Eighty Six ep 16: Bloody battlefield
GODDAMN LET’S FUCKING GOOOOO!!
This week’s Eighty Six will surely satisfy action-starved audience. An intense and battle-packed episode from start to finish, filled with the smell of gunpower and metallic clashing noise, episode 16 returns us to the battlefield in the Giad Federacy’s frontline.
This week’s Eighty Six will surely satisfy action-starved audience. An intense and battle-packed episode from start to finish, filled with the smell of gunpower and metallic clashing noise, episode 16 returns us to the battlefield in the Giad Federacy’s frontline.
The new “Juggernaut” – aka the Reginleif – has finally bared its fangs in the hands of the Eighty Six. We knew that the Reginleif is a slightly better version of the old Juggernaut, but to hell with “slightly better”, this episode shows that the ivory spiders are leagues above the scrap coffins of the Republic. In the first season, I had a complaint that the Juggernauts all looked the same even though some of them are the long range cannon version, and that complaint has been answered. The main cast’s Reginleif are all distinct. And what better than one Reginleif than a squadron (14) of Reginleifs (with Fido as a support). The strength, the speed, the ultility of a Reginleif’s squadron can make you shiver in amusement and terror. Hell, Shin’s Reginleif are the cherry on top. That long shot CQC is terrific, combined with Sawano’s music, it can only be described as God’s work. To the staff that worked on the mecha part, bravo. All the details, all those magnificent Reginleif’s stomping on the Legions worth every single frames that you have worked on.
Now to the plot and story. The first part was from Shin’s POV. We knew that Shin is one stoic rough-and-tough badass in season 1 as he did not show much emotion. Yet this episode he showed them, a lot, a wide range of emotions that we have never seen before. The cold sweat when the Legion started their operation, the smirk when he read that “letter”, the face of one who fought like he want to die,… The small details that described the kind of battle he engaged in was terrified in the LN, but here? The animation showed us, the music, the voice actors and actresses performance made the experience even more terrifying, especially the eyes. Shin’s and Frederica’s are the final pieces that made the first half of 16th episode one of the best episode this cour. Both have gone a long way, they have developed more than they ever hoped. All those build ups from previous episodes have paid a worthy price.
The scene where Frederica desperately called out for Shin, then looked in horror as she witnessed the berserk Reaper, and her incredible sadness when he came back from hell. What made Frederica’s sad isn’t because Shin have to fight, but because Shin had to fight while shutting off everything – his comrades, his emotion, his past and future, and eventually, the world itself. He was so absorbed in battle that she was scared he won’t ever come back, just like her former Knight Kiri. The audio effect during that sequence was also mind-numbingly eerie too.
The scene where Frederica desperately called out for Shin, then looked in horror as she witnessed the berserk Reaper, and her incredible sadness when he came back from hell. What made Frederica’s sad isn’t because Shin have to fight, but because Shin had to fight while shutting off everything – his comrades, his emotion, his past and future, and eventually, the world itself. He was so absorbed in battle that she was scared he won’t ever come back, just like her former Knight Kiri. The audio effect during that sequence was also mind-numbingly eerie too.
And then, we travelled across the battlefield hundreds of kilometers to witness the fall of the Gran Mur – the final defense line between the Legion….and the Republic. The place where the Eighty Sixes have fought to defend for so long…has finally crumbled. And there’s nothing left to stop the Legion, not the Eighty Sixes that was oppressed, not the Albas that were ignorant and without a speck of fighting spirit, not the lone General that head out with a single assault rifle…except one:
Lena
What I can say more than: ALL HAIL OUR QUEEN THE BLOODY REGINA. That naive passionate young girl is no more, a queen has been born!
And also…that last scene….
>Reryuu<
