Never has a show so thoroughly become exactly what I wanted it to be — which puts Sora no Woto in an interesting position. It didn’t surpass my expectations, which is more usual; I had high expectations to begin with (for whatever reason), and Sora no Woto met them with a vengeance. Is the latter preferable to the former? Well — I’ll get back to you on that.

So let’s talk about episodes six and seven. I hear the seventh episode has the internet all abuzz, but I thought the sixth was very good, too — and maybe it’s a necessary precursor to what follows.

Episode six revolves in part around a subverted “things aren’t what they seem” bit. Phylicia & co. (minus the oblivious Kanata) put on an act to frighten away a pair of mafia operatives who have been hanging about (and who, at long last, represent present danger in a world we’ve come to know is dangerous secondhand). And this works — but, as it turns out, our lovable soldiers have some sort of relationship with a more local criminal organization, and operate a wine-making racket which, allegedly, could get them far more than court-marshaled if the military finds out. Huh.

And while this is happening, Kanata is off slice-of-lifing it up, buying gifts for her family and helping an orphan girl come to terms with her present situation. This is conveyed in the episode’s second half, which temporally parallels the first.

I love this sort of fast-paced, “cluttered” slice of life, where the viewer is given the impression that Protagonist-san’s life-slices are only a few slices among a great many, and that there’s always much more going on than is readily apparent. And besides, this seems a significant episode in Sora no Woto’s progression; the familiar episode structure we’ve become used to is pulled out from under us, and we learn that, yes, Sora no Woto does have steely enough cojones to threaten its characters with bodily harm, whether by forcing them to walk a tightrope between military and mafia, or –

Jesus Christ! Did they accidentally run another show in Sora no Woto’s time slot?

No, this is Phylicia, sure enough. Who watched all her friends die.

Huh.

Where do we even begin to discuss the seventh episode? The horrifying war flashbacks work well in contrast to the earlier slice of life stuff. The underplayed “present-day” bits work in comparison to the earlier slice of life stuff — it’s what we expect, rendered stark and bizarre in its presentation as breathers between scenes of Phylicia’s ordeal, and we have to wonder whether the peace we’ve come to take for granted in Seize is itself a temporary breather. And of course the war flashbacks and present-day bits work well with one another, as, between flashbacks, it’s almost time for Obon.

The narration here is uncertain (and if there’s anything I like, it’s uncertain narration). Phylicia claims not to be fretting over those events in her past we’re allowed to see. Is she lying? Probably, I’d assume, if we’re allowed to see her past at all, and insofar as the present-day segments occur at a time set aside for remembrance of the dead. But whether the narration simply jumps back and forth at will, or whether it’s meant to convey Phylicia’s mental state, is anyone’s guess. It was rather detached in the previous episode, after all.

And there’s that brief stretch during which we see Phylicia interacting with her former squad-mates in noncombat situations. That was her slice of life experience — which terminated unpleasantly, to say the least. We have to wonder anxiously whether Kanata’s will end similarly. Hereafter, Sora no Woto’s use of slice of life won’t simply be peaceful and relaxing. There will always be an underlying tension, lurking below, seeking opportunities to surface.

Now, in my estimation, all of the above makes for a truly fantastic episode, and absolutely thrills me with the prospect of what’s to come. But here’s the part that really got me:

Pure, unadulterated Pontifus-service. Not fair, Sora no Woto. Not fair at all.