Prophets and Losses – ‘Seven Senses of the Re’Union’ Episode 8 Review

What’s the show? Seven Senses of the Re’Union, Episode 8.

So what happens in this episode? If I recall last week ended on pretty dramatic cliffhanger?! Indeed, last episode ended with Haruto being stabbed in the back by ol’ mate Clive—this episode opens with Haruto waking up in a hospital in the real world, Asahi walks in and tells him he’s been in a coma for the last 6 years! What a twist!

If the protagonist says it I can’t complain about it in a review, right? That’s how this works?

Really?! No not really, while that does ~appear~ to happen, Haruto isn’t buying it and sure enough mysterious loli Elicia shows up to give Haruto a giant exposition dump! What’s actually happening is that the ‘Senses’ (the unique powers some people have in the game) can be used in real life and that’s what’s happened here. When Asahi was so upset that she thought Haruto had died in ‘Re’Union’ she used her ‘Prophet Art’ Sense to change to an alternate universe in order to keep them together (because in this alternate universe she didn’t die in real life 6 years ago after dying in the game, Haruto was the one who died in the game but went into a coma instead). Do you follow me?

Eh, kind of, but not really. I hardly follow you at the best of times if I’m honest… That’s fine, this world doesn’t really matter as after a few minutes things are as if Haruto was never stabbed in the back by Clive and the big fight on the frozen sea continues!

Wait, so Haruto wasn’t stabbed in the back by Clive? The ‘Prophet Art’ negated it somehow so I guess that means the game isn’t permadeath anymore as long as Asahi is nearby? But it’s not really about that right now because the group realises that this ‘Clive’ isn’t the real Clive but rather a shape shifter pretending to be Clive and so the battle continues. The group seems to be doing pretty poorly against this over-powered villain, they’re on the ropes, that is until the real Clive shows up—having disguised himself this whole time as the busty Pirate woman from last episode!

*This* Clive touches his chin, that must mean he’s the *real* one!

My head hurts. So with the real Clive on hand they beat the imposter (who works for Gnosis—an evil group after Asahi’s ‘Prophet Art’ Sense) and with the help of his friends Haruto retrieves his legendary sword!

Right… so uh, let me ask you this question real quick, is this any good anymore? You didn’t let me get to the best part. The real Clive brings with him a piece of the red stone that restores memories and we get yet another titbit about where Asahi has been the past 6 years, turns out Elicia tried (and succeeded?) to rescue Asahi from her captors but I’m not sure if this is the real world or ‘Re’Union’ and gosh, I swear this show used to be easy to understand!

Having troubles? I think the biggest problem I have with this show is that it’s needlessly complicated—like it thinks in order to be a smart and sophisticated show it needs to have twists and turns and slow reveals and shock betrayals and yes, while all those things are interesting in the moment, unless they’re carefully considered and intrinsic to the arc—then they don’t ~actually~ matter! Like the stuff at the start of the episode with Haruto waking up in hospital that stuff was brilliant had me right there with them, eager to see what the heck was going on! But the pay-off, returning to ‘Re’Union’ within 10 minutes, and more or less continuing as if it didn’t happen. Poor form, anime, poor form…

That’s right Asahi, you shoot that snake in the mouth! Not the other way round!

But overall? Overall I like this episode more than I have liked an episode of this show for a while, talking about alternate realities and game powers working in real life—that shit is interesting! But the action-y stuff back in the game, while competent and kinetic, still doesn’t really hold a candle to whatever is happening outside the game. I hope this show can strike a balance, because at the moment it seems far too invested in the stuff in-game, to make the more interesting stuff in the real world feel to matter.