「居場所の刃傷持ち」 (Ibasho no Ninjou Mochi)
“Where the One Scarred by Swords Belongs”
Explanations
Why will Musashi lose if they go too far through Tres España’s fleet?
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Remember, they’re reenacting the original battles of the Spanish Armada here. If they don’t do it in the proper order (and in broadly the proper way, though as we’ve seen before, that can be pretty flexible), then Tres España will actually win the reenactment. Making it a running battle is part of that. The “English” forces can charge into the “Spanish” fleet, but they can’t run away!
How do the Valdez Siblings’ spells work, and how did Noriki intercept them?
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For how the Valdez Siblings’ disappearing pitch abilities work, apparently they are thrown to reach an optimal point at which they combine into one and disappear into a private space of some sort. Noriki observed this mechanic and targeted that sweet spot, destroying the private space and repelling the shot.
Why did Horizon and the Valdez Siblings say that Noriki lost, even though he saw through their pitch?
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In straight baseball terms, he did lose – though he got a “hit” (after two strikes), the pitcher caught the ball, so that makes him “out.” Of course, they’re not playing baseball, they’re fighting a battle, and Noriki driving some powerful enemies off and seriously injuring the weapon hand of a one of them means that he won in my book.
What’s the chaff that Adele and Musashi-sama were talking about?
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Remember, Felipe detonated some fire ships across Musashi’s bow two episodes ago that contained a lot of spell-imbued chaff, which has prevented Musashi’s automated dolls from communicating properly (or even functioning for a time). Musashi’s movement speed appears to be clearing most of the chaff away, enough so that Musashi-sama thinks the automated dolls can clear the rest pretty quickly, allowing them to communicate effectively once again. So long as Suzu can stand in for Musashi-sama, of course.
What was that programming language the automated dolls used to translate sensory information into sound for Suzu?
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It was SQL. Just an interesting little fact I heard from one of my followers on twitter.
What did Kenji and Nenji do aboard that Tres España ship?
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It’s not entirely clear, but let me put it this way – Asama launched an incubus and a slime-monster aboard a ship full of (by the looks of it) predominately male enemy soldiers…who then started screaming while Asama reflects on how she may have done something horrible. Fill in the blanks for yourself.
Diego’s painting magic
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Though noting was overtly said, Diego’s painting magic appears to work in a similar manner to Shakespeare-chan’s and Neshinbara’s abilities, save with painting (pictures) instead of writing (words). That is, whatever he paints on the canvas happens in real life. Probably the biggest weakness is that he A) needs to be away from the battle enough to paint, and B) can only do things that he can (quickly) depict in paint. I’d imagine that water figures heavily into his tactics, as it did here.
What do Tres España’s Testament Arma do?
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Just in case you missed it, I was going to explain what they do…but I already did that once before. Check out that post if you’ve forgotten! Still, the long and short of it is this: Takakane’s is an area effect attack speed slow debuff, while Diego’s is an area effect attack power debuff.
Why did Takakane deactivate his Testament Arma when Shirojiro’s coins were raining down on him?
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Takakane’s goal was to take out Musashi’s bridge and end the battle that way. The longer it takes to do that, the more damage Musashi will do to the Tres España fleet, and the more likely they are to lose the battle (which is why Shirojiro is there to either defeat or stall him until the battle is finished). That is to say, time is of the essence, but as long as his Testament Arma is activated, Shirojiro’s attacks are 2x slower, meaning Takakane has to stand there for double the time to block them all. Clearly he decided that it was better to take the damage rather than waste the time. Smart, if painful.
Where did Gin’s smaller arms come from when her big prosthetic ones were so clearly cut off?
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So Futayo cut off Gin’s first arms, and then suddenly she had another pair. There are a few things to consider. First of all, the lack of copious amounts of bleeding (see: Exhibit A) would seem to indicate that even her smaller arms are still prosthetic – it’s not like she had her real arms hiding in those big armored things or anything like that. Secondly, the containers she was carrying on her back (clearly seen here) fell in front of her before her new arms appeared. It looks like she was carrying them in there.
Impressions
A quick overview impression before I get into each of the many plot threads woven into this episode: no, this episode wasn’t nearly as awesome as the previous one, but that’s a friggin’ high bar to clear. It was still awesome, and the best episode I’ve watched…well, since the last episode of Kyoukaisen! The action was just glorious, and there are two times during the episode where I got that chill that said hey, I’m watching something special. Yeah, it was a little rushed – they jammed a lot of content in here – but overall I think it was done quite well, considering all they had to work with and what they managed to accomplish. Now, let’s get into it!
Noriki vs the Valdez Siblings
I cover this one a bit under the Explanations section above, though not with as much solid information as I would prefer, so go to the comments below if you can help out! As for impressions, two things come to mind. First of all, I like how Noriki was going all tsundere on them for calling him out on how he came with a piece of metal under his jacket (what is this, Oda Nobuna no Yabou? zomg, spoilers!), and I liked how Noriki didn’t straight up win. Insofar that his goal was to drive the siblings off, he did win, of course, but I like to see the enemy giving the protagonists a good fight, and just injuring the older brother’s weapon hand rather than knocking the younger sister out entirely definitely isn’t a full victory. Gotta earn that, guys!
Omniscient Suzu
Like with Kimi-nee, Suzu is one of those characters who by all rights shouldn’t be terribly useful in a fight (one is an erotic dancer, and the other is blind, fergodssake!)…and I therefore love it whenever she is. First of all, it was awesome to see Suzu go all omniscient, and adorable when the cushion thing recurred. A clean cushion indeed :3 But of everything else, I look forward to Suzu being able to contribute more to this (and perhaps future?) battle(s) using this tactic. Suzu as mission control with Neshinbara and Adele on the bridge? Do want!
