Buckle your seat belts, boys. This episode has a ton of moving parts. Various individuals and factions move themselves into place for an epic showdown.

— In the cold opening, a representative of the Alma Company — and by extension, the vampires — inform the leader of the Hyakko Party that they will no longer be funding his anti-government activities. Kershner blames it on their lack of description, but I bet you anything they would’ve cut ties by now anyways.

— Needless to say, the Hyakko Party is not a fan of bad news. They’re well aware that they’re up against vampires, but this doesn’t seem to bother them one bit. Hm.

— After the OP, the Jaegers have noticed that the Hyakko Party have stopped attacking scientists and researchers. This means that the vampires are done with the first phase of whatever they’re doing. Look, they’re stealing body parts, and we have a show full of vampires and werewolves. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that we’ll soon have Frankenstein on our hands. But what’s next? A mummy? Who else can we pull in from the monster squad?

— As for Yuliy, he seems to have mostly recovered from his psychological malaise.

— Ryoko drops by to invite the Jaegers to join her and her father for dinner. As soon as she sees Yuliy, she starts blushing like a schoolgirl. Hell, she is a schoolgirl. Hormones are running high, and what Japanese maiden wouldn’t find herself smitten by a werewolf? Tell me that.

— The girl’s obvious feelings for Yuliy don’t go unnoticed either… by Dorothea and Philip, at least. Our hero’s too fixated on the task at hand, i.e. his onii-chan. As for Fallon, well…

— But enough about Ryoko! I actually think her characterization becomes more and more hilarious as each week passes by, but I’ll get to that later. For now, we have plot to cover! Lots and lots of plot!

— For instance, Willard goes to have a friendly chat with the Alma Company. He learns that his rivals have been supplying weapons and weapons tech to the Japanese military. Oh boy.

— The leader of the Jaeger then has an uncomfortable encounter with Iba in the elevator, but nothing particularly mind-shattering is revealed her. The army’s secret agent merely clues Willard in on the fact that he’s been tracking their movements. You try to make people nervous. When people get nervous, they make mistakes. I think Willard’s a little too stone-cold to fall for that, though.

— And now, the perspective passes off to Iba, who bumps into General Kakizaki in the streets. It’s just non-stop. The top military brass is working towards acquiring a weapon that will give Japan a major advantage in war. After all, we are in that time period. Japan’s imperialistic ambitions will not be curtailed.

— As you can see, it’s all connected. Hyakko Party helped the vampires steal research and technology from a bunch of scientists. The vampires — under the guise of the Alma Company — are then developing a weapon for the Japanese military. But what the vampires truly want is to secure their superiority over humans as the dominant species on this planet. Is Frankenstein supposed to help them accomplish this? Or that stupid Sirius’s Ark thing that they keep bringing up? Speaking of which, we still don’t know what Sirius’s Ark is nor how it supposedly helps the vampires.

— In any case, the Jaegers realize that the vampires and the Hyakko Party are no longer BFFs. They’ll need to split up to tackle both problems. Yuliy quickly volunteers himself to go after the vampires and whatever military exercise that they are assisting in. Not only does he still want revenge against them, he’s also after his precious onii-chan. What I’m curious by is the lack of discussion amongst the other Jaegers. Yuliy is obviously running high on emotions. Is it wise to let him go after the vampires? Isn’t there a high chance that he’ll do something reckless? Dorothea will accompany our hero, but I doubt anyone can really rein him in. Yuliy’s known for “improvising” in the heat of the moment.

— Elsewhere, Iba tells his team that he’ll also be investigating the military exercise. We’re on course for a crash collision between several individuals and factions.

— But for now, let’s have dinner. Sashimi is delicious, Philip. Eat up.

— Ryoko’s dad quickly embarrasses her at the dinner table. No teenage girl wants her crush to know how much she likes to eat. I like to think that the dad is doing this on purpose, because if I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease my daughter either. But he’s probably just oblivious.

— Speaking of oblivious, Yuliy is lost in his own head at the dinner table. He’s neither looking at nor speaking to anybody. Still, Willard announces that a few members will soon be going on a little trip. Ryoko instantly wants to know who’s leaving. It’s Yuliy, of course! Dorothea’s antics also don’t help put the girl’s mind at ease at all.

— Meanwhile, we finally get to see Frankenstein. Not only that, he’s laying waste to everyone and everything around him. Oh boy. I’m just not convinced that this thing is such a fearsome weapon. Maybe the vampires can mass produce these freaks of nature. Maybe. But until then, am I really supposed to believe that a coordinated battalion can’t take out one gangly-looking monster? It looks like you could easily trip it up with some goddamn ropes. And what would it even do to tanks? And bombers way up high?

