| At the Alchemic Hospital, Oka Hayasaka overhears personnel being summoned to recover the Black Kakugane from Kazuki's presumably drowned body. However, at the seashore Tokiko and Gouta realise he's still alive when they feel the energy drain effect. Tokiko, who considers herself responsible for what's happened to Kazuki, drags him ashore. Gouta wants to finish him off, but she persuades him not to. Captain Bravo reports the results of his fight to Hiwatari; he insists Kazuki is dead, but Hiwatari suspects he threw him into the sea in order to let him escape. Oka finds Papillon at one of Dr. Butterfly's secret hideouts, and asks him to help Kazuki escape from the Regiment, if only to learn how to attain Victorization, and/or kill Kazuki himself. He'll do it, but only if she serves as his spy within the Regiment, for which purpose he gives her Dr. Butterfly's kakugane. The exhausted Tokiko awakens to find Kazuki alive and well. He tells her of his intention to remain human until the very end of his six weeks. The idea occurs to her that returning to a different school where she recovered the Black Kakugane might yield some clues about how to undo it's effects. She insists on accompanying him there, and pledges that if all fails, she will die along with him. Gouta, exhausted by energy drain and shocked to see Tokiko's affection for Kazuki, remembers how his own family was killed by homunculi when he was an infant, and how he trained with Tokiko to become an Alchemic Warrior. Himatari finds him and deduces that Kazuki is still alive. He orders Gouta to take himself and "Team Re-Kill" to him, and instructs team members Ikusabe and Negoro to feel free to kill the "traitor" Tokiko. "It doesn't matter if you wind up killing Tokiko-senpai?" an appalled Gouta says; "I'm not going to allow that!"... |
| Himatari seems a disappointingly two-dimensional "bad guy" character who pops up without any development at all; not exactly the sort of warrior I expected the regiment to employ. Ikusabe and Negoro, on the other hand, show at least a little regret at being ordered to kill Tokiko. I'm glad to see Oka back (can she really be trusted?); surely this means Shuusui will show up again as well. Gouta clearly has feelings for Tokiko, and is jealous of Kazuki. Best of all, of course, is Papillon; I love his sarcastic, smart-assed attitude (and there's no way in hell I could include an image of him dressed in his bathing suit). If Kazuki has been classified as "Victor III", that would suggest that all three Black Kakugane have caused someone to become "Victorized"; we just don't know who "Victor II" is. Homunculi aren't all that important anymore, the Victors are the greatest threat. When Gouta went into "Motor Gear Skywalker Mode" I cracked up--I like fights where the combatants have such freaky weapons and tactics that you have no idea what to expect, rather than just interminably hammering away at each other with fists (S-Cry-Ed would be another show of this type). All-in-all Busou Renkin is looking good as we have a number of rival factions, namely the Kazuki/Tokiko/Gouta trio, the Regiment, and Papillon and Ota--I bet Captain Bravo will disobey orders eventually as well. Finally, the new ED song reminds me of the style of music you'd hear in a James Bond movie! |
