Overview: Sagiri (Marisa Duran) struggles to trust Gabimaru (Alejandro Saab) as they begin their mission on the island.
Our Take: Getting on the island, the action takes no time in getting started and that mostly comes down to Gabimaru and Sagiri. Her rigidness for rules creates an adorable yet trying disconnect between them.
However, with restrictions comes creativity, making for stylized moments that have Gabimaru relying on fleet-footed maneuvers. His movements are an especially cool display of his strength against a hulking beast, like Twisted Keuin.
Although their fight is short-lived, Sagiri’s stickler ways show they impede her compared to other Asaemon. Also, with Iwagakure being sent when the Asaemon fail, their impending arrival sets up a tense time table.
Gabimaru’s attempt at a killing blow against Sagiri is a welcome surprise, although not in the way it sounds. Their battle is crucial in demonstrating the compassion Yui brings about in him and the cruelty he’s long since buried. It’s powerful in the strength he finds within kindness rather than the weakness he’s been engrained to believe it is. His breakthrough builds a layer of trust in Sagiri seeing his true heart.
Establishing strange new creatures with lethal abilities injects an ominous, eerie tone to the island and its inhabitants. The unexpected nature of Shinsenkyo is a great way of keeping the dangers they’ll face fresh and weird.