Gekiha Dan – Episode 13

We left off on what we like to call, a CLIFFHANGER

So let’s dispense with the Intro and get back into what we were doing earlier shall we?

Nevermind, apparently we’re going to get a liiiiittle bit of a reminder of what the fuck was going on before this.

I’ll give you a run-down, Magisa was doing the equivalent of being a Support Mage trying to beat a Full-tank in a MOBA game.

Yuuki isn’t even looking at Magisa while he’s no-selling her Lightning attack.

Oh, and Dan poked Kajitsu’s berserk button by claiming that he would deal with Yuuki after he’d finished off Kajitsu. So her eyes have 404’d and now she keeps calling herself poison.

Someone get Alice Cooper up in here.

The Score is 2-4 I believe, in Dan’s favor. Dan has 3 exhausted spirits in Balmung, Siegfried and Siegwurm and has managed to destroy all of Kajitsu’s Spirits.

Kajitsu has 2 Fruit of Wise Tree and something in the camp of like 15 core available on her turn, plus her core step which will make it 16.

Having 16 core by your 5th turn is pretty damn impressive considering you only get 1 core a turn.

Apparently we’re not done with the Nexus strategy!

a BS06 3-cost Nexus that centers around an as of yet unseen keyword.

To explain, Windstorm is an effect that comes with a number, like Windstorm: 1, When a Spirit with Windstorm is blocked, your opponent exhausts a number of spirits equal to the number listed on the Windstorm.

So, what this Nexus does is not only core boost based on how powerful the Windstorm on the Spirit is, but it’s level 2 effect is that if your opponent tries to chump-block into a Windstorm Spirit, all the Spirits that were exhausted will be thrown to the bottom of the deck.

This means a Single Windstorm Spirit can be rendered VERY deadly.

At the very least, it’s damning Lv2 effect requires a whopping 4 core to achieve, but given it’s Core-boosting effect, that might not be all that hard to achieve.

Cost 10, 6 Reductions.

Where have we seen a card like this before?

Oh right.

It was Red.

And was the Strongest Red X-Rare by the name of Catastrophedragon.

Kajitsu, in an awesome display, plays The Providence Hououga.

Also keeping track of the core is important here. Kajitsu began with 16 spendable core, she paid 2 for her Storm Highlands.

Then paid 7 for Hououga, so she has 7 core left, 1 of which is maintaining Hououga.

Also we should probably talk about the card…

BS06’s Green X-Rare, a Cost 10 Vanity Deity. Remember how I said this was similar to Catastrophedragon? Because Catastrophedragon isn’t the only one of it’s kind, there is a Card like that for every colour. A Cost 10 Vanity Deity.

This means that Dan is facing down a card of equivalent strength to what Bashin took on at the end of his series… on Episode 13.

An End-series-level card at Episode 13 feels like overkill no?

Anyway, this Vanity Deity has Windstorm: 3 at all levels, meaning any time it’s blocked, 3 Spirits will follow it to be exhausted.

Additionally, at Lv3, a condition that requires at LEAST 10 core. Anytime Hououga is able to deal damage, by sending a Core to the Void from your reserve, Hououga will refresh.

So your choices are Block and risk losing all your blockers, or don’t block and risk losing all your lives.

The Storm Highland’s Lv1 effect triggers, since Hououga was summoned with Windstorm: 3, 3 cores from the void are placed on Hououga, this brings it to Lv2 as Hououga has 4 cores now.

Notably: Kajitsu has 3 cores in her Reserve at the current moment, and 3 on one of her Fruit of Wise Trees, she has just enough Core to bring it to Level 3.

Once again, a card from BS06 compeltely boggles Dan as it’s a card he’s unfamiliar with.

We’ve seen a Spirit of this level of power in Dan’s hands, now Dan is facing it down, and he no longer has an equivalent.

All of Dan’s strongest cards are on-board.

We finally get our Episode Title! Storm Tyrant, The Providence Hououga.

So we can safely assume Dan will spend most of this episode trying to cope with the presence of a Catastrophe-level Spirit.

We interrupt this epic battle to bring you Kazan ordering the capture of our main characters.

I somewhat don’t recall this going well for you last time.

I don’t foresee this going well for you this time either, Kazan.

Rule of thumb, if some guy drops 5 guys within 2 seconds and then kicks the last one so hard he gets to pull a backflip off of it, it’s safe to say you’re outmatched.

Oh naw, Serge don’t even need yawl, he’s got this.

Oh, right, forgot that was a thing.

Might be a little difficult, I can only show frame by frame but the building is currently shaking.

Mai feels very strongly about leaving Serge but Zungurii makes the choice for her and drags her along.

