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Taken by itself, I really liked this episode a lot.
It was great to see a smart, competent, powerful antagonist actually overcome the heroes for a change. It helped that Izumo's mecha had this very menacing but majestic look to it. It really did look like a mecha for a fighting King or Head of State.
Like Vena said, I have to wonder why Izumo didn't take matters into his own hands sooner. But I guess he's the sort of guy that wants loads and loads of recon data on his opponents before he heads off to face them.
Now, I had less issue with Zessica in this episode than some did, although I do feel quite sorry for the girl. Her emotional state is clearly very bad.
This is my take on things:
1. Zessica changed her look to be more like Mikono's, and it is making Zessica more popular with guys in general. But that's not exactly what Zessica wants. She wants to be more popular with Amata in particular, and that doesn't seem to be happening. So Zessica is feeling increasingly depressed. Her heart is set on one man and one man alone, and she can't get over him, even when other men show interest in her. In fact, becoming more popular with other men likely makes Zessica realize this more, which leads to a sense of romantic hopelessness for her. So...
2. Zessica decides to totally forget about romance, and just focus on being a warrior, since that's something she's normally good at. But...
3. She gets told off for being hotheaded this episode (since she's overdoing it to try to compensate for her romantic hurts/insecurities), and at that point, I think that Zessica just feels flat-out worthless. So in the spur of the moment she decides to offer to sacrifice herself for the greater good, as she probably rationalizes it. She doesn't think that she has anything left to live for, so she's going to at least find some worth in being a sacrifice for the sake of others.
Zessica is continuing to remind me more and more of a certain character from Madoka Magica, but I'll leave that discussion for elsewhere/later.
But the anime throws a curve-ball at us by having Izumo make off with Mix instead of Zessica. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess it was a great moment for Mix, but it does leave both her and Zessica in very bad places for different reasons.
On a separate note, I liked how this episode tied several characters together through shared father issues. Learning a bit more about Mikono's personal background was nice.
My main criticism of this episode, and of most recent episodes of this anime, is that they often don't flow well from one to the next to the next. Kagura being off-screen this long is impossible to ignore, and probably leaves viewers naturally puzzled as to what the heck has happened to him.
The lack of more interaction between Amata and Zessica is troubling given how there's still a lot of issues between those two, and much the same is true of Amata and Mikono. Yes, Amata and Mikono had a conversation in this episode, but it brought us back to the Kagura issue rather than addressing the Zessica issue. Doing that just reminds me of how there's quite a few hanging plot threads left in this anime. I hope that Okada can manage to sew them up well.
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