Miken: Told you this would be atrociously late — and I was VERY right. As such, the post style has been changed up a little bit in order to accommodate multiple episodes. This means very large blocks of tl;dr. Also, Angel’s out this week on account of midterms, she should be back for 18…or if I’m exceptionally lazy, a 17-18 post.

Episode 11: (II-VI) Black Rank Mate

Shannon and George are offed when they make a very nearly final declaration of love — since Beato isn’t really into that mushy stuff. The corpses of Doctor Nanjo and Kumasawa are also found…and then the three remaining Ushiromiya family members go upstairs and find the corpses George, Shannon and Gohda. After talking over the Epitaph, the three head back to the parlor and leave Genji by his lonesome. In the parlor, Battler finds another letter, causing Rosa to pin him as a “wolf”. Battler counters with the claim that Rosa is just as suspicious as he is and asks why she wasn’t in the chapel when the 6 other adults were killed. Maria steps in and says that the witch did it with her magic, and it was neither Battler nor Rosa who placed it.

After Kinzo gets a special guest knocking at his door, Genji comes and brings Battler to Kinzo’s study, where it is filled with golden butterflies and where Beato and Kinzo are sharing a chess game. Battler demands some answers and Beato says she will only when he accepts her existence and kneels and kisses her feet — which he accepts. Rosa also takes a piece of gold from the pumpkin in the chapel and she and Maria are confronted by the goat butlers on their way back to the main house. Battler and Kinzo are also torn to pieces by the goat butlers……But when Rosa finally gives in during her “feast”, courtesy of Beatrice, Battler returns.

After all those events, Beatrice and Bernkastel share some tea and discuss the ending of this portion of the game. A new witch, Lambdadelta, decides to pop in for the sake of aiding Beatrice just to oppose Bernkastel.

Miken: Battler’s return was awesome~ Though his comment to Maria was kinda squicky…though Japan is more open towards the whole cousin-love thing than western countries. Rosa’s feast, though, on a whole was pretty disgusting and somewhat scarring. Especially with that fish covered by Rudolf’s face. Maria’s head rolling around on the platter helped none too…On the topic of disgusting and scarring, Battler’s little ritual thing of surrender was really creepy, though it might have just been seeing all of those Goat Butlers appearing en masse. Overall, a nice end to the second cycle.

Miken’s Enjoyment Level: 8.5/10

Episode 12: (III-I) Castling

In a different time with a more Moe Beatrice, we have some background on our favorite witch. Namely, that there was another witch named Beatrice before her with the same golden butterfly motif. After Moetrice’s broken vase problem is solved, a cat comes by and breaks the “fixed” vase. We learn that magic is only temporary and that the mast of the old Beatrice truly knew Eternal magic as one of the Eternal Class of witches. Moetrice is thus inspired to become a pupil under Beatrice. At some other undisclosed time, Eva’s arguing her place in the family since, as a woman, her “place” in the family is to marry some rich guy. It doesn’t help that Krauss is silently mocking her behind Kinzo’s back. Out in the garden, the young Eva is talking to herself…and then literallly talking to an even younger version of herself — a younger version who’s well-versed in magic and already knows the Epitaph…….And it was all a dream!

Since this is the start of a new game, we have some light banter as the kids meet up at the beach and exchange stories. They agree to always be friends despite their parents’ quarrels. So they all pledge to be happy and together forever. Of course, with this being Beato’s island, she declares that she won’t let them from within her…Tea-parlor-place-ish. Back on the island, Beatrice fixes up Maria’s rose and tells her that she can become a witch too when Maria declares her desire, since Beato wished for the same thing, and then she gives Maria a letter. She then shouts her declaration of war to Kinzo and recieves his ring as he tosses it out the window, but as she reaches to catch it…someone else does it for her.

His name is Ronove, 27th highest ranked noble of Hell and “head furniture” to Beatrice. Battler doesn’t like that all these new pieces are showing up, but then again, he has no say in this. In the dining room, Maria’s reading the letter with the same reactions as before. Except this time, Eva pipes up and says that this is a challenge from Kinzo to determine who should be his heir, thus throwing the adults up in arms about the whole thing as well as the existence of Beatrice/the mysterious 19th person. Kyrie throws her own wrench into the works and points out that Beatrice probably already has the gold and wants to trade it for the inheritance. This not only makes the prouder members of the family furious, but it also gives Eva, who’s getting advice from her younger counterpart, a chance to inherit when she had no place before.

