Just when Michiru finally got settled into her new life
in Anima City, fate throws her the ultimate curveball. Before she became a Beastman, Michiru’s best
friend, Nazuna, became one and was captured by an unknown group. Now Nazuna has resurfaced in Anima City as
the figure head of the Church of the Silver Wolf. As the group grows in popularity thanks to
Nazuna’s unique abilities, Michiru finds the one bond she’s held onto from her
old life tested. But the safe haven for
Beastmen has dark secrets hidden behind closed door and now those secrets are
starting to come out. How far will Michiru
go to keep her best friend in her life and save her new home?
After a strong opening that mixed Studio TRIGGERs expert
animation with smart social commentary, BNA took a second to let the levity in,
even during another serious topic, before diving right into what’s going to be
the core plot of the rest of the series.
Michiru’s time in Anima City is about to get even more interesting and
so’s Shirou’s for that matter.
And yes,
the race relation comparisons continued, showing that the tepid relationship
between Beastmen and Humans hasn’t just recently become strained, it’s always
been that way.
First, the surprising levity.
Michiru getting into Baseball had shades of
FLCL’s fourth episode to it and it was probably the most traditional TRIGGER
fun BNA has been since the beginning.
While there was yet another darker element to explore, in this case the
violent gambling ring the sport had been turned into, watching Michiru step up
to inspire a bunch of Bad News Bears to win at a sport that saw them as
whipping boys produced some great laughs.
Gotta say, Michiru the Baseball pitcher was a whole new level of cute
for the Tanuki girl and she even unleashed some brand new powers to win the
day.
Special shoutout should go to the
side story about the Bears Baseball Coach who loved the sport so much he even
got to play with humans but ended up attacking his team because they were hella
racist towards him.
The world of BNA as
a whole is pretty sad and cruel but Michiru is a bright spot in it all.
After that was done, we got to the meat of the shows
plot.
Nazuna is a tough one to figure
out.
Whatever’s happening to Michiru
with her Beastman abilities happened to Nazuna first and Michiru’s been holding
out hope she could find her one day.
I’m
not sure I buy Nazuna’s goal to be an idol so badly that she’ll cast away her
best friend so carelessly.
Plus, all of
the terrible “truths” she threw at Michiru didn’t vibe either.
Michiru isn’t just looking to solve problems
to feel good about herself and get praise, she’s doing it because she’s a good
person.
Personally, I think Nazuna is in
way over her head with the Church of the Silver Wolf and wants to keep Michiru
away for her own safety.
It’d be cliché
but I hope Nazuna’s not just being nasty to be a straight up rival for Michuru,
the poor Tanuki Girl deserves a win.
The Church of the Silver Wolf, a cult dedicated to the
titular Guardian Deity coincided with the arrival of Alan Sylvasta, the head of
the corporation that helped birth Anima City alongside Mayor Rose.
This guy has been seen a couple of brief
times checking out video of Shirou and Michiru in action and is clearly very
bad news.
He’s very interested in
Beastmen super abilities and their extreme durability.
My guess is: Beastman Bio Weapons, or
genetically altered Super Weapons.
Alan’s been playing a very long game and he made some serious moves by
faking an attempt on his life to get the Church of the Silver Wolf citizenship
to the city for saving him.
Oh and we
got to see some of the fruits of his experiments when an old adversary became
one of these things and nearly killed Shirou and Michiru in the most
bloodsoaked battle BNA has show us yet (and this is coming from a show that’s
had Shirou ripping off horns and antlers when he’s super pissed off).
My only hope is that Alan is the only big bad
and not Mayor Rose as well (I had an iffy feeling about her from the beginning
but I hope BNA isn’t gonna be that cliché considering what we learned about
Rose and Shirou).
Speaking of, Shirou’s the Silver Wolf…ok are we really
surprised by that?
His demeanour, his
immense strength and power and his disdain for Humans?
The signs were all there that Wolf Batman was
actually Wolf Superman.
Anyway, not
being much of a secret aside, Shirou had to bust out his SUPER OKAMI form to
save Michiru from getting killed and holy crap was it awesome, if not brief
cause the Silver Wolf is that OP.
And as
a bonus, Rose revealed Shirou’s bloody history through a beautifully animated
sequence that used motion painting as if you were looking at an animated
mural.
Here, we learned just why Shirou
hates humans and it wasn’t just a one time thing.
We even got to see how Shirou first met Rose
and discover why he’s never changed back into the Silver Wolf until this set of
episodes.
BNA knows how to pour on the
drama and the emotion of a world where equality seems like a far off dream and
prejudice breeds disaster.
The only
question now is what will Michuru do now that she knows Shirou’s secret?
Despite Nazuna trying to push her away,
Michiru is still trying to stay in her life and it looks like she’s set to
learn Shirou’s secret next.
Gotta say…I
don’t think that will go the way Michiru thinks, especially if Nazuna really is
a bad guy and will feel threatened knowing the REAL Silver Wolf could upstage
her at any moment.
One last note: Michiru and Nazuna’s powers.
As I said, they seem to have the same ability
to replicate the powers of multiple Beastmen.
Nazuna can change from Fox to False Silver Wolf and even sprout wings on
her back.
Michiru gained the ability to
run with the legs of a Cheetah and turn her arms into Wings and feet into
Talons.
Oh and when Michiru gets mad her
arms become those of bears for maximum punch capability.
Alan Sylvasta and his group have to be behind
this right?
And if that’s the case, does
that make Michiru and Nazuna prototypes for bigger things?
We’ve seen what happens when they beef up the
powers of Beastmen and now theyre looking to give Beastmen powers to
humans?
I’m not seeing the endgame here
and I hope im surprised during the finale.
At this point I’m just spitballing theories.
At least Michiru’s putting her powers to
better use than Nazuna as she didn’t hesitate to jump to Shirou’s aide and use
all of her newfound skills to fight back against the berserk Doctor Yaba
(seriously, that was a really good fight scene).
There’s only 4 more episodes left to clear up all these
mysteries and watch Anima City get put through the ultimate test.
Between Alan’s machinations, whatever stake
Rose has in this mess, the troublesome Church of the Silver Wolf and whatever
the Anti Beastmen Movement shave in store…this is gonna be an intense freaking
finale for sure.
I just hope it’s as
strong as Kill La Kill and Little Witch Academia and not…you know…Darling in the
Franxx.
See ya Tomorrow for the Series
Finale of BNA: Brand New Anime right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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