Tegami Bachi REVERSE – 09

Some higher being deems mankind a foolish species and decides to kill us. That’s definitely not a first.

「ひとりぼっちの200年」 (Hitoribocchi no 200 Nen)
“200 Years of Solitude”

Just like the preview hinted at last time, we have a full-out fight between Niche and her sister after the latter decides to kill Lag along with the foolish townsfolk. With the sheer amount of action involved, it was an episode very unlike the usual ones. What I really enjoyed was how it touched upon Lag and Niche’s past and finally made the memories of the main characters the focus for a change, plus there was Lag stepping in to save Niche as well. For those reasons, this arc covering Niche’s past have quickly become some of my favorite episodes to date.

 

I wouldn’t have saved the mayor given how he was carrying on the lie from his ancestors all this time, but Lag is clearly the better person.

Niche stands fearlessly in front of her sister’s attack and makes it clear she’s going to protect Lag!

Not only do her attacks completely overshadow Niche’s in terms of power and creativity, they have a very artistic touch in their designs as well.

Quite frankly, I had no idea what Niche was really supposed to do against someone like her sister, whose ability to control her hair was as amazing as it was artistic. She could even fire off a bunch of her hair as arrows, something that goes well behind Niche’s ability to use them as swords. If Niche ever matures to the point that she has that much control as well, Lag will have the most powerful and beautiful dingo among all Bees, hands down. On a separate note, it was kind of surprising to see Maka indifferent about killing Niche for siding with humans and just let its two daughters fight amongst themselves.

 

It won’t cause her to explode like a Gaichuu, but Lag’s Akabari is effective in its own way.

Maka may not care, but Lag clearly does when it comes to Niche.

It was only two episodes ago that I was questioning where Lag would be today without Niche by his side, so it was nice to see him show otherwise even though he feels the same way. One of the best parts of Lag’s character is he’s a very emotional kid who wears his earnest feelings on his sleeve at all times and doesn’t seem to have an ounce of arrogance in him. As such, when push comes to shove and he actually has to stand up for those he holds dearly, he looks pretty darn cool even though he was unable to hold back the tears from his overflowing emotions. The flashbacks were a nice touch for nostalgia sake, as I really enjoyed the episodes when Lag and Niche first met.

 

There really is no limit to things she can shape her hair into is there?

For a moment, it looked like Steak was going to eat Niche with the way he carried her off by her head.

Despite the costliness of using own one’s heart, continually firing shindans looks pretty cool.

Don’t be fooled. These are manly tears that overflowed from Lag’s inability to understand how anyone could kill their own sister.

I have no idea how Lag managed to dodge that massive spiked ball and chain, but he somehow managed to do so with Niche in his arms too. Niche’s sister sure lost it when she learned that Niche was siding with Lag, which I have to agree is pretty foolish on her part. Niche was mistreated by lots of humors after all, but never held a grudge against the entire species that would’ve prevented her from opening up to Lag. Looking at how inseparable the two of them now, I sometimes wonder how they ever managed to get by without one another. In any case, the first round of flashbacks didn’t tell enough of their story to get through to Niche’s sister.

 

Lag’s pleas go unanswered and Niche is about to be killed while still unconscious. Luckily Lag has something to say about that.

“Dodge this.”

A point-blank shindan right into the heart. If this didn’t get his feelings across, I don’t know what would have.

I don’t know if he intended to simply buy time or actually get Niche’s sisters to reconsider her actions, but all Lag had on his mind was Niche’s safety.

The sight of Lag rushing through all of the attacks and getting a point-blank shot was undoubtedly one of the coolest things he’s ever done in a fight. I’d really like to see him show that same kind of skill and reliability in future Gaichuu encounters. In reality, it was probably more reckless abandon as he did whatever he could to save Niche though. Either way, it was pretty awesome in my eyes.

 

The sight of Lag getting separated from Niche at Love Someone Down reminded Niche’s sister of the same pain she felt 200 years ago. Also, it looks like the one who had her eyes closed was Niche after all.

It looks like breathing underwater for years isn’t a problem. There was mention that they survived on water alone too, so perhaps all the exposure to it is what led to her body’s growth.

As Niche’s sister reflects on her own past, Maka decides to attend to Niche’s injuries.

Finally, some “real” proof that they’re related!

I wonder if the townsfolk really left the selfish mayor for dead. Lag on the other hand learns the truth behind the Gaichuu frozen in ice.

After seeing Gauche release frozen Gaichuu from their icy prisons and having the mystery surrounding that floating about for the past while, it was nice to finally get some answers. I’m admittedly a bit confused by what was implied by Gaichuu undergoing a metamorphosis when they’ve “lost” all their heart though. From the sound of it, it would appear that Gaichuu transform into an upgraded form when they’ve consumed enough heart to shed their skin. The confusion only really stems from the whole “lost” part, since one could easily interpret that as meaning that Gaichuu shouldn’t be allowed to starve themselves and fall into this state. It goes against the whole idea of evolving however, hence why I’m inclined to believe it’s the former for now. Whatever the case, it doesn’t change that Reverse is releasing highly destructive Gaichuu into Amberground — the very ones that Maka had sealed away to protect the land.

 

Lag’s underwear almost looks like it’s big enough to double as a one piece outfit on Niche. Maka’s mysterious water won’t make anyone live for a thousand years, but it does heal wounds.

All it took was a similar painful past to connect these two and a salute to seal the deal.

The first words from Maka in a long time declare that Lag is the “light”. I’ll be looking forward to what that means just as much as they are.

Preview

It’s good to know that Zazie is fine, though word about his run-in with Gauche probably won’t sit so well with Lag.