After Granbelm (and a really awkward moment in Shingetsu’s place), the good guys head over to Nene’s place to discuss some battle data she recorded for them. To their surprise, Nene has no recollection of Anna and Rosa has now taken Anna’s place as the eldest daughter of the Fugo family. The gang then realizes that Anna is dead, presumably from overusing her family’s magical stone. As for why no one else seems to remember Anna, Kuon speculates some powerful form of magic is affecting reality, covering up Anna’s death by making everyone forget that she even existed to begin with.
Even though Anna did a lot of awful stuff, I still feel sorry for her so finding out that she’s erased from existence is pretty depressing. As I said before: if not Anna, I feel Shingetsu’s pain. In a way, she was among the people closest to Anna. Now, she’s the only one who remembers her and would grieve for her. There’s a brief yet great scene where Shingetsu has finished digging through old photos, only to find Anna replaced with Rosa in all of them. That Shingetsu held onto these photos shows how much she loves Anna and it’s depressing that they’re no longer the mementos they once were. The only proof Shingetsu has left of Anna’s existence is her memories.
At the same time however, it’s a bit poetic that Anna has been wiped from the records. The poor girl spent her entire life proving herself as a worthy mage, certainly a mage better than Shingetsu. Now, barely anyone knows she ever existed. If it wasn’t for its extremity, I’d say this is a fitting punishment for all the terrible things Anna has done. The same could also be said about Rosa taking Anna’s place. Rosa was a mage of lowly stature and Anna tossed her away once she no longer served a purpose. Fitting then for Rosa to become part of a prestigious family and that’s made even better with the fact that she’s replacing the mage who threw her out like garbage.
Assuming getting erased from existence is the consequence for dying in Granbelm, you’d think Mangetsu would finally decide to call it quits. After all, she’s afraid of having nothing. Not existing at all ought to be the worst fate imaginable for her. But while the prospect does scare her, Mangetsu decides that she still wants to participate in the Granbelm, if only to help Shingetsu with her endeavor. Meanwhile, the show gives us a very curious bit of information. Curious as to why her allies remember Anna and not her, Nene decides to do some investigating. She soon discovers strong amounts of magic that are being used throughout the world, presumably to tamper with reality. To her shock however, the highest concentrations are found in two locations: Mangetsu’s house and whatever location Mangetsu herself is occupying. I’ll stop discussing this any further to avoid giving spoilers but suffice to say, the show is building up to something with this character.
With Rosa, Nene, and Anna all defeated, we are left with Suisho as our antagonist for the remainder of the show. After Episodes 6 and 7, Anna is a tough act to beat but I do remember liking Suisho (especially Aoi Yuki’s performance as the character) so I guess I’ll see how she pans out on a rewatch.
Obviously, Kuon has the most personal grudge against Suisho. Suisho is being a bit coy but at this point, it’s all but confirmed that she’s the one who cursed Shisui into a coma. Kuon is willing to back out of Granbelm if Suisho lifts Shisui’s curse though Suisho doesn’t give a straight answer (she certainly gives a weird one, though) so it looks like Kuon needs to beat her in Granbelm.
Come to think of it, Suisho and Shisui’s names sound pretty similar to each other. That may actually be an intentional choice as the episode later reveals that Suisho took a part of Shisui’s soul during the previous iteration of Granbelm. As a result, Kuon senses her sister’s aura in Suisho and this messes with her head. Through Shisui’s soul, Suisho can impersonate her and this confuses Kuon and makes it difficult for her to act against Suisho. One has to wonder then how Kuon can defeat Suisho though at the end of the episode, Shisui somehow regains consciousness to give Kuon a message. That’s most likely some key information Kuon needs for the next fight.
Things are looking really lopsided for the next Granbelm. I mean, it’s 3 against 1 right now. I suppose Kuon is still on and off about allying with Shingetsu and Mangetsu but seeing as they’re enemies of her enemy, she has no reason to not accept their aid. I’d say Suisho has her work cut out for herself but these past couple of episodes have made clear that there’s more to her than she lets on.
Watch Granbelm on Crunchyroll
Xenodude Scribbles 