[DreamSword]

Episode 23: Assault Moon

In many other shows, this would be the final episode.

This is probably the most action heavy out of all of the Crimson Moon episodes too, and while the action itself isn't anything super spectacular, for what it is, it's done well.

I rather dug the character dynamics between Raiko and Xehanort here, as they both note how their situations are incredibly similar; Both were cast out by family who they thought loved them and were left to die. In another life, Raiko could have easily become just as bad as Xehanort.

But the key difference between the two is that Raiko found new family that he could lean on. Xehanort meanwhile had no one, and as such grew bitter at the world. Sure, it's the sort of tale about how our environment shapes us that many a story has done before, but it was still done well here, and spoke volumes about how the two characters carry themselves not only in this episode, but throughout the series as a whole.

Raiko's' bond with his friends is even exemplified in the brand new super mode he gets, because yeah, this is a Garo story afterall.

The ending of the whole thing was rather interesting to me too. This is one of the few stories about an ancient sealed evil actually getting resealed, rather than being outright killed like in most stories I've experienced.

How Xehanort was handled in the end impressed me too, as while Raiko and the crew certainly feel pity for Xehanort and his situation, they don't simply just forgive him for all that he's done, and instead merely help the man pass on in peace. Xehanort was by no means a good man, but he is one that anyone could have the potential of becoming, and in that aspect, it's easy to see how Raiko, someone who wishes to save as many people as he can, could feel sorry for the man, despite the entire show up to this point.

Overall this was a good episode full of decent action and some really nice imagery to go along with the closing of the main plot at hand. I imagine the next and final episode will just be about wrapping things up.