[FreshToku]

While I think there may have been maybe one or two more episodes than there should have been where the show simply reminds you that Daiji is on a downward spiral instead of doing anything with it, I honestly think overall and perhaps moreso as it got going, I got pretty invested in his arc and his descend into further darkness. The build-up might not always been engaging, but I was usually intrigued by where it was going.

And I'm sad to say I found this resolution to be pretty disappointing. For a long time now, for months now even, Daiji's stance was that he was convinced that humanity serving Gifu is the better and safer option than resisting him. But the specific angle that makes the crux of this episode, that Daiji needs to believe he can still change in spite of his past mistakes... Unless I missed something, that only was a thing that was first brought up maybe one or two episodes ago? So we never actually addressed the reasons why he turned to Akashi's side in the first place.

And it was also only about two or so episodes ago where Hiromi started feeling like he had a big stake in Daiji's whole situation, so his part here doesn't feel great either. Why is it Hiromi who ultimately brings back Daiji from the brink as opposed to Daiji's sibilings, or his father, or his mother?

Well, obviously I know the reason all those things turned out this way is so this episode could accomplish two big things that fans wanted to see in one go. Hiromi transforming into Demons, and Kagerou coming back (and granted, the second thing is something I really wanted too)... I suppose it is kinda funny how the show is straight-up admitting that everything about Holy Live's debut, that whole plot where one of the two sides had to beat the other, was a bad idea and never really should have been done (by the script) in the first place!

Oh yeah, and this is all represented by a new form and it sucks. It would have already been hard enough for me to be excited for the hundredth ugly kitbash in a row, but for all the dramatic weight they try to give it, Eviltylive (no complaints about the name though) is so absolutely Nothing. Even just using Evil's unmodified head would have more visual impact that just using a marker to add some lines to the parts we've already been looking at for 20+ weeks.

And also just like Thunder Gale, for a form that's a fusion of two guys, its really just the one guy but the other says a line at some point to remind you he's there. Well, at least that one sentence Kagerou speaks all to himself in the form is actually already more than what Vice ever got when Thunder Gale was used.

Another minor yet really disappointing thing is that out of nowhere, Gifu actually speaks?! All this time, I was so sure that it was a deliberate decision to leave its true nature and any possible personality a mystery, in order to subvert the idea that Gifu is just the evil force Akashi believed it was who only wanted humanity destroyed. But... Then this episode just has it speak in a super typical menacing villain voice, and have it clearly state that its motivation is to destroy humanity because they're bad. Wow. Great. Why did I ever bother expecting anything else.

I think this episode kinda sucks actually? And I no longer care about the story at this point whatsoever??

Some other random things that I wanna get out there while its on my mind:

Vice gets abducted by Gifu and nobody cares, wow! Yeah he turns up alright, but Ikki had no reason to think that was going to happen!

Sakura gets thrown into the rather sad role of begging the boys not to fight, even though she was the very first one to start swinging and blowing up Daiji when he first started acting out...

I can't believe the Demons suit showed up in the flesh! I was certain it had been torn apart to make Over Demons. Makes me wonder if they always had it lying around, or if they scrapped it back together in a hurry.

Masumi lying in that hospital bed and still wearing the mask and hood is hilarious and makes every dramatic scene with him here look like a(n albeit really funny) joke.