Devil Survivor 2 The Animation

God is mad. God is angry. God has had it with us. God is going to wipe us out and make it like as though we never existed in the first place or never part of His creation. Judgment Day is before us. The thought of the end of the world never would have really occurred to us because we are content that it won’t happen in the soonest time. What happens when it does? What would you do to survive? But God isn’t totally unreasonable. He is going to give us a fighting chance to prove why we should continue existing. Consider this a trial on a mega large scale. To fight back, we get to summon demons with our handphones to fight aliens sent by the Almighty to destroy us. So okay. That last line really sounds like stretching it but that is somewhat the plot and what is happening in Devil Survivor 2 The Animation.

Based on the tactical role playing game of the same name (more accurately, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2), mankind is thrown into chaos and is being told that they have to defeat 7 mysterious and powerful creatures within 7 days if they want to continue surviving. Doing the maths, it’s like one monster a day, right? How hard or bad could that be? Well, imagine this. You jump straight into the fray by having to fight the final boss 7 times consecutively. The next boss is more insanely powerful than the previous one. Just when you thought you have used all your power and whatever resources you have to defeat, then comes another crazier one. Doesn’t that zap your motivation and morale? I mean, finding 7 mystical orbs is okay but what happens if you need to find 10,000 of them?! Not motivating, right? Real bummer. But that is what you need to do when your life and survival of your kind is on the line. Sure, there aren’t any cheat codes for God mode or unlimited ammunition? All we got is just our stinking handphone and some mysterious app that summons demons to fight on our behalf… Really. An app to summon demons? This I got to see.

Episode 1
High school boys, Hibiki Kuze and Daichi Shijima meet at the busy street of Shibuya to talk about their future. Daichi shows Hibiki a secret but popular site called Nicaea that uploads images of death. You’re supposed to get a picture of how you die. They take a picture of each other, upload it and wait for it to reply back. While waiting at the underground train station, Nicaea returns with the results. It shows the train derailment and the carriage falling on them. There’s their death faces… The guys start to feel spooked because how can they get such real footage? Before they can get out of the station, an earthquake rocks the place. True enough, the train derails and falls over them. Nicaea asks if they want to continue living and Hibiki answered yes. An app is downloaded. When Hibiki wakes up, he finds Daichi still living. They are in shock and just when they thought they spot a survivor, it turns out to be wolf beastmen feasting on the dead. Not too far away, they notice their schoolmate, Io Nitta being cornered by the creatures. Her fear causes her to unleash some sort of ogre demon from her handphone. The demon helps pounce on the beasts. Likewise, Daichi is also scared in what he sees and somehow summons a cute little demon from his handphone. While their demons keep the creatures at bay, the trio run away and discuss what happened. They figure it is Nicaea. When they were asked if they want to live or not, choosing to survive means it forcefully downloaded some app. Although they are not sure why. When they exit the station, it seems the magnitude of the calamity is far worse. The area is devastated and chaos is everywhere with massive casualties. Suddenly all communications and electricity are cut. Since Nitta is worried about her family, the guys decide to accompany her home since it is quite far away. Before communications were cut, the guys manage to confirm their own family are safe.

A special government group from the Japan Meteorological Society or also known as JP’s (pronounced as ‘jeeps’) seems to have taken special authority over the disaster place. Tokyo branch’s JP’s, Makoto Sako is on site to assess the damage and take further action. Her worry is not the multiple Case D manifestation but the survival of mankind through Judgment Day even if it means using demons. Daichi, Hibiki and Nitta are still together as night falls quickly. They can’t find a way to delete the app. Suddenly a weird ice cream UFO lands in the area. It explodes and takes out all those nearby. Then it starts shooting randomly. Before it could get to them, Hibiki tells Nitta to summon her demon. It blocks all the alien’s attacks. Hibiki then receives another death image from Nicaea and it shows Daichi’s death face. Daichi is seen driving a truck, doing a kamikaze to save his friends and crashes into the alien. Hibiki becomes distraught. His app just finished downloading and he summons a powerful demon, the white tiger Byakko. JP’s picks up this unregistered summoning and Makoto is surprised someone has manifested something this powerful. Hibiki orders Byakko to attack the alien till it is destroyed. He is relieved to see Daichi saved by a little fairy, another demon from Nitta’s app. JP’s takes the trio into custody.

Episode 2
The trio are taken to Tokyo ward’s Diet Building. They never knew such a place existed underneath this building. Daichi and Nitta are locked away and only Hibiki is brought to JP’s operation room by Makoto to meet the bureau’s chief, Yamato Hotsuin. Because he summoned one of the 4 most powerful symbols in the Chinese constellations. No ordinary person can summon that. This operation room protects Japan from enemies. The kind that is of paranormal anomalies like ghosts and demons. Hibiki is told there are various ways to summon demons and one way is the demon summoning app that wasn’t supposed to be available to public. How it got into their handphones is still under investigation. JP’s has foreseen this calamity but they did not warn the public as it would cause undue panic and interfered with their operations. Hibiki thinks they’re selfish, to have all the high-tech equipment and yet couldn’t warn the people. Yamato says the enemy he defeated is the lowest of them all. There are 6 more enemies and 6 more days to defeat them. Otherwise, Earth will be consumed and disappear. The enemy is called Septentriones, aliens from another world that can only be defeated by a demonic power. Because Hibiki possesses that power, Yamato wants him to help them and obey him. JP’s scientists conclude the kids’ handphone have a different demon summoning app and are still finding out who wrote such programme and released it to the public. Next day, Hibiki makes a deal with JP’s. If they don’t release his friends unharmed, he will not cooperate.

Makoto drives the kids to Ariake but upon reaching Minato ward, the place is devastated and Nitta is thrown into further depression. She wants to go alone but the rest will accompany her to at least the emergency shelter. Makoto hands back their modified handphones that is directly linked to JP’s. If there is anything, feel free to contact them. The atmosphere in the shelter is depressing and Nitta is sad she couldn’t find any more information about her mother. Suddenly winged demons crash into the shelter. Everyone panics and runs for their lives. Hibiki couldn’t stand there and do nothing so he summons Byakko to take the fight outside. Daichi wants to join in too but his handphone is somewhat under maintenance. He laments the sh*t they are in because just until yesterday, they were just high school kids. The waves of aliens are endless. Makoto joins in the fight using her angel avatar called Power. But she leaves Hibiki to fend off the demons as she goes to find the source. She destroys somebody’s handphone that is running amuck somewhere to end the attacks. In the aftermath, Hibiki thought everyone is against him but his hopes were lit when a boy thanks him for saving them. Back at JP’s, Yamato praises Hibiki for his wise decision. Hibiki wants to do everything he can to help. Daichi and Nitta have heard the details and also offer to help out. They are then shown a picture of Dr Fumi Kanno, the scientist in charge of JP’s security and summoning systems. Coincidentally she disappeared at the Osaka station about the same time Septentriones showed up. Their plans will be in great jeopardy if she isn’t found and so the trio’s first order is to join the search party and find her.

