Episode 17 is another episode that focuses on Anya’s opportunity in school to be friends with Damian. In the class, Henderson tells students to divide into groups and make an animal using the limited paper given. When they are done, their art projects will be displayed for the members of the school board to see. Damian is assigned to Anya’s group, and the two collaborate to create an art project.
Anya completes her dog sculpture for her art project and intends to assist Damian, who is having difficulty with his. He needs more paper as well as time and effort to finish the art he plans to make. Most importantly, he wants to create something that would make his father proud of him, which relates to real-life development in a child. She offers to help.He agrees and instructs her to make certain animal body parts, but she ends up making different things.
Damian is angry at what she has done so far as his tension intensifies. Most of the paper is used, and time is running out before he can finish his artwork. Henderson sees him yelling at Anya and stops him from being harsh on her and others.Damian is scared of Henderson’s warning, as his expression shows, but does he feel sorry for what he did? Probably not. His emotions and inner voice express that he does not feel remorse. His mind is more occupied with the idea of not being able to show his artwork to his father, who seems to be an important figure in his life.
Yet, he feels his father neglects him most of the time, as shown in the phone conversation between him and his butler. His father never cares about him when his butler replies to him about his father’s response to his orientation in school. Then again, there is no telling what his father is like. In all episodes, it has not yet been shown how much his father loves and cares about him or not.
Going back to where Henderson tells Damian that he wins the prize, he is baffled by his words. It is impossible. He thinks the art project Anya helped him with turns out to be a piece of garbage, but a member of the board of education has a different perspective. The member sees it as dignified from a political standpoint. The piece of art serves as a reminder that the nation may yet recover from the war and have a future. Now that Damian has won the prize, Anya thinks her plan will convince Damian to let her into his circle, but no. He runs away and decides definitely not to show his art. He is not happy with how his art turns out.
The rest of the episode talks about how Loid and Sherwood exchange information while they are in Ostania. It is something new that has not been shown in previous episodes. Even though they have been exchanging information in person for quite some time now, it is quite interesting to see how Sherwood escapes being followed by strangers.
Episode 17 provides the character’s point of view on what they see. It briefly reminds them of something, either about the future of the country or the teaching of evolution vs. creation. Examples include the member’s perspective on Damian’s art project, and Becky’s thoughts of humans and Henderson agrees with her. A recurring theme in the episode is Anya’s futile attempts to enter Damian’s social circle. However, it is not predictable that she will fail to achieve her plan of helping Loid succeed in his mission. Every time she tries to be friends with Damian, there is always a glimpse of hope of them being friends.
Rating: 7/10
| Characters in Episode 17 | Cast |
| Loid Forger | Takuya Eguchi, Alex Organ |
| Henry Henderson | Kazuhiro Yamaji, Barry Yandell |
| Anya Forger | Atsumi Tanezaki, Megan Shipman |
| Becky Blackbell | Emiri Katou, Dani Chambers |
| Damian Desmond | Natsumi Fujiwara, Caitlin Glass |
| Emile Elman | Hana Sato, Macy Anne Johnson |
| Ewen Egeburg | Haruka Okamura, Michelle Rojas |
