Kaze no Stigma Episode 19 - Pandemonium

Screenshots

Summary

A meeting is being held at the Kannagi residence, unaware of Ren’s disappearance which happened right about that time. Kazuma arrives late and Ayano insults him for the blunder he did (letting ‘Hell Hound’ get away), which Kazuma surprisingly accepts without much complaints. The Special Investigation Unit is currently dealing with the rise of people having supernatural powers lately (involved in some kind of ‘game’). Kirika explains that the target victims are middle school to high school students, who are endowed with promiscuous powers upon reaching the site known as ‘Pandemonium’.

This power comes from no one else but a youma embedded into some digital data which possesses the person who gets to download it. People make use of the power given them, without knowing the danger that their soul will be consumed the more they use it. The police itself are still in the process of finding out the mastermind behind this, which is why they need the Kannagi’s help. Ayano complains about how the police always make them do the work when they’re caught up in a tight situation, and Soushu reprimands her for this.

Throughout this discussion, Kazuma’s mind was wandering elsewhere. He continues to think about the girl she saw, believing that it can’t possibly be Tsuoi Rin. He finally comes to realize an apparent difference they have, the girl’s eyes are lazuline (like lapis lazuli) while Tsuoi Rin’s are green. Kazuma decides to leave even before the discussion is finished as he plans to find the mastermind behind this. The news about Ren’s disappearance however redirects Kazuma’s attention to finding the whereabouts of his brother, together with Ayano and Kirika. Arriving at the building where Ren was last seen, Ayano assures Kanon and Tatsuya that they’ll definitely find a way to save Ren, especially with the powerful brother he has.

Kazuma uses his reconnaissance abilities and finds the presence of a space distortion within the premise. What’s inside this hidden space however can’t be confirmed until they get inside it. All of them conclude that their opponent is certainly a powerful being, for it to be able to hide something like this from Kazuma. Kazuma thinks about Tsuoi Rin’s appearance and Ren’s disappearance - something that he finds to be too much of a coincidence. He gets ahead of Ayano and Kirika and gets inside the Pandemonium through some opening he created with his wind. Kirika calls up some assistance to cover-up the damages they’ll be causing, knowing well that Kazuma certainly won’t hold back in doing every means to find his brother. She turns to Ayano, the only person to rely on in such a case of emergency.

Wernhard seems to be expecting Kazuma and has prepared a little ‘maze’ for his arrival. Kirika and Ayano follows after Kazuma, who finally locates the space distortion on the rooftop. Ayano suggests using Enraiha to create an opening for them, but Kirika tells her that such a brash means might cause the distortion to completely break and allow ordinary people to see Pandemonium. Kirika then uses her onmyouji skills this time as she creates an entrance to the Pandemonium. Apparently, the place they reached was different from Kazuma, who seems to be trapped into a further space distortion inside the place.

Ayano comes face to face Vesalius’ minion Lapis, who doesn’t hold back in attacking after identifying them as unwelcomed guests in the place. Lapis carries this huge sword which she swings around without much struggle, showing just how her strength is beyond normal. This weapon she has is not just an ordinary sword, but that of which can absorb its opponents’ elemental attack and use it against them. With such a powerful opponent, it’s not surprising that Ayano finds it difficult to defeat Lapis. She complains about how Kirika isn’t helping her out in this battle at all, and Kirika finds it unreasonable for Ayano to be asking her to do what Kazuma does.

Ren on the other hand is in the very place where Vesalius is, infuriated to find out that he’s making guinea pigs out of the people involved in this real-life RPG. He asks him what his intentions are for making youmas possess people, but Vesalius tells him that it’s not something he should be concerned about at this time. He shows Ren what Kazuma and Ayano are currently facing just to find him, and remarks how he’s endeared by people. Ayano is currently facing Lapis whom Vesalius believes is beyond Ayano’s level. Kazuma on the other hand is currently trapped in the maze within the space distortion. Vesalius finally reveals his plans, where he’s somewhat making a puppet out of people involved in this “play”. He anticipates what will happen between Ayano, Kazuma and Lapis, and involved all the other people into this mess which he believes will make this climactic event even more dramatic. Vesalius grins as he imagines how Kazuma will react the moment he sees Ayano beheaded by Lapis.

Kazuma however finds out the secret behind the maze he’s in and tells Ren to call out on him so he can find him. He arrives to the place where both Vesalius and Ren are, and recognizes Vesalius as Wernhard Rhodes. Kazuma criticizes Wernhard for the shoddy costume he’s in, and deduces how he must be behind Tsuoi Rin’s appearance. He mocks Wernhard’s abilities, considering how he was able to kill his boss in the past. Ayano is keeping up well in her battle with Lapis, and showers her with flame attacks which finally proved to be too overwhelming for Lapis’ sword. This causes an explosion in the area, which penetrated the other side of the room where Wernhard is. Kazuma was stunned by the sight of Lapis, a reaction which seemed to have been expected by Wernhard.

Thoughts

Wow… it seems that Gonzo has finally managed to pull out some budget for KnS this time, as the animation quality in this episode seems to be the best in the series so far. The battle sequence was great this time around, and I really hope it’ll continue to be like this. What I don’t like however (same with the previous butchering that Gonzo has been doing), is making Ayano appear brattier than she should be. From what I’ve read so far, Ayano didn’t complaint during the meeting at the Kannagi house. That certainly made Ayano appear like a really bratty kid, which is making me think that the animators are ruining Ayano’s image on purpose or something TT___TT Just another difference I found so far is that the newbie wasn’t introduced in the anime, who was supposed to have been the one who reported about the findings in the case and not Kirika. His name is Daiki Isurugi, by the way. They also made Kazuma more disrespectful and cold (somewhat) in this episode, because he wasn’t supposed to have left in the middle of the discussion. More of these changes later on as I finish reading the entire 4th volume.

I’m still wondering what Catherine’s role is going to be, since she’s like out of the picture at this point. That’s something good of course, since that means she won’t be playing much of a role in this arc… just some side character :p I’m hoping she remains that way…

It seems that Ayano’s rashness(?) still hasn’t changed much, with the decision she made about breaking through the glass window to get to the rooftop ^^;; And she wasn’t smart enough to figure out where the space distortion really is, to think of jumping off from there ^^;;; She’s still dependent on Kazuma even up to this point, as we’ve seen in her battle with Lapis. She was able to keep up with her after the first few bouts in their battle, but her way of fighting is still brute and rash… I wonder when she’ll be able to formulate a tactic or battle strategy all by herself… I really hope she grows in that aspect.

It has already been mentioned before that Kirika belongs to family of onmyouji (a sorcerer of some sort, who’s capable of driving off spirits and breaking through kekkais or space distortions), but it’s only in this episode that we finally see her in action (at least a bit? Hehe). I’m not sure if she has any offensive spells, and I doubt it will be shown throughout the series :p

Some hints of revelation was mentioned in this episode, where we find out that Kazuma has killed off Wernhard’s boss (for reasons which will be revealed in the next episode). Though I think enough hints were given throughout the series for people to deduce that it has something to do with Tsuoi Rin’s death. It’s evident that Kazuma is still hung up with his painful past, judging from his shock when he saw Lapis. He might have dismissed the fact that Lapis and Tsuoi Rin are the same person, but her presence still affects him because it serves as the very reminder of his past. How Kazuma will get over this past of his will be something to anticipate in the coming episodes…

Oh, and just a side note… Kazuma’s evil laugh makes a comeback ^^;; It’d be really great to read the novel because of the butchering and inconsistencies shown in the anime… sigh~ /me turns to the manga <333