Episode 3
While riding on JP’s secret train, Hibiki mentions he would’ve preferred his friends to stay back at Tokyo. You think they want to let him hog all the action? Better do something than doing nothing. Hibiki promises he will do all he can to protect them. Upon arrival, they are introduced to Hinako Kujou and Keita Wakui, kids who recently become Summoners like them. Keita is not interested in finding a lost person and prefers to go off by himself to do demon hunting. The Osaka’s main bureau command centre is suddenly being hacked. The operational commander-cum-deputy director orders to initiate the defence and track down the hacker who is making this hacking look like easy pie. It would be easy just to unplug everything but that would leave Osaka without any barrier of defence. So… Security relies on the internet? Hinako gets a death clip of Keita lying dead at the Festival Gate, which is pretty close to this place. Hibiki’s deduction has him identifying that place as the source of the hack. Yamato then orders all Summoners to head there. Hibiki wants to know if he sent them here knowing this would happen. He didn’t reply and orders them to hurry. Hibiki has the operator contact Keita to warn him not to head to that place. Because of the future vision of the death clip, he thinks they can change the future. Unfortunately Keita won’t be answering his phone since he is attacked by cow and horse demons. He summons his Berserker to attack. That’s a guy in a bear’s suit, right?

The waves of demons are endless and Keita is having his hands full. He could have died like how he did in the clip had not Hinako summoned her Lilim to save him. The rest arrive to help out but they need to apprehend the cracker who is controlling them as well as hacking the bureau. The kids will have to complete the job themselves since the other Summoners whom they are supposed to rendezvous with are all dead. Because the kids are having it tough to get close to the cracker, Yamato orders the release of Almadel despite warning that the virus is incomplete and it should not be used without Fumi’s supervision. Almadel stalls the demons to give the kids enough time to push forward. Nitta is about to apprehend the cracker but is almost killed by her avatar demon. Berserker saves her. To everyone’s surprise, the cracker turns out to be Fumi. Brainwashed. What better way than to use the person who designed the system, right? Because their demons are no match for Fumi’s, Hibiki devises a plan to cooperate. In a diversion, the enemy demon is taken out and Daichi destroys the system to stop the hacking (which is in its final phase). Before they can rejoice, a demon appears, Botis and blows away Berserker. He then sets lightning upon them but Keita pushes Hibiki out of harm’s way. Botis also has Fumi execute her final task. She has Almadel reboot and cause the system to erode by erasing any traces of its user. The firewall is completely down and all defensive barriers are eliminated. Hinako is devastated that Keita is dead. Just like in the clip. Hibiki is shocked that they couldn’t prevent the death clip from becoming reality despite knowing what will happen. Septentriones begin appearing all over Osaka.

Episode 4
Hibiki blames himself for that but no time for that as JP’s takes the kids for their next Septentriones fight. The army can’t defeat the Septentriones, Merak so it’s JP’s turn to take action. Merak is heading towards Osaka’s spiritual barrier, Tsutenkaku and if it is destroyed, Osaka will be done for. Daichi is put on the medical-evacuation team since his demons are too weak. Hibiki is made as the last line of defence. Merak must not be allowed to advance beyond him or else it’s the end of humanity. Because Hibiki still feels responsible over Keita’s death, Yamato tells him Keita’s sacrifice is acceptable. But it’s not to Hibiki so he is told to quit seeing he lacks the will to fight and is useless despite having such great power. However Hibiki won’t because he will not allow anymore sacrifices. Merak destroys the first line of defence. All the Summoners were easily annihilated! So much for that. Then it shoots a powerful blast at the barrier and disables everything and kills everything in its path. Daichi is the only survivor of his medical-evacuation team. He is freezing in the streets as he calls Hibiki to get out and save his own skin. Yamato cuts off their communication. Hibiki is going to fight Merak with Byakko. He is upset Yamato should have used him first or else many wouldn’t have died. Makoto says they can’t use him without knowing the enemy’s capabilities. Hibiki doesn’t need their permission and heads off alone to fight. Nitta was a second too late to see Hibiki because he just left his position. Hinako’s team is next in line to face Merak. They are no match for it as expected. Hinako is surprised to see Hibiki entering the fray. However Byakko’s electricity has no effect on Merak. Everyone tries to cover Byakko but Merak’s power cuts through all of them, killing everyone and leaving Hinako on the verge of death. Merak inches closer to the barrier and Hibiki is left feeling the guilt once more.

Alcor (calling himself Yamato’s old friend) appears before Hibiki, saying that he only survived because of his powerful demon. Hibiki laments he can’t save everyone but Alcor feels he was dragged into this. He mentions Hinako saved him and there is another one fighting in his place. It hit Hibiki that it is Nitta since Hinako said she was on his way to see him but looks like they missed each other. Alcor likes his way of thinking of wanting to fix things. He wonders why he would take action when others wouldn’t. Because he has acquired this power. Nitta and the last defence line prepare to face off Merak. Nitta summons a power demon goddess Kikuri Hime and though it does some damage, it is still not enough to prevent Merak from powering up its final blast. Hibiki arrives in time to knock Merak’s blast off course. At this time when Merak is vulnerable, Hibiki powers up Byakko and slices through Merak to destroy it for good. Everyone rejoices in their victory. Hibiki is thought he saw little life in Merak but it was quickly cut down by Ronaldo Kuriki. He is a former member of JP’s and hates this organization now. He wants Hibiki to come with him as he views Yamato dangerous. All team members return to headquarters but there is no trace of Hibiki.

Episode 5
Ronaldo went AWOL from JP’s 2 years ago and so they must take precaution against him because he knows the workings of the organization well. Currently he is holding up at Nagoya branch so JP’s sends in a team for the mission to rescue Hibiki. Daichi and Nitta manage to stowaway. I don’t know how they fit into the cardboard box. They get a clip from Nicaea and are shocked to see Hibiki’s death. Communications are cut off from the main branch so they can’t get any feedback. Just like fate, the Septentriones is targeting Nagoya’s barrier too. At this crucial time, they don’t really need to fight against another human. Fumi is up and trying to fix what’s broken. Makoto takes a rest and remembers how Yamato recruited her 2 years ago because he saw the competency in her unlike other garbage. She swore loyalty to him because if not for that fateful meeting, she wouldn’t have turned out the person she is today. In Nagoya, Airi Ban and Jungo Torii are well rested and so are their demons. Airi wants to go take JP’s back from the insurgent but Jungo is cautious for them siding on JP’s despite they were saved by them. Even so, he doesn’t want to fight another human. Daichi and Nitta arrive at Nagoya. They see the people trying to live in this disaster area. Demons suddenly appear so the duo go into action. As usual, Daichi’s avatars are so weak. Nitta’s Kikuri Hime is powerful but she tires out easily. They are saved by a fire breathing demon, Suzaku. It belongs to Hibiki! His friends are glad to see him but he quickly leaves once the demons are disposed. Some of the people think he is going to see the leader so the duo want to be taken there.

