Zombie Replicas. I can dig it.

HUEG COMBO POST! Or, it would be if I wasn’t so lazy and just want to get this done. Therefore, I’m not touching anything related to the Planet Storm, the Absorbtion Gate, or anything else since Jade obviously does a better job than I do of explaining.

Aww, without the visor, Sync looks like a tsundere-Ion.

Suspicions were correct, Sync is a replica of Ion. The twist? Ion is ALSO a replica of Ion. I’ve never liked these moments where a crucial fact about a character is revealed without any sort of hints or allusions whatsoever, unless you count the reassigning of Arietta and Anise as the Fon Master Guardian, but even then that hint was left pretty vague, and definitely not enough information to figure out that the real Ion died, and they created not one, but seven replicas before he died, with the current Fon Master being the one that carried most of the original’s abilities and potential, even though Sync is much more of capable fighter, it’s hard to believe they’re alike; maybe all they needed was for an Ion to be able to read the score, but if so Tear would more or less be a viable choice since she and Van are Yulia’ descendants. Regardless, I’m also a bit ashamed on Sync’s death, considering he had the upper hand until Luke broke through his defense ONCE, then deciding to an hero himself after his role was over, while Ion’s “I’m crying” monologue seemed a bit unnecessary as the meaning behind it isn’t clear until he talks about sealing his emotions after disliking the idea of being someone’s replacement.

Episodes 19 and 20 bring to a close to the Anise arc, shedding more light on the relationship triangle between Anise, Ion, and Arietta. Ion’s death felt pretty sad, especially considering he died being a tool for someone else while also being betrayed/deceived by Anise, his first and best friend since his birth. Anise’s deception seemed too sudden too, it would’ve been more acceptable had her parents been held for ransom during the one-month timeskip, but to all of a sudden reveal that Anise had been relaying information all this time without, again, any type of allusions or hints toward it seemed pretty half-assed, and I can only hope that said hints were just cut during the transition of the material. To wrap it all up, Arietta’s death at the end of the duel makes a tragic arc even sadder. Her death was a bit unexpected; aside from the disbelief from the fact that Anise has now directly killed someone (With a technique you wouldn’t guess would be life threatening, either. o.o) I would’ve thought that out of all the God Generals besides Asch, she would be most likely to cut off all ties with them and maybe repair her relationship with Anise; alas, that didn’t happen, as it seems like the animosity stemmed merely from jealousy, and she instead dies without even knowing the truth. Perhaps it’s better that way. ;_;

“Say ‘what’ again, SAY ‘WHAT’ AGAIN!”

The factions among the antagonists seem to be divided into not only two, but three sides now: Legretta, Largo, and Van still seem to be following their original plan, Mohs is seeking to have the Score followed once more so that he can rule it through manipulation (by becoming a Fon Master and transforming into a giant…????…) while Dist continuously is interested only in his research or whatever. During the final confrontations with Largo and Legretta, he’ll most likely betray them due to Largo’s scolding of Dist’s response towards Arietta’s death while at the same time ending up dead because of it; can’t wait either, because he’s really gotten annoying from the overly pompous douche we met episodes ago. Most importantly, it might even be what sets up the reconcilation between Largo and Natalia before Largo eventually dies, since the truth is bound come out during it.

So…is this Sync “an hero” Sync, or is this another replica that takes place of Sync should he die? Van’s proven that falling into “the abyss” (hurp durp) doesn’t necessarily kill you, so I’m leaning more towards the former.

Collar-grabbing: the most clear and efficient way to express that you’re pissed off and not gonna take it anymore.

As much as I like Asch, I do find it a bit laughable that he feels the need to throw a hissy fit everytime he has to talk to Luke; Luke’s done more than enough to make up for his previous behavior, and I would think that the person mad at him for taking away his home would be at least a bit happy and appreciative to be arranged to meet his parents again after seven years. I do recall Asch uttering his shortage of time, even before Van slashed him, so his short temper isn’t completely uncalled for, and since the two will most likely fight over the use of replicas as sacrifices for the hyperressonance, it’s probably best if they don’t remain so close.

Ancient Chinese secret, huh?

And WHEN was Luke training to use his hyperressonance better? “In secret” my ass, I’m sure you would’ve heard Luke shoot an energy beam during practice if that was the case.

The fights have gotten a lot more exciting than before, thanks in part to the incorporation of more Artes and magic than previous ones. The only other problems I have now include the fact that Luke, Asch, or Van haven’t used any yet either, something I would’ve expected in their fights due to the fact that both were each trained by Van and could help emphasize how much more skilled and powerful he is over the two of them if he were to counter their techniques; instead, Van’s takedown of Asch was too simple while Luke was made out to just be physcially weaker than him while also making the mistake of showing sympathy towards his teacher when Van didn’t even have an opening. I also mentioned earlier that Anise’s last attack at Arietta (”Tatsugeki Bukouken!”) looked stupid and didn’t particularly look like it could kill, especially with her doll missing one arm. Nevertheless, I’m going to guess that since techniques have been more common now, Sunrise will be spending more of the budget on these effects on the final battles; I, for one, want the proper battle between Luke and Asch to not suck.

PREVIEW

Guy’s having trouble with the succesor of Dist’s previous machine that got nuked by Van on the Tartarus, and later seems to be pretty pissed at Jade. The group has caught up with Asch at the top of the Tower of Rem, and Luke is shown holding the Sword of Lorelei, which might mean that the Jewel has been found as well. What’s more, it may mean Luke will be using it as his weapon from now on, that Asch isn’t the one meant to wield it because Luke holds the same isofons as Lorelei himself…or maybe he just beat him up and stole it?

Hissatsu! SHINING FINGER!

-Jay