Chapter 12: Anima City
BNA final chapter. From what seemed an impending tragedy, a ray of hope arises. The moment Shirou almost killed Michiru, the group discovered that Michiru’s blood was the perfect cure for Nirvasyl syndrome. With this information in hand and with the help of multiple acquaintances and colleagues, a race against time begins to manufacture the cure and minimize victims. Michiru’s group would go straight to the medical center, while Nazuna and the rest will be dedicated to the city.
The cure will take approximately eight hours to complete, while Shirou and Michiru try to stop the Drones. However, the moment they met Alan, their genuine intentions were revealed. Unexpectedly, Alan reveals himself to belong to a “pure race” of beastman, with abilities superior even to Shirou’s. Furthermore, its sole objective is to exterminate the “impure”.
While Shirou deals with Alan, Michiru reunites with the ground group seeking to support them against the next wave of drones. The problem is that beastmen in frenzy do not facilitate the situation. Luckily, Michiru has the means to deal with the chaos, this through Ginrou-sama’s howl. In the midst of preparing to implement her plan, Alan and Shirou reappear in front of her. The conflict, which initially seemed to favor the “pure race”, slowly began to change its balance, to the point that Shirou managed to overcome his opposite. With this, the last obstacle disappears and finally begins to exercise control over the chaos.
With some time, the city manages to recover from the chaos caused by Nirvasyl syndrome, and even a little more. It will not be immediate, but without a doubt, Anima City will achieve something impossible, influenced the world as it evolves.
Imperfect purity
Finally, the story behind the magnate and the answers to many questions, which, in reality, he did not even consider. The only thing I expected from Alan in this last episode was something simple, to reveal his motives, perhaps something of his family history and a last fight between him and Shirou that closes his enmity at once. What I did was satisfactory, but sometimes it felt unnecessary or exaggerated.
First there is the question that Alan turned out to be a beast man, one who calls himself a pure race, and who for some reason has three heads … Yes, I can’t find the relationship. I admit that knowledge of Greek classical literature is somewhat rusty, but I really can’t find the relationship between Cerberus and Alan. Maybe they thought of making Alan a guardian for the “pure race”, or something like that. But it would really be an exaggeration before my eyes to give Alan such a title. Perhaps there is some other relationship to make regarding cerberos or it could be someone else entirely. I have no idea, I just know they didn’t convince me with that.
Also, where did the lasers come from !? Like every man of culture, I can appreciate the natural phenomenon of shooting lasers from the mouth, in the right place. BNA It definitely never seemed like the place to implement them. Sure, they are great, but for the first time in my life, I would have been happy without them. That does not stay with me.
What did resonate a bit more throughout this section was the final confrontation between Shirou and Alan. Admitted, the part where they try to explain a little more why Shirou is immortal seemed irrelevant to me, as well as adding more questions than answers. I mean, how did they discover that in the first place, and exactly how do such sacrifices give immortality. I really didn’t need to know, but now that they mentioned it, I want to know. Even so, for now I will leave that aside, as I prefer to focus on the conclusion of this conflict.
As expected, seeing Shirou put an end to unsuspecting Alan was extremely satisfying. The part where the supposedly immune Alan begins to show Nirvasyl syndrome was especially satisfying. That breaking moment is exactly what one seeks with this type of antagonist. He wished he had been “healed” the same way he treated the rest of the city, but it was still quite satisfying that Shirou ended up healing him. That insurance was a hard blow to his purebred pride.
Repercussions
So after this disaster, who is sure to have left more than just one victim, my question is, what happened to them? He was partly correct in the fact that Michiru or Nazuna would play a vital role in controlling Nirvasyl syndrome. Where I was wrong was that I thought they would solve the effect and not the cause.
Like that part made enough sense that it ended in such a way, what worries me is how easy they forgot about those affected by Alan’s cure. We are talking about beastmen who stopped being so. The factor disappeared from their systems, and BNA He was not interested in providing a solution to this question. The cure created through Michiru’s blood kept Nirvasyl syndrome in check, but the fact that those who received the “inadequate treatment” was never resolved is somewhat concerning.
It could be assumed that the affected beastmen were relocated. It is a possibility, but the fact that the series has completely forgotten about that result seems to me somewhat disappointing. No mention is even made, as if it were totally irrelevant, which makes me think that only Shirou really cared about his pride as a beast man, and that everyone else does not care if one is human or beast man, which really this was not the case previously.
That the false idol turns out to be human is something that leaves everyone in shock and causes great anger, but that they lose their identity as a beast man is not really relevant. Personally, I have conflict with this. And the but is that there is no way of knowing how these people who are basically going through the same as Michiru will be treated, and that was something quite shocking for the character.
Maybe I’m thinking about it too much and their lives may not be affected, but since it was never properly treated there is no way of knowing. There is also the detail of how easy Nazuna was forgiven just for comforting and helping a child (which anyone would do in such circumstances, or at least I want to believe), but I do not want to continue writing only in my personal complaints towards this last episode. Better just summarize all this with one sentence: BNA they tend to avoid their problems right at the end, opting for miraculous results that ignore how the reality they created works. At least, that’s the way I see it.
Final Opinion
Finished watching BNA without any special thoughts in mind. It is a series that in general, manages to enjoy a lot. He had moments that I definitely felt tedious or purposeless. But there were also elements that I could enjoy in the same way. Michiru in general was a protagonist who captured my attention from the beginning. Her failures overall gave the character more value rather than irritating her, and her growth through the series would say she was successfully executed.
Shirou was a character that didn’t really stand out very much to me, but, unlike many other cast members, at least I’d still say he justifies his position in the story. I would say that he had very little growth, if not, it would rather remain as a positive reaffirmation of his principles that he obtained throughout his life. At least his conviction and the relationship I develop with Michiru also help the character to stand out a little more in my memory.
Unfortunately, that is not the case for others. Alan is the one who stays closest to being satisfactory, but honestly, in the last episode he was not able to meet my expectations. The same with everyone else. They fulfilled their role satisfactorily, but none left a strong impression on me. There were some that certainly had more presence than others, but beyond their purpose in the story, they did not result in a character that they find memorable.
History has its highs and lows. There are times when interesting scenarios arise and others that simply manage to make you smile. But I rarely felt the story progress. Given the nature of mostly independent stories with most of the episodes, I really didn’t feel like Michiru was progressing towards her ultimate goal. When comparing his development as a character, and the development of his story, it is clear which of the two got all the attention.
The characters were interesting enough to keep me interested, but not so much that I appreciated them beyond their role in the story. And the story, for me, felt inconsistent with the way the main conflict was treated, which is ignored by Michiru most of the time.
At least the animation is just what you would expect from an original work belonging to the studio. TRIGGER. Frenzied, cartoonish, full of passion and movement, honestly, one could recommend BNA based purely on animation. I would say that the story is just a complement to the work done in animation, instead of other works where all the elements complement and make each other stand out.
So I would recommend seeing BNA. Well, if you have some free time, yes, I would say that at least you deserve a chance. He has some very interesting ideas and the animation is exceptional, in addition to having great musical taste. But in my opinion, everything else feels “decent,” enough not to lose your interest right away, but not enough to make it memorable. I would certainly say that you can enjoy the experience, but I would not say that it will be one that you will remember on more than one occasion.
