REVIEW: ‘Marriagetoxin’ Episode 12 — “Heart And Soul”

Marriagetoxin Episode 12 is the most engaging and visually striking episode thus far, delivering an immensely entertaining viewing experience, thanks largely to the climactic fight between Toshiro Dogo and Hikaru. The episode begins with another flashback sequence showing a scene with a young Hikaru (Haruki Ishiya) and his trainer, who explains the Poison Blood art.

Poison Blood art is basically the ultimate art of the Poison Master and the ”pinnacle” of their Modified Bloodline, which also takes decades of training. It is Hikaru’s ultimate attack, meant to be an incurable poison that harnesses years of evolution and fine-tuning of his blood.

The scene switches back to the present and continues where the last episode left off. Hikaru injects himself a third time, but instead of passing out like last time, his abilities are enhanced to the highest they’ve ever been. He gains superhuman speed and dexterity, and his Poison Blood becomes activated. He evades Dogo’s attacks effortlessly and lands several hits on Dogo. Dogo then transforms using his Cross Sanguination ability to morph several of his limbs and entire body into several animals, and attacks Hikaru in many ways.

Hikaru levels up with Poison Blood, giving him enhanced abilities in Marriagetoxin Episode 12.

However, unlike last time, Hikaru evades and defends against all his attacks easily, using his immense speed and toxins. This forces Dogo to use one of his ultimate Beast Blood attacks, which uses the life force of all 93 animals he’s absorbed into himself. Hikaru counters this by using his Poison Blood ability to not only evade every single attack but also as a weapon by splattering his blood on Dogo, which cuts through his skin and flesh instantly.

The animation during this scene is nothing short of immaculate. The visual representations for Hikaru and Dogo’s ultimate attacks are striking, colourful, and explosive. Every frame progression is fluid yet precise, striking yet intense. The visual effects and composition are immaculate, and the designs, specifically Dogo’s several quick animal transformations, are intricate and eye-catching. The fight is incredibly entertaining to watch. While it lacks the choreography seen in other fights, it is thrilling, and seeing Hikaru go all out like he never has before is especially exciting.

Hikaru’s blood splatter works like acid on Dogo’s skin. This forces him to cut off the affected limbs, regenerate them, and trigger a final powerful transformation that warps his entire body into a monster form. Dogo then charges at Hikaru, but his speed allows him to easily evade Dogo and use his poison to temporarily turn off his senses, letting him win the fight.

A misstep occurs, devaluing Kimie’s contributions in a major way.

Dogo then laments over losing and decides to go after Hikaru’s friends instead. However, Kimie steps in just in time to stop him, as it is revealed that she successfully freed the other prisoners. They then do something incredibly odd and unexpected: they call out to their animal partners, who have all been consumed and turned into the 93 animals Dogo absorbed into himself. This somehow works enough to immobilize Dogo, which then lets Hikaru knock him out for good.

This part of Marriagetoxin Episode 12 is disappointing and strange in many ways. Despite the setup in previous episodes, it doesn’t show how Kimie freed the other prisoners, only that she did so and just in time, by convincing them with a short speech. If that was all that was needed, the prisoners would have easily freed themselves.

Additionally, the prisoners being able to stop Dogo by calling out to their very dead animal partners is nonsensical and highly unrealistic, even for anime. This scene devalues Kimie’s contributions and only succeeds in being comical, but in the wrong ways.

Hikaru’s final attack on Dogo knocks him out. While out cold, another flashback scene shows a young Dogo getting his partner animal, a bat, which he sees as an insult to his potential as a possible head of the Beast clan. This leads him to plot to kill the clan’s current leaders, whom he believes fear his abilities. He wakes up, and right as Piichi (Shimba Tsuchiya) is about to question him, Byakko, who turns out to be alive, swoops in and runs away with him.

With the revelation of stronger members out there, it seems new struggles are on the horizon.

Piichi and Hikaru chase after them, but are stopped by a giant wolf that grabs Byakko and Dogo in its mouth. The episode ends with its owner and Dogo’s sister, Tonako, introducing herself as the newly appointed head of the Beast clan.

The revelation that there are other, potentially stronger, high-ranking members of the Beast Clan makes future episodes more interesting. This is especially so as Tonako and two other members of the clan, likely Dogo’s relatives, were teased earlier in the episode.

Despite some odd moments, Marriagetoxin Episode 12 is an extremely entertaining episode that features fierce fights, fantastic animation, and more narrative expansion. It serves as a great penultimate episode, setting up a calmer end to the season.

Marriagetoxin Episode 12 is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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