Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry – 07

Desperation rules the day

Sometimes the ace in the hole is something you keep in the hole because you don’t need to play it.

Do Your Best Now…

Despite the wet look, she wasn’t trying to seduce Ikki

We were left wondering at the end of the last episode what Ayase’s move was, inviting Ikki to the top of the building the night before their match. And she doesn’t tip her hand immediately, pressing him about his deal with Stella and what he would do if there was a fight he could not win. But right away, this tips off the biggest difference between how Ayase thinks and how Ikki thinks. One thing that’s been evident so far in the show is that there is no fight that Ikki thinks is unwinnable. And he’s always going to do his best. Ayase tries to take his attitude to task, saying that it’s “Justice without Results”, but I agree with him: the results matter less than the process and attitude.

Stella gets her hopes up, but they’re short-lived

But her expected underhanded move is to put herself in danger, falling off the building and inducing Ikki to save her. But the only way he can do it is by using Itto Shura, which he does, only coming to the realization that she did that on purpose so that he would not have the advantage of that ability during their fight later that day. What I consider even worse, she just leaves him there, nearly incapacitated, while gloating to herself. Yes, she’s trying to be a bad character, but it’s just kinda poor as a villain. The show takes his eventual return to his room with Stella as an opportunity for a bit of a laugh, but it doesn’t play it up too much before we get Ikki in the infirmary, 4 hours before his match with Ayase. However, there’s no time to rest as we have to get the critical background information about Ayase that the show hadn’t given us so far.

The boss gets the best office

Do Your Best Later

It’s a Trap

What we hadn’t learned was that Ayase’s father, the famous swordsman that Ikki admires, was defeated two years ago by Kuraudo, the bully we saw in the last episode, losing everything in the process. So Ayase is fighting to regain her family’s honor and property. Her underhandedness isn’t over at the start of the match, tho, as she’s clearly broken another rule they tell us about at the start: You cannot booby-trap the match arena. But she’s trying to win so that she has a chance at fighting Kuraudo, even though she’d really have no chance at beating him, so she’s willing to do anything. It’s not as if this isn’t anticipated, however, as Ikki has figured out that she will try to cheat, and has implored Yuri-chan-sensei, the guest commentator for the match, to overlook her cheating and let the fight continue.

And it’s over

And continue it does, as Ayase finally uncorks her abilities as a blazer and her device, to use the power of previously made cuts to open larger wounds. But Ikki, as always, is able to identify his opponents abilities and develop counters to them immediately. And as the tides turn, he points out to Ayase that she’s not a good villain, and that her father’s teaching won’t let her completely be that person who abandons her pride as a swordsman. Ikki’s not gloating, he wants to remind her of a better path. And as he wins the fight, he reminds her of that pride, and asks to help her.

I thought this was another nice episode, with earnest reactions, and good exploration of Ikki’s character. It was believable that he would want to help Ayase, not just because she was a girl in orbit around him, but because of his admiration for her father. And it was evident that he was ready to abandon her and finish the fight if she had completely gone to the ‘dark side’, but her inability to do that allowed him to help her. One thing that bothered me a bit this episode was Yuri-chan’s excess of blood. I am not sure at this point if they’re playing it for laughs or if there’s something else that they’re going for, but it’s not really something that is funny, but more disturbing. If you ask me, that’s pretty much the only misstep that they’ve made with this show, visually. I like Yuri-chan’s character, just want less blood.

Yuri sensei wa yoi sensei indeed

About Highway

Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!