Scarlet Nexus

Actually I did not want to watch Scarlet Nexus in the first place. It was never even close on my watch list and it was a forgone conclusion that I will never this series. Until recently. Oh dear. Not another u-turn of an anime series that I was so cocksure I won’t watch. After all, I’m not really a fan of the game it was based on and I have read comments online about how confusing and watered down this adaptation was. So what made me changed my mind? Well, if you guess cute 2D chicks, then you’re entirely wrong! Hah! Didn’t spot any kawaii 2D anime girls here or on the promotional poster. Well then… Recently I have this ‘revelation’ that how there were so many sh*tty animes around recently. So I thought that if I watch a somewhat very bad anime of the year, this would mean for the rest of the year, there will not be any other animes as bad as this, RIGHT???!!! When you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way is to go up, RIGHT???!!! Yes people, I am already forming baseless and bias conclusions that this anime is going to suck and be the worst anime of the year! So that other animes I plan to watch for the rest of the year would be better than this crap!!! And so, with that very strange logic, this was how Scarlet Nexus became the ‘chosen one’. Yeah… The future is looking bleak…

Episode 1
Yuito Sumeragi and Nagi Karman are new recruits of Others Suppression Force (OSF). They are on their way to their induction ceremony. The news on the TV is heavily covering on Yuito like as though he is some sort of celebrity. Indeed. He is the son of Joe who is the chairman of New Himuka who controls OSF while his older brother, Kaito is the supreme commander of OSF. Kaito gives his talk during the induction ceremony and welcomes the new recruits to OSF who are also known as Scarlet Guardians. But Nagi is more interested with this cutie, Naomi Randall from the famous Randall family. Though, he isn’t so keen on her sister, Kasane who is of course adopted and she has that mean looks. Yuito and Nagi are put under the platoon in charge by Seto Narukami. The other new recruit is Hanabi Ichijou while other current active members under Seto are Tsugumi Nazar and Kagero Donne. Just in time for action as an Others invasion alert is sounded. The platoons who are supported by Wataru Frazer, get ready to intercept these creepy creatures. Seto’s team doesn’t want the newbies to die on their first outing so they are made to stay behind and watch. Of course nearby is a lost girl and it’s pretty cliché she is going to die if nothing is done. Yuito can’t wait for backup so he goes to rescue her. Although he is successful, he might be doomed himself had not the Randall sisters come to his rescue. It is then Yuito remembers Kasane. She was the one who saved him when he was young and that spurred him to join OSF. Once the threat is suppressed Arashi Spring takes over for the news coverage as Luka Travers teleports the rest somewhere else. Before they can celebrate their victory, they are reminded of a few grimness as there are some OSF members who died and their heads missing. Nothing much is known about Others except they come from Extinction Belt and that they feed on human brains. Like zombies?!

Episode 2
Yuito is confused. How can Kasane be looking the same now and then. Meanwhile Kasane is also having weird dreams telling her not to let go of red strings. Yuito talks to Nagi about this Kasane confusion and wonders if she took some growth suppression. Well, looks can be deceiving since Arashi may look like a loli but she is older than her brother Fubuki who is of the major general rank. The duo then bump into the Randall sisters and they hang out at the temple together. Then they return as Seto’s platoon will have a simulated joint training with the platoon of Kyoka Eden (whose members include the Randall sisters, Arashi, Gemma Garrison and Shiden Ritter). Kasane can tell Naomi likes Yuito (she even admits a little to it) and hence she’ll check out it he is worthy of her. Eh? Yeah, she goes to fight him. After the training ends, she is not entirely convinced so she’ll have to dig deeper to see if he is Naomi’s good fit. Eh? Yuito receives a call from Joe. He was against him joining OSF but seeing he is doing fine, as promised he will tell about his late mother later during family dinner. Just in time, an alert is sounded. They are detected to invade via abandoned subway line so both platoons get ready for action. Due to the closeness of the Extinction Belt, this affects communication and lines are cut off from HQ’s support. As they fight their way through, Naomi and Nagi get separated when a huge mother ambushes them. Once that is taken care off, a horde of Others is going to set upon the separated duo. The rest go all out to destroy the rubble in between. Just in time for another slash fest. When threat is over, Naomi whose power is to see shortly into the future, sees Kasane being killed. She protects her from someone’s snipe. Everyone watches in horror as Naomi turns into a monster.

Episode 3
Some start to attack Naomi in Others form while Nagi is paralyzed in shock. However Kasane protects her sister but soon Naomi disappears. They are then approached by Fubuki who tells them to keep what they saw to themselves. He will report Naomi as dead. When Kasane tries to take action into her own hands, Karen (Luka’s brother) strikes her down. Later back at base, Kasane receives a call from mom who is disappointed that she didn’t even tell her of Naomi’s death. She trusted her and now it turned out like this. She doesn’t want to see her again. Later Karen talks to Kasane and assures her that Naomi is alive but in the hands of Seiran. It seems they are the only ones who can turn Naomi back into human and if OSF take action, they’ll kill Naomi as an Other. Of course don’t tell this others. He also warns her that the ones to be wary of are OSF themselves. Kasane then talks to Yuito about OSF hiding something. This reminds Yuito he found ampules at the site. Kasane remembers seeing them in her household and they belong to Seiran. I guess this is another secret they have to keep together. When multiple Others invasions are spotted at some highway, many platoons are summoned to engage them. Seto and Kyoka’s platoon are stationed at a part of the highway. Looks very peaceful. No Others. A miscalculation? Suddenly they are surrounded by other OSF members led by Gemma who accuses Seto of some experiment in which he of course isn’t sure of. When Luka tries to save the platoons from the defectors, his older brother, Karen stops him. It is going to be tough since he can copy and use powers of others and hold multiple of them at the same time. When Gemma claims New Himuka is a threat to this nation and is deceiving everyone, Kasane gets desperate to ask about Naomi. Gemma sounds like he doesn’t know a thing. Nagi starts to feel pain before turning into a different character.

Episode 4
Total chaos as OSF fight each other. Yuito and Kasane are confused when Nagi attacks them and he has those red strings? Since he has abnormal power levels, Seto goes to fight him. Nagi kills him but Seto manages to put him to sleep before his final breath. It gets from bad to worse as a portal opens in the middle of the sky, sucking up many OSF soldiers. Gemma tries to save Seto but he failed. Yuito tries to save Kasane being sucked up but looks like they end up in a place that looks like Kasane’s dream. They see some vision and they recognize the crest to belong to Yuito’s family. Kasane gets taken by the red strings and Yuito gets pushed out. He is back on the highway with other surviving OSF members who only have Luka to thank for as his teleport saved them. But he went to chase after Karen. Yuito helps patches up Gemma back at base but Tsugumi feels conflicted because after what he has done, she cannot trust him anymore. Gemma regrets his actions and tells the truth. New Himuka wants to build a new surveillance society. Everyone undergoes medical check-up and this is to help scan and scout those with psionic powers to join OSF. Once inducted, they will have their growth suppressed to maintain those powers. While that is basic knowledge, the darker part is the personality rehabilitation whereby the person changes his character altogether. This is an open secret in OSF and they’ve seen what happened with Nagi. Gemma is actually 54 years old and the growth suppression is waning. Soon he will be aging and his powers decline. He will have to leave OSF by then. But he wants to know the truth. He regrets suspecting Seto and should’ve known to trust Karen. It seems he has an ulterior motive other than opposing New Himuka. Yeah, looks like he has cut off the internet and let loose Others in some area. Meanwhile Kasane wakes up along with Kyoka, Arashi and Shiden. They’re in a strange alternate dimension of that highway.

