The Asterisk War

Episode 19

So the new girl Ayato met at the end of last episode not only turns out to be an incredible beauty and genuinely pleasant person, but she's also a powerful enough Genestella that she can put a former Festa contestant down for the count with a single casual kick and a Strega and an idol in disguise who also just happens to be the #1-ranked student at one of the other academies in Asterisk City. And she seems to like Ayato enough to give him her contact info – because, you know, he wants to thank her properly later. Yeah, I'm not seeing any kind of complications coming out of this down the line. Nope, nothing there that could give Julis a run for her money on any level (especially if you consider “top idol” and “princess” to be synonymous in terms of social status).

Of course, the real question is why someone like Sylvia Lyyneheym is slumming it in disguise in a place like the Rotlicht District. She gives zero indication of having any ulterior motive, but even by light novel logic this strikes me as just too much of a coincidence. (She also seems a little too well-informed.) Perhaps this is another behind-the-scenes power play? We'll apparently have to wait for future episodes to get any real inkling on that though, because she does her task – using her Strega power to help Ayato locate Flora – and then departs. Still, the way she goes about it is quite beautiful, including a song sung in English (with impressively close lip-syncing) whose lyrics are at least partly about finding something. The other question that comes up about her is whether or not she's the same orange-haired girl shown very briefly with a young Julis in the opener.

The rest of the episode is split between Julis and Ayato preparing for their final match and Saya and Kirin trying to infiltrate the location where Flora is being held. The latter two have some direct help from Eishirou, although they are (rightfully) suspicious of how easily he gets into the building. Eishirou also has another trump card up his sleeve: he's conned Lester into coming in as back-up. Whether Lester is more irritated by being blackmailed or being relegated to a “hold the line” role is unclear, but he proves quite effective when a bevy of self-replacing shadow creatures start to bog the girls down. Both of the girls get some pretty nifty moves in, though they also both have handicaps (Kirin's injured leg, Saya's limited ammo) that are sure to come into play when they finally meet the ninja guy next episode. Meanwhile, Julis reaffirms that she's now on a better path, including making friends that she feels she can trust, due in no small part to Ayato being her partner as they head toward the start of their final match.

What throws me a little here is that this episode gives off all the vibes of a penultimate episode (though I could see the final fight stretching into two episodes because of the simultaneous rescue effort), and yet we're only halfway through the season. That leaves me wondering what's going to be done with the last 3-4 episodes. Does something else spin directly off the Festa's end, or will they go the common route of using a filler story? At least we do get absolute confirmation that good ol' Dirk is actually behind the kidnapping. (I'd consider him one of the biggest bastards of the year to date if this year wasn't already especially crowded in that department.) At least we have another full episode without hearing Flora's voice. That's worth a step up on the grading scale all on its own.

Rating: B

The Asterisk War is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.