Konori and Kurozuma's connection is revealed.Aren't you girls getting a little too curious?So Big Spider was originally a dance club.Summary:After chasing off the Big Spider gang, Konori wonders why Kurozuma hasn't contacted her, but Kurozuma leaves without saying much. After that day, Konori took a few days off from her Judgment duties, which leaves Mikoto and friends to wonder about the relationship between Konori and Kurozuma. To get some answers, Mikoto and company visit Konori's dorm. Konori is at home, but her roommate knows about Kurozuma and reveals that Konori used to be a member of Big Spider. Mikoto can't understand why Konori can't leave this behind and get back to her Judgment duties, but Konori's roommate and Ruiko separately state that it may be hard for Konori to let go of her past because the past is what made Konori the person she is today. Mikoto still doesn't understand, and back in the Judgment office Mikoto and friends learn that the Anti-Skill are planning to sweep through Strange tomorrow to apprehend Big Spider members.Here's the lesson of the day: Say No to Gangs.Later in the day, Mikoto confronts Konori on top of the building in Strange. Konori reveals that two years ago, Kurozuma went alone to rescue Hebitani from a rival gang. When Konori had arrived at the scene, the building at the scene had burned down and the only thing left of Kurozuma was his jacket. Konori states that incident and her experiences with Big Spider is what made her the person she is, but Mikoto is still unsatisfied. At this moment, Kurozuma appears and states he will take care of Big Spider by himself. Kurozuma advises Konori not to come back to Strange again as she has a new place to be, but Konori emotionally declares that her heart hasn't changed.Ah Mikoto, always the one to use excessive force.Looks like Konori-senpai has a few moves of her own.At night back in her own dorm room, Mikoto thinks about Konori's situation and eventually comes to an understanding. The next day, Konori, sporting the red jacket she wore during her Big Spider days, arrives in Strange looking to help Kurozuma, but first she is joined by Mikoto and Kuroko who have also pledged to help. Not far away, Kurozuma has already tracked down Hebitani's gang and knocked out the door guard. Knowing that they are no match for Kurozuma in a fight, Hebitani and his gang pull out their guns, but Konori, Mikoto and Kuroko arrives and Kuroko puts spikes into all of the pistols. Hebitani then plans to use Capacity Down, but Mikoto blows up the van with a railgun coin. Kurozuma then proceeds to demolish Hebitani's cronies, and Konori lends a hand by knocking out a guy who was hiding a pistol. Soon only Hebitani is left standing. The desperate gang leader pulls open his jacket to reveal a belt of dynamite and threatens to blow himself up, but Kurozuma punches him out before he can light the fuse. After the fight, Hebitani and his gang are taken away by the Anti-Skill. Kurozuma also asks to be arrested, but before being taken away he jokes with Konori about drinking milk.What kind of thug are you, Hebitani?If you have a knife, you aim for the biggest target which is the body, not the head. I think the jacket fits just fine.Drinking milk helps you grow, including that area you two are looking at.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I wasn't expecting much out of this episode, but it turned out better than I thought mostly due to Konori's story. So Konori, the model senpai and dedicated Judgment member, actually used to be on the not-so-right side of the tracks. Konori certainly doesn't look like the type who would join a bunch of guys who rode around on motorcycles and raised a ruckus everywhere they went, but she was a loner back then and just wanted to find a place to belong. Kurozuma, despite being a hooligan and the milk thing, was a pretty charismatic leader, and it's not surprising that a young and slightly unbalanced Konori was drawn to him. This episode focused on the themes of "finding a place to belong" and "a person is influenced by their past", and I think the episode did a decent exploring these themes by telling Konori's story and having Mikoto question/think about Konori's motivations. Mikoto, having always been revered and respected, never had the sort of experiences that Konori and other not-as-talented students had, and so this was a good life lesson for her.That was the decent parts of the episode. The not so great part was the whole thing with Hebitani and his thugs. I don't understand why Kuroko and Mikoto didn't arrest the whole lot of them after the end of last episode. The thugs were beat-up, on the run, and the Capacity Down van was broken. I'm reasonably sure Mikoto can stop bullets (given that she can instantly form a shield out of nearby metal), so there was nothing to stop them from putting away those thugs. The fight at the end of the episode wasn't bad, but Hebitani wrapping himself with dynamite was kind of stupid. Konori's see-through sight was also poorly showed up during the fight. Let's see, this hostile thug is reaching into his pocket in the middle of a fight for something. What could it possibly be? You don't exactly need X-ray vision in that situation.Next episode looks like some random filler. Doesn't look too promising, but maybe it's a good thing that I'm keeping my expectations low.
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