Devil Survivor 2: The Animation - Episode 11

Hibiki is still out for the count having saved Nitta from her fate with what can only be described as a miracle, but this is no time to be sleeping as the final, all-important Septentrion attack looms large over the Earth.

As the rest of the demon-controlling gang cement their friendships as a group, any joy is soon turned to despair as they all receive confirmation of their worst nightmare - Dead Face clips showing each and every one of them perishing in the final Septentrion battle.  There's not much time to dwell on this however, as the alarm sounds for the arrival of this final foe, an all-powerful being which utilises all of the abilities that we've seen from previous Septentrion attacks.

With Yamato acting as a defensive shield, all of the other ragtag JP's members are free to attack the Septentrion at will, and initially it looks as though they may be suitably accomplished to achieve a simple, crushing defeat of their enemy.  Of course, such a battle is never likely to be that simple, and once the Septentrion effectively disables all of their demons by forcibly returning them to their phones the tables are turned.  Although this particular "spell" is quickly countered, it's too late to resummon these demons as Yamato takes matters into his own hands and goes on the offensive, effectively sacrificing the protection of his supposed comrades into the bargain.  While this means the end of some of them, the return of Hibiki from his forced slumber is enough to protect the rest... for a while at least.  Just as everything seems to be hopeless once again, an unlikely saviour shows their mettle to save the day.

As predictable as this episode was - you could see most of its twists coming a mile off - Devil Survivor 2 continues to be pretty accomplished when it comes to providing no-nonsense entertainment.  Once again, this episode's pace was more than quick enough to ensure that any semblance of boredom is avoided, and if anything it's rather surprising to see what was being billed as the show's final battle completed so easily, even if there are clearly plenty of other fish to fry for its remaining two instalments.  This series may remain a "fire and forget" affair that won't live long in the memory, but it's still proved capable of keeping me hooked every week while also providing just enough thought-provoking aspects to its story beats to avoid being a completely generic action show.