Shoumetsu Toshi (AFTERLOST) Episode 8 Review: Choice

Last week, I was full of hope for this episode, but nope. I have to admit that it wasn’t as messed up as the previous ones, but still, it wasn’t as good as it should have been. So, let’s see what happened!

Plot

Up to this point, the story is straightforward, though major plot holes are still present. In this episode, the Agency was -finally- exposed to the public and the main villains got arrested. But they got free, thanks to a traitor working for the police. It wasn’t unexpected, because until now it’s quite obvious that most people working on high positions are somehow involved with this conspiracy. But, on the bright side, Souma died in a very disgusting -and laser show style- way. Of course no one is sad for this, since he was annoying and he didn’t get enough screen time in order for the viewer to get attached. His final moments, sadly, didn’t manage to move me.

But, for every death there is a resurrection -at least in AFTERLOST’s universe, so we got to see a pleasant comeback. As for Yuki, I can say that she is the most boring character I‘ve ever seen in an anime and, except from her powers, she doesn’t affect the screenplay much.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the first half of the episode, while the second half was rushed, untouching, and visually poor. Though, the episode had great music. It really amazed me at some points, so cheers to that!

Episode Highlights

Guess who’s back… Back again…: It’s ma’ man…..*drums sound effect* … Kouta!! I have no idea how he survived. I have no idea where the heck he was all this time, but at least I know his shoes are reunited and that we will be lucky enough to have at least one fun character in the show.

Scooter: Up to this point, I am sure that the main character of this series is supposed to be the super-saiyan scooter. It took it some time, but it’s back in action in order to save the day.

R.I.P.: Souma’s death -if he really died- wasn’t unexpected. Yet, I didn’t see it coming so soon. I kinda thought that he was gonna be around until the end of the series, but I was wrong.

Themes & Trivia

Do I know you?: The laser show that took place in the last minutes of this episode alongside the big explosions, reminded me of my beloved Akira. The way the explosions occurred is pretty similar in both anime and, if you really think about it, there are some similarities in the plot. Secret facilities which cast experiments on kids in order to gain powers, a failed experiment ruining the world, organs in vases (yaks!) and massive explosions that make cities disappear… Hmmm…

Comments

This was a mediocre episode. I applaud how the truth was revealed and how the Agency had a back-up plan, though the last minutes seemed absolutely ridiculous. I didn’t mind the storyline; It wasn’t atrocious and it followed in a decent way the events from the previous episode. Still, I would prefer if we got more time to understand Souma’s character, as well as Yuki’s true artifact of massive destruction. I think that we will see more of Souma, maybe in a Tami-shii form. At least I hope so, or else Yuki will be even more miserable from now on. The part with Kouta got me off guard, since I had abandoned my hopes on him. But, AFTERLOST likes to troll its audience, so here we are. I hope for the story to continue unraveling, although in a more slow and satisfying way than it does now.

‘I don’t want to die…’

AFTERLOST is getting better and I can surely see an improvement on the scenario as the time passes. Still, there are many things need to be done in order to call it a descent anime. What did you think of this episode?