruction. As a wise character once said, some people just want to watch the world burn. Now it’s time to step up and save it before everything burns away forever.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – The madness of a king, the death of a friend. Shit just got serious as the three Vox girls launch into battle one final time #LagRin #Kamojo

Random thoughts:

  • They didn’t have nearly as much trouble breaking their vow as I expected. Honestly, I’m fine with this. A little navel gazing might have been fun, but not this late in the game. Better to do as Madoka has always done and act upon what she thinks is right without worrying too much. With those three, that seems to work best.
  • While Dizel and Giuvi-nii fractured, Lan and Muginami have only become closer, with no friction between them this time. It’s Yurikano. Yurikano is the Madoka in the Dizel-Yurikano-Villagulio trio, and without her there’s just no glue to hold them together, just like how Lan and Muginami fought when they were away from Earth between seasons.
  • Kirius is so tsundere. Fujoushi bait go!
  • The soundtrack was great this episode, especially early on. Special mention goes to during Dizelmine’s evil breakdown, when there was just a low-pitched background hum, like that of a flying saucer hovering overhead. Perfect ambiance for his collapse. Sometimes, less is more. Now I just wish I could learn that lesson with my writing, Orz
  • At the end there, Dizelmine’s Vox was just like a berserk Eva, except the only beast inside it was Dizel himself. That makes it even worse.

Full-length images: 07.

 

Preview

End Card

23 Comments

    1. So the school life is gone, for now, in favor of some awesome mecha action. Dizelmine has gone really nuts, fighting his former friend Villagiulio again. Moid may look like the real villain but Dizel is just crazy.

      Luckily, the RGB trio (Madoka and her waifus, Lan and Muginami) come just in time to stop him. I was expecting that they were going to regret that they are going to break the vow of never using Voxes again. Nonetheless, it was great to see them in their Voxes battling evil again.

      For the second time, I felt so sorry for Villa. I am going to assume that he survives but I am having second thoughts with it.

      It looks like Dizel has restarted the 20,000-year-old tragedy that was already done by Asteria. I am eager to see if she will do something next week.

      On another note, I think our yuri OT3 deserves a ship name. RGB trio would be nice, even though it has taken already by another yuri OT3, Akane/Nao/Reika from Smile PreCure, a long time ago. I guess a ship naming is in order.

      Also another note: once again, no signs of Reiko and no hints of Machiko-sensei’s crush on Yoko. I am a bit disappointed about that. Oh well, I cannot wait for next week.

      JohnHayabusa
  1. You know there might be one way for Dizel-kun to be happy at the end of this. Kick him off into the Rinne with Yurikano and they can enjoy eternity with each other while we beat the shit out of Moid. Btw that line is behind me. Let me just get my pitch fork out first.

    Shadiic
  2. I guess now is the time to raise my fist in the air and scream: “MOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIID!!!!!!!!!” Dizelmine is not himself anymore, it was said before that the tests would permanently alter someone’s personality and Moid made it happen. Madoka better give him the beating he deserves.

    And speaking of Madoka, I’m glad that there was very little hesitation on riding Midori again. Madoka may not know her career path, but she understands priorities. Also, that kick on the face of Dizelmine was awesome. Madoka will protect her wife even if its against her brother-in-law!

    fragb85
  3. The one thing I can say about this episode and the same reaction I had in the recent episode of Eureka Seven Ao is this: Shit hit the fan.

    Dizelmine, I do hope you are prepared to get your ass whuped by Madoka because it’s going to hurt unlike anything you’ve ever had before. And, when she’s done, and she finds out it was Moid all along, boy is she going to bring the smack down on him. Hard.

    octoberasian
  4. The main problem this season is Moid. Where Tatsuo Sato did a superb job by hinting what the Rinne was in S1, Toshimasa Suzuki and their team had been pulling a Sunrise this one with the whole secret about Moid. Turning Dizelmine into Zero no Tsukaima’s Josef (“me mad cuz my friend became friend of the people I hate” wut?) was a cheap move, and only made him another name in the list of the “Emo Kings of the Year”.
    Don’t give up on Giuvi-nii. Dizel’s sloppy madness only destroyed googlevideos’s ovid head. Rule #1 in mecha used in military action: the cockpit is ALWAYS in the middle section. So, until the body is shown, Villa may still be alive.
    The end seems to be a battle of wills inside the Rinne. Moid is really an idiot if he thinks a mad king can win against the most corageous girl in the universe. Madoka is going to own him bad… really bad.

    SeedStriker
  5. Love how the ep title superficially describes Dizelmine, but in reality is all about Moid…
    One of the best episodes of the season, definitely, from noble but stupid Villagiulio, to “Frienemies trio” getting their heroic 5 minutes, (best spaceship comeback since Han Solo at Death star!), to Dizelmine going off the deep end, to UTTERLY EPIC MADOKA: “Girls, what took you so long? If we are to break our promise we gotta do it TOGETHER!” In a space of one episode we went from light and fluffy slightly yuri comedy to drama rivalling best moments of Evangelion. (assuming you like Eva in the first place…)
    Now it has left me salivating for truly epic ending, hopefully… If they dont blow it, were in for possibly series of the year!

    ewok40k
  6. That was sound of trillions and trillions of shits hitting the fan.

    UGH…I never thought it was possible to hate an animated fictional character, but every day you learn something new right? GAWD…FUCKING…DAMN…IT!!! A problem I can only attest to good storytelling.

    Madoka’s “oui!” when Muginami grabbed her cheeks was TOO CUTE though. I had to pause and watch it several times before moving on with the rest of the episode.

    …HNNGGGHGHGHHGHGHGGGGGHGG TOO CUTE.

    …HNNNNGGHGGHGHGHG!!!!!

    Jello
  7. I could not help myself saying “argh you’re such a fuckwit” whenever Dizel decides to do something on screen. He’s just.. ARGH! Such an imbecile!

    Trust Madoka to deliver a baka-kick when needed, but just how freaking stupid can you be to pull off a Rinne for the third time Dizel?! I’d really like to see the girls pummel him senseless in the coming episodes I really do.

    Momo
  8. THAT WASN’T DIZELMINE’S FAULT!
    MOID IS CONTROLLING HIM!
    MOID, WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE!! YOU CRAZY SON OF A BITCH!!

    MOID = A FUCKIN TROLL

    FUCK YOU, MOID. I HOPE YOU’LL FUCKIN DIE SOON ENOUGH!

    I don’t care IF it’s too soon! There’s reason why I really hated Moid! He’s such crazy bastard, do such bullshit stuff

    Anyway,

    Is Villagulio really dead?!
    Will Madoka, Ran & Muginami snap Dizelmine out from this ‘Misunderstanding’ issue!? GOOD GOD, DON’T TELL ME THIS ISN’T HAPPENING!!

    It’s official! It has become an another My HiME & My Otome (SUNRISE)!

    ONLY 2 EPS LEFT! LET THE RAGE BEGIN!

    JeffreyZin
  9. Considering Madoka, Lan, and Muginami are in the Rin-ne, perhaps Yurikano will end up showing up again to help? (And when you consider it had her ending sequence used.)

    After all, THE POWER OF LOVE CONQUERS ALL!!!!!!!!!!

    …ahem, anyway, perhaps she manages to get Dizelmine’s mind unscrewed and he makes some noble sacrifice in letting Yurikano out of the Rin-ne and taking her place like she did with Asteria/Maycun previously.

    https://randomc.net/image/Rinne%20no%20Lagrange/Rinne%20no%20Lagrange%202%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2015.jpg

    I don’t think now is a good time for that Muginami…lol

    HalfDemonInuyasha

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