Lycoris Recoil Episode 13 Review – Best In Show

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

Lycoris Recoil Episode 13 – Quick Summary

In Lycoris Recoil episode 13, “Recoil of Lycoris,” Majima had finally set the stage for his confrontation with Chisato. He had even cut the power to the city so Takina could not reverse the elevator and Kurumi could not use her hacker skills. Can Chisato, still clinging to her non-lethal philosophy, defeat Majima by herself? Or will Majima finally achieve his goal? And where is Mika in all of this?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Lycoris Recoil Episode 13

It’s hard to get anything past Kurumi. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Talk about a challenge! Picking a favorite quote from this episode borders on impossible! But since I can’t just quote the whole script, I’ll put the favorite quotes into a mental gravity pick machine and just grab one.

Hey! It’s from Kurumi! They were in the basement of the reopened LycoReco. She saw that Mika was using his cane again, and she asked if he intended to keep using it. He said he did, and he asked her to keep it quiet. That made Kurumi remember how she had arranged for the surgeon to implant Chisato’s new heart – the new heart that Mika had extracted from Shinji after putting a bullet in his head.

She agreed she’d keep his secret.

As she watched him walk up the stairs, using a cane he didn’t really need, she thought (20:08), “You’re the scariest of the bunch.”

I loved how her tone was quiet and reserved. She’s not exactly afraid of Mika, and that’s primarily because she, too, is perfectly happy to do her part to protect Chisato. She knows that as long as she does that, Mika’s got her back, too.

After all, she knows with utter clarity what happens to those who don’t support Chisato.

Best in Show Moment for Lycoris Recoil Episode 13

If Takina had stumbled, or if she had missed the shot… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

A Target Rich Environment

And I thought choosing a favorite quote was hard! That was nothing compared to picking a favorite moment! Please let me list a few of my favorite moments before I tell you which my favorite:

1. Chisato casually pumping several non-lethal shots into Majima before he could raise his machine-gun (02:05)
2. Fuki agonizing whether to help Chisato or to save Sakura (03:08)
3. Mika asking in too quiet a voice (06:36), “Is that the woman who assaulted Chisato?” (and the subsequent beat-down he delivered to Himegama)
4. Maki, tears streaming down his face, admitting that Chisato had “driven him mad” – as he pointed his pistol at Shinji’s head and pulled the trigger (08:03)
5. Chisato calling Takina her “earnest friend” (08:58)

These are the kind of moments I want to create in my own writing. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

And that only took me half way through my notes! But in terms of a series finale, I just could not have asked for more. The script gave each major character arc time to breathe. It gave us time with those characters. And it gave us a climax that was as intense as any I can remember. In fact, that’s my favorite moment.

Though seeing Chisato in a Hawaiian outfit almost pushed it aside. As well as Chisato sitting with Takina as they watched the sunset. Oh, and Chisato grabbing Takina and swinging her around again, only to fall into the surf. And…

Setup: Chisato and Majima’s Mount Doom Moment

See? It’s hard picking a favorite moment!

But here it is. Chisato’s artificial heart was failing. Majima’s bomb was about to go off. Chisato prioritized grabbing the detonator from Majima, so when he kicked across the floor. When she turned to chase it, Majima took the chance to shoot her through the shoulder.

Chisato had gone down on the edge of the glass globe’s bottom. The glass panes were cracked. Majima held her down with his foot, and Chisato pretended to be defeated. That’s when Takina ran onto the deck and screamed Chisato’s name.

Once again, kudos to Takina’s voice actor Shion Wakayama. She delivered a perfectly mixed tone of fury and desperation.

Chisato stayed true to herself, even to the point where she thought it would cost her life. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Chisato took advantage of the distraction. She spun, grabbed Majima’s jacket, and pulled them both into the cracking glass bowl. This presented my poor brain with a problem. In fact, if you look in my notes for this moment, you’ll see “No no no no no.” It’s because of this: the series did an exceptionally good job setting up Chisato as a tragic hero. I knew with terrible clarity that she would not hesitate to sacrifice herself to a) save her friends and b) not have to kill someone else.

As she and Majima slid to the bottom, as the glass cracking loudly around them, I could see how this episode might just show Chisato plunging to her death if she could take Majima with her.

She still had the presence of mind to lay on her back and spread her weight across as much glass as possible. Aiming precisely, she fired once, twice, three times at Majima to force him closer to a pane that had fallen away. He plunged into the opening.

Delivery: Takina’s Quick Thinking

Then the glass beneath Chisato gave way.

I believed in that instant that Chisato would tumble to her death. That for the remainder of the episode, we’d see her friends grieving. That Takina would be heart-broken, and that she’d maybe stay with Mika to help the both of them heal. In retrospect, I realize now that I held my breath.

Fortunately for my heart (and Chisato’s!), Takina was a woman of action. Remember those wire bullets we’ve seen Lycoris agents use? Running along the inside of the glass, she hit Chisato with several shots, then leapt to the edge and hung on (11:18). The wire dug into her shoulder, but she bore the agony. And in doing so, saved Chisato’s life.

Damn. Just damn.

The show gets massive style points for the fireworks that provided a background for Chisato swinging from a wire. Turns out Majima’s last bomb was just fireworks. He hadn’t had time to do anything else.

The fireworks were a nice touch. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I’m glad the back half of the episode was mostly relaxing. I don’t think my heart rate returned to normal until about the time Kurumi uttered my favorite quote of the episode! But in all seriousness, this was as satisfying and enjoyable an ending as I could have hoped for. And I feel a little justified for picking the philosophy for this site. That’s because I could have looked for the flaws in this episode and the series as a whole. I could have felt smug for seeing the logic and continuity errors. But then I would have missed out on the emotional experience of watching this episode.

That would have been a tragedy.

What did you think of, well, pretty much any moment from this episode? What were your favorites? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Lycoris Recoil Episode 13: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: Lycoris Recoil – Episode 13 discussion – FINAL
• Chikorita157’s Anime Blog: Lycoris Recoil – Episode 13 (END) – Mika’s Best Kept Secret
• RABUJOI: Lycoris Recoil – 13 (Fin) – Deciding for Themselves

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• Lycoris Recoil Episode 1: Easy does it
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 2: The more the merrier
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 3: More haste, less speed
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 4: Nothing seek, nothing find
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 5: So far, so good
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 6: Opposites attract
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 7: Time will tell
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 8: Another day, another dollar
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 9: What’s done is done
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 10: Repay evil with evil
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 11: Diamond cut diamond
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 12: Nature versus nurture
• Lycoris Recoil Episode 13: Recoil of Lycoris