Episode 5
While fighting the hordes of Others, Wataru personally uses his telepathy to contact Yuito. He updates him that Psynet (the internet) is down and the defence system has been taken out. Worse, Seiran forces have surrounded the HQ and looks like Karen is part of the coup. Yuito, Gemma, Tsugumi and Hanabi rendezvous with Fubuki who has them serve under him. It is believes that if Karen wants to overthrow the government, this means taking out Yuito’s dad. The rest allow him to head to the shelter where he and other government officials are headed to. Yuito’s mind is confused because during induction, Karen praised him and had high hopes on him. Even Nagi has been acting strange. Is he working for Karen? Maybe dad knows something. When communications come back, Karen is seen on every TV screen. He claims New Himuka has deceived them by using Psynet to have everyone’s minds connected. This allows the government to access any info at any time and any place. This means the people are not free and all info is controlled by the government. Those who disturb the order will be eliminated. Hence he refuses to live like a livestock and wants the people to rise up and rebel against the government. Seiran is the only one who can offer an environment which brings true freedom where humans can truly live like humans. Joe is about to be attacked by an Other but is saved by some OSF member. Yuito fears the worse when he sees many decapitated corpses of soldiers and government officials along the path to the shelter. Oh… Dad is dead and the one who killed him is Kasane?! Now she attacks him.

Episode 6
We return to Kasane’s side as they make their way to Suoh. They find it strange because they don’t remember having a lab here. Kasane spots familiar Seiran ampules all around. Suddenly Karen ambushes her and copies her ability before escaping. The rest are stumped why he needs to copy her psychokinesis power when he already has one. When they leave, they are attacked by a blind samurai. But Kasane can tell he is Yuito because of Naomi’s plushie she gave to him long ago. He reveals he is Yuito. But this is not the year 2020 but 2070! Great timing because the rest disappear. Now Yuito can tell everything to Kasane personally. Apparently their time is up so those who don’t possess time travelling powers will return to their time. It seems Kasane’s true power is not psychokinesis but gravity. Hence her true power is time travel as her dimension manipulating skill appeared as so. Since she has those red strings, she can time travel. Now for what happened. After Karen and Seiran’s revolt, New Himuka tried to save their face and asses and made Yuito the hero and made Kasane the assassin who killed Joe. Fighting against Others and those from Seiran only got more hectic. At the same time, a quasi-black hole known as Kunad Gate (that portal) they created became bigger. Since Kasane’s power is similar to Yuito’s it resonate and created that portal back then. Because Yuito’s power is not powerful enough for him to time travel, it sustains Kunad Gate and stabilizes it. The only way was to kill him to vanish this portal. But he chose not to die and now the portal has grown so big that it won’t vanish even if he dies. Yup, the world will be destroyed by this. He spent the rest of his days running and surviving from others out to take his life. Now he wants Kasane to go back in time to kill him before Kunad Gate gets too big. But how can she go back? He claims a specifically traumatic event will allow her to use the red strings. He further reveals Suoh conducted research on turning humans into Others. Naomi was a victim and this was ordered by his father. Worse, Yuito knew it and took over that research. All because he didn’t want to die. Now she is his only hope. A sad and regretful Yuito lets Others devour him while he cries to Kasane to save the world and future. This traumatic scene whisks Kasane back to her original timeline.

Now Kasane is in a dilemma over the whole truth. She is contacted by Haruka (Wataru’s sister who is in the same support department) that she has rendezvous with Kyoka’s side. Kasane then spots Kagero sneaking around. This leads her to the shelter as she sees Joe already fatally injured. She wants to save him but he knows his time is up. She asks about the experiment of turning humans into Others. His silence speaks volumes. It is then Yuito comes into the picture and Kasane still shock from his future self’s revelations, she attacks him. Since she is confused, her attacks are weak. With the rest arriving, she escapes. Joe tries to tell his son one last thing but too bad he couldn’t even complete his warning sentence before he dies. Kasane meets up with Kagero who clears the air he was trying to save government officials from Others but was too late. Then they meet up with Kyoka’s side. Kasane tells what future Yuito told her and they find it hard to believe. Suddenly Karen and his men pops up to pick them up. As Yuito is wallowing in confusion from everything, Gemma returns to report that half of OSF has joined Karen and that it is rumoured Seiran will declare independence. They are also concerned about Kyoka’s side if they have joined Karen because they went with him. With Psynet back online, Kaito immediately calls Yuito and wants him to return to HQ. He wants him to become a hero. Time to get the script rolling…

Episode 7
Yuito will be the leader of a newly formed unit called 01 Platoon that consists of Gemma, Hanabi, Tsugumi, Luka and Wataru. However Yuito starts to feel strange because suddenly it’s like he can’t remember what happened ever since he get appointed as the leader. Lapse in memory? Hanabi takes him to OSF’s hospital run by her uncle for check-up. Similarly, Karen announces the creation of 01 Platoon under Seiran that will be headed by Kasane. Kyoka, Arashi, Shiden, Kagero and Haruka will be under her. Kasane agreed to follow Seiran since Karen promised his best to help Naomi who is under their care. Karen then talks to Kasane and knows she has gone to the future and wants to know what happened since it is just reported New Himuka has named the black hole as Kunad Gate and they are observing it. It is anomaly growing bigger by the day. She tells him about his future self stealing her powers. Kasane gets really desperate to know Naomi’s whereabouts but Arashi interrupts them for a mission. Of course this is to make Karen go away as Arashi advises Kasane to play their game if she wants to get to Naomi. She too doesn’t like the Seiran guys but will lie low and gather intelligence. At the hospital, Yuito is given the clean bill of health. Then he sees the news that puts him on the pedestal like a true hero and painting Kasane the traitor who killed Joe. Unfortunately, Yuito cannot remember all these events in between. When Hanabi helps a patient, she witnesses Nagi being taken underground. She tells the rest as Tsugumi uses her power to track him. Indeed, Nagi is being taken into some van and that underground path leads to an abandoned city that was destroyed by a massive Others attack 11 years ago. Yuito and co follow it and enter the building. They are kept busy with an Others ambush. Once they take care of it, Nagi appears before them.

Episode 8
Nagi looks scared and confused. Yuito wants him to come back with them but he claims he can’t. It seems doctors are doing some experiment on him he can’t understand and his brain will go numb. When his switch is flipped, he will become violent. When hordes of Others surround them, Nagi wants them to escape. Luka teleports everyone else away except Nagi who is left to fight the horde alone. Although successful, the doctors are pleased with the data and take him back to the lab for more painful experiment. Back at the base, Fubuki contacts them and this means he knows what they have done. He reveals the truth that hospital brainwashes those the government find inconvenient. By right, all of them would’ve been eliminated after watching Naomi’s transformation but Fubuki protected them. Because Nagi went to the hospital subsequently alone, he was careless and got abducted. He also reveals that hospital studies and researches about metamorphosis and turning humans into Others. Fubuki knows all too well about it but didn’t take action as his hands are tied. For more info, ask Luka. His turn to explain that Fubuki was engaged to Alice Ichijou who was Hanabi’s aunt. Officially she was killed in action but Luka reveals the truth she turned into Others. It was about that time when Karen and Fubuki started looking into it and found New Himuka’s horror secrets. It is believed Joe is the centre of it all. Yuito in despair he knows nothing. Meanwhile Kasane leads her team to break into a facility where Naomi is supposedly held. With Arashi’s easy hacking, they enter a lab and Kasane sees those ampules. They are attacked by Others but they escape. Kasane can fell Naomi is nearby and something about their brainwaves allow them to communicate. Kasane becomes desperate to find her as her guts and brainwaves lead her to Naomi’s room. They see her in her Others form. Naomi glad her sister is still alive but Kasane blaming herself for not being able to protect her. Naomi tells them to get away because the drug is wearing off. Yeah, now she becomes violent and attacks them. Luckily Karen is here to inject the ampule into her to calm her down. He claims the drug is just a short term measure and to actually restore Naomi back as human, Kasane’s power is needed. Arashi doesn’t trust him since there are so many unknowns and wants to know what is in this ampule. We don’t get to hear it now but they look shocked. Before Yuito’s unit goes on a mission, Fubuki hands him a package from the hospital. Oh, those ampules.

