I wanted Sirius the Jaeger to be special since this summer season is so weak, but to its credit, the show is never boring. The action is well-animated, and there’s never a lull in the storytelling. I guess this anime is kinda like a popcorn flick.

— Tensions are high right from the start of the episode. Mikhail sits down to have a friendly, little chat with his kid brother. Unfortunately, he is now a vampire. Jaegers have to kill vampires, and vampires have to kill jaegers. What choice have they got? I dunno, that’s a good question. Are vampires in this universe required to be evil? Are they incapable of making their own decisions? No, that can’t be true. Remember when Yuliy got shot back in the very first episode? Mikhail confessed that he had missed his brother’s vitals on purpose. He was able to make a choice, so why can’t he make a choice now? Why does he have to serve the bad guys just because he’s a vampire? Do they have some sort of psychic control over him?

— In the end, Mikhail tells Yuliy that the latter isn’t cut out for revenge. He thinks his kid brother is just an angry, little kid. Vengeance, on the other hand, requires “anger, hatred, sadness, and despair.” I think you can tell that Mikhail still loves sibling. He’s trying to protect Yuliy from becoming staining his soul. Even if our hero gets his revenge, will he be happy in the end? You don’t just easily shed those negative emotions after carrying them with you for years and years. It’s not like flipping a switch. Mikhail probably believes that even if Yuliy could succeed in getting his vengeance, it’ll take a toll on the kid. As a result, he’s trying to scare his brother away in a not-so-brotherly sort of way.

— On the other hand, maybe Mikhail is testing Yuliy’s conviction. As he walks away, he tells Yuliy that the next time they meet, they’ll be sworn enemies (not true). I don’t know what the population of werewolves looks like in this universe, but it’s probably not very rosy. So if the vampires are up to something really bad — and that appears to be case! — then Yuliy might be the only person (werewolf) left who can stop them. Is he ready for this? Can he really finish the job if he can’t even kill his own brother?

— Elsewhere, we see one of the attendants reprimand Ryoko for not having a ticket. The girl doesn’t have to wait very long, however, before Dorothea shows up and talks to her. Ryoko swears she doesn’t have a crush on Yuliy. No, really! She just has an interest, she claims… as if the distinction here is meaningful. In the end, Dorothea tells the schoolgirl that Yuliy belongs in a different world — a world that is too dangerous and violent for Ryoko. But maybe we’re wrong about the girl. She’s already shown us that she’s got plenty of moxy. Maybe she’s got some toughness in her as well.

— Ibe finally gets to meet the general, and the old man is in despair. He knows he’s in way over his head. In pursuit of a great military weapon, he may very well have just invited vampires into his home. And you know what they say about inviting vampires…

— To put it simply, they have to prevent the vampires from bringing that monstrosity — that Frankenstein-inspired creation — from reaching the capital. And as luck would have it, the train has to make a sudden stop when the conductor sees a group of people standing on the tracks. Welp, it’s the Hyakko Party, and they’re here to steal the locomotive. Momose, the ridiculous leader of these insurgents, also has a bone to pick with Kershner.

— The action is often very good between two melee combatants. On the other hand, when a bunch of trained soldiers can’t hit a target that is running straight at them, I can’t help but shake my head.

— We also learn that there’s no love lost between Mikhail and Kershner. Yevgraf likes the former werewolf, but Kershner seems like he has a stick up his ass about maintaining purity within their ranks and whatnot. The vampire then quickly slips off the train during all the commotion.

— The Hyakko Party eventually stumbles across Kershner’s pet project, and Momose stupidly believes that he can control the Frankenstein. He doesn’t realize, of course, that Klarwein, the mad scientist who created this thing, is behind the controls.

— All of a sudden, the train starts moving again. Ryoko is a step away from hopping off to safety, but she’s tired of that life. She’s tired of being a “well-bred girl” destined to become a fine lady… at least, that’s what I assume. Why else would a schoolgirl decide to stay on a train that has been taken over by domestic terrorists? Like the Bellas before her (or after her?), Miss Ryoko needs to feel alive, and what’s a better way to inject excitement in your life than getting yourself mixed up in a blood feud between vampires and werewolves?

— Ibe has temporarily taken command of Kakizaki’s men for now. God knows what the general is actually up to. He kinda just disappeared from the episode.

— Unfortunately, not everyone manages to get off the train in time. For example, this little girl is too scared to hop off and join her family. Luckily, Yuliy is able to lend her a hand, but the other frightened civilians are not so fortunate. After saving the kid, our hero reflects on his brother’s ominous words and ultimately decides that he still has a job to do. Yuliy couldn’t do anything for his mother back then, because he was just a kid. Now that he’s all grown up, he can protect people like Ume. So even if he’ll have to fight against his brother one day. Yuliy ultimately decides that he has a mission to accomplish.