In the Meta-World Tea Parlor, Beatrice and Battler get their pre-game speeches down — with Battler showing more bearing than before. He manages to logically pin Beatrice to a point where she refuses to state in red that there are only 18 people while also declaring that he would prove that the outside culprit is not a witch…Namely, the human Beatrice. When he asks her to state in red that there are at least 19 people on the island, she refuses again, giving Battler a leg up.

In the dining room, Rosa whispers that Beatrice is dead…because she killed her.

Miken: *apologizes for tl;dr* Ronove is totally welcome in this series~ He’s so awesome with his more civilized humor and “nice guy” approach to the antagonist’s side. So…Eva’s having visions of a younger self? That doesn’t bode well, since lack of sanity usually means bad baaaaad things in the ___ no Naku Koro Ni series. Overall, not that much of an amusing episode despite some somewhat high points.

Miken’s Enjoyment Level: 7.8/10

Episode 13: (III-II) Gambit

Rosa explains how she ended up killing Beatrice about 20 years ago…Of how she befriended Beatrice in a mansion hidden deep within the forest of Rokkenjima and how she convinced this naive Beatrice to leave the confinement of that prison. Though, in the Meta-World, Battler remains suspicious and decides not to trust this story, despite Ronove’s explanation. Ronove then shows off his red-text skills (despite supposedly not being allowed to as just a demon) as he confirms that a mansion called Kuwadorian truly does exist in the forest of Rokkenjima.  Ronove then also confirms that in 1967, Beatrice existed as a human on Rokkenjima. Back in the memory, Beatrice falls as she walks alongside a cliff with Rosa, when she dies, she remembers her past as an Endless Witch and decides to wreak havoc for being imprisoned by Kinzo. Beatrice returns to the Meta-World now, proclaiming in red that the body is indeed dead. Now she freely declares in red that there are no more than 18 people on Rokkenjima, erasing Battler’s advantage.

Back with the normal timeline, Shannon has already received the ring from George and is called to Kinzo’s study by Genji and Kanon, where Beatrice is playing chess with their master. It’s a pseudo-reunion for Kinzo’s furniture and Ronove. Beatrice quickly does away with Kinzo by having him combust — Shannon and Genji also agree to be two more sacrifices for the first twilight. However, Kanon does not agree and is faced in battle with the 7 Stakes of Purgatory, ultimately ending with Shannon protecting him only for the two of them to be allowed to “rest” by Genji, who, in turn, receives his “rest” from Ronove. Later, Gohda is killed by the stakes, but when the girls go after Kumasawa, they find that they are blocked by magic, and it is revealed that Kumasawa was Beatrice’s teacher — the former Beatrice.

Miken: I liked the new background on Beatrice — it adds a dimension to the crazy woman we see tearing people’s faces off, stuffing candy into the stomachs of corpses, etc…It lets us sympathize with her more and makes me want to go ~moe~ over her previous naivety. It’s too bad that she had to die and become crazy again, though I suppose we should thank her host’s untimely death for letter her set this series up. Kanon’s battle was super fun to watch too~

Miken’s Enjoyment Level: 9/10

Episode 14: (III-III) Positional Play

Beatrice and her teacher battle over the right to the name and title of “Beatrice”. After some flashy play, Beatrice one-ups her teacher. Of course, now Battler’s pouting about having no freaking way of refuting magic after that display. Back on the island, the adults are still thinking over their situation, when they opt to take a break, they notice the (now familiar to us) pentacles painted on the kitchen doors with blood with a similar ones scattered around the house. In the Meta-World, Battler questions if it’s even possible for him to win this game, but he receives much needed help from the former Beatrice, who offers to teach him some magic though somehow making it seem more…logical by explaining how both the existence and lack if existence of magic could still exist at the same time. He accepts her offer to give advice and calls her “Virgilia”. Then he reappears in Beatrice’s tea parlor with his fighting spirit and wit replenished, using Virgilia’s explanation of Schrodinger’s Cat to throw Beato off. Then, Virgilia enters the parlor and the true battle of wits begins~