Episode 9
Yuito has been taking the ampules and his comrades have a bad feeling about this. Don’t take it unless necessary. Further flashback reveals that Fubuki and Karen have the same goal to take down New Himuka after they learn the government is conducting illegal human experiments. While Karen works from the outside, Fubuki worked from the inside. Exposing their crimes now may not change things immediately. Yuito wanted to go talk to Kaito but do you think that will change a thing too? Since he can’t be removed as the leader, the rest volunteer to be with him. Yuito’s side is to face OSF deserters but they encounter Others instead. Yuito starts experiencing pain and even more so when he uses his power. Somehow this is making Kunad Gate grow bigger too. When he can’t stand it anymore, he drinks the ampule. His pain gone and suddenly he becomes super and kills all the Others. Wow. It’s like he is back to normal. Tsugumi spots a couple of suspicious Seiran trucks. They tail it to their facility in which to their horror, they find loads of human brains in boxes. Worse, these are used to make those wonder drug ampules! Makes you sick, huh?! They try to escape but Kasane’s side traps them. As revealed this facility is a lab jointly operated by the Spring family and Seiran. Flashback reveals Karen’s explanation that this facility also researches Others weapon. The plan was to transplant a human brain into an Other and have a psionic user’s brain control it via SAS. But they ended up using Others derived from more compatible humans. That required the ampules. Of course this is just a front to keep Seiran happy and this facility’s true purpose is to change Others back into humans. Because of that, Kasane will do what it takes to protect Naomi as she fights Yuito. When Yuito shows sign of pains again, Arashi lets the enemies escape. She claims Kasane hasn’t made up her mind yet. Should they really kill Yuito? It’s not like they sided with Seiran either. Kasane goes back to see Naomi who is now kicking up a fuss. She heard the researchers talking and now realizes the ampules are made of brains. The more you know… She can’t live like this anymore and doesn’t want the drugs. Ironically, it is the only thing that keeps her sanity. Kasane promises to find a way to turn her back. Just hang in there. Yuito’s side rendezvous with Fubuki. Despite reporting it to the government, this doesn’t affect their affects. The fact that he betrays his own family pharmaceutical makes him even more trustworthy to the government. Here’s another revelation: That facility was built after he and Karen suggested it to Seiran.

Episode 10
Alice is in that facility and in Others form. Although they know the facility will be misused, they convinced Seiran to build it to save Alice. Since Nagi saw Naomi’s transformation, researchers are trying to extract his memory to study. Fubuki plans to use it to transmit all over the nation and has got authorization from Kaito. Hence he needs them to bust in to take his memory data. Meanwhile Karen lets off Kasane’s group for doing something reckless as the hardliners might make it difficult for them. Again he assures them the drug is the only thing they have now to keep Naomi alive. He also shows them about Kunad Gate and researchers have linked it to Yuito’s psionic power. Yuito’s team sneak into the facility but has to fight Nagi. Because Yuito’s headaches are weakening him, Nagi takes him hostage. When he wakes up, he is strapped in a chair and the doctor tells him to use his power to break out. It seems Yuito cannot remember him although he claims he has been treating Yuito many times in the past. The doctor then makes an audio report as Yuito is shocked to find he was once a dud and without powers and some other mumbo jumbo findings. He wants to request to dissect his brain and study it. Luckily the others barge in to rescue Yuito. Not sure about Fubuki’s programme that can transfer video feeds from the facility’s surveillance cameras so it looks like they don’t need Nagi’s memory data? Yeah, he is nowhere to be found. They have to escape as OSF soldiers will be here. Fubuki stays back to take out the Others hordes. Outside, all the OSF soldiers are disabled by Karen. He shows them the news that has labelled Yuito as a traitor for infiltrating a government facility. Now that he can’t set foot in Suoh, Karen wants him to join Seiran. Yuito disagrees as both sides are wrong in using human experiments. Karen thinks the only way is to flee to Togetsu where those religious nuts might welcome criminals outside their borders. Not even New Himuka will dare make a move on this independent city. Karen gives Yuito an ampule and wants him to take it. Without it, he will lose his memories and abilities over time. Karen leaves them to go help Fubuki. Meanwhile Kasane is still in a dilemma so Kyoka suggests heading to Togetsu.

Episode 11
With Fubuki not showing up, they think the government has caught him since he has vanished from every system. While Yuito is still confused about what the doctor said, he makes plans to head to Togetsu since they might get some new info there. Kasane on the other hand is still wondering if she should go to Togetsu. Kyoka then reveals that the unregistered truck transporting brains were travelling between Togetsu and the facility. It is most likely the human brains and drugs are supplied by Togetsu. They might get some new info. After all, it feels like Karen is still withholding info. If it gives them a small chance to save Naomi, so be it. Kagero is reluctant to go there since he is from that place. But you know about democracy… Karen visits Fubuki in hospital. They reminisce the days they first met Alice and when she got inducted. She was so happy although it was obvious she wasn’t cut out to be a soldier. Fubuki wonders if things would be different if she has left the service. Well, no point thinking about that. Kasane’s team reach the frozen outskirts of Togetsu. Kagero trying to explain the weird Togetsu faith and they’re all just obsessed with worshipping the moon. It was a stifling environment, that’s why he got out. After destroying an ice Others, they are outside the monolith of Togetsu. Kagero says bye and doesn’t want to go further. The rest are then welcomed by Togetsu cultists who claim they know about Kasane. She was originally from here but New Himuka abducted her because of her immense power. Kasane disagrees because she has no memories of this place at all. They will reveal info only to Kasane but she must come inside. Kasane refuses so they surround her and will take her by force. As they fight, it seems one of the cult members looks like Kyoka. Kyoka the traitor? Because she knocks her comrades out and notes they have the brains that govern the red strings. The other one should be arriving shortly… Indeed, Yuito’s team has arrived and are warmly welcomed by the cultists who know much about Yuito.

Episode 12
Inside this empty room with just a desk, a chair and a book, all Yuito needs is to ask their system the questions. The gang is shocked when an image of Kyoka pops up. It is revealed she is a Design Children (humans created via genetic recombination to have any abilities the designer wants) created by Togetsu and her image was taken after her researcher, Hitoyo Pope. But she died 2000 years ago, about the same time New Himuka was formed. Time to go back for some history lessons that were never taught in school. You see, Togetsu believes people came from the moon and the descendants of the People of the Ark. 3000 years ago when Earth’s population was on a heavy declined, the survivors escaped to the moon to let the Earth heal. 1000 years later, a few chosen ones were sent back down. They are the People of the Ark. However it cannot be ascertain if the moon people are still alive due to interference from Extinction Belt. But when those moon people came down, it had yet to exist and Others only spawned subsequently. Trying to find more info on Others, they are told to seek that info from the BABE system. They ask about Kunad Gate and they are shocked to hear that it is linked to Yuito’s power. It will destroy the world. But don’t worry. Believe in the moon and you’ll be saved! And something about remaking the universe as it should be. So I guess they need more info so the cultist leads them to BABE that is located in another room. Kasane now remembers her past. She was indeed from here. Those cultists tried to do some experiment by killing her pet but it did not invoke some sort of power they had expected. Her mom chastised those heartless monsters for trying to scar her child. Screw remaking the universe! But she was told Kasane wasn’t a failure like her. Then they took her away and that’s the last she saw of her. It was that day when she lost the only kind person in her life, the day her red string power manifested. Looks like Kagero has unfinished business and change of mind. So he sneaks back in to knock out some cultists and hijack their system to save Kasane. Save the I-told-you-so for later, he tells her that Yuito’s group is also here. She believes they are after his red strings and thus they have to save him too. Yuito is now going to access BABE. He places his hand on the book. Nothing. Suddenly he feels paralyzed all over and cannot move. It’s like he is being connected to SAS.

