Overview (Spoilers Below):
As Takeru destroys the Towers of the Four Gods one by one, Seimei chooses to personally face him in combat.
Our Take:
It’s no surprise that Takeru isn’t playing around, especially after what happened to Tsukimiya…again. With the towers destroyed, Takeru is now one step closer to eliminating the World Whittle for good. But first, he’ll have to get past Seimei, who challenges him to a one-on-one match. Onmyo Kaiten is known for being another battle mech anime through the characters’ shikigami, akin to Power Rangers. However, in this episode, Takeru and Seimei engage in a personal battle, utilizing their onmyo skills without their giant mechs. The result is a pretty compelling showdown that has Takeru utilizing his training to overcome Seimei’s powerful assets, but it’s also not without some reveals that make or break the episode, depending on one’s expectations. One of which is that Kazura’s sister, Shino, was responsible for creating the black mist, though it wasn’t enough to subdue Takeru’s wrath.
However, that twist was nowhere near as impactful as the one that came afterward. Onmyo Kaiten has been exceeding my expectations through its twists, offering more than just an ordinary isekai/time-loop concept with battle mechs, mainly in its second half. Unfortunately, this latest twist in “Fight Me for Real” suggests that it may have taken its narrative surprises too far. It turns out that Seimei wasn’t the real villain of this story, but rather Tsukimiya, who used Takeru to destroy the only thing capable of protecting the town from being destroyed by her digital apocalypse. This means that the special person Takeru has dedicated his life to protecting is actually a cold-hearted bitch who took advantage of his generosity, forcing him to make another tough decision.
I’m all for narrative twists in shows and movies as long as they’re executed well in providing shock value and revitalizing their familiar tropes. Onmyo Kaiten has done pretty well with the shocking reveal of Seimei as the villain up until this episode, where I was like, “Oops, that’s one twist too many”. It also didn’t help that Tsukimiya’s surprising reveal left me feeling more frustrated than surprised, but not in a way that fuels my interest. It may be suitable in reflecting the consequences of relying on fantasy over reality regarding love. Still, I think it could’ve achieved a more fitting outcome to fully capture the twist’s heartbreaking essence rather than introducing another villain twist. It worked well for Seimei, but Tsukimiya’s villainous turn is just pushing it.