Motivational Speaker Toori
Initially I thought the diversion with the Musashi grunts was going to be a chance for one of them to show how far down the chain of command the faith in Toori and the others went, and just generally act like a bit of a badass. That would have been cool, but I laughed when Toori broke in and used his own special brand of motivation to rile up the troops…threatening promising to come over and console them if they didn’t fight hard. Mushashi’s soldiers are tsundere for Toori? :3
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But that would have just been an amusing joke. Here, Toori showed us once again why he’s the leader, and why everyone goes along with what he says even though he’s so silly. It reminded me of a conversation I had earlier with Moomba about whether Toori was really that smart (as I war purporting he was). Here’s the thing about Toori – in terms of raw, analytical ability, he’s not the smartest guy around. If you need someone who can deal with complex tactics, then you’re going to want Neshinbara (battle) or Masazumi (politics); for intricate systems, Naomasa (electronics, mechanics) or Shirojiro (economics) are the way to go; hell, even Futayo (combat) has a squirrely tactical cleverness that is plain to see once she starts fighting. Toori has some measure of some of those (he’s good in a debate, for instance), but that’s not where he shines. Toori has emotional intelligence. Masazumi might understand the ebb and flow of public opinion and whats on the mind of powerful heads of state, but Toori understands the people behind the battles and debates and in every walk of life. Like with his sister, he understands what makes people tick, and how to get them ticking the way he wants them to.
That’s why, when Musashi needed more firepower, Toori figured out how to get it. Sure, a little extra manpower in the kobolds was appreciated, and I’m sure that’ll come up soon, but they didn’t truly need a bunch more soldiers. They had enough. What they needed was to get them fired up and focused back on the enemy, so that the power they had was properly brought to bear. And Toori did that once again, first by joking, and then by earnestly appealing to their better halves, to the sides of them that want to succeed, want to do what is possible…just as Toori assures them that the task in front of them very much is possible. Sure, he did it better in Season 1 (Episode 11, middle of the episode…oh man, so nice), but it got the job done here. Besides, tell me this: what’s better, to fight for the possibilities of the future, or to fight against inevitable decline as Tres España is? I know which one I would pick.
Shirojiro vs Hironaka Takakane
First of all, the obligatory comment – a railgun, in my Kyoukaisen? …yeah, I’m okay with that, says Stilts cheerfully. 😀 But jokes aside, it was ridiculous how many different ways Shirojiro found to fight with money. Not indirectly – it’s damn easy to fight with money if you use it to buy, ya know, actual weapons – but to literally use the money itself is much more impressive. My favorite one (aside from the railgun shots, of course) was Shirojiro making what is basically chainmail out of coins to avoid getting sliced open like a kipper. Nice!
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But perhaps my favorite thing about this battle was the former adversaries, Neito and Walshingham, teaming up to stop Takakane. Just as with each of the people who opposed the “Save Horizon Ariadust” faction back in Season 1 (Naomasa, then Neito, then Masazumi, and finally Futayo), there’s just something glorious about former adversaries – and damn good ones, at that – coming over to the protagonist’s side. Perhaps that’s part of the natural idealism of fiction, as you don’t see that kind of thing often in real life, or at least not without some friction. Or maybe it’s just nice to see that sometimes, a serious fight doesn’t lead to an endless cycle of hate. I’m not sure, really. It’s a complex feeling. Whatever the case, I enjoyed it.
One other thing: it tore at my heart to see Takakane refusing to give up, and refusing to accept the (fated) downfall of Tres España. It’s always sad to see the mighty fall, and for great people to fight against it. Fortunately, it was good that his men knew when the battle was lost and saved him from an untimely death. Though, uh, someone’s going to catch them, right? …right? o.O
The Ascent of Jizuri Suzaku
Ohhhh yeah, now we’re getting into the best parts. This one was a surprise – coming into it, I had no idea this episode would contain Jizuri Suzaku vs Michiyuki Byakko Round 2, much less that it would be one of the scenes that gave me those “holy shit this is good” chills. First of all, the wings – niiiice. Jizuri Suzaku is a junkyard God of War, and it’s biggest weakness has always been that it’s a melee unit that cannot fly. Until now, that is. That alone raised its combat effectiveness markedly.
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Yet even so, just like in their first battle Jizuri Suzaku started out losing to Michiyuki Byakko. Remember that Michiyuki Byakko is one of the Four Sacred Gods of War, a divine weapon-level unit with special abilities to match, whereas up to this point Jizuri Suzaku has fought more or less on par with production-level Gods of War, save for in a quirky way (due to its DIY origins). Yet Jizuri Suzaku was also said to be one of the Four Sacred Gods of War, and now we finally learn why. It was once said that Naomasa’s maus was in Jizuri Suzaku, and I thought that meant one like Asama or Masazumi’s maus. Apparently hers is more like Maeda Toshiie’s maus, and is really her little sister. To summarize what happened when I saw that, with the music rising in the background and the blood dripping down Noamasa’s face: jaw drop, chill up spine.
Sacrifice is such a powerful theme, and the sacrifice of a beloved family member – especially a younger one, one with so much future still ahead of them – even more so. To see Noamasa so determined to win as the sky literally opens up beneath them was beautifully done. This scene needed more time on it, just a little more build up, a little more pain to make the punch of the crescendo hit harder…but all else considered, it still ranks highly, and is the best scene I’ve ever seen of Naomasa. With this, Jizuri Suzaku has shown its power, and can officially take its place among the Four Sacred Gods of War. Well done.
