NEEDLESS – 19

「ポジティブフィードバック・ゼロ」 (Pojitibu Fiidobakku Zero)
“Positive Feedback Zero”

Damn, that was one hot Little Boy. Oh crap, that didn’t come out right. “It’s not what you think your honor, it’s the name of a move in a Japanese cartoon!”, probably won’t hold up very well in court huh? So um… anyway… Aruka is down, Blade vs. Arclight is on! It’s the battle of the Zero fragments. That’s not all though, we also have the series debut of the pop idol group KILLER GIRLS. Comprised of Natsuki (Shindou Kei), Yua (Taketatsu Ayana), and Honoka (Igushi Yuka), the group is able to calm the restless crowd with their performance of “Watashi wa Juice de Coconuts” 「わたしはジュースでココナッツ」. Their next performance will be… err… wait a second, who cares about the idols! I’m with Disc on this one, even though they’re probably the ultimate weapon against Blade.

So with Blade having passed his trademark death penalty on Aruka, she was pretty worse for wear but somehow manages to lash out at Cruz one more time. Her hot, nopan, psychotic self is frozen stiff by the arrival of Arclight though, while Seto, Solva, and Teruyama — freshly healed by Eve’s spit — jump in for good measure. After Arclight descends from an invisible staircase, he humbly acknowledges Blade’s abilities for dealing with two of the four Simeon Four Strongest. However, peaceful discussion between these two doesn’t last long, as Blade is quick to strike first and get repelled just as quickly. Their battle calmly changes scenery to the top floor of the Simeon building, where Arclight reveals that he needs Blade’s body because his right eye and heart can’t be healed by any means. Blade only sees him as a perverted homo who wants his body though — a comment that would bring out a dominating beating from Arclight courtesy of Heat Explosions, the Fourth Wave, and more.

To add insult to injury, Arclight discourages everyone from relying on sheer courage, hard work, wishful thinking, or miracles like weaklings. While Blade isn’t the least bit phased by his words, he soon finds out he’s up against Arclight’s Positive Feedback Zero fragment, which allows him to not only use everyone‘s abilities, but amplify their effectiveness as well. (Explanation care of our cute Disc.) Watching in another room, some big shots are discussing with Saten about how they’re surprised that someone other than him — Adam Project scientist Gido — is still alive after “that” explosion. In addition, they’re concerned about things not going as planned if things end without Blade putting up a fight, but Saten reassures everyone that he’s not that weak. And that he’s not, as Blade charges head-on believing that Arclight won’t hit him in any vital spots and takes a hand through the chest, just so that he can use his Zero fragment forehead-to-forehead. An unforeseen reaction happens at that point as Arclight’s body tries to reject it, causing a lot of his memories to resurface. Shocked, Gido realizes it’s the same thing that happened “that” time.

Pretty crazy fight between Blade and Arclight, even though it was completely one-sided for the most part. Seeing as these two are undoubtedly clones of the Second created by the Adam Project, I guess it comes as no huge surprise that those guys in the backroom are expecting something from having them clash. My guess at this point is to determine which clone is better, but that isn’t founded on any concrete basis. As for Saten’s motives, it looks like he’s actively involved with the Adam Project, which would explain why he never wanted to kill Blade or his friends to begin with. The next episode looks like it’s a flashback to the Adam Project days leading up to the said “explosion”, so I’m sure we’ll learn more about Blade and Arclight‘s purposes then. I’m also hoping to hear an explanation about what happens when Zero fragments collide like they just did now. Comedy-wise, this episode had its moments with Eve’s healing spit, Blade panting like a dog, and Saten going over the weight limit in the elevator and being forced to take the stairs — the last of which was brought up again in the preview dialogue.

The most pleasant surprise this week was how nice the animation was. There were a lot of good transition scenes and the overall detail was high. Also, at no point did any of the characters look kind of off, which can’t be said about some of the previous showings. Nopan Simeon Aruka in particular looked a lot better than her earlier appearances, even though her screentime here was pretty limited. (She did get her ass kicked after all.) Anyway, I’ll let the screen captures speak for themselves in that regard, but this does showcase Madhouse‘s capabilities of producing A-grade work, much like I mentioned last time.

Preview