[Fish Sandwich]

Hey, everyone, guess what time it is!



Well, whether I like it or not, it seems to be time for me to remember MY mission, and embrace my fate as Tokunation's eternal contrarian, as I head towards the future of being this site's #1 Geiz fan on top of everything else. I guess at least Zi-O as a whole isn't totally despised, right?

I adored this episode, but apparently that's largely predicated on me not considering Geiz's character particularly confusing. I haven't gone off on anyone for not "getting" him, because to some extent I understand where people are coming from, but considering his perpetually growing spotlight in the series, I should lay my cards on the table and say I don't think Geiz is ANYWHERE near as wishy-washy or inconsistent as he's often made out to be. If anything, he's gone in a straight line of warming up to Sougo since the start. You might raise examples like the Gaim episodes to counter this, but if you focus on his actions, as much as his words, you'll quickly see how much of his the latter is just bravado. From stuff as small as him remembering that chicken at the end of episode 12 to moments as huge as him literally giving Sougo his belt so he could be Zi-O again in 16 (while also telling him he'll take care of Sougo IF he becomes an evil overlord, implicitly stating that he now believes there's a chance that won't happen), his development has followed a clear path.

Even in this very episode, his decision to step up and fight Zi-O is motivated by him witnessing Tsukuyomi's actions in 2009, and while I'm admittedly unclear on whether or not he's under the impression she died in that bus crash (stuff like this being the reason I get why people don't like Geiz), people got hurt either way, and he clearly blames his own inaction for this. He's always been a guy plagued by doubt, and you'll note during the climax he never says or does anything to give any indication he actually wants to be doing this. Only that he has to.

Zi-O has never been a perfectly written show, and I'm sure you can find plenty of hiccups in this episode if you go looking for them, but it also should get the credit it deserves for the things it does right. And to prove it, I'm going to further defend Tsukuyomi's actions even though I still don't like her. I'm shocked I even need to comment on this, but her on that bus is obviously just a tension-building cliffhanger deal until we see the details of what went down in the next episode. I guess this proves what I've said about her being a plank of wood, but the idea that shooting a child seems like something the show would have her do is just absurd.

With that out of the way, I can also mention I loved Geiz Revive. Lately I'm going through a bit of a spoilerphobe phase with Zi-O for some reason, so seeing this episode was actually the first good look I've gotten at it, and I thought it was awesome. The buzzsaw is a definite plus. As is his sick background music, which is exactly the kind of track I imagined us getting more of when it was announced Toshihiko Sahashi was doing the soundtrack for this show.