I was wondering how Kaiju No. 10 is allowed to live but apparently, its suicide bombing attempt has damaged its core enough that it can’t properly regenerate so I guess that checks out. This is to the Third Division’s advantage anyway as Soshiro gets to interrogate the daikaiju for some information. Despite being a very dramatic and narratively important scene, the show does manage to squeeze in a good joke where Soshiro steps out and admits to his peers that he’s been keeping a poker face. A bit surprising considered how rarely Soshiro loses his cool but then again, fighting No. 10 last season wasn’t exactly a fun time for him.
Soshiro asks No. 10 if it knows anything about No. 9. As it turns out, No. 10 does know a couple things but in exchange for the information, it requests that the Defense Force convert it into a new weapon set, one specifically wielded by Soshiro. While a dangerous prospect, Soshiro does agree to the request as the Defense Force could use all the intel it can get. That No. 10 would resign itself to become a weapon is so interesting. I imagine any sentient daikaiju would hate such a fate but for someone as battle hungry as No. 10, I can see how it would just like to continue fighting some other way. Also, No. 10 becoming Soshiro’s personal Numbers Weapon is a brilliant twist of fate. That’s the kind of quirky anime bromance that I can get behind.
Sometime later, Soshiro and some of his men head over to the First Division base to attend a meeting attended by the Defense Force’s top brass. Soshiro and Gen get into a bit of a standoff, the kind that you’d see between two rival gangs. What I like most about this scene is just how believably stupid it is. Like, maybe I’m going on a whim here but this is likely not how people in the military should act, right? That said, Gen has proven time and time again that he’s extremely immature outside of combat so of course he’d have a bone to pick with Soshiro. Meanwhile, Soshiro enjoys a good laugh so naturally, he’s more than willing to indulge Gen into picking a fight with him (he certainly has the ammo to counter him anyway).
Once Hasegawa bonks Gen, the meeting commences. Soshiro shares what he’s learned about Kaiju No. 9 to the Division captains. 1) Kaiju No. 9 created Kaiju No. 10 and 2) No. 9 considers No. 10 to be a “prototype” to all the future daikaiju it plans on creating. Considering how dangerous No. 10 was, no one is looking forward to facing something even stronger than that. To make matters worse, Soshiro explains that No. 9 has access to the memories of anything it assimilates. So by absorbing Isao, it therefore knows everything about the Defense Force. The top brass soon agree that in order to beat No. 9, it’s going to have to utilize something entirely new that the daikaiju would not be able to see coming via Isao’s memories. One solution proposed by Soshiro is handing the currently unassigned Numbers Weapon 6 off to a new owner. As it turns out, one recruit does have potential compatibility: Reno Ishikawa.
There’s maybe an argument to be made that Reno being compatible with Numbers Weapon 6 is a huge case of plot convenience. I don’t really mind it, though. Reno is the deuteragonist of the series so it’s to be expected that he’d get a significant power boost at some point. He certainly needs one if he hopes to fight at the same level as Kafka. Another point in favor of Reno receiving a Numbers Weapon is that we actually get to see that whole process. So far, we’ve only seen these weapons in hands of experienced users such as Isao and Gen. It’d be really riveting then to see what happens when one of the weapons is handed over to someone new, especially a recruit like Reno.
Reno is advised by his new captain, Jugo Ogata (Shunsuke Sakuya), not to try on Numbers Weapon 6. Understandably, Jugo doesn’t want to gamble on Reno’s life during weapon testing. Reno ultimately agrees to try the weapon out and, despite only donning the armpieces, he learns very quickly how taxing using a Numbered Weapon is. Something that was implied in previous episodes is that the daikaiju the Numbered Weapon is based on still has a sort of “presence”, as if it never truly died. Reno’s attempt to wield the No. 6 suit perhaps gives us the best glimpse at this as he seemingly encounters Kaiju No. 6 in his mind. It’s very similar to Kafka’s internal struggle with kaiju powers and to my glee, Reno even acknowledges this in a line of dialogue.
While Reno recovers in the infirmary, Jugo again advises him to refuse the weapon. Even Iharu thinks it’s too dangerous. I was very curious how Iharu would react to Reno being offered a Numbered Weapon. That must sting a little bit for him. It’s nice then that he puts that aside and focus more on looking out for his friend. Of course, Reno still wants to use the No. 6 weapon so Jugo settles on letting him try it on a one month trial. I fully expect Reno to get the hang out of his new gear but I also hope that the show will takes it time having him acclimate to it and depict the whole process in good detail.
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