It’s safe to say she isn’t happy about this.

Back at the battle, Dan’s in a pickle, since all of his Spirits are exhausted.

Thankfully Kajitsu appears to have blown most of her Core playing Hououga, so he’s not in TOO much danger yet.

Answer: Likely yes.

Hououga is a Cost 10 Spirit that needs 10 Core to use all it’s effects. So even with completely beneficial board presence, you need 14 core just to bring it to Level 3, and more Core to get it to start refreshing.

Kajitsu didn’t raise it’s Level, makes sense. She needs it to protect herself.

Hououga attacks, at Lv2 it has 10000 BP but Dan lacks a Blocker anyway.

Unable to block, Dan has to take a life, dropping him to 3.

Kajitsu ends her turn, due to the Lv2 effect of The Fruit of Wise Tree, Hououga is refreshed.

Kajitsu’s still kinda in a pickle, Dan has 3 spirits, she has 1, and Kajitsu has only 2 lives.

The Horizon Ladder’s weather isn’t looking too hot.

Is it? It was Kajitsu that was causing a crapton of winds to occur earlier, if anything it’s resonating from her.

…This could actually mean multiple things given how the world functions.

Either he’s worried about Kajitsu because Dan has fully awakened his status as the Red Soldier…

OR he’s worried about whether or not Kajitsu has fully awakened.

The fact that it’s not quite clear which he means makes this incredibly unhelpful to analyze.

I’m glad this makes as much sense to me as it does to Magisa.

I mean it’s going to be a little difficult for him to answer when you’re trying to kill him.

This fight’s really not going well for Magisa.

Yuuki’s managed to finally do enough damage to keep her down for a bit, she took a rather nasty fall there.

Most people actually under-estimate how damaging even small falls like that can be due to how Shounen Anime tend to underplay them, but being lifted off the ground and knocked onto your back can be enough to knock quite a few people out.

Since she’s out for a bit, Yuuki now has an opportunity to fit the Grand Core into the Horizon Ladder.

Now you see it.

Now you don’t.

Magisa used Yuuki’s moment of confidence to snatch the Grand Core from him, using her Hat.

It’s quite a pretty thing up close, I always wondered how most animators do that textured effect to show something brimming with energy.

Magisa he was beating your ass not 2 seconds ago… Please don’t taunt him, just run.

Looks like Magisa’s trying another Hat trick.

Though now by blindsiding Yuuki she’s got his attention, which might distract him long enough to get blindsided by the hat again.

Hoo boy.

Seems like her plan is to trap Yuuki in there to buy time for Dan.

I don’t think Magical Fabric is going to keep the Skilled White Magician at bay there Magisa…

Two things.

That line right there is spoken by Yuuki.

Secondly, there’s a giant echo when he says it, as if to hit home the level of pissed he’s starting to get.

Yuuki’s whipped out a Sword!

To think he was pelting Magisa with spells upon spells effortlessly and he wasn’t even using all the tools at his disposal

It’s in this shot that you realize just how similar Yuuki is to J, the costume structure is very similar, and the black areas of his outfit are very reminiscent of Jack Knight.

Torn to shreds.

Cut to rubbins.

Sliced to pieces.

Yes, it didn’t work, good job.

Hmmm, this line’s very strange, we know that anyone who’s capable of getting on Otherworld King’s good side and defeating him in battle will have a wish granted by him, it appears that Yuuki’s trying to have a very powerful wish granted.

So it’s entirely plausible that he’s not just ruining everyone’s lives because he enjoys it, he might even abhor it.

Though it’s still secondary to his personal desires, which means his morals do not survive his own selfishness even if he has good morals.

Yuuki’s incredibly vague here, but given that we cut to a shot of Kajitsu right after he says that, we can safely assume he’s talking about her.

Apparently whatever’s been set off in Kajitsu will drive her to wipe out everything if she’s not somehow quelled before then. And Yuuki intends to finish what he’s trying to do before she does.

Yes Dan…

That’s how effects work.

Though I’m fairly sure Kajitsu never actually set of Fruit of Wise Tree’s Lv2 effect before now, so he wasn’t aware of it until Hououga refreshed here.

He’s still in an okayish position.

3rd time I’m mentioning it, but yes, 1 blocker, 2 lives, 3 attackers.

This looks like checkmate… from the outset.

Dan’s going to work with 6 cards in his hand, and he’ll be working with 11 available core this turn, he can spend at least 8 of it without offing his spirits, and he has 3 Red symbols on his field for reductions.

Siegfried’s brought down to Level 1, which means Dan’s going to play something he needs the core for.

