Flashy is one word to describe this episode. This was an such entertaining episode, yet predictable for a GAINAX series. Finally Matoi faces off once again with Nui and this time she is not so hot-headed. I enjoyed this episode a lot because it jumped further into the Kiryuin family and the fact that there was another daughter of the Kiryuins being experimented on. This was very typical of GAINAX to pull something of a family scientist nature to the show, that won’t be explored for more than one or perhaps two episodes. I will say this though. Flashbacks in this series sure are done right, with the grainy sepia tone effect and black borders. These small segments into history of the Kiryuin family and even Matoi’s past really gives us a better understand behind their actions in the present. I really like how much GAINAX makes those scenes crucial to the story. Great to see the introduction of the Kiryuin father and his turmoil of the loss of his second daughter to Ragyou’s underhanded schemes. I was impressed with how the music delivered the passion behind the big reveal at the end of the episode, and the impact it had on Ragyou herself. It would have been a great twist if the father hadn’t really been killed off and we caught a few scenes of him in the present. He would have provided an interesting and not so predictable formula to this series. Typically for a GAINAX series they always seem to kill off at least one of the leads’ parental figures. For once, I would like to see the switch turned on a series as intense as this one.  Overall though it was a great episode. They did a wonderful job of covering up the villain for most of this series, yet this episode still maintained that as an afterthought. Yes, Ragyou is evil and yes she fights dirty with her immersion with Life Fibers, but I can still see some underlining that she isn’t the final villain. Throughout most of the last few episodes we have known Ragyou was going to have some kind of a feud with Matoi and Nudist Beach, but after the discovery that the Kamui’s are alien beings I cannot help but find myself seeing this as a Gurren Lagann end of the world scenario. Especially at the end of this episode with the sky being covered up in darkness. So I can see this going with Matoi having to save the world against a misused Kiryuin family by way of the alien’s manipulation and Ragyou’s greed.

Overall Impression: 8/10

-Predictable yet very entertaining episode with a nicely woven backstory.

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