— We shift perspectives again. This time, we catch up with Yevgraf in (I assume) Russia. He’s talking to some old fogey vampires. Not only that, these old fogeys appear to be literally hanging upside-down. ‘Cause they’re bats, I guess. Sorry, but it looks kinda dumb.

— Pfft, of course… of course we’d have loli vampires.

— Anyways, Yevgraf is fixated on the Ark. The old fogey vampires would rather just sit around and die. Um, okay. Meanwhile, Kershner is putting his money on his little Frankenstein pet. I just wish I knew why the Ark is so important. And what is the Ark? Is Yuliy the Ark? Or does Yuliy somehow help them get to it?

— The next day, Yuliy and Dorothea make their way onto a train for their trip. We soon see that Ryoko has decided to follow them. What on earth is that girl thinking? Does she really have nothing better to do than to stalk Yuliy? I wonder if Ryoko would’ve stayed home if Dorothea hadn’t teased her at dinner last night. Maybe she’s only here because she’s afraid that something might happen between her crush and the dark-skinned woman.

— Iba is also on this train, though. Like I said, we’re headed for a crash collision.

— Dorothea is curious about Yuliy and his intentions, but he never told her about his brother Mikhail, did he?

— As soon as these two leave the capital, however, the Hyakko Party attacks the Alma Company. You can’t hang out with wolves and expect not to get bitten.

— Meanwhile, Willard explains why we haven’t seen any female vampires undergo a transformation. There are two types of vampires: Royals and Slaves. Slaves have to transform in combat. Also, they need protection from the sun. Meanwhile, Royals can keep their human appearance and have no issues with the sun at all. Okay then.

— During a brief stop, Iba hears that Kakizaki is on a train headed back to Tokyo. That train just happens to be in the same station. He quickly decides that he needs to speak to the general.

— Yuliy can track vampires by the scent of their blood, so he’s also drawn to the same train. As a result, he quickly improvises in the middle of the mission and drags Dorothea along with him. Vampires, man, vampires!

— Last but not least, Ryoko also decides to tag along! She has no clue what these two are doing. She has no clue what their mission is at all! I mean, she’s seen the vampires, so she should know that Yuliy is involved in something very, very dangerous. Nevertheless, she won’t quit! She won’t stop! Look how determined she is! It’s hilarious. She’s barely even spoken to the guy, and he’s been cold to her every step of the way. And yet, she can’t help but follow him everywhere like a sad puppy (how ironic). Everyone else is on some super important mission. The Jaegers want to stop the vampires. The vampires want world domination. Iba just wants to protect Japan. Meanwhile, Ryoko wants some werewolf bishie. That’s it.

— Seeing the attack on the Alma Company, Willard tells the rest of his team in Tokyo to hurry. They race to meet up with Yuliy and Dorothea. So much for splitting up.

— Ryoko makes it onto the second train just in time for it to leave the station, but she has no money after buying three bento boxes. Not only that, she left all of her stuff on the other train. She’s such a hot mess.

— Smoke suddenly surrounds the train, which interferes with Yuliy’s ability to track the vampires. Dorothea wants to assess the situation first anyways. After all, they’re surrounded by civilians.

— Kershner is also on this train, but who isn’t? Almost everybody is on this train!

— Apparently, this weird doctor is responsible for putting Frankenstein together.

— Kershner would rather rely on technology, because the vampires don’t even know if the Ark truly exists. Do they even know what it is?

— Speaking of which, here’s a closer look at the Frankenstein.

— Finally, Yuliy gets to meet his onii-chan again face-to-face. And with that, our episode finally comes to an end. Phew.

— There are so many enemies for our heroes to deal with. I really think it would’ve been more prudent to hone in on one primary antagonist, but we’ll see if Sirius the Jaeger can truly tie all of these elements together in the end. Still, the more plates you try to balance, the more likely everything will come crashing down on you.

— I just wish we got stronger characterization for everyone in general. Yuliy’s the only person in the story with any real backstory, and it’s not particularly fresh or original. It’s just fine. It’s functional. It’s what you’d expect to get from most anime protagonists. Still, a lot of shows make up the difference by delivering on the side characters. But so far, no one has really emerged from the pack. Most of them are pretty textbook so far. The only other person whose actions are of any particular interest is Ryoko, and it’s not for a good reason! I like romance in my stories, but this isn’t really romance. This is just one silly teenager and her crush on a werewolf.