[DreamSword]

Episode 18: World Charm

So much going on in this episode too!

The biggest standout for the franchise as a whole is Jabi, who would serves as the inspiration for almost every Alchemist in the anime entries.

And while Jabi is certainly cool, if we're strictly talking characters the big standout for me in this one was Rei, because I personally find him to be everything that Date from Kamen Rider OOO should've been.

One thing the two definitely share is their method of basically outright challenging people to put their worst foot forward. The main difference being that Date is often called cool, or smart, or kind for it, despite his blatant disregard for the safety of others.

Rei, however, does it here as a way of measuring Koga. He does it solely because he's conflicted on whether or not Koga really is the one that he should be taking his revenge out on, and if Koga steps forward to kill Kaoru, or tries to stop him from telling Kaoru the truth, then that dispels any and all doubt from his mind. It's not dolled up as anything glamorous or noble; It's very much a selfish endeavor and Rei's' way to easy his own mind.

Speaking of the Dark Knight though, I could easily be wrong, but I'm calling now; It's Kaoru's' therapist. There's a brief shot of him talk to her, where you can just make out that he wears a necklace, and it sure as heck looked like a Mado Necklace to me. Add onto that how he had no trouble believing everything Kaoru had to say about Koga and it all lines up perfectly.

...Man, I haven't even really talked about the plot of the episode, have I? It's a wonderful extension of the previous one; Continuing on with its themes and how everything is coming to its natural boiling point in terms of both characterization and plot. There's not even a standard Horror to get in the way this time either, just the internal politics of the Watchdogs and Makai Knights going awry every which way, and a new Makai Alchemist, Jabi, arrives to make everything even more chaotic.

And Jabi makes a good point that I'll admit I never thought about: Why exactly DO the Watchdogs keep all of the Horrors sealed in little daggers and then inside a carrying case? Wouldn't it be simpler and to everyone's' benefit to just chuck them back into the Makai Realm? If it weren't clear that something were going on before, it definitely is now, especially with the revelation of a legend that any Makai Knight who consumes 1000 Horrors would be granted ultimate power unlike anything ever seen before. And I have a feeling that if that's not what they're after, then they certainly are connected to the Dark Knight somehow.

I also wanna note a neat little touch of color symbolism I noticed here too. Koga's' eyes when donning the armor are white this time instead of the usual green, which I think helps to reflect just how lost he is in all of this and that his mind really can't take much more of it. Even if it weren't there, the fact that he struggles hard against Zero when they were an even match before would be telling enough. But still, it's the sort of small detail that I definitely appreciate.

The emotions continued to run high all throughout this episode, and I dug every second of it.