Futayo vs Gin
Now, the without a doubt best part of the episode. First of all, that opening scene – hilarious! XD I cracked up as Futayo’s naiveté slowly broke Gin, expecting with each passing second for her to go hard yandere to avenge her husband’s honor (and it was televised too, BWAHAHA!!), and I was not wrong. This episode only had a few of Kyoukaisen’s trademark funny moments, but this was certainly the best of them!
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What I liked most about this fight was how much it moved. In the second part, we saw decisive moves on Futayo’s part, as she cut off both of Gin’s arms right after having a friggin’ building dropped on her. Other shows would have dragged this out, and that can be good or bad – I wouldn’t have minded thirty more seconds of combat, but the quick pace made it so that I genuinely wasn’t expecting something so seemingly pivotal to happen. Yet it did…and then the reveal – Gin wasn’t quite as armless as I would have expected. Head to the Explanations section for why, but for her let me just say that crying Gin as she talked about losing to Muneshige…ohhh man, poor Gin-san. Also, strong Gin-san.
But as I said above under the section about Toori, Futayo is not stupid. She may be naive, but she has that corkscrew cleverness that is lethal in a fight. Here she kept using different parts of her spear to jam Gin’s guns, making them explode. Then, once those immediate threats were out of the way, she moved onto the one-on-one fight with Gin, where she systematically broke all of her swords before de-arming her one more time – or not. In fact, Gin apparently purged her arms (detached them herself), to avoid seeing Futayo and Muneshige as equals. That…wow. Not sure what would have resulted had she let that happen, but now I really want to know.
But the part of this scene that made it one of the two that gave me chills this week was the parallels between how Futayo and Muneshige fought and beat her – namely, that they did it in almost exactly the same way. It was sweet, getting to see that, even if it’s still not entirely clear why Muneshige beating her and lopping off her arms was A) necessary and B) something that would make her love him. All I know for now is that I badly want to know, and that I feel like the events of the last two seasons are pushing the Tachibanas closer and closer to Musashi. It’ll be veeeery interesting to see what Gin does when she goes back, seeing as her husband is liable to lose his title now that she has failed.
Looking Ahead
There’s only one more episode in this season, and there’s plenty to look forward to. Despite the title, we didn’t get to see Mary fight this week, so I’m looking forward to seeing that next week. Also, we just need to wrap up this whole Spanish Armada thing before time runs out! But now that most of the duels are over with and England is finally getting in on their own battle, that’s the last thing on the agenda. One more for this season…and probably a nice little hook hinting at the Season 3 I would so dearly love to see. 13 more episodes! 13 more episodes!
tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Surprises abound as the last few duels are end, bringing this season ever closer to its conclusion. & Naomasa, Gin-san..*chills* #Kyoukaisen
Random thoughts:
- It was a rough day for Margot. Man, they really need to beef up the durability on those things! Still, though that’s going to be potentially inconvenient for Musashi, it does mean that Margot and Malga are back on the same level. I think the strain on their relationship was going to be gone anyway, but if not, that oughta definitely take care of it. Work together to rebuild your rides, girls!
- Oh Asama, you bad girl you :3
- Loved the Tres España soldiers breaking out into their school chant on the battlefield, lawl. Only in Kyoukaisen!
- Really not sure about the scene with Hassan and Persona-kun. I know this isn’t the most aggressive of battles, but stopping for a meal (served by the enemy) in the middle of a battle was quite odd. I’m just gunna try not to think about it too much.
- Ponytail Futayo is hot, but so is unbound Futayo, HNNNNG!!
Full-length images: 01, 03, 26, 38, 39.
Ed Sequence:
Preview
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This show is way too good. Waaay too good. Crossing my fingers that this keeps on going for more seasons to come, and stays as strong as it is. 😀
I know, right? And the other writers said I was mad to blog this! Mad they said!!!
Tell me, would a mad person do two massive retrospectives (Part 1, Part 2) and then write 13x ~3,000 word posts that each take 8+ hours to do for 13 straight weeks in a row? Huh? Would they!?!?
*froths at the mouth from all the genius*
So mad indeed.
They just keep on upping the levels of AWESOME!
From Tachibana Gin getting a second set of arms (in both senses of the word!) and going all out versus Futayo, to Neito/Walsingham teaming up to help the Moneymaker (and we can see a nod to certain railgun in the passing…) to “putting your money in life insurance”, to sending an incubus with slime for some “non-violent” mischief (cupid’s arrow? :P), to Toori’s unique leadership methods “I’ll go to cheer you personally!”, to Futayo disarming (literally!) Gin AGAIN. And sweet special ending focused on the Tachibana pair.
Amount of incredibly lame puns is so staggering, it’s like we get them rapid-fired.
But they are all executed with so much style, it’s just flowing seamlessly into one giant firework of awesomeness/LOL.
Yes Stilts nii-chan… You are certainly mad. But in a good way!
I must admit that I almost wanted to NOT follow Kyoukaisen II after that mind boggling season 1. In retrospect, its a relief that I continued on with it.
Right after the Monogatari series, this would be the next one that I’d follow from start to finish.
Only problem I have with Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon was it’s really hard to understand all aspect of the show without reading Stilts’s explanations and impressions.
That being say, I really enjoy your MAD ~3,000 words long posts every weeks and I really appreciate it. Without it, I don’t think I will be able to enjoy the show as much as I do now.
Yes: wonderful posts, and a great aid to understanding this complicated series. Instead of watching each episode four times, watch it twice and read Stilts’ summary in between!
You’re not mad but Madly Awesome…in a good way. 😛
Not mad, it’s just that you’re damn awesome.
This is show is maddeningly awesome, so its a mad person to blog it.
“A c-clean cushion” gawd. Suzu’s speech is super cute.
DAT CUSHION
Musashi-sama’s cushion – WANT.
