After going with one of its most interior episodes last week (that’s been the mode for much of this season) Kekkai Sensen & Beyond switches gears to the epic here – and that was always likely, given that we’re down to two episodes left in this cour.  It should have been pretty obvious as soon as William MacBeth, AKA Black, showed up on that video call (indeed, it was obvious when Sonic turned up in a certain churchyard in the cold open) that we were headed for a canon episode.

It’s the peculiar quality of “Beyond”, though, that even the canon episodes feel very human and intimate.  This has been a character-driven season far more than the first, and the cast has proven more than capable of carrying the load.  That load has been shared by a wide swathe of characters, but Leonardo’s ability to drive the story has never been in doubt. Leo talking to Michella has been a pretty rare thing – the prospect of the two siblings actually meeting at last is a very big deal in Blood Blockade Battlefront terms.

This being BBB, it was a meeting you knew was never going to be simple and straightforward.  And it isn’t – starting with Leo’s unhinged reaction to Michella’s announcement that she’s getting married.  She follows that up by telling her brother that she’s coming to Hellsalem’s Lot to introduce her fiancee to the last family member who hasn’t met him, and arranged to meet at the hilariously named “Waldole Asterisk II” hotel.  My favorite part of this sequence is that pretty much everyone from Libra turns up to see what goes down – even though it’s only Zapp that’s actually assigned to keep “watch” (and he’d much rather be somewhere else).

This long-awaited meeting doesn’t disappoint – anyone who sees a sibling after a long absence will recognize the emotions at play here.  And at first flush Toby McLachlan seems like a very normal, nice man – wholly dedicated to Michella’s happiness.  The problem is, Leo with his God’s Eyes can see something no one else can – that Toby is under the control of Dr. Gaminozu, a rather terrifying figure who’s been collecting God’s parts for far longer than Leo has been alive.  He tells Leo that neither Michella or Toby has been harmed, but the implication is clear – he’s going to get what he wants or else.

To say this puts Leo in an uncomfortable position is an understatement, especially when a Blood Breed turns up and he’s called out to assist in sealing it.  The last thing in the world Leo wants the ultra-powerful Dr. Gaminozu to see is the full force of the eyes’ powers at work – but if Leo doesn’t use them to see the Blood Breed’s true name, all of his colleagues will be in danger (especially since the police have managed to blow its head off, leading to it going on a berserker rampage when it’s unable to regenerate it).  In the end Leo does what he has to do – but now his nemesis knows the full value of what he possesses.

There’s a lot to sort out in just one final episode, starting with the question of whether Michella is aware of what’s going on with Toby or not (as Leonardo suspects she is).  I don’t anticipate that Takayanagi-sensei is going to attempt to give Kekkai Sensen a true “ending” here, because there’s surely some hope that the series will continue in anime form sometime down the line (though it would be quite a while down the line, based on availability of source material), but he will likely try and reach a logical stopping point.  It seems like a tall order, but so far this season has answered the call at every turn, and I expect the finale to be no different.