Dan’s got the perfect idea, He plays Goradon, Rokceratops and Erimakilizard.

Kajitsu is only capable of taking 1 hit before any hit becomes lethal, and she only has 1 blocker.

What this means is that she’ll need to put a stop to at least 4 of these attacks somehow if she wants to survive the turn.

The issue here is that Kajitsu also has a crapton of Core.

Her effects have gained her 8 core total, she’s had 4 core steps, she’s lost 3 lives and began with 4 core, that’s a total of 19 core she has, and she spent 9 of it on her last turn.

Even with Hououga hanging about, she can safely spend about 9 of that 10-remaining core, and she’s got 4 Green symbols with which to reduce the costs for those cards.

She doesn’t have too many cards in her hand though, and I don’t actually recall how this turn goes.

You hear that?

It’s weenie rush time!

Siegwurm is once again brought to Lv3, this will give Balmung and Siegfried the ability to Clash.

This is quite clever, he’s attacking with the Awaken Spirit, Balmung in order to get Hououga’s Block off early and render it useless as early as possible incase her defense strategy relies on blocking something specific.

Balmung activates Clash, Kajitsu is forced to block.

Balmung doesn’t come close to beating that Endgame-level Spirit.

“Stop at least 4 of my attacks without blockers or die”, basically.

Dan starts with his weakest spirit, Erimakilizard.

This is clever because BP generally doesn’t mean a lot when the enemy has no blockers, attack with your weaker cards, block with your stronger ones.

Oh, Kajitsu has called Flash Timing.

So she has a response!

If I were in Dan’s shoes, this would be the part where I’d say FUCK!

Kajitsu’s fired a White Defense Magic. And a potent one we’ve seen before no less.

Kajitsu takes a life, dropping her to her final one.

Dan’s probably getting real sick and tired of this god damned card.

Blizzard Wall’s been screwing Dan over for ages, and it wasn’t just Yuuki, Clackey also made use of this card to put a stop to Dan.

I made mention that Blizzard wall as powerful applications in specifically White Decks, but Blizzard Wall would also have prevented a Double symbol swing for the last of Kajitsu’s 2 lives.

Dan wasn’t getting that last life this turn, period.

Yuuki does care about his Sister a lot, if a bit too much, sharing a card pool when necessary would not be unusual.

Due to Blizzard Wall’s effect, Dan is only capable of reducing Kajitsu’s Life once with Spirit attacks this turn. Even if he attacked again, he could not bring her Life total to 0.

So, with nothing more to do, Dan ends his turn.

I think Kajitsu’s Berserk Mode is going to be a bit shitty in hindsight if she breaks the Horizon Tower because she tried to win a card game.

It’d be a bit pointless of me to say “It looks like Kajitsu’s had some kind of powerful ability!” since she’s been shaking a whole metal tower for an episode and a half now.

Magisa seems surprised to hear that the building is shaking from Kajitsu’s influence.

Also I’m not sure that number of Core is correct for Kajitsu. She had to pay 5 to play Blizzard Wall and she only had 3 Core in her reserve, plus the 3 on her tree, plus Hououga.

For her to have resulted in 4 core in her reserve at the start there, she’d have needed to pay 2 from her Reserve, 3 from Hououga, then she’d have gained 3 core from her trees…

Though it’s possible that’s what she did, there was no point leaving 2 core on Hououga.

That’s a Butt-ton of Cores.

She’s gained 1 from her Core step, and 3 from her life loss, Kajitsu is running on 23 core this turn.

And so Kajitsu continues to become slightly more insane.

Apparently even if it involves enslaving many Otherworlders, having humans arrive and commit genocide to replace them, and committing murder.

She didn’t pay Core off of Hououga.

In which case this is a fuckup of… well, rather insignificant proportions.

The Fruit of Wise Tree is not optional, and she needed to pay Core for Blizzard wall

She had enough, so her play will still be possible regardless of whether this is true or not, but her board doesn’t properly represent how much core she’s spent.

Hououga is up to Lv3 with 16000 BP and 10 core on it.

Storm Highland is Level 2.

17 of her 23 core is used up, so she should have 6 core in reserve.

This means Hououga can slash up to 6 lives this turn with consecutive attacks, and if Dan blocks, he’ll lose 4 spirits, his blocker, and the 3 spirits that were exhausted by Hououga’s Windstorm.

It’s almost like that’s her fucking strategy Dan, get a clue.

Hououga attacks Dan.

5 Spirits and 1 blocker would suggest that.

And Kajitsu can’t Blizzard Wall her way out of it this time either.

But this ain’t no ordinary board state.

Unless you take it from the life like a muppet. Dan drops to 2 lives.