Episode 13
Not only Yuito but his comrades are also frozen. Kasane can tell that Yuito’s brain is going to be hijacked so she uses her to communicate with him to break free. Yuito then destroys the terminal to free the rest. As they escape, they fight cultists who has Kasane’s face. Could it be that she is also a Design Children? After rescuing Shiden and Arashi, Kasane’s side is faced with Kyoka and her cultist. She is bent on taking Kasane’s red strings as it is Togetsu’s wish. Kasane trying to tell this isn’t the Kyoka she knows. You think that’ll get to her head. Oh sh*t! You mean it somehow does?! It seems Kyoka has been acting so because of her memories of Pope. Now she is confused about her identity. All this while she has been raising Kasane as part of her mission to bring her here. And now she’s confused because it’s like forgetting who she is. Leave it to Kasane despite all that she has done, some part of hers never change. And that is the real Kyoka. Also those warmth and kindness she showed them were real at least for that part. And just like that, Kyoka wants to be with them and protect them for they have given her life some meaning. With this reconciliation done, they meet up with Yuito’s side. They agree they need to exchange info to better understand what’s going on. Kagero leads them to his hideout because talking in the cold would be crazy. Kasane starts off with that crazy revelation of the future Yuito requesting her to kill him. Yuito has known his power resonated with Kunad Gate but refused to believe so. Now he is looking depressed that he is powerless to do anything. As for Kasane being a Design Children, it could be so as she just remembered some of her memories here. Next, Yuito reveals his discovery about the people here migrated to the moon and then come back down to found New Himuka. Well, if Kyoka was designed after Pope, should she retain her memories? Well, not quite all of them. But she remembers seeing Kagero with Pope 2000 years ago. So who is he? With Kagero admitting everything is true, he also reveals this hideout of his is actually a spaceship! Welcome to the Ark.

Episode 14
What’s more, this is the same Ark that Kagero came from the moon. So he is really 2000 years old? Well, the immigrants take turn to sleep in pods and wake up to check the status of Earth. Kagero also knows Yakumo Sumeragi who is Yuito’s ancestor and the founding father of New Himuka. He was also the leader of the immigrants. They have to run as Kaito has dispatched OSF to hunt them and retrieve Yuito. While they manage to escape, as they head to the rendezvous point at the cave, Kagero continues his story. Yakumo tried to help the immigrants settle and improve the planet’s environment. But that plan was scrapped after Extinction Belt came into existence. That’s because the situation on the moon has changed. After the immigrants landed, a strange disease that turned humans into monsters started spreading on the moon. Yup. Others. It was caused by a comet passing near the moon and dropping strange substance that caused such transformation. To save their own skin, they try to divert those particles to Earth. Hence the origin of Extinction Belt. WTF?! CAN’T THEY DIVERT IT TO MARS OR SOMETHING?! Anyway, this meant the moon itself was struggling with overpopulation and with Kagero forced to stay here, he has no idea what happened on the moon after that. Inside the cave, they have to fight this strange Others that seems invincible. It has been here since they migrated but thankfully never moved beyond this point. They device a plan to take it out. They can’t go back out to fight OSF as they aren’t their enemies and they can’t simply teleport inside this cave with crazy maze systems. So the plan is to bait it to some thin are and let it fall through.

After that plan succeeds, back to Kagero to finish his story why he is helping them. He has his reasons. While some immigrants continue to stay and found New Himuka, there were some who wanted to return to the moon. Hence the founding of Togetsu and Kagero was one of them. When he came too, he realized the situation has changed and nobody knows what happened on the moon or how they fared against Others. So their mission is to make it so this immigrant project never existed. Hence they wanted the red strings to turn back time as none of these ever happened. Togetsu might have created the red strings in Kasane but as to why Yuito has that same power is a mystery. Kagero’s role was a spy for Togetsu and was a mole in Suoh delivering intel. At first he pretended to follow orders thwart Togetsu’s plans and helped them to prevent his betrayal from being uncovered. He vows not to let them erase history because he left his family back on the moon. They will not wipe his family from existence. Since Tsugumi believes him, I guess everyone also believes him. Wow. So easy. Power of friendship. While their next plan is to convince Suoh and Seiran, they think they have realize about Togetsu’s plan and won’t waste time fighting each other. Though, they are still taking action for their own interests. Kasane’s side will head back to Seiran while Yuito’s side will return to Suoh in hopes of having a good talk with Kaito. Hopefully he will understand and change his mind. Hopefully.

Episode 15
Back in Suoh, all residents have evacuated and all soldiers are hiding waiting in ambush. But looks like Yuito won’t be fighting up against them but Nagi. Round 2. Nagi has turned into a mad killer who wants to kill Yuito and take his brains. Yuito trying out some conversation about their times together but it’s not working. Only Yuito’s death will satisfy him. The fight gets to a point where Nagi uses up too much of his brain power so his brain fries. Although this reverts him to normal, it is too late. Nagi’s last words tell Yuito that voices in his head kept telling him to kill him although he doesn’t want to. Last moment of nostalgia, blah, blah, blah. Nagi’s dead. Gotta avenge his death, right? Yuito goes to confront Kaito about sending Nagi to attack him. Kaito says they did everything they could to enhance his powers but he turned out useless. Apparently Kaito needs Yuito’s brain power. Had he been an obedient boy, it would never have come to this. Always the rebel he is, that’s probably why Joe never told him things. What things? Yakumo’s ultimate goal. Basically, Yuito’s power is needed to exterminate Extinction Belt so they can get revenge on the moon. Hence it is the Sumeragi family’s role to carry out that wish. The reason New Himuka exists for that very purpose. But is Yuito’s power that powerful to destroy the Extinction Belt? Well, connect all the brains of the entire nation via SAS! Yup, Kaito doesn’t care whether they can withstand everything. Just need their brains. Yuito disagrees with this stupid revenge story that is 2000 years old. Yakumo is already dead, right? Apparently, no. Yeah, still alive in cold sleep in Suoh’s deep underground. Yuito will not be Kaito’s puppet so he leaves. Kaito will take him by force then but Luka teleports them away. Yuito’s conversation with Kaito is recorded by Wataru and Arashi. They can send this to Fubuki who plans to use Arahabaki to expose the government’s secrets to the entire nation. At Kasane’s side, they think of talking to Karen first before talking to Seiran’s top officials. But Haruka detects something at the facility. Fubuki has ordered the transfer of all the human derived Others.

Episode 16
Naomi is worried about Kasane. Luckily Alice is here to talk and soothe her. All the Others are then taken away to some wasteland. Of course Kasane’s group is here. OSF maintains they are carrying out orders from Fubuki that they are brought here for their final adjustments as weapons. They find it hard that Fubuki is behind this since the man isn’t around. Naomi then reveals OSF is lying and the one behind this is Kaito. Speaking of him, he now considers Fubuki a traitor for hiding something like this. Had he known they had such weapons, he could’ve delivered a devastating blow to Seiran. He sends his men to assassinate Fubuki but luckily Karen is around. The OSF gets ready to use the Others as weapons against Kasane’s side. But look who is here? Those Togetsu cultist. It’s like they’re out for blood and just killing everyone else. Eventually, Naomi comes to Kasane’s rescue and realizes that she was turned into this form to protect her. You think so? Both sisters want the other to escape. To where? In the end, Naomi wants to play the cool big sister for one last time so she and the other, uhm, Others charge against the Togetsu might. Not sure what happened because did the Others self-destruct in a crater? A devastated Kasane talks to Naomi one last time. She is glad to live her final moments as human despite in this form. And sadly, Naomi dies. Kasane sad. And just when Karen is about to approach Alice, she too dies. Karen mad. So mad he goes to steal Kasane’s power and then disappears. The rest think he wants to turn back time to save Alice but it seems he hasn’t invoke the red strings yet. At Yuito’s side, they are inside Arahabaki. They see a terminal familiar to that in Togetsu. Will it have the same effect? No pain, no gain. They insert the disk and upload the secrets for all the citizens to see. They are anticipating riots and chaos in the streets. As they leave, suddenly Karen shows up and steals Yuito’s power! WTF is up with this dude???!!!

