Episode 20 begins with the conclusion of Iharu and Reno’s fight against the honju. As it turns out, Iharu can experience brief yet huge spikes of Combat Power. The fluctuations are sometimes used for some good humor but in all seriousness, it’s enough to let Iharu fight the honju long enough to expose its core for Reno. Jugo, who apparently has a similar quirk, remarks that with proper training, Iharu could eventually become one of the best soldiers in the Defense Force. Considering that it takes a lot of training to reach and maintain high Combat Power without overheating, I can certainly see how this ability could give Iharu a lot of potential. I guess the question to ask now is whether or not Kaiju No. 8 will let Iharu show it off again because there are plenty of side characters in anime who still get benched in spite of whatever cool powers they have.
For what it’s worth, it’s neat to see Iharu kick some butt for once. Part of his character is admittedly dealing with an inferiority complex so he kind of has to suck in combat but there’s still no denying that the show had never let him shine until now. Before this battle, Iharu’s only major fight was against Kaiju No. 9 and that was an extremely unfair match to pit him in. This battle is a better demonstration of what he can do. Also, I dig the fact that Iharu isn’t trying to upstage Reno. Even as he overcomes his complex and surpasses his limits, he still settles on helping his buddy land the finishing blow, showing that he’s not arrogant with his ambition.
There’s a couple of brief flashbacks detailing Jugo’s friendship with Hikari, where he encourages Hikari to take on Numbered Weapon 4, only to later regret it when Hikari dies using it to defeat Kaiju No. 6. These moments help a ton in explaining Jugo’s aversion towards Numbered Weapons. He knows all too well that using them puts you on a dangerous path so he’d hate to see to encourage and endanger another person to use one. Really interesting then after the fight against the honju, Jugo finally does approve of Reno using Numbered Weapon 6. He kind of comes to the same conclusion as Isao did. At some point, he has to entrust the Defense Force to the newer generations and fortunately for him, he sees individuals worthy of that mantle in the form of Reno as well as Iharu. Rather than deny Reno his new weapon out of concern for him, Jugo realizes he should instead train Reno into realizing his potential.
With Reno getting approved to use Numbered Weapon 6, we of course then see his friends in the other divisions react to the news. I can’t help but laugh at seeing Haruichi and Aoi again. I’m not kidding, this episode is their first major appearance this season. Say what you will about Iharu, he may be weaker than Haruichi and Aoi but at least he has screentime. Kikoru’s reaction is also very amusing. Like deep down, she’s happy for Reno but this is Kikoru so of course she wants to close the gap. I’m going to go on a whim and assume that she’ll eventually get a Numbered Weapon for herself. Kafka’s reaction is of course the most meaningful, not wanting to put Reno in danger but also knowing Reno well enough to have faith in him.
While doing some routine training, Kafka gets a surprise visit from Soshiro. It really has been a long time coming for these two to meet up again and fortunately, this scene delivers. I had no doubt that Soshiro is grateful towards Kafka for saving the Third Division from Kaiju No. 10 but it still nice to hear him admit it. Soshiro isn’t exactly the most sincere person out there, he literally proves my point at the beginning of this scene, so it says a lot that he thanks Kafka outright. It’s also neat that he addresses Kafka as Kafka. With some people being more interested in his kaiju powers and Kafka also feeling his only worth is being Kaiju No. 8, Soshiro’s sentiment is exactly what he needs to hear.
Soshiro tells Kafka that he’s heard about that transforming into Kaiju No. 8 will eventually be permanent and he advises Kafka to stop, offering to instead defeat Kaiju No. 9 himself. Kafka of course refuses. Even though he has his own reservations about his kaiju powers, he still wants to protect his friends. I imagine Soshiro anticipated Kafka’s response as he immediately moves onto an alternate proposal. The two head over to Ryunei Shrine, a memorial for people who perished while fighting kaiju, to have a sparring match. Soshiro naturally wins though what’s actually important is that during the fight, he demonstrates the Squadron-Style Combat Technique, a form of CQC developed by none other than Isao. The vice captain thus offers to train Kafka in this fighting style so that Kafka isn’t entirely reliant on his kaiju powers. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know how this is going to help Kafka. Like yes, Kafka absolutely needs something else under his belt but what good will fancy CQC techniques do when his Combat Power is so pitifully low? Perhaps I’m missing something here.
The ending is pretty odd. As Kafka leaves the shrine with Soshiro, he briefly sees a samurai looking ghost on the temple grounds. Given the purpose of the Ryunei Shrine, I’m guessing the ghost is the spirit of one of the people memorialized. Part of me thinks it’d be weird to have ghosts or spirits in the show but then again, it has been hinting at something along those lines with how Kafka can encounter the kaiju that gave him his powers or how the souls of daikaiju seem to still linger in the Numbered Weapons.
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