Otome Yanagiya is the nurse JP’s of Nagoya branch. She forced to treat some of the wounded insurgents holding up the place. Ronaldo returns with Hibiki with his side. He gives Otome a handphone since she is a Summoner. Their plan is to stop Yamato. Ronaldo is knows well about mankind’s position if they lose to Septentriones. So why is he revolting instead of fighting alongside JP’s? Once Yamato defeats Septentriones, he will institute meritocracy and become the new leader of the new world. This situation is a good chance for him to further his ambitions as he has manipulated both JP’s and the government. Ronaldo was a former detective and was scouted by JP’s for his skill. Naturally he snooped around and found out a dark secret of the Hotsuin family (something about the prophecy of Septentriones and mankind’s fate). Because of that, he was targeted for death. Hibiki thought he was doing the right thing following Yamato but Ronaldo disagrees because his methods will lead the powerless to their death. He is just a tool. Remember the big massacre of those JP’s agents? He won’t accept such a world because he views all humans equal. Ronaldo brings Hibiki to their temporary command centre. He further tells Hibiki that lots of people in the resistance have suffered and lost something. Thankfully they have lots of powerful Summoners. Though, they are still investigating who created the summoning app and would invite them to join their cause. Their mission this time is to defeat Septentriones themselves before JP’s if they want to be recognized as a force to be reckoned with. Aside Hibiki’s Byakko and Suzaku, they will use Ronaldo’s Hagen, Yuzuru Akie AKA Joe’s Orcus and Otome’s Sarasvati for this mission. Ronaldo is confident they can win this and will sacrifice no one. Meanwhile Yamato thinks how everyone is weak. There is no future for them. That’s why the strong must lead. Flashback 12 years ago when Yamato underwent some screening test. He surprised everyone by easily summoning the powerful Cerberus on his first try. The demon burnt down everything and only listened and be tamed by Yamato. Subsequently Alcor found him. And now, the game is about to begin. Alcor notes the Shining One isn’t here anymore so Yamato replies the ideal he sought never existed because it is strength and those with ability that will lead. No other ways about it and will prove it. Yamato is surprised he receives a message from Nicaea supposedly from a friend.

Episode 6
Airi and Jungo sneak into the Nagoya’s branch via air ventilation. Ronaldo shows his team the place where the Septentriones will appear based on the Hotsuin’s family prophecy. Back at the temporary base, Otome talks to Hibiki about his defection. He didn’t think he have what it takes to save the people at JP’s. Despite having power, not knowing how to use it is as good as not having them. Otome admits that JP’s may be utilitarian but Hibiki didn’t like the way Yamato does things by sacrificing others. If his actions were morally right, he would help him but he can’t obey him without knowing for sure. Otome then asks what makes him think Ronaldo’s actions are. At least he knows he won’t sacrifice anyone. Hibiki is surprised when Joe brings Daichi and Nitta to see him. Daichi is so emotional to reunite with him that he hugs him. They tell him they have snuck out from JP’s without permission and also the death clip they’ve got of him. They want him to return with them but he can’t because of the Septentriones that will be appearing here. His friends think he will die just like in the clip but he believes he can change that fate. Since both sides are stubborn, they will stay and protect him. After all, can you call yourself a friend if you abandon a friend? More heads are better, right? Airi and Jungo crash through the ventilation and are set upon the resistance guys. They summon their Cait Sith and Cat Shogun demons to fight till Ronaldo enters the scene. Airi is not open to talk (she will do that if they surrender) and continues to attack but is no match for Hagen. Hibiki pleads for them to stop as this is no time for them to fighting among themselves. Suddenly the sensors pick up signals of Septentriones manifesting. One problem: It is manifesting right here! Everyone throws at it what they’ve got but it’s not even making a scratch. It fires a powerful blast that cuts out electricity in the area. This is bad because without it, the barrier cannot function. Oh? Barriers now also function on electricity?

Hibiki summons Suzaku to burn it and at least he is making some damage. He is joined by Kikuri Hime and Sarasvati but the Septentriones split itself and fires a more powerful beam that cuts through anything. Daichi remembers this part of Hibiki’s death clip. Hibiki manages to avoid a direct hit but he drops and his handphone and it got disabled. Moments before Hibiki is going to be shot at point blank range, Cerberus jumps in from above and slices the Septentriones. Everyone before their eyes witness Yamato using his power to rewrite Cerberus’ ability to destroy the Septentriones for good. No human can do that, right? With the threat over, JP’s team has also reign in the resistance and retake control of the branch. Hibiki can’t understand how Yamato is here since he’s supposed in Tokyo. As explained, he supplied his own magical power to get himself here. Daichi is upset that if he had such power, he should have just fought alone instead of sacrificing others. Yamato believes sacrifices are necessary if they are to survive Judgment Day because it requires pawns to follow orders. Hibiki has become an exceptional pawn. Emotions are useless to pawns and wants Hibiki to return to his side and follow his orders. Ronaldo doesn’t want Hibiki to listen to his crap so Yamato tells him off his ideology is only a pipe dream. He can treat anyone special but the enemy won’t show mercy. No one will survive. Everyone is surprised when Ronaldo mentions Yamato’s ambition to become the world’s ruler. So now it’s everyone against Yamato. Hibiki is willing to fight him if he is going to hurt others. Alcor appears before them. He never thought the Shining Ones would fight like this and lets Hibiki know that Yamato came here because he saw his death clip.

Episode 7
Alcor says because Yamato is here, Hibiki is saved from death. If nothing is done, what happens in the death clip becomes true. Yamato doesn’t believe it because he believes as long as you have power, you can bend fate to your will. Alcor wants Hibiki to make his decision: Return to Yamato or stay here. Seeing Alcor knows much, Ronaldo wants him to spill everything. However his demon Bifrons tells him not to interfere. Bifrons unleashes his firepower at Airi when she mocks his stature but obeys Alcor to back down. Hibiki wonders if Alcor is a demon. He himself is not sure and just knows himself as the Anguished One. Nothing more, nothing less. At the very least, he doesn’t want to be his enemy. Alcor reveals he is the one who gave the summoning app to them. Because humans are weak against Septentriones’ onslaught, he made Nicaea site to give them the tools and choice to fight for their life. Thanks to that, he is able to find a new Shining One. Yamato says that based on the prophecy, there will be 3 simultaneous Septentriones attack tomorrow. Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. Only Byakko class demons can fight them. Yamato wants Hibiki to protect Osaka and brushes off his whatever ideals because the goal is to defeat Septentriones. Hibiki will do that to while protecting others. But if he tries to take them down a misguided path, he’ll stop him at that time. If her survives it all. Yamato looks forward to it. Yamato then forces Ronaldo to defend Nagoya since his actions has brought this branch to this crippled state. He has no say in this matter and will do so. Ronaldo is confident he will take down the Septentriones and Yamato reiterates to say that again to him if he survives. Airi and Jungo introduce themselves to Hibiki. Yamato thinks back 3 years ago before he parted ways with Alcor. He is going to create his beautiful ideal world via power because might is right. He believes he was born for this reason to bear humanity’s fate. Alcor wonders if he can survive till the final day since the Purge of Polaris shows no mercy. Of course Yamato is confident he can so Alcor could only wished he was the Shining One.

