Devil Survivor 2 Episode 13
What They Say:
The old world is gone, and Yamato stands poised to remake the world as he sees fit. Hibiki is determined to thwart him, but it will take all his resources as Yamato reveals the true extent of the demon-summoning app’s powers. Using its function of demonic fusion, Yamato brings forth Satan himself. In the end, only one will stand before Polaris, who will grant not simply an audience — to the victor will go the chance to wish for anything they desire.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the world came to an end in the previous episode in a fairly dramatic way that worked beautifully both visually and emotionally with those that were lost, it’s all come down, at least for now, to the encounter between Hibiki and Yamato. Each have their reasons for going forward in the paths they choose here and with Yamato looking to remake everything in his own way, it’s no surprise that Hibiki will push back against him. Yamato has gone a little bit fanatical in a way, believing that he and Hibiki were given the powers they have for a reason so they can settle it out here and now as to how it should all go, and he’s convinced that he’s the one that Polaris will see at the end.
The opening half of the episode is pretty much an intense display of words and actions between the two across an immense scale. Visually, it’s certainly plenty engaging to see the way it’s done, from the battle between the summoned beasts to the whole gears falling aspect which is just beautiful to watch. But it’s also just more of the same as the two of them spar with words and never really get anywhere. Neither will change the other when it comes to their beliefs on what must be done, especially since Yamato is definitely shifting more to the fanatic side here. Hibiki stays true to what he believes in as well, wanting to try and salvage who Yamato is and the friend that he saw in him, and it’s good in a way to see that both of them are just so true to who they are, even if it is something that will lead to more destruction and chaos.
Though it does go to a large scale here in how the two go at it, it all comes down to the small quiet moments and that brings some closure perfectly. The epilogue to the show is one that is definitely “anime” in nature as it takes us back to the very beginning of the series and starts to relive certain events, but with Hibiki having remembered all that really happened. It’s an interesting premise to work with, and you wonder if there really were any changes below the surface that he tried to rework into this new reality, but mostly it just kind of leaves you with the obvious deja vu sense without the right kind of payoff. It is good to see those who died in the battles and the summonings back in their normal lives once again, and it doesn’t really erase their contributions during the seven days, but it still feels just a bit off and too neatly wrapped up with a little bow.
In Summary:
Devil Survivor 2 has me hooked pretty hard from the get go and it did carry me through with a lot of the episodes, but not consistently. The show works with some familiar ideas and does it well even if you can see all the video game rpg elements coming to light very easily. What helped it was the great visuals, dark and murky as they get at times, and the overall sense of atmosphere that they played with. These ideas worked for me and I liked the characters and the shifting focus at times. With the finale, it does pretty much play out as you’d expect with some big moments and then a lengthy epilogue that in most ways simply resets everything back to square one. Which isn’t bad as we know that it all happened, but it still feels like a weak move to me instead of trying to do something. Or, honestly, say something with how everything could be reshaped. In the end, they play it safe and it shows.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.