[DreamSword]

Episode 11: Decisive Battle

The knife in the opening turns bloody too, nice attention to detail there.

What's not a nice attention to detail is how out of character the Neon Genesis group is in this entire sequence that carries over from last episode.

In every episode prior, someone couldn't so much as smell one of Yuta's' farts without the Junior High Squad jumping into knife them. But here? Eh, Akane's allowed within stabbing distance of Yuta and free to smash JUNK. Whatever.

This is the episode where things gets real, and even though it tries really hard to be a huge dramatic turn, certain problems I have with it keep me from investing into it fully. So I guess be forewarned that there's gonna be alot of complaining in this post.

That said! And let me make this clear here and now... I did still overall like this episode. I just feel it has some issues. So like I did with one specific episode of the GARO anime, I'm gonna try to do a sort of good-cop-bad-cop thing, where I go back and forth. The intro to this episode was already a Bad Thing, so let's go with a Good Thing!

Surprising literally none of you my first Good Thing is Anti.

I really dug how he presented himself all throughout the episode, saying that he wants to repay the group for their good will towards him despite everything. And his interaction with Sho, while not perfect, was handled great, really showcasing growth with both characters in terms of how they spoke and presented themselves. That said...

Bad Thing: A small change made from the SimulDub version

Granted, the context of the scene I'm about to talk about is preserved between both versions, but I liked how the First Draft did it better. Here in the revised script, the conversation is (more or less) like so:

Sho: "I represent the people. Those that you smash under your feet whenever you fight!"

Anti: "I can't focus on the battle if I watch where I'm moving."

However, in the SimulDub, the conversation went as follows:

Sho: "Do you have any idea how many people you trampled under your feet whenever you went out to fight!?"

Anti: "Well I can't very well kill my target if I watch where I step, now can I?"

To me, the first draft just had that extra bit of personality to make the entire sequence pop. It's not a MAJOR deal, but it's still something I feel should've been left as it was.

This does however bring me to...

Good Thing: Character Moments(mostly)

Following up with Sho, I really liked how the entire situation has made him second guess himself and how he's acted throughout the entire course of the show. He begins to realize that he really has been nothing more than "the friend" in the entire thing, and even begins to feel worthless due to never having anything major to contribute. Ontop of that, he begins to see some of the harsh realities when it comes to fighting Kaiju, something that hadn't sunk into him back in the second episode. Something tells me he'd like Kuuga.

As for Yuta, well, after speaking to Gridman in the same space that Sam would be in whenever he turned into Servo, it turns out that Yuta and Gridman was practically one in the same. This entire time, Gridman was actually possessing Yuta as a means of being able to access Akane's' virtual world. I actually liked this twist alot, as there was plenty of foreshadowing leading up to it(remember a certain line I pointed out in episode 2?), and speaking from the angle of a Syber-Squad fan, it was cool to see Servo becoming Sam for once, so to speak.

Also major props to Rikka's' mom for just kinda rolling with all of the craziness going on around her. This lady has nerves of steel.

Bad Thing: Akane and Rikka

Rikka proclaims that Akane has crossed the line, and then immediately turns around and tells Akane that she's Akane's' friend and wants to exist solely for that purpose.

Also Akane was totally justified in stabbing Yuta according to Gridman. NEXT.

Good Thing: The Battle itself.

As per usual with this show, the fight sequence against the army of previous Kaiju was a joy to watch. I especially liked the sequence where Gridknight is fighting in the background as the Junior High Squad races to go fix JUNK. Ontop of that Gridknight gets a cool sword! And I found it extremely fitting that the fight ends not with Gridman, but with Anti slicing the Puppeteer Kaiju, his own creation, clean in two, showing that he's not bound by the strings of Akane anymore. Great stuff.

Oh and speaking of Akane she gets turned into a Kaiju, but not before Alexis delivers one of the best lines in the show.

"Sorry to end this pointless chat."

Thank you Alexis, thank you.