Fumi tests the teleport transport and it is working fine. Also, everyone in JP’s undergoes a physical check up. At this time? Is there any point in this if humanity is wiped out? Maybe it’s to see who is fit or not for the final fight. While we have Hibiki and Daichi bond their friendship, Nitta learns more about Otome. She was just an ordinary nurse when she was scouted by JP’s because of her summoning capability. I guess she joined them because the pay was better and this ensures her daughter’s safety. We’d never guess this pretty young nurse to have a daughter, don’t we? Nitta flusters when Otome teases her about someone she likes. Guess who? On the other hand, Joe teases Daichi that he likes Nitta. Hey, wait a minute. Septentriones trinity are going to show up and they have time to fool around like this? Furthermore, Joe tries to go peep on the girls and calls it ‘research for the sake of science’. Daichi and Hibiki try to stop him but when the door opens, Nitta is before them. She mistakes them to be perverts. Well, I see she can defeat this kind of ‘demons’. Oh, Joe ran away… When did he? Later Airi confronts the trio and wants a piece of them too because she thought they peeped on her (she was behind Nitta). Yamato is back at the Chiyoda Ward National Diet building. While the other officials are feasting on their breakfast, they hope Yamato won’t pull something off like leaving Tokyo again and remind him about his duty to protect duty so nothing will happen to them. Otherwise they would set a bad example to their constituents. I think they are now. Makoto beings the operation to fight Septentriones. She transports Hibiki, Daichi and Nitta to Osaka where they’ll be stationed. They are reunited with Hinako and Hibiki is emotionally glad she’s alive. I didn’t think the producers killed her character off. Yamato himself is going to defend Tokyo. More than enough, says he? Meanwhile Fumi has found a sacrifice for Lugh: Nitta.

Episode 8
The fourth Septentriones, Megrez is approaching. Hibiki and co are waiting in line and Hibiki thinks Daichi should take this chance to escape. His demons are the weakest, right? Of course he won’t run since he feels he is a chosen Summoner too. Hibiki remembers before he left Nagoya, Ronaldo gave him a pendrive of all the info he dug up on Yamato and the Hotsuin family. He hopes he won’t make the wrong decision. When the battle starts, everyone is having a hard time because not only Megrez’s skin is thick, it can regenerate too. Oh, its spikes can duplicate itself to a mini Megrez. Except maybe for Yamato. He’s too powerful to be stopped. As mentioned, unless all 3 Septentriones are taken out simultaneously, it will keep regenerating. Yamato will match his pace to the rest for the simultaneous attack. Hibiki receives a death clip of Ronaldo, Joe and Otome. He calls to warn him but Ronaldo isn’t going to run. As Hibiki has proved, he can change his death fate and they are confident they can with theirs. The Osaka and Nagoya team aren’t making any headway. Megrez is not slowing down. Airi gets upset how Septentriones have ruined the memories of this place and the innocent people who died. She downloaded a very strong demon app, Lorelei. It pierces Megrez with its giant ice. Meanwhile, Hinako’s Berserker punches a hole through Megrez. With all Megrez’ core exposed, the simultaneous attack to destroy it begins. Megrez is completely destroyed but everybody’s joy is short-lived. Because back at Nagoya’s side when Megrez disappears, the spikes shoot out like arrows. Ronaldo, Joe and Otome perished, leaving only Airi and Jungo as the only Nagoya survivors. Airi is visibly emotionally upset, Nitta thinks she can’t take this anymore and Hibiki tries to come to terms with reality. This is what they have chose, just like him. Yamato and Fumi are at some underground cave where Brionac, the enchanted spear kept by the Hotsuin family for generation sits.

Hibiki wants to wake up from this nightmare when Alcor sits by him to talk. Well, this is reality. Hibiki wants to know if demons find it amusing to toy with humans but Alcor says he has the wrong idea. Alcor is not a human and although he has the power to make death clips, he cannot help humanity for this is their trial. Unless humanity proves itself, they will achieve nothing. Who has the right to judge humans? Polaris, the Almighty Administrator of Order. Polaris concluded mankind’s existence hinders the natural order of the world. Humans lost the will to persevere but yet prosper. This contradicts the world order that what Polaris views. Some might call it God but all it does is just protecting the world order. Hibiki doesn’t think it’s an excuse to destroy things. Alcor agrees with him. Alcor reveals he is Polaris’ sword and tool. He is a Septentriones and such creatures are tools for maintaining order as Polaris sees fit. However Alcor has awareness and even feels grieve for this. As Polaris’ tool, he shouldn’t have so but it something like this could happen, it may mean Polaris isn’t as omnipotent after all. That’s why he gave human summoning apps as a choice to fight. If they want to survive, they need a chance to show Polaris their will. As a tool, he cannot act against Polaris directly. Hibiki is confused but Alcor is too. He ponders his own existence and conscience. If this would cause so much conflict, he shouldn’t even have it. Across the horizon, they see darkness. But Alcor points out it is the void. Everything will be reduced to nothing. Nothing. Everything on human existence, history or civilization will cease to exist. Disappear. Erased. Like as though human never existed in the first place. The void is encroaching fast. After 7 days of judgment were promised and when humanity has overcome all trials, then it can stand before Polaris for arbitration. Alcor feels sad that the world of humans whom he has watched and raised for so long will disappear. He doesn’t want to lose it. It makes Hibiki wonder even if he defeats the enemy, after losing so much, what will be left if the world if they do survive? Of course Yamato thinks this world cannot be saved.

Episode 9
Hibiki is surprised Alcor is in his room. Where else could he go? Time for discussion. How well does Alcor know Yamato? They were once friends. He had many abilities and choices. Alcor thought he would be more responsible but he turned his back on them and made a quick choice: To oversee talented human in a meritocracy. Alcor doesn’t intend to agree or disagree with human choices but Yamato is being stubborn and denying thought through possibility control. He also notes Hibiki was born with power. Whether he wants it or not is irrelevant. That is what talent is about. As long as you can think, you have a choice. Alcor reiterates he is a tool of Polaris with emotion and thus he cannot really help them or go against Polaris directly. Hibiki allows him to stay as long as he does not stand in their way. It makes Alcor happy. Another condition is that nobody should find out about this. However Daichi and Nitta just walk in. They panic to see this dude but calm down after Hibiki tries his best to explain the situation. I guess it is because Hibiki is saying it, they believe him. And I’m not sure if Alcor is really a retard because he is acting and sounding like one when Hibiki is doing the explaining. Are Septentriones like this or is he just doing it on purpose? Airi and Hinako are being called by Makoto. The next Septentriones will manifest soon and based on that physical check up yesterday, both are suited to fight the next one, Alioth. Because it will be manifesting from the sky! They need a long range Summoner who can do that. Alioth is here and is right above Sapporo. Hinako summons the demon Shiva because of her family dance tradition thingy while Airi summons demon Kama because it is said it likes young girls… Alioth is about to fire down so Shiva and Kama fire a powerful shot that destroy its core. Hmm… That easy? Although the Septentriones is defeated, its shell is falling. That is the catch. JP’s makes haste to evacuate the area. Impossible. The shell is around 50km wide! Although JP’s successfully evacuate their own men, many of the citizens of Sapporo perished. Do you want to see what a flat city is like? The void continues to expand as Alcor wonders if humans can survive. Or will no one.

