「見えざる刃 PART3」 (Miezaru Yaiba)
“The Invisible Blade Part 3”

Well things are certainly happening as expected. While we’re guaranteed a cliffhanger next week (if just to reinforce Munou na Nana’s ongoing manga status), it’s at least bound to be an entertaining one considering Nana is now in full doubt mode, her mentor/teacher Tsuruoka looks set to make an appearance, and our mystery killer might be the one who actually sets Jin off. Oh yes, I’d say the fuse has been lit.

After all the buildup to this point, having Nana openly question her purpose to kill Michiru is not surprising in the slightest – though it’s definitely eyebrow raising. Sure, it could be said Michiru’s backstory was tailor-made for this moment (you don’t find anyone more innocent or wholesome than her), but in truth it was bound to happen with someone at some point. Nothing after all suggests all Talented are predestined to mass slaughter; for every Yuuka and Tsunekichi there’s a Moguo or Seiya, for each intelligent Kyouya a naïve Nanao. Like normal humans Talented aren’t homogenous and individuals are very much unique and free thinking. All Michiru did was provide the reason for Nana to start recognizing the grey gap between black and white – and no matter what she tells herself, there’s no going back now that it’s happened.

As for exactly how things conclude next week, well, your guess is as good as mine. While I wouldn’t read too much into the killer looking like a male given misdirection is a mystery’s main weapon, I still don’t fully believe Fuuko is the culprit considering everything else being brought up thus far. Especially given that love of killing animals. Whoever is to blame has a serious sadistic streak, and that’s the sort of thing which isn’t too easy to hide. It could as easily be an unknown character as someone already named and featured, though I suspect their face is already known. Or faces, because who ever said it just had to be one lone killer?

Come what may we’re in for one hell of a showdown both physically and mentally next week, and I for one couldn’t be more excited.

 

Preview

4 Comments

  1. Well, well this was a surprise, Nana having all these conflicted feelings and making everything even more complicated than it already is? Now that’s a lot of threads to resolve before this ends but considering the ongoing source material, of course there’s no need to rush resolving all these plotlines. I am however, very interested in how they are going to end this one in a way that satisfies both anime only viewers, and manga readers. For now, I am quite thankful the show finally has moved forward in a different direction than I thought it would have, it makes enduring some of the previous contrivances worth it. Well, sort of. I still have to see how this ends (for sure in a cliffhanger) to make sense of how I feel about this series.

    WavePlus
    1. You’re not the only one! This is a direction I like as well because it’s both a surprise (not easy seeing it coming) and helps retain the initial cat and mouse atmosphere originally built up at the start. I don’t think we’re in for an anime original ending given how well the show has been following the manga, but whether the finale leaves off where most manga readers expect it to is definitely up in the air. I honestly hope this one can swing a sequel at some point for how well it’s been so far.

  2. Man, I’m glad I kept watching the show till these stages because now it feels rewarding.
    I wonder, why didn’t Nana suspect the number of potential victims in her phone for each Talented was just random like Jin did? Was she so severely brain-washed?

    nixx
    1. Have to remember Jin saw those numbers as someone already in open doubt about the island’s purpose and its administrators; it makes sense he’d immediately suspect them.

      Nana on the other hand has been educated for years about Talented being the enemy so her first inclination would be to doubt her own feelings rather than suspect the info she’s being fed is wrong. It’s not so much that she’s brainwashed as she is currently unable to conceive of a truth contradictory to her current beliefs.

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