Todo comenzó algún tiempo atrás en la isla del sol ♪
Se cruzaron nuestros caminos por casualidad ♪
WAHOO we're in the mini asura hell!! DEATH ZERO ARC my belovedst...
It starts strong with Hana about to kick the plane and SAKURAI HELLO!!!! He's drawn so poorly and his voice took me off guard (I was expecting a deeper/different voice) but it's still my man. Hana's laugh was so stupid and then BANG. Peak comedy.
It's interesting how they don't mention how they're in Peleliu or get into detail about the war but that's okay.
THE SCENE OF THE PLANE APPROACHING FOMR THE COCKPIT'S POV WAS HELLA COOL I LOVE IT. And then tiny Hana in Sakurai's arms. God this boy is such a wimp I love he... He's so bored he decides to help Sakurai move the freaking plane like 20 meters into the beach... AND THEN SAKURAI BULLIES HIM BECAUSE HE'S TIRED.
I'm not sure why or how they manage to add a whole ass new sequence here but I'm SO grateful. It gives Hana and Sakurai a moment to bond over mundane things like school or parents... it helps defining the frame of Hana's growth, and the contrast between Sakurai's 1945 mentality vs Hana's zoomer butt.
It enhances Sakurai's personality as a mentor figure when he takes a moment to help Hana with math classes. He must assume Hana might come from a very poor background that he's teaching him basic math... But in any case, as I said, this whole scene sets up Hana's growth because it's all about learning and how important it is. It mentions Ninomiya Kinjiro who's a role model for his teachings during his life and how relevant it is for the country's values. Basically Sakurai is giving Hana a new approach to life, far from the comfortable, alienated modern life he lived. And because of Takei's style many developments are skipped and it's a shame, so I'm glad they could add this here. It's lighthearted at first sight, but it's incredibly powerful when you see this bratty Hana vs the Hana that ends up realizing that knowledge is power.
So this brings me to the next point, but I casually realized that the whole time TSS wasn't a retcon as I initially thought, but the actual life events of the Sakurai we know in that timeline. Meanwhile, this mini asura realm is one of the many different timelines there could be. In this one, Sakurai is shot to death seemingly by a random enemy and his plane crashes at the shore. However, he later remarks his plane and remains are actually underwater... (And then later Hana is sent to yet another timeline with bald Sakurai, but in none of these timelines he befriended Anderson and god knows where Kaizo is).
Anyway, I love Hikasa's voice acting in this episode, she was SO expressive and it feels how she's a lot more comfortable now compared to the first episodes. It's so lovely.
They won't even bother animating the troops coming out but okay i guess. And now Sakurai is comfortable enough to stop calling him shonen and call him Hana-kun... super cute.
Back to Funbari we have the boys wondering what to do with the corpse and god I love these kids so much THEY'RE MY KIDS IT'S MY KIDS I LOVE WITH ALL MY SOUL.
I'm still thinking about Alumi saying when Hana comes back more mature everyone will change their mind about him and I get emotional... What does she know? What Hana does she remember? What does she know about Hana? It adds another layer of frustration knowing this whole time she's been looking for the Hana she remembers only to find a brat with no manners...My poor girl.
Or maybe this is just Takei talking and saying "you guys just wait he'll become less annoying in no time"
(flash forward five years later in real time)
ANYWAY FREEZER MENTIONED. The darn freezer is so iconic by now for all the wrong reasons.
Back to hell... Oh lord I didn't know when I first watched, but we were about to have one of the best sequences in the whole anime. The moment Sakurai sprinted dodging shots I SCREAMED SO HARD HOW COOL WAS THAT?
And now, a moment of revelation comes. Earlier, Hana was shocked after Sakurai told him that this was his hell commune too, but why? Well, he now realizes Sakurai might be fighting for the fun of it, since he's already dead and probably living in a loop of doing nothing but pick up scrap metal and fighting imaginary enemies (it is a bit confusing how communes work... how much of them are real realities and how much are fabricated realities? When does it start and when does it end? In any case, Hana realizes that there's a connection in them through "fighting for fun" but then the reality of war starts sinking in slowly and he reaches the conclusion of 'motivation' and how Sakurai might have a greater motivation for doing this. Yay for boy!
AND THEN DANG HE GETS A SWORD BECAUSE HE'S A COOL GUY AND WE GET ANOTHER NEW SEQUENCE THAT'S FOOD FOR MY SOUL. The way Hana was portrayed here was a gift from the anime gods but also reminded me of that one episode in SK 2001 when they fight with the illusion spirits... just fighting for fun... I got so nostalgic watching this. His stance, the timing of his attacks and his reactions of "i'm done... AHAHA JUST KIDDING!" and keeps attacking over and over. The adrenaline rush was real and it almost knocks me down. In the manga we don't see more than an explosion and that's it... i can't thank the anime staff enough for letting us see hana more. It was beautiful
And speaking of beautiful, the next scene of Hana and Sakurai at the beach and Sakurai acknowledging his own existence... And all of the sudden we get that one TSS flashback of him and Chiharu. The background music was building up and the moment we see Sakurai in the middle of the way and how his plan sets on fire I BURSTED INTO TEARS and I have rewatched this episode several times and every single time I cry without fail. Best episode yet without a doubt. I love you Death Zero...