Episode 17
While Kaito’s revelation is being played to the public, Yuito’s pals try to fight Karen but they’re no good against someone who has a myriad of powers. Then he has Arahabaki cables bind them. He is stealing their powers but even more so Yuito’s power. Once he has got them, he disappears. Yeah, looks like he is going to redo everything to save Alice. Yuito’s mind is in some strange world but his body is in a state of shock and coma. With Kasane’s side meeting up, they learn Karen has stolen Yuito’s power. This is bad because Yuito is suffering from brain damage and at this rate he will lose his memories and be erased from existence! Kyoka’s solution is to digitize their memories and load them into Yuito’s mind via SAS. Risky but never try, never know. Of course they’re going to create that programme right here and right now. Hey, don’t forget we’ve the world’s best hacker! Yup, so good that the programme is done without any bugs! Ready to go! Yeah I know. Even Kagero is in shock Arashi pulled it off so fast. Oh, more mumbo jumbo about needing to upload it to specific parts of Yuito’s brain but what the heck, I’m sure their skills got it all covered. Yuito is seeing himself and starting to lose his memories. His shock causes his body to act violently so Shiden has to knock him out. Then they all connect to his mind and start spamming Yuito’s name. In the end, Yuito remembers. Even his own mom. Gotta get back now. And just like that, Yuito is back. Hanabi so happy she gives him a big hug. Yeah, he trolled us that he died and failed the whole damn memory transplant thingy, huh?! A curfew is now imposed on the citizens as well as for them to disregard the misinformation. Of course the protests are starting to pick up steam and now censoring can stomp it all out. Fubuki meets up with them but looks like he is still injured and passes out. Yeah, why does this happen when he needs to tell them something important?

Episode 18
In Fubuki’s hideout, he tells them he made it this far thanks to Seiran’s support. Then they talk about Karen’s motives and from what I understand, he has travelled back in time many times over to save Alice. But this bulk of the episode focuses on the past of Fubuki, Karen and Alice. Fubuki and Alice were betrothed to each other by their families since young. While visiting the hospital, they met a very grumpy Karen. Despite being a dick, he is actually kind. You see, both Karen and Luka were at this hospital because they were duds. Hence they were guinea pigs and underwent painful experiments to be infused with power. Thanks to Fubuki and Alice’s support, they manage to get by and have hopes of living this place one day. Alice too doesn’t have particularly powerful psionic but she still harbours hope to join OSF. She hopes one day all of them can be together. One day, Karen’s power manifested and he could copy powers of others. Soon he got scouted by OSF and similarly at the same time, Fubuki. Shortly after, Alice. They were a team in OSF and Karen is like the delinquent of the group. Getting into troubles because he often disobeyed superiors’ orders. Because he finds it troublesome to become a team leader as he doesn’t want to babysit others, Alice suggested Karen and Fubuki both become joint team leaders. One day when the Extinction Belt was hovering real close, they were ambush and Alice saved Karen from an attack. Eventually she was hit and turned into an Other. She was confined in an OSF hospital and only a few knew about this. With Seiran’s backing, the guys bust her out to their facility to treat her but Fubuki started to think if they were prolonging her misery. So now they’re all trying to discuss about Karen trying to change the past. Well, everything looks unchanged from here, right? But it doesn’t dismiss the fact that they have to stop Togetsu and to do that, they must shut down BABE. Fubuki will leave this to them while he mediates between Suoh and Seiran. Kagero has something he needs to tell them before proceeding with this plan. He knows who killed Joe. It’s him.

Episode 19
Kagero isn’t joking. As a spy for Togetsu, they viewed Joe as a threat despite he doesn’t know about their plans to use the red strings. He didn’t have anything against Joe but just to cover his own tracks, he had to kill him to not let his spy identity being exposed. And that spy thingy was what Joe told Kasane in his last words. So does this mean Kagero felt guilty and only now wanted to confess? Well then, Yuito is going to kill him! I guess it’s the only way these guys can express their feelings while the rest just watch. Oh my, Yuito really trying to kill him. Kagero is being pushed to a corner as he pleads he can’t die yet or what he has done will go to waste. Yuito backs down and this was all part of his ploy to make him say the truth. Yup, because that’s more. When Kagero confronted Joe, he offered the man a safe place to hide and will report him as dead. But Joe will not accept that and not abandon his people even if it means Togetsu hunting him down forever. Yuito doesn’t know what is going on and Kaito has misinterpreted Yakumo’s wish. Then Others pop up and their attacks hit Joe. Kagero finished them off but it’s too late. That’s when Kasane arrived. So while Kagero didn’t actually kill him, the way he confronted Joe was as good as killing him. Kagero asserts despite his family could be dead and long gone, he will not allow Togetsu to erase their existence. Yuito understands all that because he felt the same thing at Arahabaki. Now they’ve put this behind them, it’s time to work together and take down Togetsu. While making their way there, they talk about the Kunad Gate that is ever expanding. However Yuito notes after that Arahabaki incident, he doesn’t feel sickly like before. It could be that he could be losing his powers and that would cease one day. He then reveals he was once a dud. Now they focus in invading Togetsu as all their cultists descend on them. Heck, why didn’t Luka teleport them directly to BABE’s terminal if he already had the place mapped out last time?! Saved them all that trouble. Oh right, need some action… Inside the room, a vision of someone pleads for them to listen to her. Yuito and Kasane recognize her as their mom. WHAT?! Now we’re siblings!

Episode 20
It is believed Wakana fled from Togetsu to Suoh. Joe might have known about this and took her in. Wakana claims Kunad Gate is threatening to destroy the world and needs their help to stop it. However Yuito and Kasane attack Wakana and they know it is not the real her as she is trying to put guilt in their minds to help her. This is not how their mother is like. However she is only a hologram and she claims Wakana’s brain has been restored and integrated into BABE. This means she wasn’t killed by Others. They are resolved to stop this crap and shut down BABE. They manage to escape this collapsing room and enter the chamber where the main BABE terminal is. However it looks like it has deleted everything? No data left. It feels strange since Togetsu has been so adamant in changing history, they just gave up like that? But with Kunad Gate growing bigger, the only way is to ask Wakana herself. Yup, going back in time. At Kunad Gate, Yuito and Kasane set the date to return to at 4th October 2009, the day Others attacked the old OSF hospital and Wakana died. Since Yuito doesn’t remember much, Kasane will go alone. Besides, don’t want some time paradox thingy if he meets his younger self, right? Yuito staying here will be the anchor for Kasane’s return. After Kasane time warps, Yuito faints. Kasane returns to a point right after Yuito’s successful experiment. She meets Wakana who instantly knows about her because of the future memories’ fragments. She reveals BABE is connected to brains of red strings users who have long died. They used them to produce quasi-red strings and send data back to the past to those with red strings power. That means her brain is linked to BABE and that is why she knows Kasane is alive and well. She also knows about Kunad Gate and that is why she is prepared to go to the future to stop it. But first, she needs to give Yuito this new earpiece that will prevent further memory loss. Suddenly Others attack the city. Kasane saves Yuito, gives him the earpiece and leaves him in the care of OSF soldiers (hence that part of Yuito’s memories). Once that is done, she rendezvous with Wakana to return to the future. Yuito now remembers this part of his memories and welcomes mom back.

Episode 21
So we’re playing family first? Okay. Now let’s down to business on how to stop red strings. From what I understand, Yuito and Kasane must travel in time again and untangle the red strings to close Kunad Gate. Inside Kunad Gate there is a space for those that with red strings can only enter. Togetsu called it Chronos Terminal. This is where everything in time is entangled lie so it’s their job to untangle it all. With Wakana’s voice as guide, the duo reach Chronos Terminal quickly and start this weird cooperative puzzle game to untangle the red strings. In the meantime, Yuito thanking Kasane on saving him that day as well as his thoughts about changing the past. Essentially he doesn’t want to do that because it might give an uncertain future. That would also erase all the things they have done so far and the things that have given him strength and encouragement. So sorry, Nagi. Looks like you’ll remain dead after all. So now they’re doing to final big boss untangle puzzle but it seems Karen notices them? The red strings go berserk so they have to work faster. They’re done and return to reality. However Kunad Gate is still there. Why?! Wakana then hugs them and praises them for giving their best. Now it is up to her to save the day. She’s going back to the past. Yeah, Wakana wants them to cherish the great friends they have. Worth more than all those red strings. Lots of motherly words of love to ramp up the feels. Mother, please don’t go! Bye. The rest plays a message Wakana left from them while they’re gone. She did this because it will be getting harder to part with them. Her plan is in order for her to receive data sent from Togetsu, she must let them capture her brain and connect it to BABE. More motherly words of love. She knows they’ll be fine and is glad to have seen them grown up. Thank you for being born. I love you. If she could only see her kids in tears…