Dan was so sure that was the end of it that he tried to start his turn.

Since Kajitsu damaged Dan’s life, Hououga refreshes after Kajitsu gives up one of her Core.

She’s got 5 more though, so Dan will have to block sooner or later.

She said put up your fucking dukes Dan and get to blockin’!

Back to Mai and Zungurii’s progress at trying to free the slaves, it appears Mai is no longer being dragged across the floor.

As it turns out, a building filled to the brim with armed guards might not all be in one place when it comes to dealing with a specific intruder.

Unfortunately they ARE caught.

Zungurii, you can lift a bag filled with enough supplies to feed a Castle, and you can’t break out of a Guard’s grip?

Kazan here has a massive brain, the biggest of brains in fact.

He knows he can’t compare with Mai’s combat ability, so he isn’t even going to give her another opportunity to disrespect him.

Hououga begins it’s second attack.

Are you seriously considering Hououga’s attack in a vacuum? C’mon Dan you’ve seen it refresh once!

I’m not quite sure what the purpose of this is for, Hououga will refresh again.

I guess Dan MAY have a reason to want the extra core but for what I dunno.

Dan is on his final life.

Also props to the animator, his expression here in pain is amazing.

Hououga once again refreshes thanks to it’s own effect.

The Big Bird’s just gonna keep swinging til Dan wages a block.

It seems like Dan was trying to use that life to see if Hououga could refresh itself more than once and learned the hard way.

I suppose it’s a bit weirder in this board state where you can’t read the opposing card and there’s a lot at stake so you don’t really have too much time to think about it.

Dan’s done letting Hououga walk all over him and finally blocks with Siegfried.

I think the show’s trying to cut to an eyecatch here with this epic still, but I also quite like how this isn’t Siegfried’s first rodeo with a darned Vanity Deity.

Oh, I was jebaited, the still was so Kajitsu could cut in dramatically.

She seems a bit TOO happy about that block, but to be fair she is about to get rid of a large number of threats all at once.

WE FUCKING GET IT, YOU’RE A POISONOUS BUTTERFLY TO PROTECT THE WHITE ROSE.

SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY.

Since Dan blocked, Hououga activates it’s special green keyword, Windstorm: 3, exhausting Dan’s remaining refreshed Spirits.

Seems like Yuuki’s aware of the general circumstances of what happens when Kajitsu uses Windstorm.

Also interesting that Magisa’s Staff is actually reacting to the use of the Green Keyword.

Not sure why Yuuki feels the need to explain this to Magisa of all people but whatever I guess, need to keep them in the scene and the audience informed somehow.

Dan’s gonna do what we call a basic Bashin move.

by using Siegfried’s Awaken, Siegfried will rise to Lv3. Bringing it to 10000 BP and unlocking it’s 2nd effect.

Actually fucking curbstomped.

It really bothers me that Dan gets surprised that Siegfried was defeated after the fact. Considering Dan new exactly what he needed to beat Hououga and didn’t have it.

We interrupt Dan’s emotional reaction for the umpteenth fucking time to bring you… apparently what Yuuki’s neat Sword does.

He managed to turn Magisa into a human snow globe and wrest the Grand Core from her.

That’s certainly an intriguing design, the Grand Core is a solid colour on one half but a translucent colour on the other.

Yuuki tries to install his new hardware: attempt 3.

Seems Magisa is actually down for the count this time, no special hat tricks to keep Yuuki at bay.

For reference, the sound the Grand Core makes sounds like Solid Gemstone, and it didn’t even make a satisfying clicking noise when inserted suggesting to me that it’s actually loose in that compartment.

Okay, it did do a satisfying slotting noise when it was lifted up there.

I’d be a little more invested and far more spooked by the fact that Yuuki’s basically succeeded at his goal if we actually knew what the effects of harnessing Mother Core’s Power would actually do.

Like no one has actually said what the problem with this is, yet.

Ahhh, so the spire at the tippy top of the Horizon Ladder splits open.

Kinda like a Satellite Dish.

..At the expense of a great many Otherworlders who will be perfectly justified in offing you to protect themselves.

This isn’t gonna save Humanity, it’s going to fling it into a War it might not even win.

I’m not sure where was much thinking ahead about this plan.

Seems like even though Dan knew what he was doing when he had Siegfried battle Hououga, the loss of his one and only X-Rare seems to have broken the poor boy’s Spirit.

It’s easy to forget he is only 12…

It appears Dan wasn’t aiming for Siegfried to lose that battle, he was just doing his best to increase it’s BP as best he could as the equivalent of flailing.

