Shinigami Bocchan is another of those long-running series that doesn’t generate discussion around here, which I’ve accepted at this point. A few people read the posts, and that’s fine. Of course with this one commentary has always been pretty sparse, especially after the first season. It’s a good romance that occasionally achieves greatness, but not flashy in any sense (certainly not visually). It plays it pretty straight with the plot and characters, and that ties into the whole sasuga effect again.
The essential nature of this confrontation reminds unchanged. Sade must be convinced to change her ways voluntarily because killing her doesn’t help anything (as Nico would later prove). But Sade is a fundamentally selfish creature, and there remains so obvious upside for her in calling a different tune. That only leaves appealing to her conscience, which is an unappealing proposition. Zain is left carrying an awful lot of the load here – not only is he in charge of transportation, but he’s the front lines in the fight against Sade (which is what this still is).
The fundamental weakness of Zain’s magic as a weapon is obvious here. It’s extraordinarily powerful, but he can’t just freeze Sade forever and accomplish anything. And he’s just not the sort of guy to take someone out while they’re helpless. In the hands of someone like Sade this magic would be truly terrible, but all it does is (ironically) buy him time. Meanwhile Walter comes out of Daleth’s illusion depleted but alive, and seeing that he truly is in love with her future self is enough to make past Daleth question her own worthlessness. She’s yet another who’s been screwed by Sade yet remains determined to give her another chance.
Past Daleth’s decision to stand down allows the others to enter the fray, but not before Walter’s Daleth returns him to the safety of the future. Sade, meanwhile, waits out the increasingly weakened Zain and eventually gives him a serious ass-kicking. That leaves Flea to rescue him, but fortunately Flea is an extremely powerful wizard. He boots Sade a safe distance away (she hangs out smoking a hookah to wait for him, ROFL), and slaps a barrier spell on Bocchan so he and Alice can carry Zain back to the future. After she cops a quick self-feel, they’re off – and Alice stays with Walter and the others as the B-team (in name only) enters the arena.
If there’s one kernel of hope in all this, it’s that Sade is questioning why it was she cursed Bocchan in the first place. And that tracks, because it never really made sense unless she just straight-out lost it after Victor died. Now, facing her most powerful foe and eventual doom-bringer in Nico, it’s approaching put up or shut up time for the whole “let’s be friends with Sade” gambit. If Nico – who lost so many friends to her – is willing to swallow his hatred and cut a deal (which unlike in her case has direct benefits for him), then the onus truly is completely on Sade now.
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