When we last left off, Red Circus terrorists hijacked two Eden College buses full of students. Their demands? Freedom for their captured comrades and safe passage to another country. Eden College has informed the police of the situation, but not the kids’ parents or guardians. I honestly would not know how to handle a situation like this. On the one hand, it feels like the parents have a right to know. It’s their damn kids we’re talking about! But on the other hand, the ensuing panic might do more harm than good. Rash, desperate parents would certainly do something that triggers the terrorists and thus endanger the kids even more than they already are.
Ultimately, what this means for Anya is that her parents are clueless of the situation and will perhaps remain clueless. Yor and Loid are both so superhuman, you expect them to overcome any challenge that comes their way. You expect them to just swoop in and save Anya. Even Anya believes this and who would blame her? But what can superhumans do if they are literally ignorant of the problem. We learned during Loid’s flashback that information is everything. If Loid doesn’t know that his daughter is in danger, then there’s not a damn thing that he can do to protect her. For the first time, we seem to have a dangerous conflict that Anya might have to resolve all on her own. Well, maybe not completely on her own. She’s got her friends.
It’s obvious that the terrorists are disdainful of these children. And sure, there’s a huge gap between the haves and the have nots. There’s no doubt about that. We’ll probably even get a sob story about how one of the terrorists had lost a kid or two thanks to the Ostania’s negligence or something similar to that effect. But man, you’re so obviously not targeting the root of the problem. Talking down to a bunch of 5 and 6-year-olds? C’mon, this is so patently stupid. We’re not even talking about rich teenagers committing crimes and not being fairly punished (or not being punished at all) by the system. Rather, we’re talking about the equivalent of kindergarteners. This is the sort of thing where even if you end up in prison, the other prisoners are going to beat the living shit out of you for putting kids in danger. But realistically, I can’t imagine the SSS not torturing these misguided fools to death.
Not only that, school buses aren’t exactly inconspicuous. They’re massive yellow steel and iron behemoths barreling down the road. Plus, they usually operate on a strict schedule. It would be bizarre to see a random school bus out and about, taking strange routes through the suburbs while being full of schoolchildren in the middle of the school day. I’m not a terrorist or anything (that you know of), but I dunno, it doesn’t seem like you can hide yourself on a school bus for very long! Sure enough, the second bus is eventually spotted for the exact same reason I just mentioned. We’ll find out later that this is the bus that Yuri pursues. It’s not the one that Anya is on, but hey, saving kids is better than not saving kids. Hot take, I know.
News of the hijacking quickly spread to WISE. Unfortunately, Loid is literally in a different region. The information thing still holds, however, because Handler and her agents still don’t know where the hijacked bus is exactly located. Funnily enough, if they would inform Yor, she might be able to do something to help. But all they know is that she’s a regular housework who works an office job. Instead, this positions Anya perfectly to save the day since she can read minds and thus overcome the information barrier. Sure enough, a quick-thinking ruse on her part leads to results immediately. Anya then works with Becky and Damian to sneak a note outside. She kinda has to since her chicken scratch handwriting might as well be an information barrier all on its own. But honestly, this is all incredibly resourceful for a bunch of 5 or 6-year-olds. I know they’re the elites of the elite, but damn, I would not expect children so young to maintain their composure in the face of literal terrorists.
At first, it seems like their little stunt may have earned Anya a bomb collar. But she reads one of the terrorists’ mind and immediately learns that it’s just an empty threat. Welp, at least there’s a line even a terrorist won’t cross. Yeah, blowing up a child’s head would be a bit much. Plus, it gives us a laugh or two in a dire situation. Anya cracks me up. Hands down, she’s the best fictional child character in anime that I’ve ever seen. Outside of anime? I’ll have to think on that. Both Becky and Damian can’t help but side-eye Anya for being so nonchalant. Damian actually asks himself, “Was she raised by an assassin or something?” Um, yeah… kinda. Well, he ends up being emboldened by Anya setting an example, so he goes and volunteers himself for a (fake) bomb collar as well. I don’t really like the kid, but hey, way to show some leadership at such a young age.
Unfortunately, the secret police has their priorities out of whack. Even though Anya, Becky, and Damian fought so hard to get the information out, the organization doesn’t want to look weak. As a result, they won’t negotiate with Red Circus, and they won’t hesitate to attack. Their excuse is that they don’t want to “embolden the West,” so like with the terrorists, the lives of these schoolchildren are nothing more than collateral to the SSS. This is straight up evil and outrageously unconscionable. But none of this should surprise us. The organization and the terrorists are sadly just two sides of the same coin. Yuri is almost as bad as the people he works for. When he learns that Anya is involved, he actually thinks to himself that he doesn’t care what happens to her. A child, man. It’s a child! Luckily, he does care about Yor’s feelings, and he knows his sister would be devastated. The realization hits him like, oh I dunno, a bus? So Yuri will begrudgingly lend a hand. Wow, what an angel, huh?
The kids’ efforts eventually lead to the bus being surrounded by the police, but they’re not out of the fire yet. First, the terrorists are now cornered and desperate. You have no clue what they might do under duress. The lead terrorist is trying keep things in order, but it sounds like one of his underlings is ready to snap. Second, the secret police soon show up and we’re quickly reminded that they’re not here to be saviors. Instead, they’re here to “protect the country” even if this means a few children might have to burn along with the terrorists. The police captain stands up to the SSS agent, but we have to remember that this is fiction. I wouldn’t expect the same to happen in the real world. The police is often just another arm of the government, and they would gladly hold hands with fascists like the SSS. But seeing as how this is still fiction, we can dare to hope.
The SSS is irredeemable as one of their agent says, “Just as you police have a duty to protect the citizens, the State Security Service has an obligation to the protect this country.” This is such a false dichotomy. Your country is its citizen, you obtuse schmuck. Plus, on a practical level, they’re playing with fire. They’re so confident that they can keep anything negative suppressed, but information leaks. It always does. And what do you think will happen if people find out that you sacrificed a bunch of kids to preserve your image of a strong, unflappable nation? This is the sort of atrocity that would absolutely crush the people’s morale. It could even spark a revolution. Welp, time for Anya to save the day, I suppose.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- Becky’s hilarious, but she’s legitimately a great friend. Just having someone you care about next to you can make you stronger, and she’s showing it in spades by comforting Anya. Though I gotta say she’s also strangely unflappable. When the lead terrorist mentions the other kids’ very important parents, they can’t help but yelp in fear. Becky (and Damian as well) just wears a frown instead.
- Brave of Bill to try and calm his classmates down, but he’s lucky that the terrorists know he’s actually a kid. I could easily imagine them thinking it’s some weirdo adult dressing like a kid and just killing him outright.
- Great cover.
- As smart as they are, Damian and his classmates quickly remind you that they’re still just kids since they only ever talk about poop. Even when Damian needs to cook up a distraction, it’s about poop.
- Bomb collar buddies!
- It’s funny that Damian thinks this, because A) he doesn’t treat his own classmates equally and B) does his scary father even share the same philosophy?
- Like I said up top, the secret police would be more than happy to torture these terrorists to death, and the SSS agent just confirmed it: most of the captured Red Circus members aren’t even alive anymore.
- The bus driver is definitely the more extreme of the three terrorists onboard. While the leader is bluffing with fake bomb collars, the other guy is more than willing to start executing the schoolchildren one by one. But the leader is right: the schoolchildren are their only bargaining chip. If the loss of life is deemed inevitable, then there’s nothing left to hold the SSS back.
- Disappointed in all the CGI vehicles in this episode. Fine, CGI saves you some time, but at least try harder to blend them into the animation. They stick out like a sore thumb.