Nooooooo! I don’t want Horizon to end…. Need more…. T_T
I imagine the Scarred in the episode title refers to Gin’s, not Mary. Although scars and their meanings seems to be the theme this season anyway.
Turns out you were exactly correct! Which, seeing as the last episode ended with Futayo and Gin, I really should have guessed myself, but eh, nobodies perfect I guess.
“Where the one scarred by swords belongs”?
Right here:
https://randomc.net/image/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon%20II%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2054.jpg
Hello, I have always read this blog, but this is my first comment. First of all I apologize for my terrible English, my native language is Spanish, so I’m using the google translator XD
13 more episodes are not enough for a third season. The volume 3 (light novel 5, 6, and 7) have more than 2470 pages, so 13 episodes for adaptation are very few. Note that Volume 1 has over 1200 pages, and Volume 2 has over 2000.
I hopefully a third season has 24 or 26 episodes.
Agreed. A lot of people said this season needed to be 2-cour, and though I think it worked out pretty well overall, I’m going to be really worried if we get a 1-cour Season 3. Here’s to hoping! *raises his glass*
Horizon challenges that sacred question of “Can an amazingly convoluted and complicated story balance itself with this much amazing fanservice?”
And the answer it gives us is…*drools at Gin kicking ass*
So very agreed on Futayo’s hair. It looks great normally, and then undone was an amazing surprise.
As for Gin, thank you as always for the explanations Stilts! The normal arms had me confused after the mention (And now visual) of Muneshige cutting off her arms, but seems sensible in hindsight.
The merchant used a railgun, our invincible electric princess should sue for copyright infringement.
Behold, the real POWER OF MONIES.
If there’s one thing that Shirojiro proved is that MONEY is POWERFUL and MONEY CAN BOTH PROTECT AND HURT YOU REAL BAD
I remember a time when the main character actually got screentime.
But at least now Toori’s naked when he appears.
I don’t mind actually. This is one of the few action shows that gives support characters more screen time and puts them in a better light overall.
Agreed. Kyoukaisen is a show that challenges the very idea of a main character. Sure, Toori and Horizon are still the most central figures to the plot, but in reality all the characters of Class 3-Plum (and those they’re immediately close with) with the main characters, because this show would simply not work ANYTHING like it does without all of them.
Besides, putting multiple characters at the center of the plot is the only way Kyoukaisen is able to constantly give us conclusions that actually feel meaningful, which I for one absolutely love.
Game of Thrones style. Who needs a traditional main character when you can just make everyone awesome.
Awesome episodes these past weeks were. I still can’t get over the awesomeness that was Tenzou last week.
– Look on the bright side, Stilts. At least Persona and Hassan got to do something. It’s a waste of curry though with the old guy dipping his paintbrush in it.
– If you’ll allow me to fill in said blanks in the case of Asama launching the Kenji missile, I’d say imagine if that was Toori. Or a more unrelated example a ship full of Nakano Azusas and put Hirasawa Yui right in the middle.
– This was mirrored somewhere else but definitely the mecha fight gave me Asura Cryin vibes.
– I really wonder what those Kobolds can do.
– Intentional or not, Shirojiro flipping that coin Railgun style was just awesome.
– Shocked Gin is a cute Gin. This whole sex misunderstanding that started with Malga really reached new heights.
Not only shocked Gin… But Gin without the oversized prosthetics is a cute Gin…
100% agreed.
Futayo: “I pierced though him 50 times”
Gin: F-fifty times… 0_0;
Now Gin knows why her husband is still in bed. 😛
Vaan…. Lisbeth’s face clearly fits your comment…
Back to Muneshige…. My god… He has the endurance to be “pierced fifty times!”
somebody tell Malga, it’s a prime doujin material…
Lets bring in the fanfic writer as well… What ever his name is… Muneshibara?
Do not want!! >_< (and it's Neshinbara)
so who was “Mr Parted-Head” that Heidi was referring to when asked about the kobolds? All I understood was that Mr Parted Head (or parted hair) gave them a lot of stones and that somehow the kobolds were in them…
I think ‘Mr Parted Hair’ is Charles Howard. He probably loaded the stones with the kobolds when Musashi was receiving supplies from England before the armada battle. Probably a small gift to Shirojiro in acknowledgement of his skills as a merchant.
gandalf8 is correct. Sorry I didn’t clarify that…I thought I mentioned it last episode somewhere, so I didn’t think to say so again! But yes, it’s Charles Howard.
HA, RAILGUN SIGHTED, power of money is too strong, also some of the other side characters get a bit of screen time, I cracked at Nenji and Kenji, as well as Hassan and Persona serving curry to the enemy IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLEFIELD. Oh dear, Gin’s looking quite yandere now… , and this show is soooooooooooooo full of win.
I must say, ever since episode 7, Kyoukaisen has been leaving me breathless in almost every single conceivable way. From the pacing to the action to the huge space battles (yep I’m one of those HUGE fans of space battles).
This episode’s no less. From sex to Gin to money and back to Gin…. its just breathless.
And Gin, who knew you could be so moe >> https://randomc.net/image/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon%20II%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
What are you talking about? Gin has been moe from the beginning. I just enjoyed her stealing the spotlight properly for once ^^
Gin was to but it bluntly some what robotic in showing her emotion. This episode showed a full range of them from her. haha I always found Gin fascinating but I really just want to give her a huge in place of her husband. T-T
I didn’t find Gin moe at all in season 1 cos she was inexplicably robotic. It’s only in season 2 that she starts to get more moe
I’m not sure about the fight between Noriki and the Valdez siblings, but aren’t the first two attacks by them actually hits by pitch instead of strikes? That means Noriki should be at least at first base.
