How do you rate episode 13 of
Sengoku Youko ? Community score: 4.2
© 水上悟志/マッグガーデン・戦国妖狐アニメ化事業部
Now that's how you do a season finale.
Last week, I decided to focus on the dramatic resolution we got from Shinsuke because that was the part of the story that was coming to an end. There are plenty of other threads I left out, such as the mysterious cloaked creatures conveniently interrupting Jinka's fight and our hero performing metaphysical brain surgery on himself to increased strength. It feels like those topics are booked for later, and with so much crammed into a given episode of this show, sometimes I have to choose my battles. It turns out to be the right decision, as both the Organization look.
I didn't expect this to come to an end—we knew the series was set for about 30 episodes since before it aired—but I certainly didn't see this level of narrative upheaval. going to happen. Although the episode features Jinka and Tama facing off against their counterparts, the ensuing battle is one of constant escalation, moving from a one-on-one battle with our cunning villain into a mini-apocalypse that sees our remaining cast scattered to the wind, irrevocably. has changed physically or mentally, and an impending change of perspective has me extremely curious about what Season 2 will bring.
It's a blast, delivering all the tireless hustle and bustle of previous episodes, but with an eerie confrontation, letting everything descend into chaos and tragedy at the perfect moment. While other shows might have spread this confrontation out over multiple episodes, we get the entire roller coaster ride in just one shot and it's better for it. The fight between Jinka and Yazen is great, portraying our big bad as a formidable adversary and a clever schemer, always looking for ways to attack his opponents. The animation reaches its peak, delivering an extremely exciting fight in which both Jinka's growing ferocity and Yazen's unscrupulous betrayal fuel each other. Even Shinsuke gets a decisive moment at the end, stopping Yazen's final plan and getting a good chance to take down the old man. Whatever mistakes the previous episodes may have made in speeding through fights, it all worked in favor of the finale, which gave us a great plot twist that had me screaming at the TV screen at the end. . Those are just the fundamentals of good fighting.
Of course, the real point of it all is the tragic irony of Jinka's fate. Throughout this show, he claims he wants to become a Katawara, and although he claims it's because he loathes humans so much, it eventually becomes clear that he wants to live alongside Tama as long as possible. However, in order to fight for her and the ideals she passionately pursued, he twisted his own spirit and dreams until he lost all control over it. He gets what he wants, puts his humanity aside, and in doing so becomes a raging disaster that threatens not only the people he loves but every shred of life that exists. exists in the world around him. His final lung-splitting scream was both terrifying and heartbreaking, signaling that Jinka—or at least the part of him that could still be rational—realized how lost and hurt he was when pursue power. The cruelest irony is that he does not strive to gain that power for his own benefit or to dominate others, unlike the enemies he faces. He just wants to reform the world so that his beloved companion can be happy, but the world is so unforgiving that change comes without paying a heavy price.
It's a somber departure but also the perfect lead-in to whatever the second part of this story will be. If we are not assured that we will have more products soon, this may feel like an unforeseen change. Thankfully, we're set to return after just one season, and the promise of not only a new villain, but a new hero, is an enticing one. For now, we're left with tantalizing questions after a solid, fun, and well-characterized adventure.
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Sengoku Youko is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.