Sara Talks Anime

Before I begin, quick rant not about Crunchyroll, but about WordPress. Why the hell did they change the thing for selecting AM/PM for the time from being a nice colored background behind the one you selected to “oh, we’re just gonna lower the transparency of the one you didn’t select”?! Personally, I prefer the previous one, as it was much clearer to tell which one you selected. The one they switched to feels like it’s prone to cause people to misread it and think they selected the right one when they selected the wrong one.

I loved the previous setup, because there was a blatant cue that you had one selected that didn’t require much more digging into. Seeing that get changed into something that looks more minimalist is killing me. Thankfully, I already do a pretty good job at double checking my posts before scheduling them, but I know that not everyone pays as close attention to that kind of thing as I do.

Sorry, I just needed to get my frustrations with WordPress’s decision off of my chest because I don’t think there was any warning for this? At all? Or if there was, then I just don’t know where to look to get these updates. Now, this isn’t a “oh, I’m completely jumping ship” thing. It’s just a change in aesthetic. I don’t think that’s enough to reasonably justify jumping ship from here.

Okay, now that I’m done with that little rant, I can talk about the episode.

I’ll cover things in order of what I think is important, even if these events technically aren’t weaved as different stories and are instead part of the same story.

How Soji Became A Student at Miden Academy

I believe this to be the most important part of the episode. Not because of lore reveals, but because of plot progression. It’s made very clear that if Soji doesn’t pass the Cyberkinesis Output Test, then he’s going to die. The plot would be unable to progress because it’s clear the plot is getting pushed forward because Soji is fighting to take down the ghost account that took out his sister (Place a pin in that. We’ll talk about it later), and people do not like Soji because his cyberkinetic powers are the same as the ghost account that took out Akari. Again, I’ll talk about it later.

This is also where we learn that, when using cyberkinesis, an exorcist’s energy is linked to their phone battery. If their phone dies during combat, then an exorcist is down and out for around five hours. You can’t even use any stimulation to wake them up before their recovery lets them wake up.

I like the usage of imagery as a way to control the power of the cyberkinesis, which in turn causes less battery power to be used by the person using the cyberkinesis. I also really like the moment that caused Soji to realize his unique imagery. It felt really fitting for him as a character.

Though I think the cherry on top of this entire thing is that Miden Academy still serves as a traditional school, meaning that despite all the exorcism stuff, these guys still gotta learn in a standard school curriculum, likely so that if any official people are watching, they think they’re actually following curriculum. That’s the only reason I can think of for the standard school stuff to still be done. Anyway…

Sad Boy K, The Most Powerful Ghost Account

The ghost account that serves as the reason that Akari died, as well as has caused the deaths of others, is called Sad Boy K, and it possesses the same flames that Soji has, which makes it seem like that we’re gonna work toward Soji becoming strong enough to take down Sad Boy K, either all on his own or with the power of ✨friendship✨.

It’s also interesting that Sad Boy K and Soji both have the blue flames. Initially, I was thinking that Soji got the blue flames due to being a ragebaiter, or “flamebaiter” if you insist on me using the proper terms. However, since Sad Boy K is supposedly the ghost account of a child, and I don’t think that children know the intricacies of ragebaiting, it seems like that theory of mine is out the window…unless I’m underestimating how old Sad Boy K is. Then again, I haven’t learned how an exorcist’s cyberkinesis gets picked, so maybe I’m just straight up wrong in my theory.

Maybe a potential explanation is that the cyberkinesis that gets picked is a hint for their specific imagery? Like, not a direct hint, but something that’s closely associated with it.

Additionally, maybe Sad Boy K was trying to take out Soji, but due to Soji already having the blue flames resting within him, it had to go to the next best target, with it determining that to be Akari.

My brain is running wild with theories, and I think that’s a good sign. I’m also genuinely curious in what direction the story will go from here, so I think I’ll stick with Dead Account and see what cards it pulls out from the deck next.

Previous Post: Episode 2 – “Miden Academy”

Next Post: Episode 4 hasn’t aired yet. Assuming that no delays occur, it should go up on January 31st at 5:30 PM (PST).