Gachiakuta is on a hell of a roll lately. But I don’t think it’s strictly a streak so much as just what this series is. It really is the sweet spot for a classic battle shounen. It’s clearly in the tradition of the trail-blazing kaijuu of the demographic (more from Jump than anywhere else) but blazes its own trail just enough to never feel derivative. That it’s popular surprises me not at all – I’ve been championing Gachiakuta basically from the first chapter. The only surprise for me is that it hasn’t hit even bigger.
The focus now turns laser-like on the Watchmen Series. No one we’ve met knows exactly what they are. That includes Zodyl, but he’s the source of what knowledge we do get. He’s experimented with them, is probably obsessed with them. Her tells Rudo (and us) they’ve been around longer than any other vital instrument. That they’re far more powerful. He performed experiments trying to create Watchman items himself, and failed. But those failures did yield a result – an item which, independent of Zodyl’s intentions, formed the core of an “artificial” trash beast. One he tells Rudo they’re going to use to fly all the way to the Sphere.
Perhaps most pertinent to what’s come before in the story, Zodyl also tells Rudo that the Watchman Series were all created – and used – by a single person. And that any human who uses even one of them now is driven to madness (as we’ve seen in the Amo storyline). So why didn’t that happen with Rudo – and indeed, at least not overtly with Zodyl? It’s no wonder Zodyl is so interested in the boy, and his theory as to why they’re the exception is that they’re both fundamentally missing something as humans. Just what that is he doesn’t know, or at the very least isn’t letting on.
So here we are then. Zodyl has created a trash beast that can fly, and it “evolves” with every vital instrument he feeds it. It’s large enough to have been the setting for this entire arc post-restaurant, which our Cleaner friends all react rather theatrically to finding out. Zodyl seems to be losing patience with the stragglers in his fighting squad, as there are signs the great beast is about to take flight. Both Fu and Bundus are quite disquieted at this. Fu tries desperately once more to get Enjin to attack him, and Enjin again refuses to be baited. Whatever game Fu is playing he’s losing interest – he resolves to find his comrades as soon as possible.
The biggest developments, however, come with the Bundus group. As with Enjin the realization that they’re inside a trash beast has prompted Bro and Dear Santa to stop waiting out their passive opponents. Anime’s other boy Santa takes center stage, as we finally see his and Bro’s Jinki in action. Not only that, Dear finally speaks (in the voice of Saitou Hana). It’s only one word, but that word is “Centrelian” – the name of his vital instrument, the ever-present pacifier. As for Bro his Jinki is “Cloth”, which he promptly uses to hurl Dear through the air (much to Bundus’ surprise).
It would be no exaggeration to say Dear Santa is one of the more mysterious Cleaners in the cast. But it’s clear – he’s freaky powerful. His vital instrument draws strength from whatever he hits, each blow making him stronger. Using it he manages to bust through the “walls” of whatever chamber the Bundus confrontation is taking place in. It’s not clear whether this humongous trash beast can feel pain – nor even if it can properly be called a living thing. But if either is true, it probably isn’t going to be happy at this turn of events…
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