Well the ending of this episode had a kind of “oh crap” moment to it. An episode mostly focusing on Yuji’s perspective on this battle suddenly ends with a scene showing us how prepared Bal Maqué is. I didn’t expect they would have already set up shop in Misaki City with some of the most powerful enemies in the cities standing on the roof of the school. Certainly there was no way to prevent Yoshida from being taken even if she hadn’t agreed to go along with it.

Of course makes me think that Yoshida is utterly nuts. Seems she is more than willing to throw her life away if it’s for Yuji’s sake. And here I thought she was going to survive the series for a moment. Still suppose we need to hear exactly what Yuji wants Yoshida for. Could be something like Khamsin in the first season and needing her vision of the city, but could be they need a ‘blood sacrifice’ kind of thing to help make this new world possible. We will just have to see in the next episode. Suppose you have to give Yoshida credit going along with this considering Yuji has already chosen Shana. She’s putting her life on the line for someone who isn’t going to return those feelings.

And finally we got some real insight on Yuji in his plan. Of course I don’t think it’s a bad idea to go against him, but at least he has some solid reasoning. Certainly he has this great goal and is hoping that it will all turn out alright. Seems to believe that Tomogara want to live alongside humans, possible though I think the first 2 seasons of the series has made that questionable. The only Tomogara we’ve seen living with a human was Pheles, I don’t think one good example is enough to base a whole plan on. Even Yuji recognizes that this plan is based on wishful think and leaps of faith. It could all go to hell, but he’s willing to take that risk. For his goal of living with those who are important to him he’s willing to potentially damn the future. He has obviously put a lot of planning into this. He’s worked to limit the deaths and protect the city that he has nicely thrown into the fire once again. At least it’s some comfort that the old Yuji is around somewhere. This kind of idealistic hope could only come from him.

On the other side you have the Flame Haze who aren’t willing to make such a large gamble. Putting uncountable lives on the line in the future just isn’t worth it. Plus not like they can put trust in a guy who mind raped Margery/Flame Haze army and then just let the slaughter continue. Luckily, it wasn’t very hard for Shana and company to gain the strength of the three remaining gods. The sacrifice of Centerhill was certainly important for making sure everyone would cooperate. The only question is if the group they have will be enough to win this war? Although in the end it simply comes down to whether Shana can stop Yuji or not. Both sides I’m sure will have trump cards to play as the series gets ready for the end.

The key really is who is right about how the Tomogara will behave in Xanadu? If Yuji is right it will be pretty peaceful and should work out fine. But if the Flame Haze are right it will be a nightmare of consumption leading to the eventual apocalypse for all the worlds. At least it’s nice how neither side is fully evil here. Easy enough to get fully behind Yuji and the Tomogara in this case. Of course I’ve found it rather easy to keep them as the group that must be stopped. Could simply argue that the only paradise that should be waiting for the Tomogara is at the end of a Flame Haze weapon. They’ve had their fun massacring and destroying lives and get rewarded with a paradise? Kind of funny how it was the death of Hirai Yukari that started so much and yet Yuji sides with the ones who stole that life away.

Time for the final battle. No idea what kind of role Yoshida will play or what Pheles is up to, but I’m sure we are going to find out. It’s going to be a crazy battle that’s for sure. No doubt I’m fully behind Shana’s group in this. Nice that its possible to side with either and have some reasons for it. Time to see who’s vision of the future will win out.
Score: A-

• Anonymous

  My loyality is really… at Yuji’s side. The series continues to throw curve balls at us, where in one side seems better than the other.

  If there’s a good way to sum up the clash of opinions, its that Yuji is a visionary, and Shana a realist. Yuji has a grand dream, a grand vision, that might be able to bring peace to everyone, and he’s putting his all in it, trying to make it a reality.

  Shana on the other hand, is stuck in her old ways, and wants the world to be the way it is, and get Yuji back. She also dreads the worst, and is hardly cool with Yuji doing whatever twisted and grand scheme he’s enacted. Not only that, it kind of kills her reason for existing.

  I think with this latest conversation, Yuji pretty much revealed that his plan relies on giving people what they want, and hoping that they are wise enough to keep it healthy and stable.

  Call me a bit of a dreamer myself, but I like Yuji’s philosophy more so than Shana’s. And I think that’s kind of what the story has been trying to set up for a while now, throughout the series until now. A setup where neither side can really be right or wrong.

  It is ironic that it was Yuji’s unconventional and out of the box thinking that got Shana to fall in love with him. Yuji began to see himself as more than a simple Mystes and Shana as more than a Flame Haze, and that fact intrigued her and also kinda grew on her. Oh the Irony that his natural progression is what Shana is hell bent on fighting against.

• Anonymous

  What I like is that people really can go either way. There’s enough to hang onto for either side depending on your views. Agree you can break it down to a realist vs a visionary. Neither is really worse, but just different ways to view things and take action.

  In the end I have to go with Shana myself. I think trusting people to do the right thing can be risky, but we’re trusting Tomogara to do the right thing. As someone who has watched all three seasons that doesn’t seem to be a good idea to me. A group that’s given us the Spiral Organ and Pheles on one side, but Friagne and the Aizen Siblings on the other. Can we really expect that everyone will behave in this new world? Are we willing to risk the existence of every world on that? Yuji might be, but Shana and the others certainly aren’t.

  I think this shows that extremes are easily rejected. Shana liked those aspects of Yuji, but when he takes it to the extreme then you get rejection. I mean it’s one thing to think outside the box, it’s other to start a war, beat up and kidnap the girl you like and create a cloned world.

  But will say nicely done by the series to make both sides supportable.

• Calvinocp

  It’s funny. When Yuji’s plan was first revealed in episode 14, I did thought to myself, “Ah, what a wonderful way to end the war.” But after hearing the possible danger in the long run from Centerhill and Shana, I’m not so sure about Yuji’s plan now.

  In fact, I do agree with Flareknight that as nice as Yuji’s plan sounds, it can be dangerous since he himself admitted that he can’t predict the Denizens’ behaviour in the New world. Having been consuming human for ages, it is entirely possible that these Denizens may find it difficult to ‘kick the habit’.

  I guess this is what a great novel/anime should be. Both sides have their valid reasons for doing things, and there are no clear good/bad guys.