The previous episode really broke expectations with this series as it
felt like the A team of another show stepped in to show this crew how
it's done. The use of Inugami to attack seriously against Rikuo and the
others made for a thrilling episode overall as most of it was given over
to that, especially with some seemingly better than usual animation and
a real sense of quality. That episode ended with something of a
stalemate in a sense as Tamazuki made the agreement to not target
innocents in this battle any further, but it would mean more of a
concerted attack against the Nura clan itself. That may seem like a
foolish thing to agree to, an almost gentlemanly form of warfare, but it
helps both sides in the end as it doesn't overly aggravate the Nura
side since they'll be more focused on attacks on themselves directly,
and not overreact to attacks on Rikuo's friends or general citizenry.
Providing
you can believe Tamazuki, of course.
Much of what Tamazuki has
done is fairly straightforward in tactics as he's weakened the clan
overall by taking down other deities in the area and he's gotten a good
idea of what Rikuo and Nura can do in general because of what Inugami
did. And with Rikuo dealing with Inugami on an emotional level, he's
better able to determine what it is that Rikuo is capable of. With all
that setup out of the way, not that it was terribly engaging prior to
Inugami's attack episode, the focus is now shifting to the actual attack
itself. This is where the show can try and shine again as it can show
that last build-up to the events, seeing the rallying of the troops on
Tamazuki's side as well as the seriousness of setting up defenses on the
Nura clan's side. Unfortunately, a lot of the potential energy to carry
this through from the previous episode is lost in the first half here
as it's more of a cautious presentation of events that feels too
restrained on all counts.
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