Darwin’s Game (Episode 9) – Heads Up
Kaname is in the process of forming an alliance with the Danjou Boxing Club, but to do so he will have to impress the leader, Danjou in a one on one match. Their fight is cut short, however, when the number one player shows up.
What happened?
Kaname and Danjou fight in an arena designed for Sigils. It’s anything goes, but no intentional killing. This is fine with Kaname as he can pull a weapon out of thin air. Danjou isn’t a push over though and continues to keep Kaname on his toes, regardless of what weapon he creates. Then, when it looks like Kaname has lost he pulls a surprise that forces Danjou to use his Sigil and earn Kaname the alliance he was looking for. They are about to continue the fight as Danjou is having so much fun, but a new player enters the arena and kidnaps Kaname.
The rest of the Sunset Ravens (Kaname’s new clan) quickly formulate a plan to get him back and give pursuit. It turns out, however, that Kaname was kidnapped by Liu Xuelan, the number one D-Game player and she’s taken an interest in him. She is an assassin from a long line of assassins and believes that Kaname would make an outstanding assassin. Rather than easily submit to her, Kaname challenges her to escape from his clan without killing a single player and he’ll agree to her terms. She accepts and the battle begins.
What was your favourite element?
BOOM! This was my favourite episode so far and by a long way. The opening fight with Danjou was cool and while it might be a little cliche to have a Russian that can turn his body to metal, I was fine with it. It wasn’t until Liu Xuelan showed up that this episode really caught fire. I loved the conversation between Kaname and Xuelan in the back of her car as the rest of his clan chased them in Shuka’s Humvee and was equally excited when Kaname forced her to accept his terms of combat. The fight that followed was just incredible with Xuelan and Shuka jumping from car to car. Even without the banging tunes to really pump up the action, it was excellent. I also loved the way it ended with Xuelan joining the Sunset Ravens even if that seems to be the natural rule for this series with the Eighth being the main exception.
What have you learnt?
As much as I love Rein, I have to say that Xuelan is now my favourite character. Even after half an episode, I can tell that she is going to hit all the right notes for me. Admittedly, we have seen brief moments with Xuelan through the series so far, but it’s always been with the mask on and not for very long. It’s interesting that she was the only person to win money after backing Kaname in the last event. On top of that, this episode has now got me absolutely hyped for the coming confrontation with Wang, especially now that Xuelan is on Kaname’s side. This is absolutely how we build towards an epic conclusion. It’s hard to see how it can go wrong from here.
Other reviews in the series
- Season One
- Bonus Posts
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Xuelan rocks. I can’t wait to see how she carves up Wang.
Gotta say — Shuka in Jealous Rage Mode is something to behold! _Man_ the fight between the two of them was great!
That fight was excellent and I completely didn’t expect it so soon after the event finished.
Xuelan kind of reminds me a little of Saeko, which is obviously a good thing. She was just too cool.
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