Episode 22
Well, Kunad Gate is still around. So did Wakana fail? The gang regroup as Yuito and Kasane explain they untangled everything. Everything. They also witnessed Yakumo’s assassination by the hands of Karen. He might have travelled back in time to do so but the rest question if it was really Yakumo and Karen they saw. Because Yakumo is wearing a mask, this prompts Kagero to remember that Yakumo wore a mask after some accident. He rarely made public appearances and it was believed his character changed too. So it could be that Karen swapped places with him? Kagero brushes off the theory that Karen is related to Yakumo since he already fathered a child before the accident. So you mean he can’t after? Kasane also pointed out they never found any entanglement for Karen’s assassination of Yakumo. The theory now is for Karen to undo his own entanglement but looks like that guy can’t be found. Hey, I thought he has gone to another timeline? Speaking of which, it seems he is being thrown out by the red strings. He failed? The other option is to get Yakumo who is in cold sleep within the family’s mausoleum. But since Yuito doesn’t know where, he must ask Kaito. No response. So he calls Fubuki to get Kaito to meet up. But Yuito must come alone. The brothers meet. Kaito asserts he is dirty enough to kill his own brother to take his place. Yeah, he missed a few shots. His hand is shaking. Are you sure he can kill Yuito? Looks like that is put on hold as they have to face Others. After despatching a few, they take a breather as Yuito continues telling the wild adventures of going back to the past and meeting mom. Kaito still hell bent on realizing Yakumo’s revenge wish but Yuito disagrees since it would be meaningless if this revenge costs more lives. He feels Kaito is like Togetsu, trapped by centuries old wishes of someone he never met. Despite knowing New Himuka’s dirty secrets, Yuito still very much wants to be part of OSF and protect people. Others interrupt their talk. Kaito gives him the mausoleum key so he can prove he is right. Kaito going to do a suicide with Others? Thankfully Fubuki prevented that tragedy. He has successfully negotiated a ceasefire between Suoh and Seiran. This means Yuito and gang are no longer fugitives. But it’s going to get worse as a tremor causes errors in the defence system and Extinction Belt is raining down Others.

Episode 23
Chaos descends. It’s party time! Defence systems not working well so yeah, many became Others chow fodder. Worse, Yuito is unconscious. But with Kaito returning to the helm as OSF’s commander and taking control, everyone is more organized to take down Others. Once all that stabilizes, Yuito wakes up but is in hospital. Then everyone is just like having some good rest and talking about nice things before their important mausoleum mission tomorrow morning. Gotta stay positive. After Yuito uses the key to open the mausoleum, everyone is shocked to see its interior like OSF HQ. They have to fight Others too. Speaking of which, another rain from Extinction Belt all over. They thought they see Karen and follow him. The layout changes as it is now like of the facility. Then it becomes a weird emotional trip as the gang sees visions of emotional events like Seto’s death, the Travers’ brothers’ painful experiment, sweet Naomi’s smile and the multiple experience that is being played over and over again which is Alice’s death and Karen’s frustration. Yeah, it’s like a broken tape recorder. Everyone getting swallowed up by their emotions. Luckily Yuito and Kasane manage to cut themselves and everyone out from this illusion. They reach the main chamber as a pod from the mausoleum opens. Yakumo has revived. He takes off his mask… KAREN???!!!

Episode 24
This Karen seems very confused and weathered. When asked to help to destroy Kunad Gate, he refuses because he knows anything they do will be futile. He also seems to note that nothing has changed to save Alice. He has gone back to the past many times by trying to assume Yakumo’s identity but the future has not changed. Another futile attempt. He thought incorporating Arahabaki to his brain and changing history would do the trick but nope. By going back and sending many iterations of himself in time, he has created those entanglements each time. But if he tries to unravel them, he can’t bring Alice back. Then the current Karen shows up and he looks pretty mad. Oh sh*t! Can you tell which Karen is which?! Karen tries to steal the memories of Yakumo Karen. He thought he knows everything now but data overload! Yakumo Karen reminds him it is all futile as he has done it so many times before. But Karen still won’t give up and tries to steal Yuito’s power. It seems he cannot sustain that power and that’s why he must copy it each time. The gang tries to reason with him but he is hell bent in saving Alice. So much so he clones himself?! Damn, he looks like Jiraiya now! Then he makes Yuito and Kasane fight Nagi and Naomi respectively. However they have accepted their outcome and their fight doesn’t drag on. To Karen, he thinks he doesn’t care about them and have abandoned them. More reasoning but Karen remains stubborn. I WILL SAVE ALICE!!! STFU!!! So the duo try to fight fire with fire by having Karen see one of Alice’s memories. A time when she was very worried about him so she vowed to buck up herself so as not to burden him. Well, that seemed to do the trick, right? NOT! A still stubborn Karen will not accept this and takes Yuito’s power! This forces the rest to act and fight him. Not sure what this is but they drop a huge slab on him!!! Game over? NOT YET!!! HE STILL TRIES TO GET YUITO!!! DAMN! THIS GUY IS SO DAMN PERSISTENT!!!

Episode 25
Before Karen can get Yuito… Here comes Fubuki to intervene! Maybe he can talk some sense to this dude. Please stop this madness. Must accept their lives without Alice. Add a few tears and just like that, Karen gives up! That was easy?! I guess he needs some time to accept it so he faints. Yuito too. After a short recovery at the hospital, it’s back to business. Karen will join the rest in not only sealing Kunad Gate but destroy Extinction Belt too. Something about using Arahabaki and SAS with their powers, blah, blah, blah. I’m so lost… The only question is if Yuito and Kasane’s brain can withstand it all. Well, only 1 way to find out. Of course everyone especially Hanabi is worried for Yuito who might die from this recklessness. But seeing saving the world and future is important, this means the rest have to do their job to keep Yuito alive. That’s what they’ve all been fighting for all this time, right? So we see everyone gathering around and combining their powers. Yuito and Kasane not making any progress so Karen offers to handle Arahabaki. With this off their hands, they power up and a miracle happens. Kunad Gate is devouring Extinction Belt. But it takes a toll on Yuito so he faints. Meanwhile, Others drop in so time to give OSF some work to do and protect our young ones. Yuito is in some wasteland as he sees a young Alice sitting alone. But Kasane’s voice brings him back to consciousness as they continue their mission. In the end, Extinction Belt is gone but Kunad Gate remains. All that is left is for them to enter Chronos Terminal to untangle the red strings. However this is when Karen betrays them. He still can’t give up Alice. Although he doesn’t intend to become Yakumo, this will be his final trip. After he is gone, red strings cover the entire sky. But soon all that disappears, including Kunad Gate. It’s gone! Clear blue skies! So beautiful! Did they pull it off? Or was it Karen? Everyone happily celebrates this victory. Wataru and Haruka try to locate Karen but he is nowhere to be found. Fubuki is shocked when Alice comes up to him. When he asks about Karen, she looks stumped. Karen who?

