Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we return to Star Driver on the eve of apocalypse, as Sugata embraces his fated role standing atop Kiraboshi’s nefarious organization. Though to be honest, he’s been trending in this direction for at least half the show so far; though he denied Benio and the others in the wake of the first King’s Pillar activation, he was clearly not willing to go so far as to actively reject his birthright. And since then, Tokio has become a close confidant of our would-be king, all while his alleged fiancé grows closer to that interloper Takuto.

So yes, I was frankly expecting this from Sugata, and can only hope his bond with Takuto is strong enough to save him from his dark destiny. On a pure plot level, releasing the Cybodies from Southern Cross would at best instigate an era of forever-adolescent robotic terror, and at worst instantly kill every single person who’s not similarly apprivoised. On a thematic level, this act would represent the victory of stasis over embracing maturity, the latent awareness of self as an active participant in the world gestured towards by the fusion of adolescent and Cybody. Cybodies are essentially masks our characters use to play-act adulthood, but if true maturation is to be achieved, our heroes must set aside their armor and, like all of the hopeful maidens trapped in Tokio’s gallery, at last set sail for the real world. Let’s get to it!

Episode 24

We open on an ostentatious reaffirmation of normalcy, beginning with that familiar pink school facility and cutting in to the gang sleepily shuffling to their seats. Such a mundane intro at this point in the series only heightens the sense of anticipation, practically begging the other shoe to drop

In spite of this performance, Takuto immediately asks Kate what’s going on, clued in by both her lack of a book and her unusually high spirits. He has forged a mutual understanding with Kate that easily sees through her – like his relationship with Wako, Takuto’s friendship with Kate embodies the honest give-and-take of genuinely getting to know one another, rather than the arbitrary dynamics dictated from on high that define Sugata’s relationships with the women around him

Kanako wonders whether what happened is genuinely good for Kate. Kanako, who has more or less been freed from the Cybody circus through her defeat by Takuto, can see that Kate is another caged maiden. Even if Sugata is beside and flattering her now, her destiny will always be an arbitrary and unhappy one so long as she remains within the Order of Kiraboshi

And that tension informs our episode title, “Eastern Shrine Maiden.” Will Kate be defined by that title, or at last surpass it?

The Headmaster stops by our group’s lunch table, with the young teacher Ms. Ishino beside him

“Remember the performance isn’t over until you’ve finished clearing up afterwards.” A line that clearly refers to more than tidying up their performance posters

“You’ve always been so mature… or should I say, wise for your age?” “I’m good at playing whatever role I’m given.” A pointed exchange between this classmate and Sugata. As the cornerstone of Kiraboshi’s perpetual adolescence project, Sugata is in fact an avatar of near-adult constancy – someone destined to become the perpetual older sibling who never actually graduates, like Tokio or Akio. And so he deflects this misguided compliment with a casual admission that there isn’t necessarily a “real Sugata” anymore, just a procession of masks

“And besides… whether or not I’m going to play the role I’ve been given… that’s for me to decide, anyway.” He’s definitely savoring his current position on the fulcrum. Sugata’s an odd one within this cast – maintaining the ambiguity of his relationship towards his destined role has required keeping him at a distance, preventing us from ever truly getting to know him. It works, more or less, but it makes for a somewhat underdeveloped lead, one whose alleged bond with Takuto never actually feels all that meaningful

While Sugata savors his agency, Wako can only envy Ruri’s lovey-dovey stories of the far side of adolescence

Ruri plans to head to Tokyo after graduating. The liminal stage is ending, and Wako must make her choice

Wako gently pokes Kate about Takuto later, and of course Kate immediately responds with “does it bother you?” As the forever also-ran, she’s accustomed to always fighting to defend whatever space she’s claimed. Desperate and lonely, prideful and acidic, grounded into cynicism yet still longing for a childhood dream – Kate is a total mess of contradictions, all of which collectively make her one of the best characters in the show

“Personally, I’d rather go on loving the one man I gave my heart to.” Pure venom from Kate, essentially “why are you complaining about me getting chummy with your new boytoy when you’ve already claimed the man I love”

“I’m different from you, and from my aunt as well.” God, she’s so tragic! This island’s traditions have stolen her possibility of happiness, but they’re also all she has left, and so she clings to the very guidelines that have denied her everything

Kanako challenges her on how she recruited Sugata, but she deflects with an “ask him yourself”

Over in Tokio’s palace, Shingo awakes. “I realized that this world wasn’t a place where I could become the adult I wanted to be. That’s why I stopped myself from growing up. But then it got more and more agonizing… like I was the only one being left behind. Are you okay with that, Tokio?” “All I know is that I want yours.” Tokio is incapable of heeding Shingo’s warning, cannot recognize the dead end of perpetual adolescence

And thus Tokio at last claims his emblem, and the final act begins

“I wish we could go on looking up at the sky forever.” Wako is also desperate for this moment to continue, for her fated choice to never pass her lips

“We’re sure to see other skies, different from this one, but even more beautiful.” On the other hand, Takuto is eager to see what the future holds

A flashback brings us back to Kate, Sugata, and Wako’s childhood, back when that storm threatened the pillar they’d built together. I’d almost forgotten this totem, and it makes for an interesting contrast with the “King’s Pillar” as defined by Kiraboshi

With Sugata in danger, Wako’s powers as a shrine maiden activated to protect him while Kate looked on in horror. That was the moment they separated, the moment she lost Sugata forever

That night Sugata meets Kate at the Eastern Shrine, or as she’s quick to correct, the ruins of the Eastern Shrine

“I’m a Shrine Maiden who was born for your sake…” Kate has only come to peace with her identity as a Shrine Maiden by leaning all the more on her hopeless love for Sugata. If she was born to be sacrificed for Sugata’s sake, she can accept the unfairness of her destiny

“Make sure that you survive, too.” “Whatever happens to me now, I’ll be fine.” Kate has accepted her role as an instrument in this ritual, even if Sugata has not. Conflating romantic love and sacrifice with ancestral duty, if only because she cannot imagine the sort of better future Wako still holds out for. An unhappy but faithful instrument of the machine

Meanwhile, Sugata’s caretakers have grown too attached to him to fulfill their duties, and destroy the driver of Samekh

Watching the fluctuations in the market, Kanako deduces that the zero-time seal may break tonight

Kanako reveals the only reason she brought this massive ship to the island was so she could evacuate the islanders if things go wrong. I always believed in you, Kanako!

Takuto tells Wako he’s planning on moving back to the dorms. She asks why, to which he responds by musing on visiting Wako and Sugata when they’re married. He’s already accepted they can no longer play house as a trio, can no longer delay Wako’s choice

In zero-time, Kate removes her mask to reveal her identity as a Shrine Maiden

“I’ve obtained eternity.” Seeing no happy future beyond this island and this moment, Kate has accepted that a static eternity is all she can hope for – the same eternity of the women in Tokio’s paintings, as a caged accessory to the king

Fitting, then, that Tokio is the one to break her seal

Oof, phenomenal sense of scale in this animation as the great shadow Samekh rises

And Done

Ah shit, we’re really in for it now! With Kate’s seal nullified, only Wako stands between Tokio, Sugata, and the total expansion of zero-time into a world-spanning crisis. Not content merely lording over his island of adolescence, Tokio is determined to make all the world his cage, while Sugata’s true feelings remain concealed even as he stands atop the throne of Kiraboshi. All of that is plenty exciting, but personally, I’m most anxious about the destiny of poor Kate, who has been so mistreated by this whole ritual system that she can only dream of a kiss suspended in amber, a single moment when she was important to her chosen love. You deserve better than this bullshit system, Kate!

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