Shinkalion Change the World Ep 12 Review: Madness Zoo

July 2, 2024Episode Review,  Mecha Discussion,  ,  
After such a depressing and argumentative episode, Shinkalion CTW took a “breather” episode without much action to resolve many character’s psyche issue – especially Taisei. And we get an uninvited guest this time, which kinda surprises me as well. Taisei has a lot of questions that need answer, and while his sister is completely off-the-rails, his friends just barely made it back on track.

After the last confrontation, Taisei’s aptitude to be a Driver has fallen and he could not pilot the Shinkalion anymore. Meanwhile, the attacks from the Unknowns intensify, and Taisei cannot life a finger. Luckily, the other four Drivers were able to defeat the Unknowns pretty handily, but not without snide remarks from Akane and Ryota that made Ten and Shion wonder what happened. I do think they are low-blows towards Taisei’s pride and dignity in general. I guess you can say it’s the immature mind of teenagers, but Akane joining in is kinda…not good. But I digress.

Akane’s guiding light is his brother. Which is kinda a strange thing to speak to your brother about. “Hey so my friend has an enemy he was fighting which turns out to be someone he love. And I kinda criticize him for it.” is not something you spring on a siblings you recently didn’t want to talk to. But still, Akane’s brother proved to be a paragon of virtue, giving his brother the exact advice he wanted to hear. And Akane quickly realized that his hypocrisy hit the wrong target last episode.

For Ryota, it’s none other than Mai. I don’t think there’s anyone who’s more obsessed with Ryota than her lol. It’s good to see her back, and performing a freaking lariat lol. The power dynamic in their relationship is very interesting. And Mai was able to opened Ryota’s eyes about his hypocrisy in the way he treated Taisei. The job of a Shinkalion Driver is to protect those in need, including the Drivers themselves. Taisei and Akane have been helping Ryota with his issue, and now it’s their turn to do the same.
And then we get to the crazy part of the episode. Ina just appeared in front of Taisei in the Metaverse, looking unchanged since before she became missing. It’s a very polarizing appearance. She was sweet, caring and seemingly…undisturbed by everything that happened in the last episode. But the more “cheery” she is, the more ominous it feels. And before long, we get the to the corrupted zoo that Ina wanted to save. It’s strange that she pick this particular one out of many other places I assumed she had, but still, it looks both childish and creepy with all the hacked-up animals.

And then came the insanity face. Jeez that really catch me off-guard. Ina turned 180 and went on a rant on how ERDA is evil and treat people like tools (which we saw a segment in this episode that actually supported her statement). It’s obvious that they are trying to shift the perspective in Ina’s way, to make the contrast clearer when Taisei pull himself back. He has finally broke off from her sister’s spell and put up a resistance. However, it will still be difficult for him to actually fight back. But I reckon his friends will play a vital role in that.

Change The World is moving pretty fast with what I think will be the “initial” challenge for the main character. I don’t think this will be the endgame for the series if it’s tackled this early. I think it will continue for a dozen episodes before getting resolved. I would really like if we get a sister-brother combo like Hayato and his dad, and the E5 x Black Shinkalion is a timeless combo for the franchise. There’s no way we don’t get that. But “this” Ina’s pretty off, either she’s a clone or she’s being brainwashed. Let’s see what they will cook with this.

Aaron
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