Yipeee, that's gore!! Gore of my comfort character!!!Aikawa's torture arc is finally commencing, I've been waiting for so long!

It's difficult to capture how viscerally gruesome this scene is only with still images because of the excellent sound design and voice acting. I enjoyed hearing Aikawa's cries while he was begging and puking his guts out, which sounded disgustingly realistic. Then there's the flesh tearing, and the wet gurgling while Kai's head was emerging... all accompanied by organ music!

This scene was one of my favourite dream sequences in the entire manga and it's also highly significant for the themes of identity loss and change, so to see it adapted like this after all these years brought a genuine tear to my eye. The environments and art direction have been consistently excellent this season, and here they've managed to capture the surreal horror and oppressive atmosphere of this mental space perfectly.

I'm a bit late but I wanted to share some of my thoughts on Maru's character, the Kalyan situation and also Modulo as a whole now that it's finished.

I've talked about this before, but I find Maru's inner struggle very intriguing, particularly in relation to his twin, so I was looking forward to seeing how that plot thread would ultimately be resolved. I certainly didn't think it would develop in this way, and while I do think it is thematically coherent, the execution itself wasn't quite there for me.

I experienced this portion of the story for the first time in 2021 when it initially came out and I haven't revisited it since then because I honestly thought I couldn't handle it emotionally. I've been in law school for almost three years now and it's become clear that I was right in assuming that Higuruma's backstory would affect me differently now that my perspective on the subject matter has changed so much, especially with such an exceptional adaptation.

It's very difficult to articulate how much this has personally impacted me, but I do want to bring up a few things. I think the way they rearranged certain moments worked particularly well in this episode. These changes further emphasised the similarities between Higuruma and Yuuji, how they are both unable to leave things alone when they believe what's happening is wrong, while Amai turns away from the injustices happening around him so he can continue living comfortably.

I was initially worried that including Reggie's introduction in this episode would take away from Higuruma's story, but it was actually the opposite. He sees potential in the Culling Game because he sees it as a greater force that punishes those who break the established rules without any room for error. It is an unbiased program that isn't affected by self-interest, unlike the corrupt justice system that he abandoned. Higuruma wants to completely lose himself in that and finally close his eyes to all the unbearable nuances of the "real world". Reggie shatters that illusion by revealing that it's all a facade, and he knows that because he can see behind the curtain. He's well aware that this is all playing out according to the whims of one individual.

It's quite adorable that Mahito seemed to be genuinely happy to see Yuuji again. I'm aware that it's mostly because he thought he could finally reincarnate without being instantly vaporised, but I think a part of him was eager to talk to his mirrored self again. Mahito hasn't changed one bit, he is completely incapable of moving on (unlike Yuuji who wasn't affected by their reunion in the slightest). I like how that's reflected in his appearance too, he has that same look of a horrified prey animal he had during his final moments. It's fitting that he is about to be put through the same kind of torment that resulted in his death in the first place. In the contraption you go! He's about to get probed by an alien while his enemy stands there and watches.