BlazBlue: Alter Memory - 09

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The latest episode of BlazBlue: Alter Memory steps things up with more fights.  Now that’s more like it.

On top of the fight scenes (which I’ll get to in a minute) we also get more background on a few characters.  We find out that Arakune and Litchi are connected; apparently, Arakune was once someone named Roy who Litchi was, and still is, in love with.  He became Arakune by “touching the depths of the Azure,” just short of becoming the Black Beast.  What’s more, Hazama/Terumi claims to know a way to return him to normal (although I’d take anything he says worth a grain of salt, as he obviously has his own terrible agenda).

Makoto also gets a little bit of backstory.  She’s been collaborating with Kokonoe and Tager, it seems.  Makoto, like the members of Sector Seven, sees problems with the NOL and doesn’t trust Captain Hazama.  It seems sloppy on Terumi’s part to fail to give his façade a background.  Makoto also seems to be familiar with Terumi, although this is probably only in a historical sense more than anything, as she doesn’t seem to know that Hazama is Terumi.

We get to see one fight in detail in this episode, as well.  Tsubaki finally tracks Jin down and faces off with him.  This seems really ridiculous, given the fact that she knows she doesn’t stand a chance against him.  This becomes doubly true when he figures out how to control his sword, Yukianesa.  His ice abilities coupled with the sword ensure his victory against her, especially once she loses her light to the Izayoi.

One thing to mention is that the scene with Bang showing Jin around town a few episodes back may have actually played a serious part in Jin’s character development, despite my assumptions to the contrary earlier.  Jin seems at least somewhat changed by that whole exchange; he brings up the Ikaruga massacre while fighting Tsubaki as an example of the lack of justice in the NOL.  This awakens some hidden power inside of him, as well, or not so much a power as a confidence in his own abilities.  He believes he knows what his purpose is, now, which will make him better able to fight against Ragna.

As much as I enjoyed the fight between Jin and Tsubaki in this episode, I would have also liked to see the fight between Hazama/Terumi and Iron Tager, rather than just seeing the aftermath.  Tager really deserves more attention than he’s gotten in this series; he’s literally spent most of his time just walking around.  If we don’t get to see him actually fight by the end of BlazBlue: Alter Memory, it will be a definite shame.

BlazBlue: Alter Memory Episode 10 Preview

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