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Episode 19: If Only I Can Protect You
Air date: February 7th 2007
Channel: TV Tokyo
Length: ca. 24 minutes
Opinion
After the previous episode's setup, this episode is fully battle-oriented: There are three fights, and basically every character gets to participate - except for Tokiko and Kazuki, that is. The latter is going to have his very own climactic rematch against Captain Bravo in the next episode.
All three fights are actually very different, which means that the constant fighting still won't grow old. What could compare to Papillon's and Ikusabe's match? Seriously, what could possibly compare to Papillon fighting a stark naked man? You surely don't want anyone to walk in on you while you are watching this!
It's great that Papillon uses more than just brute force to win this fight. This can also be said about Gouta's triumph over Negoro: the two use their wits and figure out their enemies' weaknesses, then carry out the one, simple action that will bring them victory. Watching battles like this is a lot more rewarding than watching those that are decided after a series of simple power-ups.
Kazuki's fighting style could be described like this: this honest but rather brainless pushing forward no matter what. Of course, it's part of Kazuki's personality, and I'm not really complaining about his battle style. But it's good to see that others do it differently.
Papillon should be cunning - he is very intelligent, after all. And Gouta is a capable warrior despite just being physically weaker than most, making up by his ability to analyze his situation.
Especially Gouta can shine in this episode. I believe that he is a phenomenon. For one introduced so late in the story, busting into an established, untouchable team like Kazuki and Tokiko, he certainly fared well. Because here we are, rooting for a character who was only introduced four episodes ago, while the main characters are spending an episode doing very little themselves.
Speaking of which, Tokiko's passivity in this scene is a little regrettable. The manga gave her more to do, and more convincing - or let's just say 'creative' - hindrances.
I don't think the changes from the manga play out as well as they could in this episode. There's not only Hiwatari's too convenient single attack and subsequent disappearance and Tokiko's injury, but also the sequence of the Renkin Sendan's fight against Victor. I am glad they are given screen time. I'm glad they did not just leave out these characters. But there's something really weird about seeing Hanaka Busujima on a battle field. She is sixteen, she is incredibly shy, she is not a fighter, and I miss the scenes she had in the manga alongside Hiwatari.
How exactly Chitose's team ended up consisting of all the Renkin Sendan's youngest and least powerful members is beyond me. Even though the attack on Victor is planned and carried out making use of everyone's abilities - including a swift escape - it all seemed very uninspired. And it was very obvious that Shuusui, who was just barely recruited into the group, is the most capable member of them all... it's a very unimpressive demonstration of not-quite-power. I'm sure Victor was wondering what this was all about.
Still, in the end, I got to see more of Shuusui, and that's still something I greatly approve of.
(Written by Kaeli on February 16th)