At least that’s the only conclusion one can draw given he’s surprised at his sudden extra life.

Zungurii apologies to Mai that he’s gonna have to leave her there, believing he can somehow get to the control system on his own.

Was he… holding back his strength because he wasn’t confident he could save Mai?

Either that or Zungurii’s trying to pep talk himself, inspired by Dan’s example.

If only he could see Dan’s confusion here.

Zungurii flung those goes off quite easily.

Mai was apparently so happy to be in this situation she’s having a moment of awe at herself for being cool… What.

This is a very high moment of hilarity though, Zungurii’s dragging the soldiers up the flight of stairs with him.

Dan takes a moment to digest Siegfried’s Lv3 effect.

I suppose he’s not particularly used to relying on Spirits that operate when they’re destroyed since it’s not a battle plan he relies on.

Kajitsu of course isn’t done, Siegfried was defeated in a Showdown against a Hououga that activated Windstorm.

So now she gets to use Storm Highlands’ effect.

As a result, all the Spirits exhausted by Hououga’s Windstorm, namely Siegwurm, Rokceratops and Goradon, are now returned to the bottom of the deck.

Dan will not be seeing those Spirits again this game.

Dan’s X-Rare’s been defeated and his Key Spirit has been rendered inaccessible to him.

For most people this would break their spirits but the whole point of Siegfried’s Lv3 is a general idea that the game isn’t over when your win-condition vanishes.

Finally, Fruit of Wise Tree’s Lv2 effect refreshes Hououga, enabling it to block.

Dan has only 1 Spirit remaining in Erimakilizard. Dan needs to draw a Spirit in order to win, and that’s if Kajitsu lacks a response.

I mean, I think even if you lose, Zungurii can still bust up the control system… I’m not sure this battle is that important, especially given Kajitsu is just trying to keep you from Yuuki.

Zungurii got that Gainax expression on him.

I’m skipping through frames a fair bit, but Dan’s basically resolved himself that the meaning of being “The Clash King” means that he’ll keep hitting himself against whatever brick wall he’s up against until he’s either achieved what he’s meant to do or he’s burnt out.

We appear to have skipped over Dan’s follow-up turn there, I guess he didn’t see a spirit and passed.

Kajitsu plays a Lv3 Machfly.

Machfly swings in and Dan takes a life, respectable move given he can’t take another hit from Hououga, it’d be better to block it.

Also Dan’s hand was 4 cards, did he seriously not see a single Spirit in them?

Yeah if you’re drawing hands that bad, you better be thanking your big-ass X-rare for the extra life.

Problem, Cost 10 Green X-Rare comin’ at you hot.

Hououga’s attack is blocked by Erimakilizard, leaving Dan with 0 spirits on board, and 0 spirits in his hand.

Once again, Fruit of Wise Tree’s Lv2 effect leaves Kajitsu with both her Spirits available for blocking.

As much as this particular situation is due to you fumbling over bad luck, I suppose being able to pull off Hououga at all is fairly impressive.

There’s nothing quite like when your mortal enemy starts complimenting you when they’re on the cusp of defeat.

It’s like a packet of instant noodles but instead of noodles it’s suspicion.

Of course, it is a game after all, and games are indeed meant to be fun.

Most in Dan’s position would probably not see the fun side at all, and even more wouldn’t even find a losing position to be a fun one to be part of.

But to once again reference a wise friend of mine:

“In a game where there is both a winner and a loser, you are statistically likely to have around 50% wins and 50% losses, there isn’t a point playing a game if you only enjoy it half the time.”

It’s basically a lesson to say that if you truly enjoy a game where you’re gonna lose 40-60% of the time, you may as well learn to enjoy losing because it will make up a large portion of your experience.

As much as I’ve been shitting on Dan for his decisions throughout this entire battle, yes, intense and fierce battles where neither player gives an inch is absolutely how Battle Spirits should be.

Dan then asks a question he hasn’t thought to ask the Momose Siblings at all, why are they playing?

They aren’t exactly using the game to enjoy themselves given Kajitsu’s very adverse reactions. And the result of their play is going to cause worse things to happen.

That does, somewhat, make their use of the game intrinsically disrespectful to it’s core design, which is certainly a more personal reason for Dan to defeat them.

And we call that, my friends, an Armor-Piercing Question

Kajitsu has a couple flashbacks to why she plays Battle Spirits, it seems there’s some discord between her desire to “Protect the White Rose” and to “Have fun playing with her Brother”, she’s using a game she loves as a weapon.

She was already on full Berserk-Button, now she’s fucking glowing rainbows.

Well, consider that nerve: touched.

Dan proceeds with his turn and drew something interesting, I guess.

