Synduality: Noir – 23 – Flight to the Final Dungeon

With his boss having abandoned him and the rest of Ideal, Nacht believes Tokio comes to gloat, but he’s not. Instead, he offers his hand in friendship and alliance once more, so that Nacht can get the answers he seeks from Weisheit, and Tokio can kick the twerp’s ass. Both Schnee and Mouton seem relieved the old friends are back on the same side again.

On the eve of Kanata’s big spaceflight, Ange shoves Ellie into his room and she ends up landing right on his bed. It was her Magus’ intention that Ellie both show and tell Kanata how she feels on what may be his last night on Earth. Instead, he sits beside her just to pick up his space shuttle toy and spout some facts about space, like a total dweeb! Nonethetless, he’s her dweeb, and she entrusts him with her favorite doll for his trip, telling him to bring it along with himself back safe and sound.

Noir, who is now beloved throughout Rock Town not just for saving them time and again, but carrying on the late Ciel’s musical tradition, is given a hero’s godspeed. She asks Mam to take a picture of her with all her friends, and when she looks upon the picture she smiles warmly. She wants to get Mystere back so she can return to this place that has become her home, and these folks who have become her family.

The actual launch of the spare space shuttle actually goes off without a hitch; leave it to the arrogant villain not to destroy the good guys’ means of following him. While a bit rushed, there’s still some moments that convey the awe and grandeur of space, such as the sight of the sun rising over the horizon, as well as the gradual approach of the absolutely massive Histoire space station. Maria left out the fact that Kanata & Co. would have to crash land in the station.

Once there, Kanata is sufficiently impressed and amazed by Histoire, which is one massive archive of biological and technological information. The station is a means of reviving any species of plant or animal that goes extinct, as well as any technology lost to war, disaster, or other mishap. It’s also the ultimate base of power for someone to mold the world to their liking, and since Weisheit arrived first with the key (Mystere), Histoire recognizes him as its master.

Kanata/Noir, Tokio/Mouton, and Macht/Schnee confront Weisheit, who confirms that part of his Grand Cause is to eliminate all Magus, which he later declares “give him the creeps” and whose mere name makes his “skin crawl.” By working together, the three opponents manage to claim one of his formidable coffin’s arms, but by then Histoire has finished preparations to implement his dastardly plan: sending a shutdown signal to every Magus on Earth.

Even Mouton and Schnee aren’t immune from this signal, rendering Tokio and Macht’s coffins inoperable. The only Magus who doesn’t shut down is Noir. It isn’t explained why (at least not yet); perhaps it’s because she is from Histoire. In any case, she’s still awake and functioning, seething with anger, and vows never to forgive Weisheit for the terrible things he’s done. Hopefully she and Kanata will be enough to beat him, save Mystere, and throw his big awful master plan in the dumpster.

Tales of Wedding Rings – 11 – Bearing the Weight of Destiny

After buying clothes to blend in with Satou’s world and having a meal at a local family restaurant, everyone tries to put a good face on things, but the fact of the matter is they are stuck here for the time being, with only four of the five rings needed to defeat the Abyss King.

It’s fun seeing Nef, Granart, and Saphir in casual clothes, enjoying a bathhouse together, and teasing Hime over her promise to Satou to consummate their marriage upon returning there. As for the expenses they’re wrapping up, Hime’s gramps arranged things so they’d have a place to live and all the money they’d need if they failed to defeat the Abyss King.

The mere fact that Alabaster created such a contingency convinces Hime that it wasn’t a certainty they’d have defeated the Abyss King even if they had five rings. But as the listless, normal days pass, Hime notices Satou has been returning to the spot where they teleported.

She doesn’t want Satou to worry about her world anymore, but to find his own happiness … with her. But his duty as Ring King clearly pulls at him, and is answered by the appearance of the fifth princess, Amber, or rather an artificial replica of her created by the Dwarves.

Sensing the Abyss King would destroy their civilization, they sent the replica of Amber to earth with the ring to wait for her time, and her king, to come. But now that he has, he wavers between returning to the other world to fight the Abyss King, and honoring Hime’s wish to forget about all that.

But it isn’t just the arrival of Amber, and the possibilty of returning, that changes that equation. Nef, Granart, and Saphir have become born and are truly starting to feel just how out of place they are in this world. The happiness Hime wants for all of them may not be achievable here.

