You’d think so, but we’re just over halfway through the season, so there has to be something else.

——

Oh lord, where to even begin.  This is officially the last episode that has to do with the Polyhedron problem, and let me just tell you, any questions or concerns you have get swept under the rug.  The Polyhedron problem itself is a joke; apparently this problem is something that doesn’t have to be solved for another thousand years.  Why then was Dizelmine so obsessed with fixing it during his lifetime?  What was it that they were trying to fix in the first place?  What would the Vox have been able to do to solve this unknown but apparently lethal problem?  We’ll probably never know.  Trying to squeeze two major arcs into twelve episodes is a huge mistake, and I feel like this whole first half of the season was a waste of time.  We didn’t really develop any characters and the only conflict that got solved was the Le Garite and De Metrio conflict (more on that later).

The animation and art quality in this episode was jarringly bad, similar to a problem that happened midway through the first season.  There were several scenes where the proportions were laughably bad, and the faces Lan makes in some of her close-ups were so bad I got secondhand embarrassment for whoever was stuck animating those frames.

My biggest issue with this entire arc is with this dude right here.  Dizelmine is portrayed as being completely out of his head and obsessed with harnessing the power of the Vox to the point where he’s psychologically torturing his little sister and willing to sacrifice the lives of her friends.  Not only do we never know why or what, exactly, he was hoping to accomplish through these deeds, his character took such an abrupt 180 with no explanation that it left me reeling.  He was nuts, very clearly animated to look manic in several scenes, but at the end of his episode he wants to kiss and make up with everyone, including the civilization he wanted to wipe completely off the map.

Dizelmine was a good villain.  He was acting in a way to help his people, and although his actions were misguided, I think he had the potential to be a really interesting character.  I’m genuinely angry that he was completely out of his head one minute and demure and apologetic the next.  And don’t even get me started on how absolutely bug-nutty, bat-shit crazy the rest of the cast is for just being okay with and forgiving without a thought his abuse and attempted genocide.

At the end of this episode we were treated to a glimpse into the final arc, focusing on Asteria.  I’ve always suspected that something wasn’t quite right with her, and the Higurashi-style animation really showed how creepy this has the potential to be (although with how botched Dizelmine’s mania was, I’m not holding my breath).  Asteria is an interesting character, and I’m far more interested in her story and the story of the Vox than some vague event that’s not going to happen for a thousand years.  This upcoming storyline, featuring a character named Queen Maycun, has all the potential in the world, but Rinne no Lagrange has kind of shot itself in the foot this season.  And the leg.  And the arm.  And kind of in the head.

GO Rating: 1.5/5