Episode 7 – I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day

This latest installment pulled off an emotional climax that completely caught me off guard, and I have to admit—it worked wonderfully. My only real critique is that the arc’s conclusion might have landed with even more weight if Lizzy and Ali had received more screen time earlier in the season. They only truly stepped into the spotlight over the past two episodes. While their primary narrative purpose clearly revolves around how their fates impact Sheena and Mimi, that doesn’t diminish the solid execution we got here. In fact, this stands out as easily one of the season’s best episodes, largely because it unflinchingly exposes the grim, unsettling reality of child soldiers.

Thankfully, the mock exam wraps up quickly rather than dominating the runtime. The match isn’t about Mimi or Lizzy claiming victory; instead, it serves two critical storytelling purposes. First, it exposes Lizzy’s deep-seated frustration. Despite ranking at the top of her class, she feels useless compared to Mimi, who is constantly hyped as an unyielding, legendary fighter. Lizzy possesses incredible talent for her age, yet it never feels like enough to her. She chases an impossible standard of perfection, and the nurse’s reminder that nobody is invincible hits the right note. The goal isn’t to serve the school or country—it’s simply to survive and make it home. My heart truly went out to Lizzy and Ali this week, and the show didn’t pull any punches with the tragedy that ultimately awaited Lizzy.

Second, the showdown between Mimi and Lizzy sheds light on the teachers’ quiet unease. The faculty uses the match to expose just how poorly prepared these students actually are for combat. The academy rescues kids from poverty and desperate circumstances, but it ultimately preys on their vulnerability. These teenagers lack families to return to and have no outside prospects, leaving them easy prey for guilt trips compelling them to sacrifice their lives for an obscure conflict. Rather than striving for victory, the teachers simply throw up technicalities and roadblocks to keep the kids from getting slaughtered, fighting just to hold the line until everything collapses.

It is heartbreaking that Lizzy never envisioned a future for herself outside of the war, though that resignation is a tragedy shared by many of these characters. It’s not a lack of desire for something better; rather, they feel duty-bound to protect others, prove their worth, or simply accept that no alternative path exists for them. Death isn’t glorified as an honor here—it’s just an accepted fact of daily life. Nobody goes into battle eagerly or looks forward to proving their usefulness. Like Lizzy, these youths aren’t conditioned to be emotionless killers; they carry the psychological toll of the lives they take just as heavily as the grief of those they lose. I only wish the narrative had allowed the sheer weight of taking a life to linger longer—that alone could have driven an entire episode.

Even so, the final sequence where Lizzy quietly fades away from sheer exhaustion is devastatingly effective. For a fleeting second, I genuinely thought she was going to pull through and make it home, which speaks volumes about how deeply invested I became in her survival. While her loss will undoubtedly devastate her girlfriend, I am equally eager to see how this ripples out for Sheena and Mimi. This marks the first time Mimi has watched a friend die right in front of her, especially at a moment when she is finally learning to cherish human life. Will this serve as the catalyst that alters the course of the story as it enters its second half? I am genuinely excited to see where the narrative heads next, even if the groundwork could have been laid a bit more smoothly.

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Bolts also streams regularly on Twitch as the indie VtuberBolts The Mechanic where they talk about and play retro media!

I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.