Friday 7 June 2013

Devil Survivor 2: The Animation - Episode 10

Humanity is edging ever-closer to the possibility of survival as we reach this week's episode of Devil Survivor 2, yet in doing so the human costs rise ever higher and become even more personal.

Nowhere is this more keenly illustrated than in the case of Io Nitta, who is advised that she is required to take centre stage in the next battle against the Septentrion - a battle which is guaranteed to kill her.  Faced with a choice between her own life and the destruction of all humanity, herself included, there really isn't much of a choice to be made, and so Nitta meekly surrenders herself to her fate while trying to make the most of the final day of her life... by eating a tasty breakfast.


Of course, once her friends realise what's happening as the next Septentrion attack begins they're apoplectic with rage, but by this point it's too late to change anything as Nitta takes control of, and effectively becomes, the powerful demon Lugh.  As expected, Lugh wins out against the Septentrion, but this god/demon isn't exactly thrilled to be used and abused by humans and seeks to wreak its revenge using what little remains of Nitta's body.  Although Yamato expects Hibiki to clean up this mess by destroying Lugh, of course he proves less than willing as he continues to hope that Nitta can be saved - and if anyone can perform a miracle, it's him...

It almost goes without saying that all of thisa builds to a cop-out ending where the impossible happens simply because Hibiki really wants it to, and brain-dead and physically destroyed Nitta is somehow brought back to the land of the living 100% healthy and intact.  The again, I can afford this decision at least a little leeway as it added some fairly decent emotional spice to an episode already hardly short of it, while the show's pace and willingness to just get on with things most of the time is still keeping me rolling along and broadly enjoying the viewing experience each week.  I doubt this is the kind of show that I'm going to remember for years to come, but for short-term entertainment it seems to have its story-telling balance just about right.

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