[DreamSword]

Won't lie, I had purged like 98% of this two-parter from my memory.

And having seen it again all these years later, boy do I immediately realize why exactly that was.

I won't go too deep into it, but what it essentially boils down to is the episodes showcasing Akiko at her absolute worst, and then immediately trying to make me feel bad for her, which, sorry, ain't working.

Where I absolutely drew the line was towards the start of the first part, where Shotaro shows genuine concern for her and her safety, and even explains why he has good reasons to feel the way he does. And Akiko's' response is to do the verbal equivalent of spitting in his face over it.

As bad as characters like Shunpei or Onari can come across to some people, you know what they never were? Actively antagonistic towards the people they claimed to care about. I have zero patience for that sort of behavior, as well as entitled brats. And Akiko displays both attitudes throughout both episodes. It made me seriously question how I ever came around to her later on.

But hey, the episodes aren't complete and total washes, I guess? The two scenes that I did still remember are Shotaro and Kirihiko's' conversation at the gate, and Terror's' appearance during the courtyard fight. They're good scenes, especially in a vacuum. Just a shame that they're attached to two episodes that I very much did not have a good time watching. To the extent that at one point I thought "Do I even like W? Do I really?"

Such a letdown, especially when following a two-parter that I rather liked for the most part.