[DreamSword]

Episode 18: Frenzy

Man, funny how a budget episode can have some of the most striking visuals!

I'm not trying to be mean here when I say "budget episode" by the way, because this one very much is; There's a ton of tricks used here to save on animation.

And yet, this episode also makes sure to have every shot count. And even more importantly than that, it makes sure to have everything that's going on actually be interesting and important to the characters.

Seimei being converted into a vessel for Rudra, Yorinobu becoming the new head of the police, the reval of what lies at the core of the Light Palace... it's all very cool stuff that kept my attention all throughout the episode. Seimei now being a tool for Xehanort of course being the big emotional crux here.

And again, they made sure to have the bits that required a little bit more budget to animate actually count! Dark Seimei's' spells of course being the one one. They all look very cool; Being inverted versions of the magic that Seimei normally uses. I really dug how the corrupted Shikigami all look like blood sucking butterflies, given Seimei's' phobia of them.

Very strong character moments all throughout too. Such as Kintoki trying to bear the burden for Raiko, and Raiko, despite his internal suffering, trying to do what he knows is the right thing in this situation. It's very telling that while he still defends himself against Seimei, and knows there's not much of an option outside of killing her, he still hesitates and is only able to keep his guard up thanks to the occasional shout from Zaruba.

And speaking of characters, man, very happy to see that Kaguya wasn't just some bit character that the show forgot about! Her being a reincarnated spirit of the moon who's able to seal Horrors away was a nice surprise, and her being able to casually dispel Rudra's' magic was really awesome to see after how threatening it proved to be. I hope the trend of past characters coming back continues because I love stuff like that, as it shows a heroes' actions having a direct payoff.

All in all a rather nice episode! Can't complain.