Episode 6
The anime is doing very well with this arc as expected since it definitely does better when action is involved as opposed to the slice of life segments. Though I will say that they are landing the comedy a lot better these days and I have been cackling at how they’ve been executing it. But while there were several moments of silly levity, I felt like this episode in particular was a lot more graphic than usual. Especially in terms of the sound where you could literally hear several guys’ bones breaking and freaking Yor just spearing a guy straight through his head. I’m honestly surprised there wasn’t any blood splatter on the wall.
I feel like I don’t have that much to say about this episode since it was mostly just showcasing different assassins and how they were dealt with now that they were made aware of the client’s whereabouts. Though I will say that Yor’s fellow assassin is a freaking BEAST. This guy legit just appeared from the shadows and broke all of this guy’s bones without even blinking. The shot of him just standing there behind him could honestly be taken out of a horror film or something. Speaking of horror, I freaking lost it when Yor made such a sharp turn to look at the assassin in the room with the most terrifyingly stoic look on her face and knocked him out with a freaking button. All accompanied with the guy’s “deh?”, the comedic timing was just too good. That had to be my favorite bit lol. I also lost it how Loid is just doing it best to try and help Anya have a good time on the trip and not grasping what Anya wants. Not to mention how Anya’s plan to ditch Loid to help Yor both backfired and succeeded at the same time when she forgot that Loid is literally the master of disguise so he can change within seconds. But because he had trouble figuring out what was considered “fun” made him take a lot longer lol. This episode was hilariously brutal.
Episode 7
This episode kicks off right where we left off last episode with Yor going toe to toe with this other assassin. Unlike with the other two assassins Yor took out, there was literally no way to get this guy out of the way discreetly considering the weapon he was wielding. I was wondering how this wouldn’t attract any attention since they are in a very open hallway with people already passing through. Lo and behold, it completely did. However, Anya came to the rescue and my gosh she is was an absolute GENIUS in this situation. Not only did she put Yor at ease by making it seem like she didn’t recognize her, but also put the passengers at ease to think it’s all a performance.
While this did help Yor in disguising the situation, I was a bit worried about how the guy would react. Especially since with one wrong move, any of the spectators could have gotten really hurt. Not to mention the guy literally has no qualms in killing innocent people. So not only does Yor have to fend off the guy from hurting her, she also has to keep in mind the innocent bystanders’ safety as well. This whole situation just makes me so anxious as there is a lot riding on whether Yor can react fast enough and act accordingly so that her mission isn’t compromised. Thankfully though, because he had a moment of hesitation because he got annoyed at the crowds’ comments, Yor was able to fabulously incapacitate the guy while also hilariously knocking him out to make it look like he was bowing at the end as if everything was staged for a performance.
I feel like we’re so used to Yor being the danger, but now that there are other lives at stake, I feel worried for her. Especially since now that she’s protecting others, it makes her feel more vulnerable. When she fights on her own, the only person she needs to worry about is herself and does her job with little to no worry. However, now that there are other lives she needs to be aware of, it definitely feels like this job is severely out of her comfort zone. While Yor is very good at what she does, she is still prone to carelessness. Shown in the first episode of this season where she miscalculated and ended up getting shot in the butt. Not to mention while she is essentially Anya’s protector when the two go out together, the fact she CONSTANTLY loses track of Anya also doesn’t bode well in that regard. Thankfully Anya has been very lucky in regards to coming out of situations unscathed, none of these random people feel like they have that same plot armor and are susceptible to having their lives taken away if Yor isn’t careful. There is only so much Yor can do on her own and I don’t want to see her fail. Especially when failure means losing innocent lives.
Yor seems to realize the weight of her actions could decide whether this mission is a success or failure and for the first time has admitted to be scared. While of course she doesn’t want to die, it almost feels as if she never really has had the chance to think about her own well-being. She essentially sacrificed herself to become an assassin for the sake of providing for Yuri when they were younger. But now, she’s actually starting to think more about her well-being for the sake of others, especially in regards to what her fake family would think if she did end up getting badly hurt. Even more so than getting shot in the butt. And while I thought she had already accepted the Forgers as a legit part of her life now and have become far more important to her than she thought they’d be, it seems as if she’s still struggling with those feelings. We as an audience already know that she has developed a strong fondness for both Loid and Anya, but it is that fondness that is making her rethink her reasons for staying as an assassin. Does she really need to continue this line of work? Is it benefiting anyone close to her anymore? It definitely feels like some very important questions that Yor is still trying to sort out.
But gosh, the fact there’s still a little less than a day before the mother and child can get off this godforsaken boat just fills me with all sorts of anxiety. I JUST NEED THEM TO BE OKAY BUT TIME IS MOVING SO SLOWLY AHHHHHHH.
While the previous episode knocked it out of the park and I really liked the first half of the episode, the second half… honestly didn’t need to be as long as it was. Especially when they have Anya and Loid shenanigans while Yor is out here fighting for her life. OBVIOUSLY one part is far more interesting than the other. I know it’s in the manga, but I felt like they stretched it out a little too much where I felt like the episode was losing focus. While I do appreciate Anya having a good time despite trying to find ways to ditch Loid to help Yor, the moments were definitely stretched out to pad out the remaining time of the episode. Which is frustrating because it felt like they were just wasting time.
The part that I did like from this was Anya realizing that she was making Loid worried and possibly hurt his feelings while he was trying his best to give Anya a good time on their trip. And while she covered up her true intentions by wanting to go help Yor, I’m sure there was still some truth in that she did miss hanging out as a family. And it was very sweet of Loid to try his best to try and entertain and understand Anya a little better. We’ve seen Loid constantly struggle to understand Anya for multiple different reasons, and I think he finds it hard to really see things from Anya’s perspective because it’s been hinted how he wasn’t able to really be a child during wartime. So I do like that while he isn’t involved in the action, he is doing his own growing to try and understand Anya a little more. Especially since she’s been a constant anomaly to him lol.
Despite the strangely stretched out detour in this episode, things are definitely ramping up for an inevitable confrontation with all assassin’s on this boat. Which just makes my anxiety rise but I’m also excited to see how the anime handles the action that is about to go down.