Futayo and Gin clearly were the stars this time, seeing how their fight began and ended the episode.
About Gin’s arms: After her big arms were cut off, you can see the two crosses she usually carries on her shoulder fall down in front of her (unlike the rest of the arms which fell down behind her). I believe that these crosses are were she keeps the smaller arms in. The attachment of the arms should be no problem, after all Gin can use telekinesis to control those giant guns.
And yes, they are prosthetic. She either lost her real arms in her fight against Muneshige (you can see him cut them off at the end of the episode) or even before that.
The second time Gin loses her arms in the fight, they are actually not cut off by Futayo, but rather dropped by herself before Futayo completes her swing. Maybe Gin didn’t want to have her arms cut off by anyone but Muneshige.
The title of the next episode makes me think that Musashi will actually fall into Tres España’s trap and move into their territory. England will possibly wrap up the spanish armada battle behind them.
Ahaha, true on Noriki. I was ignoring that part of baseball rules, since it’s sort of a baseball-battle thing. A bit weird though, to be sure.
I noticed the crosses, and that’s a distinct possibility, but I figured it was unnecessary to hide them there if she had hammerspace. Doesn’t really matter – either would work.
I’m 90% sure Gin’s arms were prosthetic when Muneshige cut them off. After all, notice the lack of massive blood loss here.
Interesting thought on her dropping her arms. I’ll have to watch that again and see if you’re right!
Oh, so that hug was actually a flashback to the end of the fight? I thought it was after Gin recovered from her wounds.
Man… I’m dieing to know why Muneshige cut her arms off in the first place! Why the heck were they even fighting?
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Added a spoiler tag, because you kind of needed one there. It’s not a major one though, so no worries, I’m not too angry about having read it myself!
Just a couple of quick things:
The Valdez Siblings’ pitches have an optimal point at which they combine into one and disappear into a private space of some sort. Noriki observed this mechanic and targeted that sweet spot, destroying the private space and repelling the shot.
Also something a little more interesting about Naomasa imouto from the Q&A. While their hometown was under attack, the Suzaku OS wouldn’t boot due to some sort of malfunction. Already half-dead, imouto volunteered to be wired up as the new OS. This is actually why everyone has looked down on Suzaku so far – not because they knew it was using an imouto-based organic OS (evidently they didn’t), but because it was actually inferior and not the ~true~ Suzaku, thus leaving it unable to use its associated abilities. But this episode, with imouto in danger, the original OS finally boots up and Suzaku becomes the ~true~ Suzaku, allowing it to use its ability to turn surroundings to nothing and defeat Byakko.
Additional fun fact: The parts of imouto that are hidden by blue liquid in the tank are because those parts of her body are either heavily damaged or not present at all.
Wow, thanks for all these precious nuggets of information, especially about the Jizuri Suzaku Moomba. Are you a LN (or, in Horizon’s case, HN?) reader then?
As Stilts said below, most of this info is stuff I’m translating and summarising from the episode Q&A, occasionally with the addition of some of the info Kawakami tweets (he tweets a lot of interesting bits and pieces while the episode airs). I also discuss things with some people who actually have read the LNs every now and again and I’m planning on starting reading Owari no Chronicle soon!
Thank you kindly, mooms!
And gandalf8, I believe he just translated and summarized the Q&A. That’s where he usually gets info like this. That, or some of Kawakami-sensei’s tweets.
Awesome episode overall, but you forgot one lttle thing…the kobolds….the FREAKIN cute kobolds =).
Anyone notice that Hironaka Takakane and the one riding Byakko were fading out from their legs? What’s with that?
they’re ghosts
FYI, I referenced this back in Episode 1 and Episode 8.
I wish to see more of Naomasa. And the rest of the cast. Season 3, demmit!
Shirojiro revealing his coinmail had my jaw dropping at this magnificent bastard. Never ever underestimate the power of money! The Hound and the Wolf combining forces after their sort-of rivalry was also epic to watch; it’s great seeing England finally join the fight.
– Somebody should really teach Futayo about what sex really is before she causes a misunderstanding on an international level next time. Just how sheltered did you brought her up, Honda Tadakatsu, to not even know about the birds and the bees?
– Asama shows more of her mischievous side by inflicting a Tres Espana ship with the presence of an incubus and his 3HP slime friend. Totally loving the way she stretches the rule that miko’s cannot hurt people through some ingenious methods and a helpful dose of ‘coincidental’ effects her arrow shots has on her enemies.
– Toori again manages to lift up the Musashi grunts fighting spirit with a few well chosen idiotic statements. Although the way the Tres Espana grunts could get into formation and perform a cheer of their own while the Musashi grunts waited for them to finish was definitely a bit cheesy.
– Shirojiro schooling Tres Espana’s Vice Chancellor on the power of money. From firing coins at high speeds, manipulating a huge wave of coins to smash into his opponents, to wearing armour made of coins, Musashi’s treasurer shows how ‘real’ merchants fight using money. Literally.
– Naomasa and Jizuri Suzaku getting some payback from Era Fusae and Michiyuki Byakko for the beating they got in Episode 1. You know they’re in serious trouble when characters who usually have their eyes closed finally open them, and Jizuri Suzaku finally openly declared itself as one of the 4 Sacred Gods of War by activating its 3rd form and subsequently sending Michiyuki Byakko for a drink. Hope we’ll learn more about Naomasa and Jizuri Suzaku’s past, and why her sister is piloting(?) Jizuri Suzaku.
