Overview (Spoilers Below):
An ordinary trip by train goes off the rails when Menou and Akari are caught in the crossfire of a terrorist attack on Princess Ashuna.
Our Take:
Menou’s journey to take Akari to Garm has gotten off to an unsurprisingly rough start. Not only do they have to deal with terrorists who have taken over their train, but they also have a hitchhiker on board. No one said that her new assignment would be a piece of cake.
The said hitchhiker is Princess Ashuna, a warrior who happens to be the daughter of King Grisarika. She climbed onto the train to seek her target Aika, but not before encountering Momo and a terrorist group that sought to trade Ashuna for their imprisoned leader. Unfortunately for Menou and the others, the terrorists came prepared with ether crystals that allowed them to fuse into an armored warrior.
The first two episodes of The Executioner had done a nice job introducing me to its isakei world’s fundamentals and the characters. While it doesn’t have a lot to stand out against the other isakei shows, it somehow keeps me invested in Menou’s journey. So now its true test is to kick off the girls’ trip to Garm on an exciting note with Menou pulling a Liam Neeson on the suicidal terrorists.
This episode has it all: terrorism, action scenes, and an out-of-control train, as if the former two aren’t enough to excite me. The result is another well-paced chapter that represents the show’s consistent sense of vibrancy and enjoyableness. While its action sequences didn’t match the one from the first episode regarding its swift animation work and intensity, the episode still works in providing a sense of danger in the characters’ situation.
The main reason for it is Menou and Akari stopping a speeding train after the warrior damages its engines. Menou succeeded by borrowing Akari’s power but later received the feeling that the train did crash and killed everyone on board. This was due to Akari using her Pure Concept to reverse time for the entire world, giving her and Menou a second chance to save everyone. Honestly, I thought it was the engine that caused it at first before the episode revealed that Akari was the cause of it. Please don’t ask why I thought of that.
Based on its ending, Akari’s powers have grown more powerful by the minute, which means time’s running short for Menou. It also means that things would get even more interesting as the show progresses, thanks to this week’s attention-grabbing episode. Too bad that Momo might miss all the fun since she’s busy battling Ashuna. 7.5