That’ll certainly offer an opportunity for Dan to get out of his current predicament. Given it can draw up to 3 cards if the 3rd card is a Red Spirit.

Dan at this point actively confirms that he lacks any Spirits in his hand with which to do anything, so he needs to bet on the top 3 cards of his deck all being Spirits.

I won’t bore you all with an explanation you’re already aware of, I’m just posting this because I really like the Symbol CGI.

Kajitsu on the other hand seems to be having a bit of an emotional breakdown.

Kajitsu’s elevated emotional state is causing the battlefield itself to rupture, so Dan needs to end this quickly or there may not even be a battle to finish.

Zungurii’s been backed into a corner by the remaining Soldiers.

Zungurii refuses to be captured.

At least, alive, anyway.

Pfft, the Soldiers were caught off guard for like 2 seconds but this guy here is talking like it isn’t his first rodeo…

I imagine some of the Otherworlders might have offed themselves to stop their Shock torture collars.

This just in, The Violet is capable of flying.

We knew it could sort of hover across the land like a speeder from Star Wars but this is the first time we’ve seen it capable of genuine flight.

Anyway, Zungurii noticed it coming up, which is why he took the drop.

Kinda makes you wonder why they didn’t start with this method if they were fully capable of pulling it off here…

Then again they didn’t know where the control system was until after they got out, might not have been an opportunity there.

Clackey’s alive, and is the reason the Violet is currently in operation.

But one can only wonder how the guy managed to survive a death-defying drop with barely a speck on him.

Oh wow, the Mimi tribe created a large pyramid of people just to cushion his fall.

He literally survived by the sheer power of Catgirls.

Ah, look! Male Members! That one holding him has a moustache, there’s another behind them!

Looks like the male members of the Mimi Tribe look more like humanoid cats than anything else. While the ladies are Humans with Cat-like features.

We’ve finally solved the riddle of the Male Mimi Tribe members.

Time to smash a control system!

Dan fires Extra Draw, now for 5 Core, he’ll draw 2 cards, and then reveal the 3rd, if it’s a Red Spirit, he can add that card to his hand.

Dan currently has 0 spirits in his hand, so all the cards he draws must be spirits in order to win.

The first card is Lizardedge.

Oh, looks like Kajitsu’s breakdown is being given some context, it appears she learned to enjoy the game through her Brother’s sheer kindness toward her. But now he’s acting ruthlessly to fulfill their wish.

I suppose, in that, she’s unsure about why she’s fighting so hard for a kind person who appears to have vanished.

The second card Dan draws is Goradon.

We’re finishing a battle here Battlefield! Keep it together!

Looks like that Giant Purple marker there is the Core System.

Not sure if it’s just the light or if that entire pillar there counts.

Whatever it is, it’s transmitting some sort of signal that keeps the collars in place…

Kind of an intentional design flaw really, Shock Collars should really not have a universal system that deactivates all of them at once if the system is destroyed.

Remote controls that send signals to irremovable collars does not need a middleman, what?

And so they smashed the entire thing using The Violet.

I’m sorry if you needed something that big in the first place why the fuck did you guys not return to The Violet to destroy it!?

What were you gonna do if you couldn’t blow it up-

…Though I mean a giant electrical discharge from the collision might be slightly spooky.

And just like that, the magnetically held collars that have clicked into place just suddenly stop functioning.

This makes no sense.

Oh you in trouble now.

The Humans have been using the rule of Battle Spirits in order to enslave the Otherworlders. As well as the element of surprise and superior weaponry.

Thing is, here they’re a lot less staffed. The shock collars designed to keep them in line wouldn’t necessitate such a large workforce to keep them at it.

So they’re outnumbered, and given most of the Otherworlders have Animal-like enhancements to their physiology, the humans also are far weaker.

I’m sorry Kazan, you cannot convince me that Clackey has managed to fly up to Zungurii’s level without you noticing the giant purple ship!

Speaking of which, we haven’t seen much of Serge since he heroically started taking on all those guards on the lower level-

It appears they had absolutely nothing on him because he’s completely unscathed, and had time to get up here, knock out a guard, grab Mai and piss off!

Onto the Violet they go.

Glad the Violet was completely unscathed in that collision, must be a very durable ship.

But if it was durable enough to destroy that control system I’m surprised a rusty ass gate wasn’t easy pickings for it.

#PlotHoles.

Kazan’s face is priceless.

Honestly, such an underrated character, I do wish he had a more active role in battling.

let this be a lesson: Don’t include design flaws that risk the possibility of every one of your prisoners being released all at once.

Especially if you short-staff your workforce relying on that security system NOT going down!

