Chained Soldier Episode 5 Review

Prime Time with Yachiho Azuma

Chained Soldier Episode 5 focused on the exhibition match between the Azuma sisters. I thought we’d at least get to see the start of the next match. But, no. That’s okay, though, because there’s still quite a lot for me to discuss.

I went over Yachiho Azuma’s abilities a bit in the Episode 4 review. But, let’s go into more detail, this week. Yachiho’s main ability is that she can control time. However, that main ability has two sub-abilities. She can freeze time and she can rewind time.

When we see her use both of these sub-abilities, she does so in 5-second increments. However, we know that’s not the only amount of time she can control. According to Yachiho herself, her ability is more efficient when she strikes a pose. And, she struck a pose every time she used her ability in this fight.

What does that tell us? It tells us that Yachiho can control time in smaller increments if she wants simply by not striking a pose. But, in the case of this battle, those smaller increments wouldn’t have been very helpful. Instead, she needed to control more time.

This is where Prime Time comes in. Prime Time is an evolution of Yachiho’s base ability. It allows her to control double the time that she normally can. So, if she strikes a pose while using Prime Time, she can control time for 10 seconds.

How does doing something like freezing time for a set amount of time work? If you freeze time, won’t 5 or 10 seconds never pass? I’m sure nobody asked, but I’ll answer these questions anyway. Time is relative. Rather than freezing time for everyone else, you can think of it as Yachiho moving at the speed of light.

Battle of the Sisters

In the end, we saw Himari and Yuuki defeat Yachiho, just as I predicted they would. And, of course, this victory was important for Himari. It was her opportunity to prove to Yachiho that she’s not as weak as Yachiho thinks she is.

As I believe I said last week, Himari seems to be the strongest member of the 7th Squadron. So, it’s a bit wild for Yachiho to consider her weak. Himari has a very powerful ability. Though, I guess from Yachiho’s perspective, most abilities are weak. That’s how strong time control is.

Also, we need to keep in mind that Yachiho went into this fight thinking she had an advantage. Both Azuma sisters are very familiar with each other’s abilities. We saw Himari changing up her strategies based on how tired Yachiho appeared. And, Yachiho said something that implies she has a lot of information about the 7th Squadron, too.

You might have missed this. But, Yachiho commented on how swapping between abilities works for Himari. If she copies an ability that has a cost, she can’t swap to a different ability before she pays that cost.

This tells us a few things. First, she knows that there’s this limit on Himari’s Learning ability. Second, she knows the ability Himari copied is Kyouka’s. And third, she knows Kyouka’s ability has a cost that must be paid for using it. With all that information, it’s easy to see why Yachiho would think she has the advantage.

But, that’s not all. Yachiho also (correctly) believed she had an ace up her sleeve. Himari had no idea about Prime Time. So, Yachiho was able to use that to take Himari by surprise. And, she would have won at that point if she hadn’t dropped her guard.

A Slave and His Rewards

Okay, let’s talk about the reward Yuuki got from Himari at the end of the episode. Was this the best reward so far? Maybe. I’ve seen quite a few people saying that it was. And, to be fair, this was a very good reward.

However, I don’t think I can say that it’s better than the reward he got in Episode 4. I get it, everyone wants Himari to kiss them. I do too. But, come on. was that better than her sitting on his face? I’m not so sure about that.

There was one thing I was disappointed with in terms of this reward. I was looking forward to Himari having to give Yuuki his reward in front of everyone else. Like, imagine if Yachiho woke up to see Himari sucking on Yuuki’s face. That would have been epic.

But, at least Shushu saw it happen — even if Himari and Yuuki don’t know it. And, this got me thinking about Yuuki’s rewards in the future. Obviously, this is a harem series and Yuuki’s going to be involved with most of the girls in some way.

The thing is, the majority of these girls won’t have to give him a reward like this. That only applies to Kyouka and Himari (when she’s using Kyouka’s ability). It’s not like Shushu is ever going to have to service Yuuki against her will. Though, I can definitely see her doing it anyway.

What about the other girls, though? Are Tenka, Yachiho, and Sahara all going to fall for Yuuki on their own? That seems less interesting than them having to reward Yuuki. I mean, the slave-reward dynamic is the main draw of the series, isn’t it? I want these girls to be uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Chained Soldier Episode 5? How do you feel about the way in which Himari and Yuuki won the fight? How much do you think Yachiho knows about the cost of using Kyouka’s ability? And, was Yuuki’s reward in this episode your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 6 is available now.