— He and Dorothea are about to get some back-up, because Willard and the rest of the gang have finally managed to catch up. It also helps that the train was headed in their direction. Willard tells Philip and Fallon to hurry, because the rail ends soon. That’s convenient.

— On the train, Momose gloats over his newfound toy, but it quickly turns on him. And just like that, the man’s head goes flying into the sky. Welp, there goes the Hyakko Party. As stupid as he was, I can’t see how they’re going to recover from losing their leader. They’re already acting like headless chickens. Did they never bother to designate someone as the second-in-command?

— Under Willard’s orders, Philip and Fallon quickly join up with Dorothea, but they’re not the only ones. Fallon decouples the rest of the train cars, but Ryoko refuses to be left behind. Look at her! As she jumps from one train car to the next, she even flashes her thin, schoolgirl thighs at us. Totally gratuitous. There’s nothing dirty here, but I don’t even understand why we needed to see her bare skin. Is it because she’s supposed to represent the Japanese modern girl of the era? In fact, Ryoko’s so ridiculously reckless, it’s almost endearing. I think I’m starting to come around on this girl. Ryoko may very well belong with the jaegers because she’s flat-out insane. Who on earth would risk their life — and she would have died if Dorothea and Philip hadn’t caught her at the last second — for a shot at werewolf love? Ryoko, apparently.

— Eventually, this group meets up with Ibe and his men. As soon as their backs are turned, however, a vampire tries one last ditch attempt to kill Ibe. That’s when Ryoko grabs a sword finishes the vampire off. She also proves to all her doubters that she can be a badass as well.

— The vampire immediately turns into ashes, which shocks both the schoolgirl and Ibe. Maybe now that he’s seen a vampire with his own eyes, he’ll stop seeing the Jaegers as potential enemies. We’ll see, though. As for Ryoko, I doubt the Jaegers will suddenly take her seriously, but she can at least defend herself in a pinch.

— When Yuliy gets to the front of the train, he is greeted by Frankenstein. I love how he doesn’t hesitate one bit; he quickly whips out his three-section staff. It’s time to fight.

— Klarwein is excited to see his creation go up against an actual Jaeger, but midway through the fight, he loses control of his own creature. Frankenstein tears itself away from its restraints, so I guess that means it can no longer follow orders. I dunno, for a weapon, this thing seems pretty impractical. If you have to hook it up to a control panel in order to give it directions, how exactly do you expect to utilize it in an open battlefield?

— Yuliy is able to hold his own against Frankenstein, but he can’t actually kill the thing. I don’t think he’s even landed a solid hit. Well, he won’t have to. Mikhail suddenly appears behind Yuliy, but he isn’t here to fight his sibling (despite what he said earlier). Instead, he turns his attention towards Frankenstein.

— In just a few quick moves, Mikhail has already managed to cut off one of Frankenstein’s arms. In stark contrast to his brother, he’s having no trouble with Kershner’s pet project at all. Even though Yuliy is all grown up, you can tell that he’s no match for his brother. Not yet, anyways.

— Finally, as the coup de grace, he slickly stuck two grenades in the monster’s mouth guard. The resulting explosion not only destroys Frankenstein, it seems to also the train down a bit.

— Like Willard said, the train quickly runs out of rail, but while the front cars end up being completely destroyed, everyone else in the back are presumably fine.

— Mikhail proceeds to look cool by standing atop one of the wrecked cars. He also has cryptic things to say about the Ark of Sirius. Don’t expect to understand what he means, but if you do, give yourself a pat on the back!

— Finally, he tells his brother that should he ever become an uncontrollable monster, he wants Yuliy to be the one to put him down. Just take him out back like Old Yeller.

— Before Yuliy can press Mikhail for more information, a convenient explosion goes off. When the smoke clears, the latter is gone.

— We then cut to Yevgraf saying more cryptic things of his own before boarding a zeppelin. He and his vampire lolis are probably about to make their way to Japan. The land of the rising sun is such a hotbed for vampire and werewolf activity.

— In the preview for next week’s episode, we see Ryoko looking more combat ready than ever. But this might not bring her any closer to Yuliy, since it seems our hero is flirting with the idea of quitting the Jaegers. Hm. We’ll have to wait a week to find out what that’s all about.

— Anyways, this was a fun episode. There’s nothing deep here, but once the action is underway and the soundtrack kicks in, it’s hard for me not to get a little pumped up. Plus, I’m now kinda looking forward to seeing Ryoko’s next stupid stunt. Her silly schoolgirl antics balance out the seriousness of Yuliy’s family drama. There’s nothing with his story, per se. It’s just nice to have a little levity from time to time. And after five weeks, I’ve given up on understanding Ryoko’s interest in Yuliy. The problem she has now, however, is that Yuliy just doesn’t notice her. Hell, by the end of the episode, did he even realize she was on the train? I don’t think so.