il sole penetra le illusioni ~ Day Break Illusion - Episode 3

Having learned at least some of the sinister undertones beneath her new "work", Akari has decidedly to leave the school that would train her and give her shelter to strike out on her own.  But is there any escaping this establishment, and more importantly is there any escaping the Daemonia which will target her wherever she goes?

Having stumbled across just such a Daeomonia as it goes about its evil business trying to kill and destroy, Akari can swear that she can also hear it's plaintive cries for help, which prevents her from doing anything to stop its rampage - when some of her fellow students appear on the scene, she even does her part to stop them attacking the Daemonia, allowing it to escape.  The same can't be said for Akari herself, as she's forcibly returned from whence she came.

After being informed that leaving the academy simply isn't an option, Akari finds herself locked in the establishment's dungeon to consider what's she done, giving her time to roll everything she's seen, learned and done in her head as she tries to reconcile her supposed destiny with her desire not to harm others.  It turns out that she isn't the only girl with such doubts in her mind, and upon returning to active duty and facing a second crack at defeating  the same Daemonia, she again protects it to try to learn more about it, only to learn that all the former person within that demonic shell wants is for an end to be put to their life.  Is Akari's destiny really to function as executioner?

There's certainly nothing wrong with a series setting out to be dark, but Day Break Illusion is trying so impossibly hard to do so that it threatens to descend into farce at times.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of the threat presented in the second half of this week's episode, as a cart full of children is placed in front of a fast-moving train to create what should be a high moment of drama that instead turns out to feel laughably desperate - I'm surprised the Daemonia didn't kidnap a screaming woman and tie her to the rails instead.  It's this kind of heavy-handedness that continues to plague the series, detracting from some interesting concepts that I can only hope are better explored as the series progresses.  Certainly, something needs to give this show some direction and a sense of focus rather than just throwing "things that are dark" at the viewer like some kind of cheap death metal music video.