Where the hell did they get all those rocks?

I will say I do like the design of Zungurii’s father, he’s very distinct.

Also if it wasn’t mentioned, yeah this Mustachio’d Gurii Tribesman is Zungurii’s Father.

Humans don’t stand no chance yo.

I dunno Dan, you’ve been blueballing us all Episode, this Battle has been consistently interrupted and it’s really killing my ability to get invested.

Dan draws his last card but before he can get a look at it, Kajitsu gives out a scream.

Kinda makes you wonder if this “Power” Kajitsu was born with just so happened to be the reason that Yuuki and Kajitsu lost their home.

It’s manifestation is directly correlated to her emotional state, so states of high stress like this one just cause it to go nuts.

No wonder Yuuki’s been excessively protective of her relationships, he’s been coddling her to ensure she doesn’t blow up something.

Hm, that’s not a good sign…

Kajitsu’s little explosion here has apparently managed to destroy the part of the Horizon Ladder that was intended to open the path to Mother Core…

I can’t help but feel like it’s not going to work well in that state.

And it’s not like its because Dan won the battle or anything. It was Kajitsu’s delicate mental state.

I feel like there may have been a grave error in having Kajitsu who’s sensitive to this sort of thing up against passionate Dan who is far from afraid to poke the bear on people’s feelings.

Hoo boy, the platform Kajitsu is standing on is continuing to give way.

Hurry it up, Clash King.

Oh shit, she actually dropped.

Yuuki to the rescue.

I suppose after slotting the Grand Core into the Horizon Ladder he wouldn’t have had much of a reason to stick around dealing with Magisa, he’s probably been in the Battlefield for a while now.

At this particular point in time, that’s a very strange thing to call your Brother.

The Battlefield is spewing up Lava Geysers

And the platform Yuuki and Kajitsu were just on completely gives way.

Hoo boy.

And the Spirits… went… with them…

No no no you’re NOT doing this to me right now!

YES! GET BACK HERE AND LOSE ON YOUR FEET YOU ASSHOLES!

THERE’S NO WAY YOU MADE ME WAIT 2 EPISODES AND CHURN THROUGH SEVERAL INTERURPTIONS JUST TO CANCEL THE FIGHT!

As much as both Dan and I are thirsty for blood, the Battlefield’s in no condition to be used any more.

Kajitsu’s butterflies appear to have been released.

It looks like the Battlefield can’t really properly register a cancelled battle…

Or even if it could, it’s currently falling the fuck apart.

So I imagine if it had a mechanism for that, it probably isn’t functioning.

Magisa to the rescue!

Well of course they are, but apparently the question was so unsettling Kajitsu damn near exploded.

So let’s review, Kajitsu had created a Storm strong enough to shake the Horizon Ladder just by being pissed off by Dan’s desire to defeat Yuuki.

And upon losing it, Kajitsu wiped out the Entire battlefield she was in and destroyed the Horizon Ladder that she wasn’t physically at.

Kajitsu OP yo.

And that was the story about how Dan managed to annoy a Girl into blowing up a very very important part of Yuuki’s plan.

Zungurii is finally re-united with his family.

The ratio of Mimi Tribe males to females must be god-awful if this many of them are that invested in Clackey.

We only saw like 3 or 4 males anyhow.

I certainly hope this doesn’t suggest a culture of harems.

As much as Serge was egging her on, he definitely does care enough about Mai’s happiness to remind her about her epic blog.

Dan is Angy.

Probably at getting his battle interrupted, but moreso because he’s resolved himself to try and stop whatever it is Kajitsu and Yuuki are trying to do.

Looks like Dan isn’t done with Grand-Lolo, he did intend only to stick around until Zungurii’s family was saved, but his mind has changed.

In short: What’s the point in leaving if it’s just going to happen again.

Also Dan’s very jovial way of being drawn has shifted somewhat, his posture is very different to how he usually is.

Clackey also plans to extend the adventure. Because Otherworld King has made a lady cry once in his life.

And again about the way Dan is being displayed, he’s been given a lot of focus to make him appear a little more serious.

Yes yes Zungurii you’re very helpful but you’re not a battler and even more importantly, you absolutely drive me up the wall.

Please go home.

Please.

Mai cuts in, pointing out that Zungurii came all this way purely to save his family, he should at least stay with them and reconnect.

Zungurii feels indebted to Dan in some way because Dan, despite not having any rhyme or reason, actively went to an unfamiliar land to rescue Zungurii’s family.

I don’t give a shit how emotionally mature he is, kid needs a childhood.

Zungurii’s Papa gives his permission for Zungurii, what appears to be his youngest son, to continue travelling with Dan to fight against the strongest power present in Grand-Lolo.

