Aaand a Wizard in steroids. Yep.
Phoenix is pissed that he can't fight the wizard or do anything unless he has the approval coming from the Wiseman. Meanwhile, the Beelzebub Phantom attacks a girl who has a lot of friends.
Before talking about the Gate in this story arc and Phoenix, let's talk about the new Rings, Dress Up Ring and Excite Ring. Dress Up is basically a quick costume change spell ring while as for Excite Ring; it transforms Haruto's non-muscular body into a body of that of a body builder. To put it simply, it's basically Haruto on steroids. For starters, it feels like these new rings might not be useful in battle. Kinda like how the Sleep Ring and Smell Ring are in the series.
The Gate of the arc plot didn't really interest me that much because it is basically her friends are sort of against her. I first though they are just telling what they really feel because I find the Gate really annoying. So annoying that I want her to shut up just a second! It gets interesting later on thanks to glow in Shunpei's eyes after he befriended the Gate. It can only mean one thing; the reason why her friends hate her is because of the Phantom.
This is one brilliant plan, and me like the Phantom more. He knows what gives the Gate hope, her friends are the ones that keep her going and turning them against her can cause her downfall to despair. The plan seems to work perfectly till Haruto arrives. Much to my disappointment, Beelzebub didn't turn Haruto against the Gate, but I guess it makes sense when it comes to writing since this episode feels like it is not a Beast focused episode and second, there is a thing going on with Phoenix, which I will get into later.
Beelzebub is one feisty Phantom; his ability to create warp holes gave him one great advantage in battle. I mean seriously, Wizard didn't scratch Beelzebub even just once. As for Beast in this episode, he was just... there. Aside from having his fill of Ghouls, he didn't do much in this episode aside from complaining why Wizard gets the most kills and stuff like that. Speaking of Wizard getting the most kills, he used the Excite Ring in battle and much to my surprise, it is actually useful as this spell can basically turn Wizard into the Hulk and just smash things! But the episode ends and they weren't able to beat the Phantom.
Now comes the best part of this episode, the plot about Phoenix, and we can credit it to Rinko who decides to investigate him after he caused a ruckus. For the first time, we saw Rinko do a proper investigation in the series, something that she should be doing for most of the time since day one. The problem I have with Rinko is that she barely acts like a cop or a detective; she acts more like Shunpei in most of her appearances. Granted, we saw her use her authority when it comes to confronting Gates, but for most of the time, it feels like she was just there cluttering the screen.
Her investigation caused her to land on something vital, we learned that Phoenix was originally known as Yugo Fujita, a boy who works on a flower shop and genuinely wants to own one in the future. What's sad about it is that Yugo is a man with hopes and dreams, and right now, Phoenix who is using Yugo's body as his shell is basically a walking ball of destruction, the complete opposite of the kind man who loves flowers.
After learning Yugo's address, she decides to drop a visit since she is aware that she might encounter a Phantom. But before entering his apartment unit, she decided to contact Haruto, only to drop the idea. I like this scene because she didn't assume that Yugo is now a Phantom because the only thing she knew is that he is missing after the solar eclipse. Inside the apartment unit, much to my surprise, she is actually carrying a gun, somewhere in her pocket! For a cop, we barely see her shoot some Phantoms! Her scene ends, with Phoenix on her back, and made me wish that the next episode will be out fast.
