YOU get a Misaka and YOU get a Misaka! Everybody gets a Misaka!

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Pope awakens in the hospital, settling the eternal question once and for all of whether or not the pope does shit in the woods. He then makes plans with a colleague of Sasha’s, while elsewhere, Aiwass sends Hyouka Kazakiri to fight an Archangel named Misha Kruezhev. Kazakira, being somewhat of an angel herself (long story), is able to fly directly to Russia by herself.

In Russia, Hamazura properly meets Acqua, who describes himself as a has-been mercenary miscreant. A has-mer-screant, if you will. Once Academy City forces arrive, Hamazura decides to flee with Takitsubo, knowing that they’ll at least keep the village safe, eventually ending up with Elizalina’s people. Accelerator, also there, gets his first real exposure to magic, having swiped what appears to be plans to convert spells between the Russian Church and the Roman Orthodoxy. Elizalina also tells Hamazura that she’ll be able to heal Takitsubo, but not Last Order. So, while flushing out spies, Accelerator finally gets a chance to chat with Misaka Worst, who he seems to relate to in how Academy City tried to turn them both into killers, forming a partnership between them as he continues his plan to build a harem to rival Toma’s.

Speaking of Toma, he and Lessar continue their efforts to sneak into Fiamma’s base, only for them to get swept up in the execution of Fiamma’s next plan: to use the tool he stole from Index bring the land mass around them into the air and use that to summon Misha Kruezhev. While that’s all happening, Misaka Classic arrives in a jet she snuck onto, only for it to get destroyed by the rising island. She touches down safely with her abilities and meets up with another Misaka clone.

And on top of all that, the unconscious Index partially awakens in front of Stiyl and Laura, ready to attack with her magical knowledge.

OUR TAKE

We’ve reached another lull in the action, mainly for everyone to plan their next steps and to set up the next major battle. In this case, bringing down Fiamma’s giant island and his summoned angel. For those who might have forgotten, this seems to be the culmination of plans from an early volume of the series involving Sasha and her being possessed by this very angel, only now it’s able to take physical form thanks to Fiamma’s ritual. But it doesn’t look like “Misha” will go unchallenged with Kazakiri on her way, as well as who knows what else will be thrown at what. Things are only continuing to escalate from here, it seems, which is right in line with how a story of this magnitude should be handled.

Though while I’m plenty excited to see how this phase plays out, that does leave the rest of this episode feeling pretty cramped for how many developments of how many other subplots it had going on. We’ve got:

-Hamazura and Takitsubo escaping the village

-The plans made between the pope and his people as well as Kazakiri and Aiwass

-Whatever’s happening with Laura, Stiyl, and Index (who might be under either Fiamma or Laura’s control, I can’t tell which based on that scene)

-Toma and Lessar’s escapades (still unclear why she’s here)

-Misaka jumping into the fray

-And the one that got the most meat this week, Accelerator finding out about magic, the conversion spell, fighting spies, and properly hashing things out with Worst.

So, naturally, with that many plots to juggle, the episode itself is going to feel pretty overstuffed. That said, for what it was worth, I did appreciate Accelerator relating to worst through their similar situations, meaning this partnership they’re striking up is based on something real. And maybe she’ll get some scenes with Last Order before this is all through.

But yeah, this felt more like a bridge between major stages of the arc more than anything else, so I guess I should have expected for this to be one of the weaker installments of the group. With nine episodes to work with, they couldn’t all be home runs, I guess. Sometimes you need a breather between the bigger beats to make them feel that much more important, and that’s okay. Plus, it’s looking like at least the next few won’t disappoint either, so I await the next major fight to play out in the weeks ahead.

Score 7/10