Killing Bites

Episode 7

Given the way the series has gone so far, I guess I should have figured that one of this episode's feature scenes was bound to happen at some point; there's an animal ability that turns Hitomi's fight with another Therianthrope into a make-out session.

In this case, she hooks up with Eruza, which makes complete sense since Eruza seems especially susceptible to this kind of attack, even while trying to kill Hitomi for real after Gecko has fled the scene. The culprit? Brute Civet, the hat-sporting blonde we've only glimpsed in previous episodes. Civets were for millennia the source of a musk widely-used in perfume, so that has been extrapolated into giving Brute Civet the ability to generate a cloud of aphrodisiac pheromones that overwhelm her victims with lust. Although she claims that this allows her to control targets, I question how effective that would be in a Destroyal, especially given how some characters intertwine urges of lust and violence. Indeed, this control only lasts until Hitomi remembers that her heart belongs to Shido and uses her feelings for him to override the pheromone effect. Presumably Civet only takes her opponents out while they're distracted, since she doesn't seem to be much of a fighter. I think it's pretty clear that the whole encounter just exists to provide a major excuse for fanservice, which has been rather light since the Destroyal started.

The make-out session isn't the only highlight of the episode. Gecko meets Tiger while retreating and things go poorly with startling speed. While Tiger has been pitched as the top fighter of the bunch, Gecko had proven herself an experienced fighter before, so I have trouble buying that she would be overwhelmed that easily. Still, it looks like she's permanently down for the count. Crocodile is definitely dead, as Yoko's playing piece finally appears and destroys him without transforming, leaving the mystery of his animal type floating until at least next episode. Gorilla is also back in action, although I still can't take him even slightly seriously with those oversized arms on a relatively normal body; it just looks weird rather than intimidating, and his more mild-mannered demeanor doesn't help either. We also finally get to see Ui's contributions, as her tunneling rescues Ichinosuke. I'm starting to really like her as a character, though I did envision a “Whack-a-Rabbit” scenario when she popped up out of one of her holes while Gorilla was looking around. I also don't get why she fled on the ground instead of back into the burrow, which seems like it would have been more to her advantage.

On the human player front, Yoko reveals some backstory to explain her powerfully serious motivations. For all her seriousness, she seems naïve to the point of delusional that getting rid of Shido will return her grandfather from the precipice that he's stepped over, but we'll see. The more interesting points are the upcoming Hitomi/Taiga battle. Now that we're now down three of the original 12 participants, at least there's some plot momentum even if this whole Destroyal still seems to be stretched out.

Rating: B-

Killing Bites is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.