Hibiki goes through Ronaldo’s secret data and learns the Hotsuin family has known this for centuries. Together with the policymakers, they hid this to attain power. Yamato wants to survive this so as to create a new world that follows a ‘national refinement curriculum’ of government design. He lives and everyone dies. Hibiki has to shoulder all that and survive. Yamato and the rest are having some sort of ‘feast’ to celebrate Alioth’s defeat. But they are in no mood to eat especially Airi as she saw Sapporo flattened before her eyes. Yamato wonders if she can handle the burden. If not, she will die next. Of course he himself can and never thought of it as a burden. Hibiki exchanges argument with him. Not everyone is a robot like him. They have feelings. Not everyone is strong. In that case, the weak should accept their weakness and obey the strong. Even if that leads to a world without kindness, define kindness. If kindness is being complacent and licking other’s wounds, then those incompetent trash shall rot the world. Jungo wants to know why Yamato assembled them here. In 2 days, the invasion will end and he wants them to decide. No, it’s not about going home. After the last Septentriones has been defeated, surviving humans can meet Polaris. Defeating Polaris might not be a good idea because as one who observes the world, it will plunge the world into chaos. Hibiki explains it from here. He knows JP’s wants to meet Polaris and reshape laws that govern the world and carve their own new world order that suits them. Yamato denies he is carrying out his family’s will. Till this day, he has lived by his own will. Because trash will not be allowed to stop Polaris. He will rewrite the laws of the world and govern it. In 2 days, those who won’t obey him may die. So take this time to think carefully of your decision. Hibiki still opposes his ideal. It may be right but it’s too strict. People won’t be happy. Yamato doesn’t need him to understand. He will do what he wants. Those who oppose are not necessary. Enemy or not, he will make others submit. Hibiki notes shouldering and accepting are different concepts so Yamato wants him to stay by his side till the end so if his existence is a sin, he wants him to pass judgment. Nitta is crying alone. She doesn’t want a new world order. She just wants to go home. Makoto then comes in and tells her tomorrow’s mission has been decided. She will die for them.

Episode 10
Nitta’s body is compatible to be possessed by Lugh, which is their key in defeating tomorrow’s Septentriones, Mizar. Although assured others won’t die if she sacrifices herself, Nitta still can’t help break down knowing that she’ll die. Morning comes and Alcor makes a lovely breakfast for the trio. Really. This is a Septentriones? Later Alcor visits Yamato. He laments because Hibiki is different than him and won’t overcome the death of a friend easily. Yamato suggests to throw away all emotions and with that you don’t have to feel anguish. Mizar will soon be materializing in Tokyo. The Summoners are in the control room and Hibiki knows something is amiss since Nitta is not with them. On the screen, they see Nitta being chained to a rock as Fumi makes the final preparations to their plan. What plan? They’ve never been told that. Mizar is a replicating Septentriones. It will do so forever so attacking it forever won’t be wise because even Byakko and Cerberus will eventually run out of power. Of course the kids aren’t happy to learn she has become the sacrifice. You think Yamato cares? Now they think they can attack it forever, eh? They want to think of another way but while they do that, Mizar would have replicated itself all over the world. There is no time. To their horror, they receive a death clip of Nitta. Once preparations are completed, Nitta is possessed by the demon Lugh. It releases the power of Ryumyaku. It manifests into its physical form of a dragon called Shakko. This trump card will devour Mizar and send it to another world. The mission is a success but Nitta’s mind has completely collapsed. When Hibiki goes to get her on his Byakko, she attacks him. She is totally possessed by Lugh so Yamato wants him to kill her. That is not Nitta anymore. That is a demon.

Lugh is pissed that the Hotsuin family imprisoned a God and used her as a tool. She is going to destroy them all. Oh dear. We’ve got Septentriones to deal with and now an angry god? Is this the price to pay for trying to survive? Although Nitta’s body will break since it cannot contain Lugh any longer, it is more than enough time for Lugh to kick JP’s ass. All those JP’s Summoners outside the Diet building didn’t even stand a chance. Hibiki stands in Lugh’s way. He wants Nitta back but Lugh mentions about hearing her cries of despair and wants to see his reaction once she destroys the world and everything. His hesitation causes Hibiki to be thrown off the building but Yamato grabs his hand. He summons Baal to destroy Lugh but was interfered by Byakko. While Yamato and Hibiki continue to be logger heads, Nitta’s body is at its limit so Lugh will judge Yamato alone. She throws the spear but Hibiki uses Ryumyaku to protect everything. Yamato is impressed that Shakko had chose him as well. Believing their destiny is intertwined, he extents his hand to him to rule the world together. Hibiki rejects him and reminds that he wants to use his power to protect others. Hibiki believes Nitta is still there. His voice must be so true that it reaches Nitta. He doesn’t want her to choose death but she says she had no choice to do what she has to. There’s no other way. He won’t accept that. She says she is not strong as him and is already at her limits. She is in pain and lonely in this world. She can’t keep up with it anymore. Hibiki doesn’t mind if it’s weak. Everybody is weak. That’s why they live by helping one another. That’s why they need each other. He was able to live because of his friends. Still don’t believe his worlds? He doesn’t want to lose her and wants to survive together. In that instant, Lugh is purged from her body. Wow. A miracle. The duo embrace and Nitta expresses her intention to live. Ryumyaku loses its power so Hibiki starts coughing blood and collapse. He is close to dead but Yamato orders his men to collect and will do all he can to save him. Because Hibiki is his. Nitta says she won’t follow him but move forward with Hibiki. Yamato doesn’t care because he will fight them if he needs to and if it is needed for mankind to evolve. When that happens, he will use all his power to kill them.

Episode 11
Hibiki is in ICU. The kids are in gloomy mood but Jungo who ironically doesn’t talk much has words of encouragement to lift their spirits. Alcor waits in Hibiki’s room but is approached by Botis and Bifrons. They are not too please of Alcor being too fond of humans and siding them. Botis is about to rid him but with a snap of Alcor’s fingers, Botis easily gets squashed. I’m sure Bifrons won’t be going up against him. He admits he has become strange. The final day has arrived. It’s the calm before the storm. The kids have time to chat and eat, even time to introduce themselves, make friends and exchange email addresses. Just then, they receive death clips of all of them dead. What a way to ruin a beautiful friendship. The final big Septentriones boss is here, Benetnasch. True to its level, it is the most powerful JP’s has ever come across because it wipes out all the other JP’s branches in a single blow! Dying like ants!!! Armageddon is here. Despite knowing going out means sealing their fate, the kids will still do so because they believe they can change their death fate. Meanwhile Hibiki dreams of his past. As a kid he seems somewhat meek. Luckily he had Daichi to rely on. Makoto leads the kids to attack Benetnasch. It could have destroyed the whole of Tokyo had not Yamato unleash his power. Too bad all those fat ass guys in the Diet Building got blown away. Good riddance. Everyone summons their demons to hack and slash this giant turnip. Just like it seems they are winning, there’s a catch. It regenerates and also seals their demons. Not only that, it can reproduce previous Septentriones and attack them! Fumi observes the frequency waves it is using and uses her Trumpeter to seal them. However Benetnasch spots her and destroys Trumpeter. Then it’s like Fumi knows she is going to die. She saw it coming. She even had time to call Makoto to take care of things. Wow. In the face of death, she is so cool. Not a single nerve panicking. Never seen death up close before? Well, she’s going to find out. Then blam! The blast hits her.

Yamato is trying to hold his ground while the rest make a run. One by one, Airi, Jungo and Hinako get killed by the mini Septentriones. The rest would too had not Hibiki unleash his Suzaku and Byakko to protect and go on the offensive. Once he learns the others are dead, he flies into rage. As they attack Benetnasch, they even have time to argue about their different beliefs. Hibiki as usual didn’t like the way he abandoned the people he called nuisance. Yamato stands firm in changing this selfish world. Somebody needs to do the job. Hibiki disagrees and doesn’t want a future created by the death of his friends. What would be the meaning of everything if they survive this? Since the two are loggerheads, it gives Benetnasch enough time to fire a big blast. Hibiki and Yamato’s powers aren’t enough to hold it back. But surprisingly, the giant turnip is knocked away. Daichi got so pissed off that he couldn’t help his friends in time of need that somehow he summoned Black Frost, a demon more powerful than Baal or even Makoto’s Athena. Combining his power with Hibiki and Yamato, they finish off the final Septentriones for good. Humanity has won. Mankind has survived the 7 days of judgment. Of course Hibiki still wants to stop him so Yamato dares him to kill him. Otherwise shut the f*ck up. And if Hibiki continues to stand in his way, he will kill him. But Alcor won’t allow that.