– Gin and Futayo’s duel. Gin finally used her full power, the Quattro Cruz, after Futayo de-armed her for the first time. Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t enough, and Futayo proceeded to destroy all her big laser guns and de-arming her for the second time, even doing it in almost the same method Muneshige used when he fought her (this probably hurt Gin a lot, making her think all sorts of things about Futayo’s and Muneshige’s relationship after Futayo’s misleading confession). Seeing snippets of Gin’s and Muneshige’s past fight made me hungry for more info on these twos relationship, especially on how a girl could love the man that cut her arms off.
– Also, Futayo looks seriously hot with her hair down. I know I’ll probably be crucified for this, but I think that she now looks hotter than even Kimi-nee. Welp, let the downvotes commence then.
The “sex” misunderstanding is a Japanese to English translation confusion. It, of course, started because Malga took “sex” to be “intercourse” in Japanese, rather than Asuma asking what the translation was.
Of course, the fact the end results are the faces that Gin makes, just makes that joke really, really work.
It’s not a translation joke, it started when the clueless about world Azuma asked Malga what the word means and she was too embarrassed to properly explain flowers and bees and the damage started circulating from there. Futayo got the wrong idea from Masazumi when she explained sex as a way of improving relationship.
EHHH! Musashi’s Biohazard missile sure is dangerous!!
@_@
It should be illegal to have so many fights in just one episode!!!!! compared to “traditional” shonen you feel suffocated and shocked. For example right now Luffy and Hordy figth has been what like 10 episodes and still going?! I enjoyed every single second and blow exchanged here of every single match. Hell even the “dinner” fight of curry vs fried rice. As silly as it was it did buy time for Mushashi and took the concentration out of the paint. But when the credits rolled I was wasted took me and hour to re-synch my sneses.
Futayo she just rock the boat (the whole ship). So far all the Tres España fighters either fleed or flyed overboard. Which bring me to Gin, it felt she wsa captured?! will she be hostage for season 3, will hubby came back to rescue her?!! argh!!! can’t wait. Gin was lovely and moved 5 spots in my list Kyoukai “waifus”. However Futayo ughnnn NYAAAaaaa!!!
Great episode. But it is kind of weird to have an entire episode without Seijun appearing.
But…she can’t fight. Plus I don’t think anyone wants to her one of her terrible jokes in the middle of an intense battle either. XD
I wonder, the title in a way could imply Gin, as she herself was rather scarred by swords.
That’s what I’m thinking now, as per Rainz’s comment above.
“Where the one scarred by swords belongs”?
Right here, like this:
https://randomc.net/image/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon%20II%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2054.jpg
Date Shigezane where!!! She was in the roster for Season 2 XD (unless she will be the season 3 cliffhanger)
I liked to express something to the scene that I find it ridiculously funny:
” The Fat-lolicon guy just fell in a hole while delivering the Hasan curry to Velasquez and his last words were to spread his “ideals” to the “Young Girls” of Tres Espana. ”
Goodness gracious, this war is one of a kind. Where will you see a couple sitting somewhere high in the middle of war? Horizon was drinking tea and Toori almost got shaved by a cannon, talk about crazy, you know. They even have time to chat with Tenzou during the last episode in the middle of war.
Can we give Toori an award for the “Best Naked Man of the Year Award. Definitely he’ll win ,for sure.
Man, oh, man. Sunrise sure are amazing for squeezing all those four-thick-phone book like novels into 26- episode. Sunrise staff and the Voice Actors & Actresses have my uttermost respect for them. I hope that for the conclusion of the series, we’ll receive a good news for season 3.GO!GO!GO! KyoukaiSen 3.
As much as I’d love to have a S3 of Kyoukaisen, it’d probably happen in 2 or 3 years maybe. Producing something like Kyoukaisen is a lot of work, the staff deserve to have a lighter work load for a while! If there never is a S3, then that’s understandable too…but a 2 cour S3 by Sunrise in a few years would be FAAAAAANTASTIC!
I agree. It’d probably be best for the series if there was a break before Season 3, so they can do it right. Of course, this has nothing to do with me wanting a break before another season (or two) full of back breaking, 8+ hour-a-day posts 😀
Maybe only a one-season rest, like between Horizon I and Horizon II? But: rest as long as you have to, Sunrise staff, please keep bringing your A++ game to this show.
Volume 3 is a bit longer as well, so if they are committed to do it, I’d love for the to stretch it out to 26 episodes
AGREED!
Familiar of Zero took a long break before finishing off. So it’s probable if ever.
Noriki battle, Noriki’s fist touched the first 2 shots, first shot that bent the steel plate in his vest give him the angle of the pitch, second shot he stepped backed to judge when he can full extend his arm and the speed required to make full contact. The stance he took is a batting stance that help speed up swing and force by stepping forward and shift center of gravity, same concept exist in martial arts as well. Valdez Siblings’ spell St.Elmo’s fire el fuego is base on offering charity, both pitches cannot arrive to the enemy at the same time, because it is not charity if you give all you had to the other, and it is not the best charity if you don’t leave the other a hand to receive more charity. The 2 pitch goes through a process that they as their path seemingly fuse into one, they enter a spell specific space where the power and trajectory of one pitch is offered to the better pitch. one pitch arrives at the enemy as the best possible pitch, the other returns harmlessly to the pitcher. Noriki saw through the truth and hit the better pitch before their trajectories fused, that breaks the spell and the entrance into spell created space and the offering of one pitch to the other did not occur. All 3 times, the little sister’s pitches were the best, and the head on hit send it back where it came from. To save his little sister, the brother caught the line drive out and broke his hand, but preserve the sibling’s victory. Though they didn’t pull out because of that, the pulled out because Musashi is accelerating and their small ship can no longer stay attached without sustaining terrible damage.
Kenji is and incubus that does exactly what his names suggest and suck energy, Neiji was there to prevent escape.
