Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi is another of those ongoing manga adaptations whose endgame is a total mystery to me.  In addition to being a one-cour Idaten bears the curse of Noitamina, the 11-episode runtime – though because of its late start and five day delay we still have two episodes to go.  That said, it definitely gives the impression of a series that’s just getting started telling its story – we’re still getting characters introductions and some of the ones who seem really important are only now making their presence felt.

We were in a the midst of a process where the demons were becoming considerably more likeable than the Idaten, but that certainly reversed course this week.  I will say they’re more recongizably human (and less “alien”), but that has negative connotations as well as positive.  Piscalet needs sleep when overworked even as Ysley plows through unworried (she blames it on her human brain rather than her demon body).  But the cast of demons who’ve managed to escape Zoble – 9 in all – hardly paint themselves in glory this week.

Of them, Kuraishi (indeed he is played by Kimura Ryouhei, yet another jewel in this show’s seiyuu crown), Miku, and Kroft seem like the most dangerous.  Kuraishi is Takeshita and Brandy’s oldest son, and Piscalet describes him as “like you” to Ysley (not as a compliment).  As everyone scrambles to stay out of sight of Prontea’s seemingly limitless eyes and ears Kuraishi heads for a human trafficker’s den and bulldozes his way into using the operation for his own ends.  But he’s unable to contact Over-M, knowing he’ll give his position away if he does.

All of the fleeing demons have this problem.  The imperial daughter Raki (Makino Yui) seems pretty much like a sociopathic airhead but the demon she’s fleeing with, Kroft (Okiayu Ryotaru, another huge name) and he comes off as much more dangerous.  They’re fleeing over land from off-the-grid dive to dive, though eventually Prontea does track them down anyway.  Kroft’s specialty is tunnelling, which is how he makes his escape.  For him Raki seems like an annoyance and no more, but he has bigger ideas if no way yet to pursue them.  He’s willing to play the part of Raki’s adoring servant-lover as long as Raki is useful to him.

Miku is ever-resourceful, and her strategy is to cyberstalk a hikikomori and take over her anonymous life – her identity, her house, her inheritance, even her face and fingerprints.  Miku too knows she can’t contact the demon lord yet, but she’s willing to patient and enjoy living as a NEET for a few years until hopefully the Idaten are distracted by other things.  The one demon who doesn’t come off too badly here is Buzz (Fukuhara Ayaka), who’s fled to a deserted island in the company of another demon escapee Merku (Kondo Reina).  Buzz seems content with fornicating and being left alone, but that activity has led to some unfortunate consequences…

There you have virtually an entire antepenultimate episode given over to characters who’ve had virtually no role in the story so far (Miku being the exception).  Where is all this headed?  With Rin seemingly sapped of the will to fight after learning the truth about Over-M things are hardly going smoothly, but it never seems for a moment like the Idaten might actually lose this war.  For better or worse, with two eps to go I can honestly say I have no idea how Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi is going to end.