Friday 21 December 2012

Medaka Box Abnormal - Episode 11

Now that Medaka is back to normal (or as close to it as you could possibly go when it comes to defining her as "normal"),  it's time for the final basement showdown in the battle to destroy the Flask Plan.

If Oudo Miyakonojou wasn't a tough enough final boss as it is, it appears that he's been hiding another technique almost literally up his sleeve - the ability to steal the techniques of others, something which he demonstrates brutally on Koga, in turn reducing Naze to a bawling mess as she goes back on all of the tenets that she's been living by.


If it seems as if this is going to be too much for Medaka, you might have reckoned without her War God mode, but then again it seems that Kurokami also has another trick up her own sleeve; an alternate version of this very same War God mode that is entirely under her control, rather than the out-of-control version that occurs when she flies into a rage.  Couple that with her ability to learn and perfect any technique she sees only once without needing to steal it, and it soon becomes clear who the winner will be, even before Oudo tries to snatch Medaka's abilities from her only to be pushed back by the sheer horror of the darkness she carries within.  Thus, the day is won, and the Flask Plan dismantled, so all's well with the world - until the group reach the first floor again, at least...

After spending so many weeks bemoaning the fact that Medaka Box's anime adaptation has rarely added anything of note or interest to the original work, this week's episode was at least an example of how seeing things unfold in animated form can be more powerful - with some decent visual flourishes, a small sprinkling of action and a powerful soundtrack, this episode did a great job of depicting the climax to this particular story arc in an enjoyable and relatively gripping fashion.  If only the rest of the series had managed to do likewise, we might be talking about this series far more, although with the next major arc of the manga now set up it seems that GAINAX are already betting on a third season getting the green light.

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