Episode 12
Although Polaris’ trials are over, Alcor will attack Yamato on his own free will and kill him. Because he wants to entrust mankind’s hope to Hibiki. Yamato is reduced to defending Alcor’s tentacle blades so he retreats close to the tower to increase his power. Yamato maintains his stand to rewrite the laws of the world and since Alcor is just a tool, he should stop thinking. They both receive death clips of each other. Makoto tells the kids that she will aid Yamato. Because she lost hope in this world, Yamato took her in and gave her a sense of purpose. Since she lost hope of the future, she can’t really tell what is wrong or right nor have any say in it. All she can do is rely on the hopes of others. Hibiki and co receive Makoto’s death clip. I guess she was probably lying just to sooth them that her death can be avoided. Otherwise, why give them her final request to take care of Yamato? Cerberus has finally healed so Yamato summons it to take down Alcor. Unfortunately it was easily defeated. But Yamato has another ace up his sleeve. Because the summoning system Alcor created allows one to download demons based on one’s strength and ability, Yamato just defeated Benetnasch, right? This means he can download the most powerful demons, no? But it’s going to take time to finish downloading it so Alcor goes on the offensive. Just when he thought he has Yamato in his grasp, Makoto uses her body to defend her chief. Her last words thank him for giving her a reason to live. I don’t know if Yamato is really holding in his emotions. Her death has bought him enough time to summon Nebiros and Zao Gongeng. The demons send Alcor to his defeat.

Alcor feels sad Yamato has never felt fun beside him. Yamato asks why he followed him. Because he was interesting and thought was the Shining One. Alcor asks one more time if he would have a change of heart. Nope. He is going ahead with his plan. The world was already corrupted when he was born. Somebody needs to change it. He’ll shoulder all the sins and burdens by himself. Can he? A human heart is not made that way. Yamato was born with extraordinary abilities, different than other normal children he bore responsibility of the transcendent bound by restrictions. That’s why he found him interesting and came to like him. Alcor makes his final attempt to stop Yamato by bounding themselves together in his tentacles. He’s going to do double suicide. No escape. Goodbye. Hibiki laments this screwed up trial by Polaris when Yamato appears before him. So he survived. As the world begins to fall apart, Yamato leaves his demons to keep Hibiki company while he takes the transporter to the gate to meet Polaris. Daichi and Nitta summon their demons to keep Nebiros and Zao Gongeng at bay. They want Hibiki to meet Polaris. At first Hibiki was reluctant because he wants them to stay together and won’t leave them. But they say the days they fought together weren’t in vain because he stayed till the end. So he has to go. He is their last hope. Hibiki makes his way to the transporter as the void devours his friends and everything else. Yamato is surprised that Hibiki has made it here. The world is gone. Only both of them are left. It seems they won’t get an audience with Polaris till one of them is defeated. And so, it’s the final showdown. Hibiki is without hesitation anymore. He will beat Yamato and see Polaris.

Episode 13
As the tiger and lion clash, the guys still have time to debate on their ideology. I’ll spare you the details because it’s just a rehash of what they believe in, expanded and rephrase in another way. Hibiki doesn’t approve of Yamato’s method because despite the world is sh*t, erasing it for a new order wouldn’t make our world, well, our world. It’s the same as choosing death. Yamato still believes had he not taken control in the first place, nobody would have survived. Great powers come… Complete the sentence. Hibiki argues that when he saved him back at Nagoya, it wasn’t because he wanted to give him combat experience to be used as his pawn. Receiving a death clip that is meant only to be given to only friends proves that he is still human. For a human with no heart shouldn’t be able to be a friend. Yamato views that if Hibiki is his friend, then he must kill him. At the same time, Yamato is starting to weaken. He can’t be stop now and will carry out his wish. He combines Nebiros and Zao Gongeng to form Satan! Wow. Nobody has ever done that before. He thought he had blown Hibiki to bits but is surprised Black Frost protected him. Even surprising, Hibiki suddenly receives all the demons from his dead friends! How is this even possible? Don’t ask me. Hibiki also does the same. Because he has more demons, he combines and combines and combines all of them into one big angel called Lucifer. Both the angel and demon clash. In the end, I suppose Hibiki won because we see the guys hugging each other. Hibiki doesn’t want him to shoulder the burden alone anymore. Yamato can’t believe Hibiki stopped him as promised. Hibiki is confident they’ll meet again. Then he tells Polaris his wish.

It’s like the world reset to where it was a week ago. Judgment day didn’t arrive. Yet? Hibiki is hanging out with Daichi like how we see them in the first episode. Daichi shows him the Nicaea site but it looks comical than real. At the train station, Hibiki and Daichi spot Nitta and the former calls out to her, making the latter fluster. He wanted to be friends with her, right? Nitta talks with them and finds them friendly. Hibiki couldn’t understand why he starts crying. Is it because he is happy? Daichi receives a death clip of Hibiki being hit by a truck but it is so cartoonish that he’s laughing. When the train arrives, no disaster happened. Hibiki then suddenly remembers. He rushes out just to confirm something. He remembers the full week and how humanity ended. If he doesn’t do anything, the same tragedy will be repeated. That’s why he must do something to change. Humanity has to change gradually by choice and not by force. We get a glimpse of all the other characters in their daily lives had not they been subjected to the screw up of judgment day. Hibiki is outside the Diet Building trying to see Yamato but the guards won’t let him in. Nice timing. His car just pulled up beside him. The rest wonder if Yamato knows this kid. He doesn’t because he believes he has no friends but gives off a friendly smile. Something tells me he too remembered those 7 days. Hibiki starts crying that everything is alright. Alcor too is around and remembers what happened. After watching humanity for so long, he feels happy and sad he is not needed anymore. Humanity has shown its will. Living is anxiety and pain. It’s continuing to think and choose. He is confident humans can still walk down the correct path because they can create miracles. I guess that isn’t exclusive to only God.

Dial 7734 Hotline To Hell…
7734? Wasn’t 666 supposed to be the devil’s number? Well… what does 7734 look like upside down? I guess humanity has got another chance. Another chance to mess up Earth like they’ve always been doing as before. Haha! I suppose Polaris must have gotten this idea that it would be more fun and amusing to watch humans screw up than to completely erase them from history and memory. Think about it. If humans are no more, what would big Gods like Polaris do for entertainment? What would His existence mean if there are no low life creatures like humans to govern and watch over? I don’t know about if there are other aliens or life forms that conforms to Polaris’ way of balance but to have gained Polaris’ attention and made Him come up with a plan to wipe us out, that shows we are some life form, eh? Besides, I suppose as human myself, I won’t understand why Polaris thinks in such a way. Better to leave it just like that. And so I thought in the end everybody was going to die seeing how they tried to kill off all the main characters. Call me a sadist but I suppose you can’t leave viewers with bad aftertaste in the mouth. So they had to revive them all in the end just to make it a ‘good’ ending. Otherwise, viewers can become Polaris and vent their frustration by wiping out this production house. Haha!

