Recap: The confrontation in The Calm has left Akihito in bad shape. He wakes up to Mirai’s care and a bright summer sky, but things are not as they appear.

I have been enjoying this show so far, but this is really the first time that I’ve felt that it was the story carrying the show and not the animation. It has been riding on the technical prowess of KyoAni for so long that I was legitimately surprised to come into this episode and find an incredibly engaging narrative waiting for me. It really shows, there isn’t much in the way of action, instead opting to show us some context for Mirai’s true relationship with the Nase family as well as some heart-wrenching moments with Akihito and Mirai. I also love how this episode flowed into the opening and finally gave all of those scenes on the train some context.

That said, I’m still a little confused. Last week’s confusion about Mirai and the Nases was cleared up pretty succinctly, but now I’m just confused as to where Akihito actually is. They seemed to imply he was going to wake from his dream, as Mirai had sacrificed herself to enter Beyond the Boundary. Despite that, they make it seem like he’s inside it at the end. I suppose maybe his consciousness has become trapped as well? It could have something to do with how he was placed in a frozen barrier last episode.

I don’t think I’ve had any single episode impress me this season as much as this one did. Now that it looks like Akihito and Mirai are trapped in the same strange space, a reunion mustn’t be far off. Their relationship being a focal point of the past few episodes it would be nice to see something come of it before we’re through. Still, I suppose there are bigger fish to fry at the moment. With two more episodes left and Beyond the Boundary looking like some anime War World something tells me the fight won’t be an easy one.