Battle in 5 Seconds Episode 3: Rin Enters The Battle!

Episode 3 of Battle in 5 Seconds set the stage perfectly for the first 5v5 battle. But in typical fashion, the episode had a twist that none of the viewers saw coming.

What We Learned

In this episode, we were given information about characters, old and new, and their abilities. Each team had 2 hours before the match-up to strategize with their teammates. So, in typical fashion, they each tell each other who can do what. 

We already know about Yuri’s physical ability, Akira’s illusion ability, and Kirasaki’s sword ability. In comparison, their teammates’ abilities seemed pretty useless for the most part. Sawatari can turn a button into a rope and Shin can turn invisible…for two seconds.

No, seriously. Those are the abilities.

Akira’s angle in this episode is rather interesting. If he told his teammates what his ability actually was, it wouldn’t necessarily work. In order for his ability to keep working, despite having teammates, he needed to make them think his ability was something else. 

So he decides to say what he told Kiraski in episode 1 in their matchup — that his ability is the hand cannon. The weird part is that not a single person really questions why he has the same ability as Mion.

Rin Makes Her Appearance

Despite Rin nearly choking one of her own teammates to death, she is easily the star of the episode. While a big portion of the episode just felt like it was Akira analyzing everything, Rin and Sawatari were the first to battle each other in the 5v5.

Unfortunately, the battle ends rather quickly. 

But Rin’s ability is never fully explained. One moment, we see that Rin expands something she threw in the air. The next, all we see is Sawatari’s body just full of giant spikes. However, the way the scene is set up, what happens still comes as a complete shock

As someone who comes off as a soft-spoken character, Rin actually turns out to be a full-fledged psychopath. She clearly has zero interest in any friendships or making allies in the game making her a perfect antagonist within the game. She ends up winning and giving her team the early 1-0 lead.

Next Week

Episode 3 was mostly filled with build-up and dialogue. The episode ends in a 1-1 tie as Rin and Shin both won for their respective teams. Shin’s battle with Ringo, whose ability is to copy another person’s ability, was even quicker than Rin and Sawatari’s.

With Zukomyoin and Kirisaki’s match continuing into next week, we’re in store for more intriguing battles, especially after learning the secret to Kirisaki’s ability.

Battle in 5 Seconds episode 4 will air on August 2nd on Crunchyroll.

So, what did you think of Battle in 5 Seconds episode 3? Is Rin a Summer 2020 best-girl candidate? If you think episode 3 is worthy of a top-10 spot, then make sure to vote for it in our weekly poll!

All images via Crunchyroll
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