-For those who got down to figuring out that Yuji was actually lying to himself, Bingo! It was indeed this incident as well as his own attitude that he figured out that it wasn't that he couldn't leave the city because of his lack of resolve in helping Shana or even fighting alongside; Yuji simply did not WANT to leave the city.
I don't quite understand why people can't believe that the Yuji in this episode could be the same one 18 episodes and one season ago. People change, and especially so for his case, where he was thrusted right into the world of the Tomogara after meeting all sorts of characters from there. There have been lots of development for him; plenty of battles, ordeals even that shaped his character up to what he is currently. The display of "ruthlessness" and strength from him here is simply waiting to show itself.
While Yuji was able to manifest his flame with surprising ease and throw it with astonishing accuracy as compared to the previous episode, it was pretty cool to see him all bad-ass and raring to go. Zarovee was an appropriate first opponent for him, since that interesting fellow was extremely weak with a small power of existence. I believe, though, that Yuji's real power lies in his ability to analyse things, and up till now I'm still confounded as to why he would consider Ike doing himself a disservice by attending the same, supposedly ordinary high school as he did.
(Note that even Wilhelmina asked him with little hesitation as to what HIS analysis of the situation is without even checking it out herself first. Shows how much he has grown not only to the viewers, but also to the personalities around him who all had some trouble accepting the possibility that Yuji could be of such great assistance.)
Also, considering how he managed to devise an action plan to grab the attention of Tanaka and Ogata whom he spotted without having Zarovee discover what he was really up to as well as trying to figure out what Zarovee was up to...It's a quality he has displayed at the very start of the anime itself, when he and Shana were in deep shit in the Friagne arc and the Sorath-Tiriel arc. As for the crushing of the neck...Wow, man. I was shocked for a moment, but thinking about it, it was in line with his desire to protect the city from 'things' like Zarovee.
-Kudos to Tanaka for making up his mind after seeing a friend in danger, whatever it was. I assume, though, that the barrier for his negative thoughts came in the form of Ogata grabbing his hand, seeing as the action itself might have actually gave him some semblance of calm instead of mindlessly panicking over the possibilities that might happen if he gets involved again. Another reason could be the fact that there was literally no one else in the vicinity that would know the real meaning behind Yuji's screaming. Margery's understanding does put Tanaka in an even worse light, though. It was as though he worried over nothing regarding his 'departure' from her side.
-For the humor, Wilhelmina and Alastor didn't disappoint.
[dialogue]
Chigusa: "I can taste that it will work."
Wilhelmina: "Snapping turtle, pit viper, garlic...."
Alastor: "Won't that worsen the condition..?"
[/dialogue]
Frankly speaking, the transition between such scenes and those where the tension seemed higher could have been awkward, but it felt as though it went smoothly, even more so because literally no one in the Sakai house knew what the hell was going on with him until Margery gave them a ring.
-The only REAL gripe I had was how it ended. I suspected that it might have been Bifron's real intention to actually call out to Sabrac in some way, or it could be that the dude himself finally found the Reiji Maigo. Either way, the appearance of the 'Rose colored' flames were a little too abrupt. Even adding in the basic "What the hell is that?!?" from one of the characters or show us a close up of a shocked look from Wilhelmina might serve to make the next episode tentatively juicier.
Lovely! Even with so few episodes left, Shakugan no Shana has definitely returned to its former glory. And I can't help looking forward to the end of this.
)
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