So humanity’s decline apparently means slipping into a disconnect.

——

I knew from the first scene that this episode would get very interesting in regards to the Fairies’ next trick, and all it took was for a group of them to suggest cloning. Right after that, when I saw a dog transform into a Mediator clone, I immediately thought that somehow, Dolly would be involved. Thankfully I was wrong on that front, but it didn’t stop the Fairies from using their magic to make bananas ultra slippery and pulling through with this strange time disconnects that puts Endless Eight to shame. The anime gods were merciful this time. 

However, I’m not going to play along and say that I got everything. I was utterly confused, even discouraged. I understood the quirks of the paradoxes (or paradogs) and the nature of the Fairies’ new whims but boy, I just felt that it was jumping from one repeated scene to the next without regard for Mediator’s safety. I’m going to say that I am right because eventually, she loses her giant sundial watch and the “clones” start to mind screw more, especially concerning the mysterious knowledge of the Assistant’s Aloha shirt. 

Judging from more jumping around and Mediator’s overall attitude, this is even before the previous arc before she had any sort of human aide by her side. I’m not loving the reverse chronological order all too much, but I’m putting my trust that there is a point to this maneuver. 

I do have some good things to say about this episode, and it is that the cloning and time paradox aspects are interesting. It’s certainly my kind of attention-grabber and immediately I thought of Steins;Gate with the bananas and Suzumiya Haruhi’s Endless Eight fiasco when she kept slipping into a new disconnect. And when things got more screwy and inconsistent, shades of some other time traveling/world-hopping titles came to mind, like Chrono Trigger/Cross, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and even bits of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. 

I say it’s a good watch and an intriguing way to introduce Assistant’s character at a more formal level. As usual, this is only half the arc so final thoughts should be more complete after next week’s episode. 

GO Rating: 3/5

Now what to do with all the extra Mediators…