Think of the old man’s a ability as an augmented reality app, he needs too see the whole picture and what he add does not do direct damage to the actual thing, only phenomenons created by the spell.
Four Sacred Gods of War each has it’s own ability akin to reality marbles of Fate, Michiyuki Byakko has “road”, Jizuri Suzaku’s is “lake.” If you as why is it “Lake” when it appeared as the sky, it is meant to be a reflection and endless. Technically the Sacred Gods of War should all be semi-automatic intelligent machines and requires no pilot, you give them a command, they figure out what to do, which is why it was surprising that Jizuri Suzaku has a person in its chest. Up to this point Jizuri Suzaku was never properly activated, so Fusahide called it a fake. It’s been driven by Naomasa’s sister following her command, since she replaced a large amount of Jizuri Suzaku’s AI functionality, but once she is exposed, in order to protect her Jizuri Suzaku’s OS finally activates which activates the “lake.”
Tachibana Gin’s other pair of prosthetic came from the cross-shaped boxes that she was carrying, they fall off because Gin no longer has arms to support them on her back, and as it falls to the ground, box opens and the arms attach. It’s not very clear because usually attention is diverted by her large prosthetic and the elaborate clothing design of the Horizon world, but if you look at her in the beginning of the episode and compare it to her character design sheet, you’ll see 2 thing that was sticking out her back. They had to condense a lot of the past into the ED. Tachibana household is known for it’s ridiculous martial prowess and strength, Gin wanted to take over as head of the household eventually, so she dedicated her life into becoming as strong as possible so that she can inherit the Tachibana Muneshige name and be the head of Tachibana clan. When Muneshige came along with the intention of taking the Tachibana Muneshige name, she hated him so much that she repeatedly beaten him to severe injuries. Muneshige eventually became stronger, at the very last fight, Gin was attempting to kill him because he was taking away what she work all her life for, he sliced away her arms because she became a pure weapon at that point, and he had to disable her so that she finds humanity again. It’s implied that she will never be as strong as she once was, and thus frees her from the burden of becoming the strongest and take over as the head of the Tachibana clan. They modified out a bloody touching scene, where right after Muneshige lops her arms off, he held her in his arms and with his hands directly keeping pressure on the wound so she doesnt bleed out.
Some good info in here! Too much to splice into my post, but feel free to check it out for some more clarifications, all.
Oh wow. I thought that after previous two episodes it’s physically impossible to keep up tension and awesomeness levels and expected this episode to be a little of let-down, but with Kyoukaisen, they really do cheat. I disagree that this episode wasn’t as awesome as previous. Well, maybe a little less, but it just keep up delivering from the very beginning.
Most of the awesomeness was already pointed out, so just the few details that I especially liked:
– I though that the freakishly huge arrow that Asama used in S1 to shoot through the incoming projectile (and “accidentally” through the gun turret behind, dropping the ship) was the biggest thing that can be shot using bow. Boy, was I wrong. Though I admire the idea of using Kenji as a non-lethal bio-weapon to completely break enemy formation.
– If Suzu continues what she’s doing, she’s soon gonna be a better expert on, ahem, “cushions” than Toori is. He’d better watch out for our cute little contender to the title of “boobs connoisseur”.
– Neito and R.Doro… I mean, F.Walsingham shown some really good teamwork. Their action scene was short, but they cooperated rather than getting into each other way, not to mention their abilities kinda compensate each other with Neito excelling in close-to-medium quarters and Francis providing firepower at longer distances.
– The scenes with that badass soldier, the scene with Jizuri Suzaku or the witch platoon from the previous episode illustrate another thing: they all have pretty good reasons to fight. They are not just here for the visuals, but everybody have their own backstory and their own reasons.
– Speaking of reasons, I loved Margot single-handedly going all Red Baron on Tres España airforce. Even if she eventually got shot down, she’s like a squadron of X-Wings incarnated in one cute witch.
– And Futayo vs. Gin. Oh man. That fight was choreographed. It’s so rare in anime (and elsewhere). Every single move actually made tactical sense, and Futayo pulled like two or three of them per second. I re-watched just that fight three times just to catch every little trick she used. Hands down, one of the best fight scenes I’ve seen in anime.
Agreed on all of the above, especially about Suzu and Futayo vs Gin. That battle was really impressive for all the thought behind every move (a rarity…I can’t even claim that combat scenes I’ve written have such attention to detail, and I love that kind of shit), so it’s a pleasure to watch. And as for Suzu….moooooeeeeeee!!! :3 Cutest bangs in Musashi indeed!
Quote “Here’s the thing about Toori – in terms of raw, analytical ability, he’s not the smartest guy around. If you need someone who can deal with complex tactics, then you’re going to want Neshinbara (battle) or Masazumi (politics); for intricate systems, Naomasa (electronics, mechanics) or Shirojiro (economics) are the way to go; hell, even Futayo (combat) has a squirrely tactical cleverness that is plain to see once she starts fighting.”
I once read something in the past about how a good leader is not one that can do everything, but one that knows how to distribute its ppl in the area they work best at.
Which make alot of sense to me because yea a good leader that knows how to do everything and being perfect is nice but bottomline is you only one person, two arms and two legs theirs so much that one person can and will ever be able to do, not to mention endurance in the end it just goner tired you out.
But a smart leader that sit back but knows where to put certain ppl in certain area is alot more smarter, like the old saying work smarter not harder.
It comes down to absolute advantage vs comparative advantage. A leader might be better than everyone else at something in absolute terms (this isn’t the case here, but it could be), but like you said, they’re only one person – better for them to focus on the one thing only they can do (lead effectively, one would assume) and leave everything else up to others.
By annoying Diego with the curry, and sticking his brush in it, Hassan and Persona-kun basically disarmed him, he can no longer paint!!!