Episode 26
Even without the Extinction Belt, Others still continue to rain down. Yeah, I guess OSF can’t retire yet, huh? Shiden is now a commander of his own platoon. Yuito just got discharged from hospital and looks like he and Kasane will also be discharged from OSF to pursue their own goals. Kaito has been sacked from his position and undergoing trial. Luka now takes over Kaito’s position as OSF’s chief. Fubuki and Alice will soon be engaged but this is hardly news since they’ve been betrothed to each other since young. With this, this has the rest discuss about Karen. It seems only our usual suspects are the only ones who remember him. They talk about the ultimate butterfly effect of Karen sacrificing his own existence so that Alice could live. However, slowly everyone soon realizes that they are also forgetting Karen. Likewise, it seems they are thinking that Alice has always been here with them all the time. Kagero and Kyoko have been chosen by New Himuka to take part in the Lunar Surface Survey project. They’ll help dismantle the remnants of Togetsu faith. When BABE shut down, immigrants in cold sleep have all awakened. Without BABE, they’ll pose no threat. If this project is on track, Kagero (real name revealed as Shin Daniel) hints that he won’t return to the moon since there is nothing left for him there. Though, he might be curious to see what has become of the moon and his family. Yuito’s goal is to go to college and learn things. Because he wants to protect the people here, he will become a politician. Oh dear. Why do I have doubts about it? He also wants to become a scientist to find a way to reverse the metamorphosis of those who turned into Others. But the biggest change is Kasane who plans to go scouting and go to the moon in person. They could send a drone first but somehow the logic that psionic users can only save people from Others is the regret that Kasane wants to do away with. Yeah. That. Both will be worlds apart but they’ll still be in the same world. Get what they mean? Of course, time to do what OSF do best as they head out to kill more Others.

Do Unto Others Before What Others Would Do Unto You
Well… Good news and bad news… And they’re both the same answer… THIS SERIES DOES NOT ACTUALLY SUCK!!! I’m not saying that it is totally good but it is not as bad as I anticipated. Oh dear. Was it because I had put my expectations so low that it didn’t turn out as bad as I expected and hoped it would be? Because of that, I can safely say that this show isn’t going to be the worse of the series that I have watched this year. Heck, that sci-fi crap AKA Tesla Note that I watched recently is worse than this! Albeit not by very much. Though, both series are still bad in my books. Oh right… KAIZOKU OUJO!!! Remember that atrocity?! Damn! That one I think still takes the cake! Oh well. I guess in a way it is good for this one because it is not the worst show for the year or in my life. But on the other hand, this means that there will be far worse ones than this and probably I’ll encounter along the way. Because this means I’m not out of the worst-crap-of-the-year-series storm yet. Uh huh. Yeah. Don’t really know why I’m worrying about that right now.

The plot and storyline if I have to be honest, it wasn’t so confusing at the start but as the episodes pile on, that is where the confusion starts to rear its ugly head and my simpleton brain is starting to feel the strain overload. It’s not the most convoluted plots ever because I still think the mindf*ck Sonny Boy was still even way more confusing and abstract than this one. So we the first plot twist came that Others are humans like them. Okay. I can handle that one. Then the government might be behind the experimenting on Others. Meh. As to be expected. I mean, it would be totally boring if we were to have nothing but fighting Others for all 26 episodes, right? And for shows like these, the government is a staple recipe for being the biggest crook because of all the horrible experiments and the likes that is being kept hidden from the people that they rule. Next, uhm, what the f*ck they are immigrants from the moon? Okay. Starting to get a little confusing here but I think I can still handle it. And if all that plot over plot thickening and twist over twist twisting, then they had to add that time travel with substitute Yakumo thingy! ARGH! I think I lost it there. F*ck! That’s it. My own brain has shut down. Whatever. Just end the series already!

Phew. Thank goodness all that twist came late in the series towards the end. Because I don’t really know if my brains can take it anymore. And yeah, it leaves a lot to be desired because now we see that Others are still attacking New Himuka despite the Extinction Belt totally gone. Yup, the weather’s fine and the sun feels warmer. But those f*cking monsters from the moon and outer space still threatens the peace of mankind. And to think that OSF could retire and we see the characters get discharged and do other stuffs other than slaying Others. Oh well. So it dispels the fact that Others came from the Extinction Belt. Now we got to know if they are actually the people from the moon. Who knows? Could it be that Others are actually sister monsters like BETA from Muv-Luv?! Holy sh*t! It could be the wildest conspiracy theory of mine in recent times if that turns out to be true! Because if Others are actually humans, you see the way the rate OSF kills them off, there won’t be anybody left on the moon! Yet, we still see loads of them being rained down on Earth. Like as though they are unlimited in numbers. Sure, it is hinted the moon has been overpopulated but still, there is a limited number assuming Others were truly human origins. Hence that’s why my theory with those ugly looking creatures could be like those vicious sentient life forms in Muv-Luv who don’t want peace but just the annihilation of mankind! They have taken base on the moon and launching their minions to destroy humanity! So I guess Extinction Belt existed only so that communications can’t go through hence, nobody bothers to develop anything to explore the moon, huh? Others and BETA, who will destroy mankind first!

Anyway, I can see why many considered the anime adaptation to be somewhat an inferior version of the game. Not to say that the game itself was a bigger hit as from my understanding that it had somewhat a passable reception. Of course the age old problem of adapting video games into shows never transitioned well ever since the dawn of cinematic verses simply because the game has tons of hours of story and dialogue. Now you have to cram everything here into 26 episodes of about 24 minutes each. Then of course you lose the part of interaction. The game is mostly action so now you are reduced to just watching the characters fight instead of choosing your favourite ones and upgrading their skills, etc. Hence if you played the game and watched the anime, you’re not going to like the latter a lot and it shows in many of the comments I read online. But for those who didn’t play the game like yours truly, I guess in a way you could say that I was saved from that sort of ‘disappointment’ since I don’t have the game to compare with.

But even the action bits feel mediocre and don’t really give that excitement or adrenaline rush. It feels like they’re there because it is obligatory. I mean, I’ve already said it. It’s an action game of hunting down Others. What else will this series have (other than the confusing plot over plot) if it does away with the extermination of Others? Once in a while to ‘rest’ our brains from the confusing and developing plot, here, have some Others action. Besides Yuito and Kasane who are the main characters in the limelight, I believe I don’t really remember the rest of the supporting casts. I don’t really find them memorable because their skill sets often look the same to me. Hence the team feels a bit bloated because you have like 10 or 11 people and very limited amount of action screen time because they want to confuse us with the story instead of numbing our minds of watching them kill Others. And funnily, when Others die, they turn and scatter into sakura petals. Wow. So pretty. Here’s your reward for destroying an Other. I guess puke coloured blood would be too gross to show on TV. Heh. At least they have self-censor when they show decapitated heads. Technology. Damn, I can’t make jokes relating to Others and zombies because we all forgotten about how they feed on brains, do we? And those normal soldiers in OSF feels as redundant too. It’s like they’re taking pot shots at Others because their puny guns definitely has no effect on them. Even if it does, it takes a huge quantity. Very inefficient. Only to become Others’ fodder. I guess that’s why only Scarlet Guardians can save the day, huh?

The characters in general feel a lot mediocre. As said, we’ve got really a huge cast of supporting characters that feels like they’re there for the numbers. Each only has a small role to play for some minor plot progression while others really feel forgettable. Especially like Hanabi and Tsugumi. I don’t actually see how they are very relevant to the story and even the team but I guess we need a few cute girls because, why not? Because of that, I am more inclined to form dumb conspiracy theories that are never answered anyway. Like Hanabi whom I am thinking she might be in love with Yuito because I kinda noticed she keeps worrying about him. I mean, she worries a lot about him and her emotion shows. Though it is never hinted there is anything romantically involved, I think this part was just there to troll people like me who overthink. And there is the best one I thought about Tsugumi’s real background: She is Kagero’s daughter!!! Because I kinda noticed how ‘close’ Kagero is to Tsugumi and how he sometimes ‘worries’ about her. Sure, might troll us he has a crush on her but I think it is more probable that she could be his daughter that was brought along during the migration. I mean, how much do we all know about Kagero? Otherwise, Tsugumi is just being useful only when the gang needs to see something beyond some solids that blocks their vision.

Other really forgettable characters include those communication support siblings, Wataru and Haruka. They don’t really do anything jack sh*t important and they feel very forgettable and even more so that they are not down at the battlefield together with the rest. I suppose in the game, they are some sort of characters who relay and interact with you messages, status and updates. But in the anime, they really feel like they can do without. I mean, if you want a really good hacker, that’s what Arashi is for, right? Yup, best hacker slacker! The only other thing I remember about her is her penchant to want to sleep and not work hard. Yet she becomes the world’s greatest hacker when plot convenience tells her it’s time to move it. I’m just surprised she didn’t programme a code to turn Others back into humans. I mean, THAT’S POSSIBLE EVEN IF IT’S CRAP, RIGHT???!!! Then there is Shiden who feels more like the other guy because I only remember him as some sort of side joke as the rest would just joke around telling him to take it seriously or loosen up since he is the one who is most serious and when he does so, nobody pays attention to him. Yeah. Then we have Gemma who is the big guy who has become irrelevant after he realized he joined the wrong side and got Seto killed. I guess he isn’t going to do a Karen and sacrifice his own existence to bring back this dude. Oh wait. He isn’t a red strings user.

