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I’m surprised Zazie doesn’t have a concussion after the trashing Jeel gave him.
「希望の微笑み」 (Kibou no Hohoemi)
“Smile of Hope”
As the preview hinted at last time, we had an episode about Connor and the aftermath in Lament. It wasn’t nearly as sad as I thought it would be since Sunny is still alive, and instead irked the pessimistic side of me a bit with the false hope that Lag spouts out. I realize he’s young and beaming with optimism, which is commendable in its own right, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that his unfounded words of encouragement to Connor were irresponsible at the same time. I was actually anticipating Connor to retort about the supposedly failed attempt of restoring Gauche’s heart and question how Sunny was going to be any different. That would’ve just been throwing salt on some open wounds though, so it’s probably a good thing that Connor isn’t as quick to lash out as I probably would’ve been. Realists like me clearly don’t make good protagonists.
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It’s creepy how Sunny continues to bake delicious cookies when she’s only a shell of her former self.
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I actually thought Sunny passed away when I saw the graves in the preview, so that’s what saved this episode from being sadder than I was anticipating.
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The pessimist in me would’ve been okay with Connor giving up on being a Bee, as it would’ve served as a wake-up call to Lag and the others.
The most prominent thing I took away from Lag’s talk with Connor was the latter alluding to what happens to someone who’s been drained of their heart. I’d imagine that they would eventually lose whatever is left of their soul and collapse, though I’m curious if that’s truly the case. After all, Gauche hasn’t really show any signs of dying, even though he’s lost all his heart.
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Niche, the always earnest and dependable dingo, has been getting through to everyone lately.
I wouldn’t say Niche has done anything but be herself, but when she speaks her mind about feeling sorry for Gus or how delicious Sunny’s cookies are, she always seems to drive a point home to those around her. I love how she never gets depressed and is very practical with the way she thinks, which goes a long way to Lag, Connor, and anyone else who’s lost their way. It’s a stark difference from Lag’s words of encouragement that he himself knows is pretty unfounded at times. Go Niche.
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Sunny’s faint smile of hope brings Connor to his senses. It’s time to exact some revenge on Cabernet.
For the sake of inspiring hope, it was good to see Connor come around at the very end and join the hunt for Cabernet. However, while I can understand the need for Gus’ nose to track down the gigantic Gaichuu, I’m often left wondering if there are any more Bees in this series. We never even see nameless ones going about their business at the Bee Hive, so if they were going to take the fight to Reverse or Akatsuki later on in the story, the lack of numbers would take away from the scale of it all in my eyes. Maybe that will change in the future. For now, it looks like things will remain a tight-knit operation with Lag, Zazie, and Connor out to stop Reverse and discover the truth behind Akatsuki’s experiments.
Preview
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There may be more to Lawrence’s plan than even Gauche knows about.
I’m going to take a stab in the dark in regards to the next chapter and say that it’s going to be about Reverse gathering their troops for their next and probably decisive clash with the Yuusari Bees. It was said seeing Sunny working endlessly as her formerself, but she still managed to survive because she was doing what she loved. Even if the heart forgets the body remembers, and this I think what kept her from wasting away.
I honestly thought the grave with flowers was Sunny’s, from the preview last week and thank goodness it wasn’t. I kind of agree with what you said there, Divine. I understand that Lag just wants to cheer Connor up and be hopeful and all, but in Connor’s situation, it feels… just not right. That aside, good to see that Niche being Niche managed to help get Sunny smiling again. Can’t wait to see what Lawrence is up to;
I was expecting a darker episode but nonetheless, I got teary eyed when Sunny finally cracked a smile. Maybe it was the fact I saw flashbacks of her former self or simply because I hate seeing cute girls in that sort of condition.
Divine, I don’t know about you but I’m glad to have my weekly dose of Niche goodness! Adorable, practical and earnest ftw!
Its weird that the most recent ED has not been released yet as a single and other series that started after the ED are already out in MP3 form. What the heck are they waiting for?
Hehe. Connor may seem unreliable at times but it’s so not true. He still comes and help at important times. I got to say though but it’s great that Tegami Bachi REVERSE is longer than 12 episodes since at first it seems that they mention that it will only be 12 episodes.
I guess I’m the only one who thought this episode would be annoying, with it involving Connor and all(his char hasnt’ grown on me (>.>)), but it was better than I expected. I, too, felt Lag was a bit inconsiderate to Connor with all his optimistic talk; I facepalmed when he said that crap, knowing the possible outcome.
Niche is certainly a bundle of charm ready to burst out of a bag; she never ceases to amuse me =03. I felt the same way about what she said about Gus and the cookies.
On a diff note, I’ve also been thinking about the lack of Bees for quite some time, though not from a ‘fight REVERSE’ standpoint. This is suppose to be a large organization with high number of worker Bees(like the post office), yet we only see Lag with Connor and Zazie. I think it’d be nice for Lag to team up with different Bees occasionally to keep things fresh, even if they aren’t pertinent to the story.
What happenend to that dude with snake-dingo?
He even had a name, so it’d be great to see him sometimes too :’D
You mean Moc Sullivan? Yeah, he hasn’t shown himself at all aside from being a quick counter to Lag’s ideals. I wonder how much does the other Bees know about REVERSE? There has to be better ways to fight them aside from using 12- and 14-yr old kids.
It’d be nice if people were able to recover their lost heart.