Speaking about deaths, as I expected, people are going to die (doesn’t count the small fries like JP’s useless numerous Summoners – they got wiped out in an instant before it sinks into your head that they’re dead) since Keita started the ball rolling with it. But the way they eliminate the main characters seemed somewhat rushed. And to a point it felt unconvincing. I thought it would have been better if they spread them out instead of having group deaths. There was a long absence of ‘death’ from Keita’s demise to the next one which is Ronaldo, Joe and Otome. It’s like they’re trying to save time and take them out all at once. Then on the final day of judgment, it felt like they counted how many survivors left and realized they need to reduce that number quickly. It was really odd Fumi didn’t fear death when she was staring it so close in it in the face. Jungo, Airi and Hinako’s deaths felt so rushed that it made you think that they could have survived that. It’s like they wanted to get them out as soon as possible. And you thought cute girls and sexy babes usually get to live in the end in survival genres, eh? Next they had to kill off Makoto once they realized she was spending most of her time giving commands in JP’s Tokyo base instead of the battlefield so they send her out to an easy death. Oh wait. There’s still Alcor. Since there is nothing that would kill him, why not have killed via sacrifice? And then if there is anybody left standing on Earth, why not just wipe them out via the void? Yeah. That. Easy as pie. Saves time, no?

As I said, I am too insignificant to understand what or how Polaris thinks. But that doesn’t stop me from thinking about this issue if Polaris is omniscient and knows everything, he should have known that humans would have defeated the Septentriones, right? He would have known what the outcome is in the first place and perhaps wouldn’t have to go through all this crap just to wipe out humans. If He knew humans were going to win and if He was bent on erasing humans (assuming he doesn’t want to give them a chance), then there was no need for 7 days of judgment, right? And why send Septentriones to do the job instead of Himself? I’m sure the Almighty could do a much better job than the Septentriones since each of them have its own weakness. So it’s all too mind boggling. But that is just on my part because I assume Polaris to be God and made comparisons to the Almighty just to grasp and understand what is going on. Maybe Polaris is not exactly God. Not the kind that we know of. Otherwise, why would Alcor being a Septentriones himself suddenly develop emotions and feelings after watching over humans for so long? If Alcor himself doesn’t get it, what are the chances will we?

But what Polaris is or Alcor or even the Septentriones really are isn’t the big issue. Throughout the series, it is about mankind doing all they can for survival. Doing what needs to be done to survive. Basic law of the jungle. Survival of the fittest. As you can see when judgment day approached, it brings out the best and worse in all of us. We can see who the cowards are. We can see who the heroes are. We see what we are made of. Despite humans being fragile and frail creatures, the drive to survive is totally unbelievable. It’s like a blessing and a curse. Our survival instincts push us forward but at the same time it is causing us to go spiralling out of control into self-destruction.

Therefore there is no clear right or wrong answer between Hibiki or Yamato’s stance. Or even if you want to take into account Ronaldo’s point of view that all humans should be equal. That means everyone is like robots, right? Most of us would easily conclude that Hibiki would be the most suitable answer not because he is the hero or he won at the end but I suppose the ideals he holds is what most of us would desire but couldn’t do it with our own hands. Sure, we shouldn’t let God or some other highly being decide our future. Humans should decide for themselves. Even if our choices are bad and detrimental in the long run, what Hibiki is saying that it is those choices that what makes us human. We are not perfect but we learn and grow gradual. But we must do it ourselves. So, it’s like status quo? Like the life we are living now? Wake up early in the morning, prepare yourself for work, get in line with the rush hour crowd to your workplace, spend the next handful of hours at your job. Come back home. Sleep. Repeat cycle. Wow. Is this the life we want? Heck, it’s better than being erased forever or mindless zombie drones who don’t decide for themselves. With humans being able to think, it adds some sort of excitement to life, don’t you think? Well, some excitement may be too much to handle…

Yamato is easily portrayed as the antagonist that you will love to hate because of his no-compromising stand and unyielding ways. He is blunt to tell it to your face that he believes the strongest will survive and rule over those who are weak. If you look in a moral way, of course that is wrong but then again, define what it means for something to be moral? It’s all down to perspective. What about Yamato being the most powerful Summoner of them all but yet chose to sacrifice small fries for his cause or not sharing the family’s prophecy that could have prevented many deaths? But even if you could save some, how many can you save? You can’t save them all. But saving some is better than killing all, no? That’s why neither Hibiki nor Yamato is wrong or right when they constantly argue about their beliefs. Would Hibiki have believed in Yamato’s ways if he had gone through the same suffering and torment he had? Yamato had seen the greedy and selfish side of the world. He knows there is no hope if humanity is to carry on like this and that it is better to start anew. Because humans think and feel, there is a rebellious side in us. The reason why Yamato strongly believes the strong to lead. If everything was fair game, then greed and selfishness would never have occurred in the first place. Thus Yamato planning on ruling with an iron fist in this context seems right. If carrots cannot keep humans under control, the sticks will. Humans need to know and be instilled with fear if you want them to be obedient. Thus Yamato had to be steadfast in his ideals to show that he really believes this is the only way humans can change for the better.

The rest of the other characters just feel rather average. Maybe the anime didn’t do much justice because if you play the game, more will be fleshed out. Thus their past isn’t really given much attention and briefly mentioned here and there. Mainly it’s about humans fighting for survival against Septentriones and Hibiki and Yamato are given the most focus on. I feel that to show that Hibiki isn’t a loner or one-boy-show, that’s why he has Daichi and Nitta by his side. Their significance in the anime is very limited. Daichi wants to help his best friend out but can’t because his demons are so weak ass. You need a cute high school girl tagging along so that’s where Nitta comes in. To show she is not 100% redundant, that’s why she was made to be the perfect bait for Lugh. Supposed to die but didn’t. But eventually she did at the hands of the void. Keita died so early that you would have forgotten about him halfway through because you can’t be occupied and mourning somebody when you have to think about survival. Hinako feels more like for fanservice because she’s running around in cloths hanging loose over her body even if this is some excuse that she comes from a family of traditional dancers or something. Nothing deep about Ronaldo, Joe and Otome either and so with bratty unreserved Airi and slow peace loving simple soft spoken Jungo. Those two are sure as different as day and night. One so tall, the other so short… One talks too much, the other with limited vocab… Need I go on?

Fumi is pretty amusing because you always see her with her droopy eyes like as though she is going to fall asleep any time. Maybe spending too much time in front of the monitor has made her eyes looking sleepy. Besides, I think she is the coolest character ever. Much cooler than Yamato or Jungo because while the former is strict sh*t, the latter a peace loving simpleton, the one that nails it was how she wasn’t afraid of death at all! So cool staring at the face of death that it just looks creepy. Makoto is one big guilt trip going to explode anytime. As a commander of JP’s, I guess she needs to do what she needs to do but each time the kids get involved, she has no choice but to bottle up those feelings and get down with it. Alcor is just bumming around and watching… Sometimes I begin to feel he is a bushy eyebrow version of Accelerator. I don’t really understand the reason why the death clip of Nicaea was created for. I know he wants to give humans a fighting chance against Septentriones but what the heck is the death clip for? It’s so redundant. Although knowing your death before hand would give you time to do something to avoid it, most of the time it turns up true so it’s like trying to scare you for nothing, right? You’ll die in the end anyway. Unless you’re Hibiki of course. I think the characters would have done much better had they not receive any death clips because seeing your friends die just zaps your motivation. And then you will because you keep worrying of trying to avoid it without knowing you are actually working your way towards that fate. So again, what in blazes is this death clip for anyway?

