「見えざる刃」 (Miezaru Yaiba)
“The Invisible Blade”

While I may retain fears about the staying power of Munou na Nana, there’s no denying I’m loving what I’m seeing thus far. After going through the rounds of a wheel-a-murder, we’re now actually getting some legitimate competition for Nana as senpais prove their worth and fellow killers come out the woodwork. We might know how the future is likely to play out, but that doesn’t mean the process cannot be fun to witness.

I think the biggest surprise for me this week (outside of the usual cliffhanger) was Nana’s past being revealed. And not just any past—her actual past. This was coming at some point regardless, but I’m honestly quite pleasantly surprised we both got it in full and with enough detail to start piecing together other critical aspects. It’s not hard guessing that burglar for example is not a burglar, as few people out for monetary reward are going to spend the time dismembering household residents and arranging their body parts on the kitchen table. Not impossible mind you, but highly improbable. Top it off with the indication that Nana’s family was intimately involved with the Talented and yeah, we’re looking at something else other than pure coincidence regarding Nana’s situation. I don’t know if we’ll find out the truth this season, however I guarantee the voice on the other side of Nana’s phone holds all the answers and then some.

The real fun though naturally comes from Nana’s immediate problems, and oh boy is this starting to spiral out of control. Jin of course is front and centre given his ridiculous ability to coopt any and all powers (albeit with a weakness he’s keen enough to keep hidden) that nullifies whatever Nana could try, but top it off with third parties now making a play to ameliorate specific grievances (because that’s the primary reason for these kids to lash out) and I expect things to get chaotic in a rush. The interesting bit will be what happens between Nana and Michiru though, as it’s fairly obvious Nana has started humanizing the girl and seeing her as a person contrary to everyone else; Michiru’s personality and actions guaranteed are going to catch Nana out at some point and force her to make a choice she subconsciously doesn’t want to make—e.g. let Michiru die, take a blow for her, choose not to kill her. And that is the stage where the real fun begins. One way or another we’re building up to a major showdown and airing of backstories and hidden motivations, with the question being just who is left standing once the dust settles.

Whether or not it involves blatant hints and teaserss, well, we’ve all got a week to properly mull it over.

Full-length images: 23.

 

Preview

5 Comments

  1. Well, IMO these last two episodes were better than the whole previous season. Except for the very first episode with its plot twist, I guess. At last I can be somehow more compassionate towards the pink-haired lady.

    nixx
    1. It’s a good direction I think, it’s just a question of what the series does with it. I can see it eventually turning into what happened earlier this season if it overstays its welcome, but with that season finale approaching it’s anyone’s guess.

  2. This series is taking quite a different route than I first expected. I don’t know if they are just stretching this out only to come back to the begin or this will indeed by a new direction in the storyline from now on. The staying power is still there, yes, and for once we don’t get a contrived “escape” here. But with a few more episodes to go, I don’t know if they can pull off an ending that is as shocking as the first episode.

    MMX3
      1. Very likely, given how long this arc is in the manga I cannot see the writers trying to cram more in after it. There’s a very good point to leave off coming up, and if pacing stays as it has we’ll reach that point by the last episode.

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