This episode deserves some special attention — the actiony Shana we’ve always wanted. Sure, it’s been there since the end of the Konoe arc with Pheles and such, but Sabrac has been quite the villain. And JC Staff pulled out a lot of goodies in this conclusion episode of the fight. Pretty effects, a cunning plan (devised by Yuuji no less!), and even a few flashes of fanservice that we haven’t seen in a while. I’m happy because I heart Shana (but I guess not everyone was pleased with it ^^;).

Synopsis

The long fight with Sabrac continues, but Yuuji is onto something. He eventually reaches Shana, Kazumi, and Margery, bringing along a very useful gift from Wilhelmina. Turns out she had some secret bandages with the power to dispel Sabrac’s Stigma. Johan had been conjuring up the spell ever since Sabrac started his numerous attacks on them. And now they’re put to great use. Additionally, Yuuji discovers Sabrac’s offensive/defensive secret and develops a plan to make Sabrac killable. Since Sabrac has spread his existence across the entire city, it’s up to Margery to disconnect that link while Wilhelmina distracts the Tomogara. Then Shana saves up strength for the final blow. Kazumi and Keisaku play support while Yuuji oversees the whole operation. Throw in the first OP for some dramatic flair, and you’ve spelled victory!

Impressions

What a great episode to lift your spirits after a pretty lonesome night. The buildup of this fight for the past two eps or so has been well done and has kept my interests high. I was fearing another cliffhanger right before the plan executes, but no, we get the full deal in this episode. At the start, we weren’t sure what Yuuji has thought up, but as soon as I saw what those new bandages did, I was smiling. Stigma sucks just as much as I hate Poison in RPGs. Well it’s great when it’s on your side, but so annoy~ing when you’re inflicted with it. It’s almost unfair how Sabrac gets to fight gradually weakening opponents while also spreading his existence all over like that, essentially making him immortal.

Because he must have “died” at least five times already given all the explosions Wilhelmina dealt to him. Only the cloak is left, but then more power is fed back to revive his temporary body. I suppose when the massive piece of the city lifted into the air and he felt his power source fading away, he was too much in shock to believe a trap actually worked (he had suspected it but was too arrogant to worry) … and again by a Mystes. He was already ticked about the bandages by Johan. Now Yuuji has figured him out. Mystes are definitely useful thinkers while Flame Haze mostly fight. :P

Ah, sweet victory. And we get to hear the first OP again while the second OP has been .. artistic but bland. The insert song gives away that something great is about to open, so I think I let my cliffhanger worries go right then and figuratively moved to the edge of my seat. Surprisingly, Shana’s skirt behaves like a normal one this time rather than being weighted down by anime physics. I was reminded of the end of season one, where Shana’s encounter with Hecate was also emblazoned with pantsu flashes. Yeah there’s no real reason for it, especially if they were hardly there in past episodes. But I guess the animators wanted to get all the fanbases into it. I surely didn’t mind. As lanie-emon jokes, Sabrac at least got an eyeful himself before he died. XD

Kind of DBZ-like?

Aside from the short skirts, Shana had some cute and epic faces this episode. The force of the battle pushes her hair all the way back, and so we get aggressive eyes below a cute and shiny forehead. And then after the battle when things are calm again, we’re treated to blushing Shana as Yuuji somehow has perfect memory of the times she fails to say something. And the episode caps off with Urusaix3, which was long overdue.

Let’s not forget Wilhelmina, though, who got awesome screentime and perhaps gained many points with her fans and some new ones, too. I always love the short remarks by Tiamat. And all the ~de arimasu’s, which SS-Eclipse enjoys putting into the subs. ^^ But she’s the strongest maid ever; I’d love to see her fight Ayasaki Hayate. Or at least serve somebody in that series; great crossover!

Stripey awards her the MVP, and I’ll agree — since her endurance was key to distracting Sabrac and allowing Yuuji’s plan to execute without problems. She has the experience from having fought Sabrac several times .. and perhaps the best defensive abilities overall. Those bandages are capable of a lot more than a sword or incantations.

I might just go watch that whole sequence again. Hooray good guys! Looks like we might get some neat character development in ep22, too. Christmas Eve? Oh there -has- to be a confession of some sort!

~Crisu

“Holy crap, this episode was badass!!!” — Totali
“This episode was even more awesome than the last, which is saying a lot.” — Kabitzin
“THAT WAS PURE WIN AND AWESOME! My god that episode was great.” — Xebek
“Girls with fiery swords kicking up massive whoopass, yeah!” — Kurogane

QFT, all of you! :D