It was a pretty amusing concept to see the people using their handphones to download demons and then use them in their fight. How do you bring the demons from the underworld or hell under your control? What happens if you dial a wrong number? Will you get the wrong demon? Of course this won’t happen since in the anime everything is already pre-set. But I still can’t help ponder what if you get a call right in the middle of the fight. Will the interruption cause your demon to disappear? Of course this too won’t occur since all regular communications have been knocked out since the judgment day began. Handphones are such useful devices. Next and coming soon, using your handphones to cast magic spells! Oh wait. I remember some years back there was an anime about using programming to cast magic spells. But now you may do it on your handphone and downloading the right app. So easy. Whatever happened to the good ol’ fashion way of chanting long winded tongue twisting spells? That’s what you call modern conveniences. Everything is at your fingertips these days.

Since I do not play the game, I don’t really feel the significant impact of the demons summoned maybe except for Byakko and Cerberus. Because we can only have one Septentriones showing up per day and some days last more than one episode, you can’t really have Septentriones of the day thingy and thus that’s why we have demons of the day or episode to compensate for that. In each episode, there will be at least one demon introduced to us. But I doubt it would do any good for casual viewers like me to remember them because the way they are being used to fight battles just feels cheap. Each demon have their own power and traits but the way I see here, many of them are used for just once or twice and then you won’t see them again like Hagen, Sarasvati and Lorelei. (Hey, what happened to Bifrons anyway?). Then the way the demons fight, using their weapons or shooting projectiles, well, I just feel it’s like Plants Vs Zombies. You plant a plant in the ground and then you let them do their own stuff to take care of the zombies. Same thing here. You summon the demon and then you let them take care of the enemy. It’s like they’re just a tool. Oh wait. Aren’t they? Anyway, the demons’ designs are rather okay too and not really anything that provides eye candy. Maybe except for Byakko’s white stripy fur. As for the Septentriones’ design, I thought the producers were being lazy just in design them. Of course what do you want them to look like? Giant pretty bishoujos? So I thought they were rather plain and odd looking but that is why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover because the power they hold are insane. It gets harder and harder every Septentriones you defeat. You want to tell the designers to go back and redesign them again but after seeing the awesome killing power they have, you’ll have second thoughts that maybe the aesthetics don’t really matter.

Action wise, nothing really to shout about because mostly you will see is the characters summoning their limited demons to the fore. There is only so much ability a demon can have so don’t expect too much variety in the demons. Even high ranking ones like Byakko or Cerberus. These demon beasts could mostly just jump and round around with lightning speed and power and the most claw and gnaw back at their enemy. You’re not expecting them to suddenly shoot out freezing ice balls or level 10 plasma beams from their mouths, don’t you? Therefore the more exciting part of the action is seeing how the Septentriones destroy everything in its path. Because you know, they are unstoppable until you learn their traits and weakness. By that time, I think lots of people have died and the surroundings annihilated. I didn’t want to touch about the romance part since this anime doesn’t really have one but I can’t help think about the physical examination part whereby Nitta vaguely hints she has feelings for Hibiki. Or so I assume. I guess when you’re fighting for survival, if you don’t survive, love doesn’t really matter, huh? So it was just a side distraction that nobody should be losing sleep over. But why can’t I stop thinking about it? Do I want it to go somewhere despite knowing this isn’t supposed to be any romance element. It’s supposed to be filled with people dying and the survivors in despair… Whoops… Anyway I think it’s good too that such romance isn’t pursued further because it could really complicate stuffs. Imagine you’re fighting against the last boss and suddenly you have feelings in the way. “I want to tell you I love you!”. “Oh, really? I also want to…”. Blam! You’re dead. Not funny. Speaking of funny, for the comical stuffs, Airi herself is already a big little joker… Haha!

For the voice acting part, I recognize many of the seiyuus of the main cast. Kamiya Hiroshi as Hibiki (Erec in Ixion Saga DT), Junichi Suwabe being uber calm as Yamato (Atobe in Prince Of Tennis), Miyuki Sawashiro in her typical voice as Makoto (Inaba in Kokoro Connect), Ami Koshimizu in her Kansai accent (Horo in Spice And Wolf), Kana Asumi in her usual kawaii voice (Nyaruko in Haiyore! Nyaruko-san) and brooding guys like Ronaldo are best voiced by Rikiya Koyama (Kiritsugu in Fate/Zero). Yuka Iguchi as Otome really caught me off guard because she wasn’t in her bratty role like To Aru Majutsu No Index’s Index and thus it never occurred to me it was her till I finished watching the series just to find out who the rest of the seiyuus are. The rest of the casts include Aya Uchida as Nitta (Himawari in Vividred Operation), Nobuhiko Okamoto as Daichi (Niizuma in Bakuman), Takahiro Sakurai as Alcor (Suzaku in Code Geass), Rikako Yamaguchi as Fumi (Charles Bonaparte in Freezing Vibration), Daisuke Namikawa as Jungo (Kazehaya in Kimi Ni Todoke), Mitsuaki Madono as Joe (Kon in Bleach) and Fuko Saito as Keita (Shiina in Angel Beats).

The opening theme is mixed with a bit of techno. Take Your Way is sung by Livetune adding Fukase from Sekai No Owari. Personally, I thought the singer’s voice sounded a little gay. So it makes the song sound a little so. Therefore to have such a somewhat lively song for an anime which is going to be mostly in the grim and dark, it is somewhat unsuitable. Maybe it’s to cheer you up before you see the characters fight a losing battle and go into despair. The ending theme should be more like it. Be by Song Riders is a slow metal rock which befits the overall theme of the series. After you watch the episode and then hear this song, you can’t help feel the impact of helplessness and struggle of the characters in this series. In the ending animation credits, I suppose it is somewhat a ‘life indicator’ of our 13 main protagonists. Once they’re dead, they are taken out. So in the penultimate episode, the ending credits was like empty and void since everybody except Yamato and Hibiki died. One long vacant space in between our first character Hibiki and Yamato at the end. Amusing. Of course when everybody got revived, the scene now is filled with all of them like how it started out. There is your happy ending.

The next time God decides to give us our trial and do some judgment day that ends the world in a big scale, maybe He could have warned us beforehand so that we can prepare ourselves instead of just plunging us into chaos. Or maybe the signs were there but we just chose to ignore it. I guess the sudden arrival of judgment day is to prove to see if we are ready for survival. If you were told beforehand that there will be a quiz on a certain day, you’ll no doubt go home and prepare your stuffs, right? Imagine the surprise when the teacher says the quiz is now! Panic? Scared? Keep calm and cool? Well, those who can adapt fast enough will get to continue. So remember to always have a handphone or some sort of iOS in hand and fully charged because you’ll never know when apocalypse will come. If I’m not powerful enough, can I purchase powerful demons like Lucifer and Satan for only $4.99? More importantly, I want to know instead of summoning demons, can I download an app that summons pretty bishoujos? Might as well make it last paradise on Earth before hell comes.