86 - Episode 5 Review - Shin Tells Lena That He Can Sense Ghosts
Warning: Spoilers up to the end of episode 5 follow.
This is a doozy of an episode. We get some long awaited answers, but also brand new questions. Picking up from the last episode, Lena has just realized that her savior years ago was Shin’s older brother, Shourei! He also goes by Rei for short.
Little Lena was surprised at how kind Rei was to her, after her father told her the Alba treated the 86 so badly. Back in the present, Lena tells Shin that his brother must have really cared for him because he wanted to retire from the battlefield and see him again.
Shin explains to Lena that he’s been searching for his brother who died five years ago. Not searching for his body, but for him. Lena is confused, and Shin explains that he can sense ghosts. Dun dun duuuuun! I told you this was a doozy of an episode.
The next day, Lena runs into Annette. They have a much less antagonistic conversation, and Lena finally has her appetite for sweets back. There’s an event called the Revolution Festival coming up that Lena doesn’t want to attend. But Annette insists she must. Shin also thinks she should go to it. It’s at this moment wee see Lena may have romantic feelings for Shin. I’m pretty sure this is the first time the show has hinted at it. But that joke ends quickly because a Legion attack is coming. San Magnolia’s defense system doesn’t sense this, but Shin does. On account of his ghost senses.
As usual, Lena wants to help and stay connected via Para-RAID, even though Shin warns against it. Spearhead is victorious in the battle, but Lena goes through a lot of pain psychologically, as her Para-RAID connects her to Shin as he experiences all the voices of the dead. Now we know the real reason Spearhead’s old Handler went crazy in the first episode, and other Handlers before Lena.
Shin can sense when Legion is coming because certain high level Legion called Black Sheep harvest the brains of dead humans in order to operate. Huh? Just try to stick with it.
San Magnolia thinks all Legion will shut off in a couple years as their CPU shuts down. But that’s not true. They found another source to keep going - copies of human brains. Spearhead does their best to make sure to destroy the brains of their fallen comrades after they die, so that they can not be used by Legion. But somehow, Kirschblüte’s brain survived and Legion used her. That’s why Shin (and Lena and everyone via Para-RAID) could hear her thoughts among the dead in battle.
Shin predicts San Magnolia will lose the war, after 86 die out, and Legion continues to fight thanks to Black Sheep. Without the 86, the Alba have no one to fight the war for them, and they’ll be caught off guard. But Lena remains optimistic, saying she will help Shin to defeat Legion before that happens.
