Score: A

Psyren keeps the story moving nicely to the point where I was surprised when the episode did end. They spent the whole episode in that hellscape and showed what kind of mess Ageha has gotten himself into. It also showed why it was so important for him to do it though. Amamiya really is at her limit and having someone she can trust show up will do wonders for her mental state which is honestly…not great. Even if that came at the cost of several lives.

Utterly put through it

One can only imagine the hell that Amamiya has been through. Considering how this group ended up it’s easy to guess that the people she originally entered Psyren with ended up dead. While I’m not sure how much her social skills played a part, can imagine that future groups she met didn’t hear her out. I’m sure she didn’t simply leave people to die without a care…but clearly the amount of people she saved (if any) wasn’t enough to keep her stable. Another group that walked off to their deaths while she was unconscious was probably like getting stabbed for Amamiya.

It’s just sad seeing how she reasoned not telling everything to Ageha or how she presumed everyone was already done for. Unfortunately on the later point she was right…basically everyone was dead. They did save one person (and a second for a few minutes), but it’s still a painful result. The best thing Amamiya has done for herself though was reaching out to Ageha last episode. That moment of weakness probably saved her life and sanity. Ageha clearly cares and isn’t going to abandon her. I don’t know how quickly she’ll open up about things, but at the very least he is there.

Ageha’s expressions work so well

Rough day for Ageha though. He shows up, gets punched a few times, attacked by monsters, and honestly likely feels terrible. There was no saving Sugita…maybe even if he had avoided that one monster attack. Again, those moments probably will make him even more determined to support Amamiya in the future. This is brutal for him right now…but this clearly has been her life for quite some time now. Someone telling him that it wasn’t his fault did so much while Amamiya has had to tell herself that just to avoid breaking entirely.

But clearly Ageha will find a way to get through this. He’s already showing good adaptability and understanding enemy weaknesses. They still can’t handle some threats right now, but it’s one step at a time on that front. Key thing will be him hurrying to meet up with Amamiya and Asaga. Those two are in a mountain of trouble against something that’s just inhumanly strong and apparently very persistent! That thing didn’t just kill anyone entering the danger zone, but has actively left that zone to hunt down survivors.

Man is doing his best

While Asaga was a jerk at points…he did quickly redeem himself. Getting heated and angry after nearly dying and watching other people die would make a person snap. At least the guy isn’t so stupid in a life or death situation that he couldn’t regain his composure and apologize. Good on him to try and get Amamiya to the gate while Ageha tried at his rescue mission. It’s not going great for sure…but he’s at least making an effort! And right now Asaga represents the one light of hope for this game. If all three can survive this that will prove to Amamiya that it’s not all hopeless.

Rest in peace…

Those guys sure died fast and brutally. This world isn’t messing around and this “game” is for keeps. Sad that most of them were jumping into this for the money and now are simply dust. No bodies, no evidence, and they’ll just be missing persons eventually presumed dead. It’s very understandable for greed to blind them. No second chances. The first guy may have been luckiest. He didn’t exactly die instantly, but close enough so there was little fear. Everyone else had just enough time to realize how horrifying their ends were about to be. And this was just one group presumably just sent in today. No wonder the amount of missing person’s cases are going through the roof. 90% probably don’t survive even one trip.

The stakes are certainly there

Yep, I’m loving where Psyren has been going so far. They are doing a solid job with it, which is all I could’ve asked for. I’ve honestly forgotten quite a bit of the early story since I haven’t read in in a long time. But they seem to be getting it right in terms of the characters and the tone. Now just have to see both how the story will play out and how well it will be adapted. I can’t see myself not sticking with it for the season though.