Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta – 10

So many new romances, so many more people who’s death flags have been raised.

I figured that there would be a whole buildup to Ignacio reminiscing about his past/relationship to Kal followed by Kal having a dramatic turnaround after learning that his life isn’t the only one that sucked and therefore, he shouldn’t hold such a hatred for Nina. …I guess throwing in a flashback right at the beginning works too.

Surprise! Ignacio and Kal are half brothers. Maybe Ignacio’s reason for hating Kal is a little unfair (he never suffers, so I’m going to hate him!), but Kal’s dad was kind of a jerk for just abandoning his bastard offspring like that. Sure there was some sort of depression going on, but Ignacio and his mother were clearly poor and suffering. It’s still leaving a lot to interpretation as far as who Kal’s parents exactly were personality-wise, but obviously, they made some bad decisions somewhere along the road. Ignacio’s childhood undoubtedly sucked, which makes it 3/4 main characters with terrible pasts. Maybe Ari fits in there too if you count the fact that she lost a younger brother and her mother at some point.

Anyways, it looks like Ignacio seems to hate Kal somewhat less now, since he kind of helped break Kal out of his slump by beating him up in a lake and they paired up to fight the Sky Clan in a somewhat hopeless looking battle. Perhaps they get along well now because Ignacio knows that Kal has suffered too. …Plus the fact that they know each other personally probably also helps. Kal probably has no idea that he and Ignacio are related though, since Igna never said anything about the issue.

But enough about personal relationships. …Or not, because the rest of the remaining side characters are getting together. Sharon and Benjamin are certainly a thing at least (I don’t know if Nanako and Noriaki count or not). In any case though, this is clearly a calculated move to make us all feel horrible when they start killing everyone off again. Or maybe the last round of characters they killed off were to make viewers aware that people can die in battle, which in turn would make everyone incredibly relieved when Benjamin and Noriaki miraculously come out of this alive. Knowing that the students were so easily offed last time certainly made every single move count during this battle. Kal and Igna will most likely survive due to main character status (maybe one might be injured or something) and the fact they they’re not entirely over their differences yet, but the true struggle seems to lie with Benjamin and Noriaki.

Well, even the instructors seem to think that this whole fight is hopeless -or at least that involving the students is a bad idea-, so that probably speaks volumes. Of course Kal has to go out there because it’s a requirement of being a main character, but it’s obviously looked like a lost cause from the start, even if they seem to be doing alright now due to Ignacio actually being a competent shooter. Isla has lost so much already, and yet, the military still seems pretty eager to fight. Hopefully Levamme backups come again this time, since Isla seems to have such primitive technology compared to the Sky Clan (who interestingly enough, also have a floating island). …Also, hopefully finding the end of the world or whatever they’re looking for is worth all of this destruction.

If they do end up killing Benjamin and Noriaki off, it will be pretty depressing. If they kill off Ignacio, I will be mildly surprised. Before that, they have to put in a scene where Ignacio and Kal finally, truly sort out their differences though. Like with what happened with Fausto. …Kal will obviously be fine (or at least until he meets Claire again). But it’s way too soon to start speculating about if Kal will die or not, since there are still a couple episodes left for this series. Things are still pretty bleak and it seems pretty unlikely that the story will go back to happier times before the ending, but at least they’re keeping it interesting. The plane fight this episode was really engaging, if only for the fact that it seemed like Benjamin and Noriaki could die at any moment. It was quite the cliffhanger at the end too. Will any romance subplot survive until the very end of the series?

 …The fact that there are parachutes and rainbows in the preview looks kind of promising.

About Karakuri

University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.