This episode was full of action and explanations. First we start to understand Kinji’s reasons for not wanting to be a butei. Then we get to see why Aria is so determined to get a partner as quickly as she possibly can. Thanks to encouragement from Riko Kinji chases after Aria who is heading home to London. Finally the identity of the Butei Killer is revealed and the fight gets started.

Opinions:

Well ok this was without a doubt a pretty huge episode. I mean the identity of the Butei Killler was revealed and Aria was shot….again. Seriously Kinji needs to kick up that Hysteria Mode and stop letting our female lead get shot.

Finally we have the information about what was motivating Aria and Kinji in their actions. I can’t blame Aria for being so desperate to help her mother and get her help. It seems her mother was framed with an insane amount of crimes. I mean she’s currently around 700 years in terms of a sentence? Really getting the Butei Killer isn’t even her only priority. In order to save her mother Aria is going to need to bust every single crime that her mother has been accused of. I’m sure she was trying to be patient and find a partner, but at the same time it’s her mom and there is a mountain to overcome.

With Kinji it makes sense that he is so determined to be a butei. His brother gave his life to save a large amount of people and that was the thanks he got? Instead of being proclaimed a hero he was insulted and put down. Not to mention hounding a grieving brother was unbelievably callous. I can see wanting to quit and just say “screw you” to society. Why should he bother putting his life on the line for people who think like that? Since he’s probably going to stick with being a butei I think the goal will shift to fighting for Aria’s sake rather than people who would insult his brother’s memory.

I still can’t quite believe that Riko was actually the killer. It does kind of figure though that the fanservice, cute, and friendly girl was actually a serial killer. Makes sense why she disliked the sequel games that Kinji brought to her. Just throwing a number at the end of something clearly bothers her. Had to be a serious betrayal for Kinji who trusted Riko. Her actions now fit pretty well with teasing and trying to constantly push Kinji and Aria together. The crimes fit too with targeting Kinji not because he had Hysteria Mode (though it did make him a proper partner candidate for Aria), but because she wanted to lure him and Aria together. The moves she pulled on him was just to trigger Hysteria Mode which she knew would be able to piece together a possible danger towards Aria. No surprise that Kinji pulled the gun so quickly when she started to talk about his brother. This is definitely a personal case.

I guess you could say this is a personal thing for Riko as well. With her heritage there was such a desire to become her own person and not be seen as just a descendant. Of course her actions are just opening for comparison thanks to her chasing down her ancestor’s great rival. You might think that going her own way would be more satisfying. Of course it doesn’t give her the right to set Aria’s mother up for her crimes or kill people. Completely shocking with her pulling the blades out with her hair. Yes, with her hair XD! With Hysteria Mode it shouldn’t be a surprise what we can get and makes me wonder what Aria’s inherited ability is.

With Aria going down I’m looking forward to seeing the next episode. It should be pretty exciting to see how this situation gets resolved.
Score:A