Asura Cryin EX016

Summary:

Tomo, Misao, Kanade and Takuma are enjoying a working summer vacation at a beach resort where various Tomo x Kanade hijinks involving curry and BBQ meat causes tension between Tomo and Misao. The latter finally confronts Tomo, accusing him of hiding something from her. She has noticed his changed behaviour since Takaya's hijack when, with the loss of Aine, he learnt of the terrible fate of the burial dolls. He denies that anything's the matter but she sees through him and is doubly upset when she realizes that Kanade shares the secret he refuses to tell her. Taking advantage of the evening low tide, Takuma organizes a walk of courage to the now accessible Meiji-era Kuremizaki battery, leaving Misao behind. It's really a plot by Takuma to get Tomo and Kanade to confess their feelings for each other, Kuremizaki being a famous lovers' spot.

The island turns out to be the one that Takaya, Kristina, Satomi, Shuri, Ania and Tokiya-Koala have been eyeing due to the presence of Asura Machina-related ruins. The latter trio interrupts Tomo x Kanade and enters the ruins just in time for Misao to wink in. Only to see the trail of destruction left by Takaya x Kristina. Satomi tricks Ania into sharing her knowledge about the facility as that can set free a Burial Doll, seizes her as bait for Takaya and tries to kill the rest of the gang with the newly rushed-in Castas Machina Beta. Before everyone can be killed by their improved armour and Tomo's reluctance to summon Kurogane, a gravity doll appears to save the day and impart a smoky vision of Naotaka to Tomo before he passes out.

Reaction:

After that megas-wonder dose of Tohru-oneesama last week, we're brought back to the central dilemma faced by our hero and two main heroines. Kanade vows to protect Tomo in Misao's place so that Tomo does not need to whittle away Misao through the use of Kurogane but as her collapse in the battle shows, she's also close to her limit already. I used to find her shyness annoying in the first cour but this episode is the most forthright I've seen her yet and I like what I see. Definitely a worthy competitor to Misao in the Tomo harem stakes.

An also muddies the waters somewhat by suggesting that Tomo may be having survivor's guilt wrt Misao and the plane crash. But wasn't Misao made in a burial doll because of the black hole experiment kah bah boom? Gosh, there seems that there's no way for Misao to avoid getting stuck in a giant test tube whatever world, time-space or dimension she's in. Aroduc (pretty the only Other who's said anything about this episode thus far thus no "What Others Are Saying" section for this post and probably for the rest of the series) felt that Tomo being unable to bring himself to summon Kurogane was getting old but I disagree; after all, he's just learnt, from Aki's case, that Burial Dolls can disappear without any warning signs. And he's used Kurogane plenty already. It's like those automatic watches or batteries without power reserve indicators only a million times more serious business wrt Misao's life. What I did find less and less believable is how Misao remains in the dark, the timings of her comings and goings are getting a tad too convenient. I only hope that it's because they're saving up for a great scene when she gets the Horrible Revelation *GAAAN*

Related posts:

1. Asura Cryin EX017
2. Shuri arc stabilizes Asura Cryin'
3. Asura Cryin EX014