In a room of the Ushiromiya mansion, some people are crying, some people are playing Go and some people are discussing the bodies that they found. Within the Meta-World tea parlor, body counts go as keys are found within each separate closed room to the next closed room/victim  with the usual “There are only 5 master keys, one for each servant“. All rooms are closed rooms with the victims being Shannon, Kumasawa, Godha, Genji , Kinzo and Kanon. The 6 closed rooms make one big closed room scenario. Beato quickly rules out an outside killer and traps, though Battler flips the chessboard and points out that this may have been a murder-suicide situation. Battler asks Beato to state in red that all 6 were killed by other people, but she refuses. When Battler calls her out on it, she does so, but twists his phrase into “None of the six committed suicide“, but Virgilia catches her trick, leading Battler to come up with the possibility that one was neither a homicide or a suicide. Beato tries to refute that by stating it in red, but Ronove stops her. Back on the island, Eva’s finally solved the riddle with the help of her younger self in a dream and finds herself the key to the Golden Land.

Miken: The battle was very enjoyable and I loved it when Ronove chided Beatrice for her inelegant laugh. Other than that, it was more of the same logic. Still, with the addition of Virgilia, this game has gotten much more interesting. Now both sides have a strong ally . Also, Battler has a somewhat strange but usable excuse for refuting magic even though he sees it. This allows the game to continue, which is great, but I’m left even more confused than before. And ooooh~ Eva found the gold! This definitely marks cycle 3 apart from the previous two.

Miken’s Enjoyment Level: 8/10

Episode 15: (III-IV) Isolated Pawn

Rosa finds the gold just a moment later so instead of shooting one another,  she and Eva cut a deal for Eva to cover Rosa’s debts while she promises not to tell the others about finding the gold just yet  so Eva can find a way to rub it in the faces of Rudolf and Krauss. However, Beato only accepts the young Eva as the one who solved the riddle, and this little one doesn’t like to share. Eva receives Kinzo’s ring as well as the titles of “Endless” and “Golden” to accompany her new name of Beatrice a nice gift of Beatrice’s furniture. A wardrobe change and some introductions later and Evatrice is ready to take on the world! Of course, in the Meta-World, Beato reveals that the whole ceremony was phony and that the young Eva should be accepted as a being within Eva. When Beatrice asks to be renamed by Battler, he settles for just calling her “Beato”. Back with the adults on the island, Eva and Rosa return to the room, but Eva is escorted out on account of a fever. In their room, she tells Hideyoshi that she never believed in Beatrice, and thought that if there was ever a witch on Rokkenjima, it would be the one in her heart, making the existence of Evatrice somewhat explained.

Outside the room, Maria’s crying about her rose and continues to cry even when Hideyoshi implores her to be more quiet. So, Rosa takes Maria outside to find the rose and Eva appears too, but this one doesn’t want to give Rosa her share, thus tipping us off that she’s Evatrice. Meanwhile, the adult Eva is screaming in anguish in her room. Back outside, Evatrice has her fun killing Rosa and Maria a couple times till Battler tells Beato to stop it as they watch from the Meta-World and slaps her when she continues joking and calls her a monster.  With some sense knocked into her, Beato begins some sort of reasoning and after Battler and Virgilia leave, Ronove points out that Battler may not find the same things interesting to him that she has. In guilt of making Battler so angry, Beato comes and stops the process by killing Rosa and Maria once and for all pretty calmly, albeit with some guilt. She tells Evatrice to kill with dignity and grace, though Evatrice calls Beato boring after all’s said and done.

Miken: Finally Beato has some sense knocked into her~ Now we can have a nice mix of a still slightly mentally unstable Beato and that ~moe~ Beato we saw before in the flashback. I still think giving the prize to the young Eva was a horrible choice on Beato’s part. Sure, Evatrice helped her older, tangible counterpart with clues, but it was still Eva who pieced the parts together. I’m not saying that just because Evatrice is just so annoying in her cruely (while Beato is FIERCE) — though you could say that I’m biased. Actually…if Rosa got there first, there wouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Miken’s Enjoyment Level: 8.4/10

Episode 16: (III-V) Queening Square

Rudolf goes outside to look for Rosa and Maria while Eva’s still having her delusions. Outside, Rudolf finds Maria and Rosa’s corpses…In the Meta-World, Battler’s still angry at Beato, but he makes a somewhat rational “conclusion” as to the deaths of the two through non-magical means, but Beato’s still uncomfortable with Battler’s hate and Ronove takes over. Still, Battler’s previous proposal is shot down by Ronove who states that “Rosa and Maria were killed by other people“. Meanwhile, the adults mull over the circumstances of the deaths too and Natsuhi proposes that they stop suspecting one another and prioritize safety. In some Meta-World for Evas only, Evatrice admits to killing the two and Eva begs her to stop there since she’s already received the gold and the headship, but is flatly denied. However she gets the reconciliation that her family (Hideyoshi and George) will be spared, though.

