Chronos Ruler #10 – While Victor wallows in depression, the rest of the family find the people controlling the snake Horologue. Blaze and the most minor henchman go off somewhere to engage in dramatic ritual idioting, leaving Kiri and Mīna to take on the snake and its handler. Who has apparently met them before. And who confirms that Mīna is the same person as Nana, and therefore actually Kiri’s mother… but seems to know something else about the relationship that Mīna doesn’t want revealed, by her expression.
So, did anyone not pick the mysterious clinic technician to be the mastermind behind it all? And it conveniently turns out to be the same Horologue that nearly killed Victor and which resurfaced at C’est La Vie. The attack must have been an earlier attempt to cover up what was happening at Couljours, where, as mentioned a couple episodes ago, Victor went on his last mission for Chronos.
That means Victor has already seen his parents resurrected, and either couldn’t find a way to stop the time alteration because the Horologue was out of town, or ran into the same problem as now, that he can’t bear having his parents dead again. All this time he’s been glibly assuring people that the past is past and it’s for the best, but now his own words mock him.
(Crunchyroll — Hulu — FUNimation)
18if #10 – Hanako Sumitomo got tired of being an overprotected girl with a terribly ordinary name, so she retreated into the dreamworld, where she could be a catgirl fairy and do anything she wants and mine it all for art and music to blog about. (Hey, if someone can murder people in the real world through the power of dreams, why not sleep-blogging?)
After some aimless wandering through Hanako’s fantastical realm, big developments happen almost without effort. First, Haruto fails at persuading Hanako to wake up, and Dr. Kanzaki takes the lead in dealing with her instead. Second, Hanako is the first to explicitly mention that Haruto seems to be stuck in the dreamworld long-term himself. And third, Kanzaki can suddenly see Lily!
Something about the encounter with Hanako has given Kanzaki a vital clue to what’s going on overall. He’s kept his cards close to his chest before—for instance, not telling Haruto that Mirei Saegusa had been asleep for decades—so I don’t think he’ll be giving Haruto the full explanation until he’s good and ready.
(Crunchyroll — VVVVID — bilibili — FUNimation)
Magical Circle Guru-Guru #10 – Just as soon as the party is getting the hang of the Endless Tower, along comes Kaya to challenge Kukuri to a duel. It’s nearly over before it starts when she can’t find her way to her happy place that allows her to cast Guru-Guru spells, but Nike and Toma help her out with a dose of Riddikulus and then she’s ready to unleash magical forces beyond anything she’s handled before.
After an especially silly duel, it’s time to head for the top and face the fearsome Satanchia. Only by invoking the ancient prophecy will they be saved… by the dancing trophy, which is becoming a character in its own right. The trophy, Old Man North-North, and his brand new Armor of Distraction are all then disposed of in one fell swoop. But who are we kidding, we’re bound to see them all again.
So it’s on to the next area, the town of Copahl, where the economy is seriously distorted. Possibly because of the infamous bandits lurking in the forest outside. But next week’s title suggests that the thieves are an opportunity for Nike to finally develop his class skills.
Made in Abyss #10 – Fresh off their close calls in the Third Layer, Riko and Reg descend to the Giants’ Goblets (or, technically, the Giants’ Sake Cups, but I don’t fault the translator for going with the less clunky and more alliterative option) and promptly blunder into another crisis. This one ends with Riko poisoned and suffering the effects of Fourth Layer ascent, desperately trying to give Reg instructions on how to hack off her arm to save her life.
And just when he’s nearly managed it, along comes Nanachi the cute bunny girl, who says she can fix everything. Nanachi has been promoted as a major character by the end sequence for so long, it’s great to finally meet her.
But. Made in Abyss has now performed exactly the same sort of cop-out as Katsugeki Touken Ranbu did a few weeks ago. It’s one thing to keep the viewers in suspense about how things will turn out, but another to definitively establish that the worst has happened and then try to call backsies. Riko’s arm is all but severed. I’m not buying that it’s reattachable unless Nanachi has an elite team of surgeons stashed in her den somewhere.
(Anime Strike/Amazon Video — HIDIVE — Wakanim — VVVVID)
Katsugeki Touken Ranbu #11 – Speaking of which, this show would like you to believe that it has realized its error and is about to mend its ways.
After musing on Hijikata’s fate, Kunihiro decides that he’s going to develop free will and stand up to the continual damage inflicted on history by the Retrograde Army by, er, changing history some more. His plan is to modify Hijikata’s whole value system so that he doesn’t wind up staying loyal to the idea of the shogunate at the point of death. It is probably a preview of how well this idea will work that Kunihiro can’t even change Kanesada’s mind about staying within the confines of their mission.
And so the episode ends with Kanesada about to execute Kunihiro. I would love to believe that Touken Ranbu is going to stick with this development and show us what happens when history has been irretrievably changed and the team has to face up to one of their own going rogue. But, I’m guessing that Kanesada deliberately misses, they’ll be hugging it out by the end of next week’s episode, and then the last one will consist of the whole team hanging out at the hot springs with Ryōma Sakamoto.
(Anime Strike/Amazon Video — Crunchyroll — Wakanim — Aniplus — bilibili)