Kyoka lived her short moment as a spy before defecting to the right side because, power of friendship. Feels so unreal. A lot of things in Togetsu remained unexplained like that strange huge Others the gang saw while escaping. My guess it could be Wakana but it was never explained. Then there was that huge Others trapped in that cave in which they sent falling down into the abyss. Not sure whether it’s dead but from what I understand, it wasn’t. Perhaps it is for the better good because if I really wanted to know these answers, I might open a whole new can of worms that would further confuse my brains.

Who else… Oh Luka. Another nearly redundant character except when they need someone to teleport away from all the danger and here’s your little shota for the job. Not sure about the range of his powers but can he not just teleport Kasane to the moon and back? Guess not then. Speaking of Luka’s brother, oh man, that Karen dude is really one weird character. He mostly comes off as brooding and feels like he has an ulterior motive. It feels like something funny he tries to keep stealing Yuito and Kasane’s power and then runs away. Like, WTF?! Then after all that brooding, he explodes into some angst rage because he cannot accept Alice died and did the ultimate butterfly effect because it’s like God told him that only 1 of them can exist and being the guy who could’ve been secretly in love with Alice, he’ll do anything for her and he would definitely do that! Sorry, couldn’t do a great Meat Loaf pun. RIP, that Bat Out Of Hell singer.

And so yeah, all that’s left is Yuito and Kasane to talk about. What else can I say about them? I don’t know, it feels weird for me to label Yuito as the fainting king because that is what he does most of the time when he overexerts his power! Just when you think it’s time for the plot to progress and stop whatever is going on, time for this guy to just pass out. Man, it does sucks to be him. First a dud and then now this. Imagine if Midoriya from Boku No Hero Academia never got his power from All Might. Instead he underwent some experiment to be infused with One For All. Uh huh. How different life would have been. And it couldn’t even be weirder as the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in the sense that his father and brother were in politics, now he is going back to that so as to make the world a better place! Back to square one. After all, no more psionic powers, what else could he do? Seriously, I have better faith in him as a Scarlet Guardian even if it is all too cliché in saving the world compared to being a politician.

If you think the family ties in this anime is already weird, it gets weirder when you think Yuito and Kasane are somewhat siblings. But they never played this out even after Wakana’s revelation because they’re not exactly blood related. After all, Kasane was a Design Children. She was created and not really born of a woman, if I understood that correctly. Never really understood all that red strings and time travelling related thingy because it feels like the need to pile on the plot confusion. I mean, she went to the future and back to the past. Basically almost everywhere in time just to get to the present. But no present without Nagi and Naomi because it would’ve really watered down and cheapen everything had they being brought back to live like Alice. After all, they have already resolved themselves that they got this far and strong because of their demise. Changing history would mean to erase everything they have gained. Sounds like a selfish dick move but yeah, Yuito would still continue to play best friend soldier with Nagi and Kasane would still continue to suck up and be spoilt by her onee-chan Naomi had both still been around. For better or worse, less such characters, less redundancy.

Speaking of red strings, I guess I had to say roll credits in my head each time they say that word. Because you know, isn’t that what Scarlet Nexus means? Scarlet as in the red colour and nexus that means connections which refers to the strings. So yeah, there’s your connection to the title. I was also curious to know what the heck BABE stands for. The way they write it in all capital letters, I thought it would stand for something. It was never revealed. Maybe it never stood for anything in the first place. In that case, what a weird name to name a computer terminal. So yeah, leave it to me to think what it stands for: Brain Access for Better Enhancement! HAHAHA!!! Speaking of making fun of names, New Himuka sounds pervy to me. You know, New Himo-ka AKA Gigolo-ka???!!! HAHAHA!!! Sighs… Kunad Gate? Sounds like Kumquat Gate! HAHAHA!!! Sighs… Okay, enough of making fun of names.

At and animation are pretty standard. Nothing much to shout about although I generally find the Scarlet Guardians’ hoodie kind of uniform to be weird. Especially that mask of theirs that reminds me of fencing. I don’t know, it just looks like one. Then there’s those Others design. Although completely done in CGI, the disturbing part is that they somehow remind me of those witches from the Madoka series. Weird and creepy. Sometimes it feels like they are nightmare fuel as the common grunts are like a failed combinations of floral bouquets on the top and mannequin legs for the bottom half. Others are partly infused with furniture. So it’s like if you don’t stub you toe every night on your furniture, they’ll come to haunt you like this! HAHAHA! But yikes. Then there are those that feel boss-like creatures as they are larger and quadrupedal. It feels like they lack a lot more variety of these monsters than the screenshots of the game I saw. Well, at least it saved me from some nightmares. This anime is done by veteran Sunrise who did great classic hits like Cowboy Bebop, Gintama, Inu Yasha, Code Geass and Mai-HiME.

Voice acting I only recognized Yui Horie as Arashi, Nobuyuki Hiyama as Karen (why his character sound so tired like his other roles like Cariot in Shoushin Shoujo Matoi and Loki in Juuou Mujin No Fafnir) and barely Shizuka Itou as Wakana. The other casts are Junya Enoki as Yuito (Nasa in Tonikaku Kawaii), Asami Seto as Kasane (Fena in Kaizoku Oujo), Daisuke Namikawa as Kagero (Waver in Fate/Zero), Kengo Kawanishi as Shiden (Rei in 3-gatsu No Lion), Marika Kouno as Tsugumi (Suzuka in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby), Tomomi Mineuchi as Hanabi (Ilulu in Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon S), Ryota Takeuchi as Gemma (Albion in High School DxD), Yumi Hara as Kyoka (Albedo in Overlord), Chinatsu Akasaki as Luka (Yasuna in Kill Me Baby), Isshin Chiba as Fubuki (Chiba in Detective Conan), Yuuma Uchida as Nagi (Kyo in Fruits Basket remake), Asuka Nishi as Naomi (Shinobu in Kiniro Mosaic), Kengo Takanashi as Wataru (Haruto in Shichisei No Subaru), Tomoyo Kurosawa as Haruka (Kumiko in Hibike! Euphonium), Chikahiro Kobayashi as Kaito (Sugimoto in Golden Kamuy) and Tsutomu Isobe as Joe (Dutch in Black Lagoon).

Both the opening themes are sung by The Oral Cigarettes with Red Criminal being the first one while Machine Gun as the second opener. Both are hardcore punk rock music. Fits the action pace of this series but not really my cup of tea. Because personally, feels like it has too much noise more than anything else even if those killer electric guitar riffs are something to point out. It is also another rock outfit for the first ending theme, Fire by Yamato.S although at a much lesser frenzied pace than the opening counterparts. Come the second ending theme, Stranger by Ayumu Imazu feels a bit out of place since it’s like a slow hip hop ballad. Anyway, the ending themes aren’t my cup of tea either.

Overall, this isn’t actually the worst anime I have seen but this is not anywhere near the best either. To call it mediocre isn’t being accurate too. Because I want to say it is confusing but it is not as confusing as animes like Sonny Boy. Confusing storylines, underdeveloped and forgettable characters as well as just passable and average action scenes make this series either a failed attempt as a spinoff for the game or just a big and long but bad advertisement for the game. So I guess after seeing how the characters accepted fate and moved on in life for the future, this means I too have to do the same instead of wishing of changing history and erase this anime from existence. We won’t learn from it if we don’t have a precedent, right? For better or worse. Maybe in another timeline it could have been done better. A timeline without the existence of critics! Maybe. We just have to learn from this and make better animes in the future, right?! I don’t know, the future is still looking bleak somehow…