About Gin’s smaller arms, I believe (and good reason to believe) that they were inside those containers she was carrying around on her back and attached them shortly after having her bulkier ones severed. First, when you watch the scene, she clearly doesn’t have arms underneath the bulky ones and then you see the containers on her back fall to her sides where her arms would be. Then they fall away revealing the cute little petite prosthetics.
It’s wonderful that Suzu get’s cushions in such large scale battles…but damn. She can sense things in a 30 km radius? Did I hear & read that right? Suzu is so awesome! (well everyone in Kyoukaisen is really… XD)
Stilts, I really need to thank you for what you have done for me, and hopefully will do in the future with the next season of Horizon. My experience with this show may be very well a common one, but I want to let you know nonetheless, even if my English is poor.
I was sick at the time, so having some free time to waste, I downloaded the first season out of curiosity, and started watching it. I was like, wow, nice characters! nice and hot, love these girls outfits.. oh, now there is an awesome battle for the heck of it … some weird speech .. oh, it ended ? guess so ..
and then I realized I didn’t understand anything. Absolutely. Not a single thing. I though that there was a lot of wasted potential and the show was at most average, but at the same time I felt something was really wrong, like > I < was the one out of place, instead of the meaningless battles and rants. The Horizon characters were still in my head and all looking at me with an expression like to say "poor guy, he really struggles but can't be part of our world" …
So I decided to look for info, someone to help me enter this world, I didn't want to surrender without even a try. And that was when I found this site and your reviews. They were as magnificently executed as this show is, truly. They literally composed the whole picture for me, out of the shattered pieces I had, in such an elegant way. I finally felt part of this story. I couldn't help it and rewatched the entire first season in a couple of days, later catching up with the second one, always following your lead. This time, manly tears was shed as the fantastic adventure unrolled in front of me.
This show is now one of my all times favourites, it's the very definition of "entertainment", the purpose anime are meant for.
And it's all thanks to you, for letting me join this trip
*takes off the hat and bows
ok, enough with the love confession, I still like the Horizon girls waaaay more than you Stilts, all of them 🙂
take care, I hope we will continue our journey into more Kyoukay Senjo no Horizon.
*bows* I am humbled by your praise, kind friend. I’m glad my self-indulgent walls ‘o text have been of use to some. It makes every minute I spent on them absolutely worth it. Thank you, and you’re welcome *bows again*
did anyboy read what the title for the next episode it said i think the greedy ins cross the path or something. gues what that means
I think it roughly translate into “hedonists across the border” or the ones indulge in desire cross the boundary
wicked i was reffering to what it could mean about a certain weapon
Next episode preview:
http://tinyurl.com/cts85g3
And here a curiosity with some visual spoilers, all the characters from v1 to v4:
http://i48.tinypic.com/33c4whk.png
@Stilts: So why is Spain winning the war a bad thing? They should lose right? If they win, then what? Renactment round 2? History changes?
England pays a fine?
i would say the testament unuin would be mad at england and punish them for letting tres espana win.
but most likely they used musashi as the battle ship so that if tres espana does win the can just blame them putting more problems on musashis plate
no one is gonna blame spain for winning?
I’m not sure, to be honest. They’re certainly get the normal rewards for winning (fame, enhanced power, a diminished enemy), but I’m not sure what it would do to history reenactment. Everyone might act like they lost anyway (like how everyone claims the scuffle with Musashi or the whole Mikawa-blowing-up things never happened), or that might be the point where history splits off into a new direction! Probably the former, though. It’s all politics, after all.
Really though, I’ve always just filed that under “the characters need to really make sure that doesn’t happen” and let it be :X Sorry I can’t be of more help this time!
I think if they do win they’d be punished by the Testament Union to recreating history because Spain is suppose to wan in power during this period of time, chances are they might get their Testament Arma taken away, which would be a big blow to their military power. Spain is not foolish enough to do that. They’re trying to “win”, then explain it into a loss by citing certain criteria of the loss they recreated during the battle, so that it shows that they are to be reckon with ,but still abide by the general guideline of the Testament Union. Span is already in bad shape for losing one Sin Armament, and their first special agent semi-crippled(lost his superspeed connection due to Futayo’s old man and lost to Futayo)
https://randomc.net/image/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon/Kyoukai%20Senjou%20no%20Horizon%20II%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
Poor Gin, NTR doujin gonna happen.
NTR or Threesome?
Threesome? (I read some of the LN so I’m just bending what really happened)
No, no Arashi. I was talking about the possibility of a threesome in the doujins between Gin, Mune and Futayo. Futayo is just too dumb to understand what sex is here. 🙁
I dunno. This is Futayo. She didn’t have much screentime that doesn’t involve fighting people.
I be like making an alter-Mune who is a damn cool playboy…
=_=; I knew you were talking about doujin. I was merely responding.
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I just has to click the button. I don’t regret it though.
Gin > Rin
next arc i want incubus man,Nenji,Persona,Giant Robot have main character spotlight in their own story!
something won’t be happen but really i want to see that
it would be interesting
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Oh right, Ulqui’s wife and the things he did to her…..
whooaa really?
say why they don’t want make Horizon into total 25/26 episode?
i heard one volume of Horizon light novel are extremely long and thick,they should already have lot tons material to make into anime adaptation
This arc was already very crammed in 13 episodes, next ones need 24/26 episodes to work.
i have feeling the ending of this season will be a cliff hanger again like season 1
hopefully it means S3 then
wow is it indeed SQL. shit!
wait so that Ulqui guy already have a wife?
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That must be the most epic victory pose I’ve ever seen in anime. She was so much cool and beutiful with her hair like that.
So much amazing moments this episode. XD