Has Arata turned to the darkside? Will Miyo be able to control her powers? This episode sets the stage.

Video Review

What Stands Out the Most?

After an episode where Naoshi’s plans get foiled, a new wrinkle in his plans may change how we view Arata forever! With Naoshi inviting the now head Usuba to join the Gifted Communion, how Arata handled this encounter will greatly shift where the plot will take us.

Setting the Stage

This might be the first episode where nothing new introduced really changed where the story may be going and how it didn’t really do much to add anything compelling to any of the characters’ arcs. Kiyoka is still the protective husband-to-be. Arata is still super suspect, as we don’t know exactly what went down between Naoshi’s invitation of him joining the Gifted Communion. Miyo is still unsure about what her dreams and her Dream-Sight ability means. Although, the episode did introduce a new dream involving Sumi and Naoshi as adults, before a life-changing event occurs.

The episode starts off with Prince Takaihito teasing his revelation of this “big wave” coming with the most compelling part being about how “sacrifices” will be made. With the hook being this cryptic, it set the theme of the episode to be all about “setting the stage” before a big plot event occurs. All the most crucial characters were basically moved into the imperial palace before the Gifted Communion makes their move to take down Prince Takaihito and to steal Miyo’s Dream-Sight. In a sense, this episode served as like a recap, but one that reaffirms the status of all the characters’ arcs before the plot gets to plotting again.

Consistently Building

While the episode didn’t establish anything new that swayed our thinking about anything, it still continued to show a progression of what we already know like Miyo and Kiyoka being able to speak on deeper terms. It was nice to see Miyo and Kiyoka continue their romantic bond by how much more natural it seems for Kiyoka to ask a question about her past—in regards to how she spent her time during New Year’s, even though it’s probably all just traumatic.

However, the biggest thing here about “speaking about insecurities,” really stems from Miyo’s current arc of overcoming whatever it is that is hidden within her—that prevents her full use of her Dream-Sight. Arata clearly links this lack of understanding about herself to the reason why she can’t fully control or understand her Dream-Sight. This keeps the theme going between the romantic progression and how it relates to her powers. Kiyoka going to check up on her alone keeps that mystery going.

Out of all of the episodes thus far, this might be the weakest, but far from being bad in any sense. It just didn’t provide anything that new and compelling. It still leaves questions we have, unanswered; which is perfectly fine because the sense that something major is about to happen is likely to happen soon.

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