Rudolf, Kyrie and Hideyoshi head towards the main house now to check things out and get some food. Evatrice locks the exits behind them and summons Leviathan of Envy and Belphegor of Sloth. She orders them to attack Rudolf and Kyrie while avoiding Hideyoshi. They agree though they are restrained somewhat by Beato’s request to refrain from unnecessary cruelty. In he kitchen, Kyrie feels a chill and they head towards the main door since the kitchen’s is locked. When they meet up with the two stakes, Rudolf and Kyrie shoot before introductions and then they split and run. Rudolf and Kyrie put up a good fight, revealing more of themselves (since they died the first twilight the previous two times). Leviathan and Kyrie also agree that Envy is the source of a woman’s power. While Leviathan envied for 7 days and 7 nights, Kyrie envied for 18 years — she had been Rudolf’s first love, but he had married Asumu, who gave birth to Battler while her own baby was stillborn.

Thus, Belphegor falls while protecting Evatrice and Kyrie’s envy beats Leviathan’s, so they meet up again and face Evatrice. However, Evatrice calls upon newer, stronger furniture — bunnygirls Siesta 410 and Siesta 45, who battle in a more data-oriented manner. Rudolf and Kyrie are killed quickly and plays a bit with their bodies. Hideyoshi confronts her, slapping her and calling her a coward and a weakling, but with less success than Battler had last episode and ends up with a bullet in his back. When Beato comes to call her out on it, Evatrice reveals her knowledge of Beato’s game with Battler and how she’s just trying to please him.

Back in the Meta-World, Virgilia narrates how the corpses are found and Battler begins to state his theory, but Ronove already refuses because he’s just a representative. To continue, Battler will have to acknowledge Beato as his opponent again. Battler refuses, but Ronove and Virgilia plead him.

In the garden of Kuwadorian in the Meta-World, Virgilia gives some reassurance to Beato. Saying that Evatrice is happy being a witch in the present world, but Beato wants to be acknowledged outside the game board too. She also explains that Battler’s reason for playing the game is because he refuses to believe that such a cruel witch exists. She tells her that the game isn’t one of torture or forcing Battler to surrender, but one of acknowledgment. She implores Beato to apologize to Battler and return to her seat — to which Beato agrees.

Miken: *apologizes for the tl;dr* I like this new ~softer~ Beato just as much as the maniacal one. Nice battle music too~~ even though half the time the music series is kind of out of place because you can easily tell the tunes are pulled from the game. Also, Kyrie’s envy totally trumps Leviathan’s. I could definitely see a woman going batshit insane if she had to bear with that much jealousy over so much time and yet she’s probably the sanest of the family. Despite being dead for most of the episodes so far, she’s got to be one of my favorites~ On the flipside, Evatrice can go die endlessly in the pits of hell. >:C

Miken’s Enjoyment Level: 9/10

Conclusions and Ratings

Miken: Sorry again for the lateness and the tl;dr! No death chart this time or later…o-orz, I reformatted and lost the PSD and all my blood splatter brushes. D:

As for the series so far — I still love it! Where Kimi ni Todoke and Kobato now fill my optimistic anime list, this series continually brings up my adrenaline and isn’t afraid to show some blood. Evatrice’s ascension was a nice touch despite my disliking of her so far. It sets cycle 3 apart and gives it a good sense of mystery, since a new factor has been introduced and is probably even less mentally stable than Beato. I can’t wait to see how the rest of this cycle will play out~ I also love the new dynamics between Beato and Battler — Beato’s gotten mellower and more controlled with her killings due to her want of acknowledgment being pointed out by Virgilia while Battler’s just as awesome as ever, but with much more determination for ending all of this despite the odds stacked against him.

Miken’s Anticipation Level: 8.7/10

Next Time: III-VI — promotion

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