This episode immediately follows up on Iko’s transfer to Teru’s school. Teru sees Iko in pain from her injured leg and takes her to the nurse’s office for treatment, allowing the two to converse. At one point, Iko comments that Teru looks an awful lot like Shy (I guess the Clark Kent glasses trick isn’t working) and Teru uses this a segue into asking Iko if she resents Shy for failing to keep her out of harm’s way. Iko responds that she doesn’t, arguing that Shy worked so hard and still saved her life in the end.
Just when you think the air has been cleared up between Teru and Iko, a mysterious boy appears and puts a ring on one of Iko’s fingers, corrupting her mind and body into a rageful monster. The boy claims that the ring will allow people to free their hearts of any feelings they’ve caged up inside. Upon analyzing the effects of the ring, Shy’s companion Vilio (Tomokazu Sugita) informs her that Iko’s rage stems from a strong resentment towards someone.
Given her failure to prevent Iko’s injuries, Shy assumes Iko is referring to her but this is surprisingly not the case. The one Iko resents the most is herself. Apparently, Iko lost her parents in a house fire and she blames herself not being able to save them and surviving in their stead. This revelation casts an interesting light on a detail in the last episode, where Iko pleads with Shy to save her last. Now that I know her backstory, it seems like Iko made that call because she feels the others are more deserving of being saved than her. More importantly, this sets up a very interesting relationship between Teru and Iko. Iko feels so powerless; she couldn’t save her parents and she’s needed someone to save her. On the other end of the spectrum, Teru on the other hand actually has the power to save someone, it’s just her lack of self-confidence that makes her think she can’t do anything. Iko reminds Teru of her responsibility as a Hero and Teru helps Iko realize that she deserves to be saved just as much as everyone else. Both girls help each other in gaining more self-worth for themselves.
Curiously, the episode briefly shows Teru’s backstory, depicting her attending the funeral of someone close to her. This allows Teru to relate with Iko’s turmoil and it adds an interesting layer to their relationship with each other, establishing that they’re in the same boat. I really like the conversation Teru has with her grandfather, with the latter explaining that people are happier when they live for someone else. That’s a bit of an Uncle Ben moment, a pivotal conversation that serves as a basis for the main protagonist’s heroism. I hope this isn’t the only time Teru’s grandfather appears in the story.
Despite the intensity of the plot, there really isn’t a fight scene in this episode. Instead of brute force, Shy saves Iko by letting her release her pent-up emotions on her. In doing so, Iko calms down and her corruption weakens enough for Shy to remove the ring. It’s an intersecting choice. By letting Iko attack her, Shy makes up for the trouble she’s caused last episode. By tanking the hits and staying in the fight for long enough to retrieve the ring, Shy makes it loud and clear that even if Iko doesn’t want it, she’ll save her. I would like to see more of Shy’s powers in action but this episode is probably not the place for it. Maybe in the next episode, we’ll see Shy on the offensive.
I wonder what this show has in store for Iko. This episode resolves the tension between her and Teru and it also puts a neat bow on an arc featuring the character. That said, Iko now knows that Teru is Shy so it’d be a massive waste to not capitalize on that. Iko is on the show’s key visual so I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of her.
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