Amber, who has waited for Satou for centuries, is content to wait as long as it takes, and even watch over him until he dies, if that is his will. But it isn’t, and he meets Amber on the roof of school to form a marriage contract with her, trusting her confidence that with five rings, their victory over the Abyss King will be a foregone conclusion. Only when he’s gone can the weight of his duty be lifted, and will everyone find true happiness.

Satou returns home to a distraught Hime, still crying about the loss of her grandfather. When she sees the fifth ring on his hand, he tells them they’re returning to Arnulus. When she voices her fear that he might be hurt or die, he tells her the task her gramps gave him to “free” her and the others from the duty of the rings, he didn’t mean run away from or forget it, but fulfill that duty so they can move past it together. She need not fear, because she won’t be bearing the duty alone.

Hearing the sheer dumb confidence in Satou’s voice, Hime is inclined to go along with him. But before they leave Earth, she wants to make love to him. It surely looks like they’re going to get to do the deed, but alas, Satou only makes it to second base when Amber interrupts them at the worst possible time. Worse still, she’s already activated the teleportation spell back to Arnulus, which she can only use once.

So just like that, it’s time to go. Granart arrives with Saphir and a Nef burrito, having picked up on everything that was going on with her advanced cat insight. And now that it’s time to go home, Saphir can’t hold back tears of relief; she really wasn’t enjoying her time there, and who can blame her, when among other things, she was separated from her twin sister?

Komatsu Mikako is effortlessly charming as the slightly mechanical, joke-cracking Amber, and both her design and personality are pleasantly distinct from the others. I also like how everyone was basically fated to return to Earth so that they could meet her and attain the fifth ring. I share Satou’s confidence that they can take care of the Abyss King. My only real doubt is whether he and Hime can manage go all the way before the dang show ends!

Shin no Nakama – S2 11 – The Wavering Hero

The truce with Van doesn’t last long, as he refuses to leave Zoltan. He’s also going through what he believes to be a necessary trial: he’s no longer getting impulses from his Hero’s Blessing. When Albert heads into the woods to save a little girl, she’s with Kukururu, a tiny fay dragon that means no harm. So of course when Van shows up he wants to kill it.

Albert won’t let him, and even though he knows he’s no match for the Hero, he still does everything he can to delay him from taking an innocent life. Before Albert becomes that person, Esta interrupts the battle, positively teeming with rage against Van for hurting the man she’s fallen for. She knocks off his armor and beats the shit out of him.

Lavender prepares to intervene, but she’s interrupted by Undine. But Lavender even looks down on a water archfay, considering her no match for her. Yet before she can unleash an attack with her full power behind it, she’s very nearly sliced in two … by Ruti, from several hundred yards away in the woods. With his most loyal followed wounded and his armor wrecked, Van retreats, but is now excited to have his primary target in sight.

He returns to town and stabs Cardinal Ljubo, declaring he’ll kill anyone and destroy everything if that’s what it takes to defeat Ruti. Back in the Undine’s domain, Albert will make a full recovery, but Esta is still surprised that her love for him made her anger take over for the first time in her life. Red assures her that her emotions have nothing to do with her Blessing, but come from her heart, and he’s glad when she says she won’t cast her feelings for Albert aside.

Rit, Tisse, Yarandrala and Danan join Red, Ruti, and Esta in preparation to take on Van as a team. Undine warns them that Lavender is no slouch either, but a calamity, the last of the mythical archfay Ketu, an avatar of terrible power and destruction. But Red isn’t worried. In fact he believe they have a weaker target in a wavering, lost Van than the earlier one who was so certain in his faith.

Van takes the bait and lets himself and Lavender get trapped on an island surrounded by a multi-layer barrier set up by Undine, Yarandrala, and Esta. Van tosses a bronze sword Van’s way and challenges him to a one-on-one duel in which they’ll fight until one of them falls. No doubt Van will be talking a lot during the fight to come, further confusing Van and throwing him off balance.

Meanwhile, Rit won’t let anyone get in the way of her love, and neither will Lavender. Van’s “belief” that Lord Demis has tasked him with killing the previous Hero in order to become a true one is nothing but a shot in the dark from a boy who, bereft of any other guidance or moral compass, has chosen to focus all of his effort on Ruti.

But even if Van was more powerful than her (I’d estimate they’re about equal), he’s in much worse shape mentally, and she’s got a lot more friends—her real Hero’s Party. She has a Big Brother who isn’t about to lose to a petulant whelp who’d rather burn the world to the ground than face his doubts. It should be a fun battle!