The tenth and final episode of Isuca, titled “Resolution,” is currently streaming on Crunchyroll for paid subscribers. Free subscribers can watch the same episode six days from now on April 3rd. This series wraps up the series.
If you haven’t watched the series, then you can watch the first nine episode on Crunchyroll for free.
Isuca’s finale centers on the final showdown between Sakuya and Isuca.
I will say it, Isuca is incredibly powerful when pissed off and enraged. This final battle is not an exception, where Isuca really has it out for Sakuya. The whole situation has me curious about Sakuya’s past, which specific focus on her father’s side of the family.
The focus is on Sakuya, but Shinichiro proves to be the star.
I find it incredibly interesting that Shinichiro was born with a random power to boost people’s power, but put them under his control at the same time. One example is Tamako, Shinichiro’s familiar, who gets a needed power boost from a kiss.
This feels like Naruto territory when Tamako achieves her nekomata form with the two tails.
Isuca continues being a angst-ridden, whiny, and vengeful b-tch to Sakuya. It reminds me of the recent episode of Cross Ange, where Rosalie chastises Chris for not being more honest about her feelings. This also reminds me of the previous episode of Naruto Shippuden, where Tenten and Ajisai get into a small argument.
Ajisai chastises Tenten for not knowing the pain of the small nations, who get dragged into war, but the latter defends herself by criticizing the former for not revealing more about the Hidden Rain Village.
Sakuya is saved at the last minute, which leads to a funny situation as she argues with Shinichiro without regard to the fact that Isuca is standing over them.
The rest of the group has its hands full trying to kill Isuca’s giant snake familiar, but it doesn’t compare to the fight against Isuca. Isuca’s monologue about the human hypocrisy, killing while claiming to love, does ring true.
It reminds me of the final episode of Parasyte, which previously aired.
Uragami, a convicted murderer, explained the stark differences between Parasites and humans. The former simply kills out of hunger and self-defense, but the latter can also kill for sport.
Sakuya and Shinichiro manage to defeat Isuca, but ultimately learn that the body is actually a dummy.
The fight ends on the suspicion that Isuca’s “father” is actually Sakuya’s father, who is believed to be dead. I wasn’t surprised that the masked person had vats that contained Isuca clones, which reminds me of A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun because of all the Misaka Mikoto clones created inside Academy City.
Isuca ends on a note, which leaves the possibility open for a new season.
I hope that it happens, but I wouldn’t be bothered if it doesn’t.
The storyline behind Isuca was enjoyable, but doesn’t do much to stand out. It is obviously a semi-harem story because Shinichiro is living under the same room with Sakuya and other female characters, but that isn’t different from The Testament of Sister New Devil.
Shinichiro and Sakuya’s partnership wasn’t different from the partnership that Thor Kokonoe and Julie Sigtuna shared in Absolute Duo. I do enjoy the partnership, but the dynamic has become a complete cliché.
Isuca’s story was cliché, too, but I thought the idea of Shinichiro being able to learn a “true name” by kiss was original. I do wonder why a person’s true name is the name that they want to be called. Sakuya’s true name is “Isuca,” but the name was given to a toy penguin received from her father.
Suseri’s true name is “Sakuya,” but that is not her legal name.
It’s like kissing Bruce Wayne, but learning that his true name is “Batman.” We know that Batman is the mantle that he takes, but that’s not his true name.
Isuca’s main story, which centers on the group hunting down specters, has been done so many times to the point that it is difficult to make it exciting. I can compare this to The Testament of Sister New Devil, which also has an unoriginal concept of demon hunting, but found the sexual fan service to be original.
I give Isuca the grade of B-.
