Valvrave The Liberator - 07

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Yep.  Valvrave the Liberator is still as ridiculous as ever.

After a relatively tame couple of episodes, we're back to the crazy over-the-top plot Valvrave the Liberator started off with.  Crammed into 20 minutes were a number of developments, that set us back on track and possibly sparked the true start of the series; we're getting close to the meat.

The episode started off with an ominous snippet of the future, in which Saki appears as young as ever.  Presumably this will come into play further down the line - it feels like it'll appear in the second cour in the Fall, rather than one of the five remaining episodes of the season - but for now it gives the impression that things won't go well for Jior.  As well as that, there was mention of the Golden Seven and Valvrave's indiscriminate violence continued...or maybe not.

Moving on from the brief look at the future, L-elf finally comes out of hiding.  Amazing how he's gone unnoticed in the previous two episodes, both by the characters and myself included.  In any case, he's back with his strategies and his display of complete dominance.  Much like the first time, he's just too strong and makes that abundantly clear by taking over the students once again.  This time he's making use of his "prophet" powers and that inadvertently adds a little humour to his hostile takeover of the New Jior.

Whatever he may do, L-elf emerges as an actual ally in this episode.  From the Mexican standoff between himself, A-drei and Haruto all the way to giving up his body and the final scene, he's become an ally.  The final scene was the nail in the coffin, but all the talk about 'right hands' made up the core of this transformation.  Interestingly, the scenes in which L-elf and A-drei are talking about 'right hands' is one free of any animosity or political ambition; it just feels like two people wanting to fight together for the greater good.

So is L-elf actually a good guy? Or is he playing politics with the current situation? One could argue he could have predicted Haruto finding the photo, but given the circumstances that's unlikely.  His relationship with whomever is in that photo is already off to a textbook start, which is right in Valvrave's wheelhouse.  My money is on him having some type of sob story, but let's leave that alone for now.  Let us not forget the ending with a girl floating around in space.  A possible trigger for more Valvrave pilots to emerge as the hinted by the beginning of the episode.

The beginning of end is here.

Valvrave the Liberator Episode 08 Preview

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