Episode 13 of 86-Eighty Six aired on Saturday giving fans a lot more wholesomeness than usual. Despite some dark undertones and powerful symbolism being used, the majority of the episode was rather light-hearted—something completely different from the norm of 86-Eighty Six.
From the very first episode of the second cour, Frederica has made her presence known to both the Spearhead Squadron and the viewers. While episode 13 did touch upon certain subjects, a huge focus was on the young empress. In the middle of the episode, it was teased that Frederica knew about Shin’s brother. But how she knew was completely up in the air leaving viewers guessing.
Her big reveal on how she knew about Shin and his brother was incredibly done. The dialogue was perfect. The music was chilling. And even the animations of the big reveal really emphasized the moment. Much like Shin, Frederica also has a special ability thanks to her bloodline.
As usual, 86-Eighty Six episodes need some sort of dark undertones and haunting symbolism. But Frederica basically gives light to this consistent darkness we’ve seen throughout the series. And there were a couple of moments that stood out the most.
The first is when Shin and Frederica are walking through a carnival together and she begs him to get a bear she wants (check thumbnail image). Unlike how she acts in other scenes during the episode, it shows that she’s still a child regardless of her status. It was a touching moment that also meant a lot for Shin, but that’s a conversation for another day.
The second is at the end of the episode. At one point during a certain shot, we see five flowers growing from the concrete in the dark—symbolizing the Spearhead Squadron, obviously. But just around its corner, there’s a beam of light that is almost reaching them. Fast forward to later in the episode, just as the Spearhead Squadron leaves the mansion together, Frederica steps into that light next to the flowers and decides to join them.
It was a really neat way of symbolizing just who Frederica is to the squadron. You don’t make the connection at first when you see the flowers for the first time, but it hits in the best ways possible when a piece of negative symbolism becomes a fortunate reality.
86-Eighty Six is remaining consistent with their perfect adaptation of the light novel. The fact the anime is going in chronological order of events actually continues to lift the story to new heights.
Episode 13 of 86-Eighty Six definitely focused a lot on where the Spearhead Squadron is at mentally and portrayed these emotions from the light novel exceptionally well with a wonderful soundtrack, lighting, and camera work.
So definitely watch the episode to see the full impact of what they were all thinking.
The second cour of 86-Eighty Six will continue with Episode 14 on Saturday, October 16, on Crunchyroll.
What did you think of the new episode? Let me know in the comments! Make sure to vote for 86-Eighty Six in our 2nd weekly poll of Fall 2021.
Images via Crunchyroll
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