You’re disqualified as a parent.

Magisa is of course in the camp of “Well they’ve been doing it so far, no sense in stopping if everyone’s already made up their minds.”

Magisa of course, also agrees to Dan’s original request to lend her power to him.

Since the Otherworld King threatens this world, she’ll be his counterpart, the Otherworld Witch that protects it.

Mai wonders if they’re including her in this plan.

And reluctantly agrees.

Poor girl, she’s probably exhausted, I’m pretty sure this becomes a sticking point for next episode because of her unwillingness to join them.

Dan takes this moment to finally re-inspect the card he revealed with Extra Draw.

notably, this isn’t meant to indicate that Dan was guaranteed to win, but namely that Dan was not certain to have lost, Kajitsu of course still had cards in hand she could have responded with, and she was certainly being quite reserved spirit-wise.

Essentially, there was still a turn left to play. Which means that they have an unresolved battle they need to finish.

Unfortunately I’ll have to give a brief spoiler that may be disappointing, but I believe it’s an important spoiler to know because the episode is effectively promising something it isn’t going to deliver.

despite the focus given to the idea of a rematch here, Kajitsu does not participate in another battle ever again for the rest of the series.

I’m not a fan of giving spoilers but I’m less of a fan of a series promising that something will occur when it simply doesn’t.

Ah, didn’t mean for that to end on a sour note, but yeah.

The Episode was definitely designed to resolve this “Arc” so to speak. Toppa Bashin had 2 “Arcs” split at about episode 26 or so.

Gekiha Dan on the other hand had this as an introductory Arc, I’ll make a mental note when it feels like an Arc is ending and another is starting, but I feel like it’s much easier to divide this series into smaller Arcs.

If I had to name it, I’d call it the “Horizon Ladder” Arc, given it centres around the creation of the last Horizon Ladder, and ends with it’s destruction.

As for the episode itself, it really needed to sort out it’s pacing, my guess is that there were not many plot relevencies left to be resolved and the writing for Dan’s battle having carried over into the next episode did not have many turns left until completion, so they kept basically interrupting every individual turn with something going on in the background rather than letting the battle flow and let the viewer get invested.

As much as I love the fact that Dan’s basically had his first “Boss” battle, facing something equivalent to Uchuuchouten. It was just so incredibly hard to stay invested when I got interrupted every 2 seconds by someone doing something I didn’t care about.

As for our card of the day, It’s The Providence Hououga.

I suppose I’ve gone over most of what it can do, it is, after all, a powerful card.

It’s a shame in reality it’s hot garbage.

To contextualize, the card is very dangerous once it’s out and it’s Lv3 effect is live, it unfortunately has the same problem as Catastrophedragon in the sense that it just requires too much core to function.

With all the Core spent bringing Hououga to Level 3 you could have played enough spirits to do all of the attacks Hououga would have needed to do in order to win.

And as if to make the problem worse, Hououga is the only card you want to supercharge core for at this moment in time. If you’re playing Mono-green and you’re core-boosting out the wazoo way beyond reasonable levels, it telegraphs that you’re trying to pull off Hououga, which allows the opponent to prep for it.

Sure there was the whole “Hey! But if they block you can get rid of 4 spirits at once!”

Keyword: If
Secondly, it loses to Blizzard Wall, Silent Wall, any White Magic really, things that don’t necessitate a block.

And people were already running White Magic as a defense by this time. Off-colouring into White Magic is the most common thing a person can do.

So even if you achieve Hououga AND the nasty Nexus required for it’s Windstorm to be anything other than mildly inconvenient, the card STILL doesn’t work.

The Vanity Deities were certainly a cool concept that got played around with, but were ultimately not very good on their own.

Of course, the high costs of such cards were not completely unaddressable, each Vanity Deity had what was called a “Deified General”, that was designed to trample it’s Cost to a far more manageable 6, and with 6 reduction, The Vanity Deity could come out quite early for a rather low cost. These cards are never used in the anime.

Even with this though, it wasn’t enough to push it into top use, even if you can play the card early, the problem with playing Hououga early is that it still needs a whole 10 core to get its main gameplan working.

Then again, it probably didn’t help that the only recorded events around the time Hououga was playable was the set after, which had a significantly more useful card than Hououga ever would be.

The earlier you do that, the higher likelihood that you won’t have enough core to really do anything else, not to mention Hououga voids core to refresh itself, making it somewhat possible to run yourself low on Core if you try it too early.

Anyway, ramble about Hououga over, we’ve got a fresh start with episode 14, so I’ll see you all in the next one.

Toodles!