Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi – 03

「飄」 (Hyō)
“Whirlwind”

What an incredible turn of events for this little series, no expectations going into this episode, but boy where they surpassed. This episode featured incredible sakuga animation. Nickel (Uesaka Sumire) being dispatched to the Idaten island because of a tracking pin, placed on Hayato by Dr. Oobami (Cho) who was later repurposed by Ysley and placed on Rin. After, Nickel arrives and a fight ensues thereafter.

Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi doesn’t falter, as soon as Nickel lands on the island, she puts on a smile that sends shivers down the spines of the Idaten, and mine too! And a fight begins that lasts for a good part of the B part of the episode. Suffice to say, my jaw dropped at the gorgeous and fluid animation. Nickel showing her demon power, converting her arms into anything she pleases. Even a giant muscular arm that leaves her body looking tiny. The fight was so well choreographed, and the animation added an extra layer of spice on top of it. Nickel is confident she can beat the Idaten, but it’s not until Rin steps into action that she loses some of that focus and starts rampaging around.

Speaking about Rin, sprinkled throughout this episode we got some of her backstory, turns out after her grandpa sealed the demons, she was left all alone. Where previously she would rely on the elders to guide her. But now she has no one but herself. She spends some centuries cowering in fear, her anxiety through the roof, she’s defenseless against the demons if they manage to break through the seal. So she decides to buck up and face the music so to speak. Slowly but surely she regains her life and begins training. Her Idaten training is brutal, putting herself through the harshest environments, building up her body, and becoming stronger in the process. She deteriorated her body on purpose so that she could gain new strength, her resolve managed to get her through the harshest of times. Then when the first Idaten was born in this new area of peace, Prontea (Ishida Akira) and finished the training under Rin. She was finally able to smile, and feel at peace. Rin comes from an era where they only knew war, and now that there’s peace, she is unable to sit and enjoy a relaxing moment, instead she trained so hard, she became a powerhouse all by herself.

This show’s when she manages to summon a sword from her hand, Ysley denotes that to be able to summon a weapon like that out of thin air, it would have to be fundamental in your daily life. So it’s safe to say Rin has been using that sword for over 800 years. And then in the blink of an eye, it’s all done, the fight stops and Rin emerges victorious, not before revealing that Nickel can’t move her body anymore, not because of poison or anything like that, but because her head has been cut off.

And then, oh boy, a final cliffhanger moment in this episode, Ysley is working with a separate research lab and is keeping it all under wraps, with money not being a problem. He’s researching the Idaten and proposes a theory of the Idaten, which lets Prontea do acts that resemble magic.

What a great episode this was, the fight mixed with Rin’s backstory was incredibly entertaining. When the episode started, I wasn’t sure where this was going to go, but soon after I found myself enjoying it wholeheartedly. The meeting with Dr. Oobami and the rest of the demon cast proves to show how much power each of them thinks they have. But then they were totally annihilated by Rin, so maybe Ysley’s right, as things stand now, Rin is unbeatable.

And I liked that they included Rin’s backstory in this episode, it was almost down to the formula, have a character fight, then use some of that time to reach the viewer and explain why that character is so overpowered, by giving us some of their backstory and past turmoils. It makes Rin go from a stoic teacher to a more profound role model. She found the best way to train Idaten’s, even if it’s over the top and extreme, but know’s that beatings make a lot more sense. She trains them like that because she knows anything else would be useless. As she trained herself first, before being able to train others.

This episode was unexpected and left the demons in a precarious position. What’s their next move?

So far at least, in my opinion, Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi is proving to be one of the standouts this season! With its unique sense of style, interesting presentation, and distinctive polish. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing more of what Heion has to offer.