Back Arrow

Episode 14

Princess Fine and the Emperor's battle enters a new phase. As her darker personality takes over, Princess Fine has the Emperor on the ropes. She gloats over him and grinds her Briheight's high heel into his faceplate, cackling with glee. Surprisingly, the Emperor can absorb Briheight particles and wears entire sleeves of Warp Binders along both of his arms to contain his conviction. Back Arrow jumps into the fray and uses his Saberblow to de-escalate Princess Fine's rage, turning her back to her normal self.

Additionally, the Rekka forces advance on the Granedger. Shu unleashes the Granedger's Granarrow cannon, a superweapon that emits a huge beam that defeats Rekka's armies without killing them, thanks to the use of Back Arrow's particles. Rekka's forces advance on foot, heedless of the danger, and as Prax and the other Lutoh warriors keep fighting they are mowed down in droves. Princess Fine uses her healing powers to resurrect all the fallen soldiers, including those of Rekka. This allows them to reach a temporary peace with Rekka, and the battle ends with Princes Fine and Emperor Zetsu shaking hands. The Lutoh forces return home but do not find a joyful populace. The Elect Supreme had carefully cut off the broadcast before peace and victory were achieved, and the people are furious, even throwing stones at Princess Fine and striking her as the episode draws to a close.

Oh ho ho ho, the plot thickens.

Back Arrow pulls another surprise from its sleeve. I expected the battle between Princess Fine and Emperor Zetsu to last a bit longer, and now the war is… over? For the meantime, at least. Given Zetsu's ominous words near the end, and especially how the Granedger/Back Arrow team's contribution was not that vital to the outcome, I don't see the conflict ending here.

The exchange between Princess Fine and Emperor Zetsu during their battle probably bears mentioning. Depending on which mecha series you've seen, their interaction would have either come off as completely devoid of subtext or surprisingly reserved. As much as people think mecha series are about the robots (which they are, don't get me wrong), battles that essentially boil down to “Oh you wanna kiss me so bad right now” are incredibly common. This had the interesting new twist of a magical high heel being absorbed by an evil robot's metal grill, which is neat.

Overall, I'm really curious to see how Back Arrow's continued theme of deceptively simple political situations unfolds over the next few weeks. The Elect Supreme may end up being our ultimate big bad evil guy...

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Back Arrow is currently streaming on FUNimation Entertainment.