SPOILERS BEWARE Date a Live S3 offers us pretty much what we should expect from DaL at this point. This season can be broken down into two major arcs and a small one right at the end so without further ado how did this season do? 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963881609730338846/unknown.png The first arc which covers the first five episodes is focused on a new spirit which ends up joining the harem in the end anyway. We have Natsumi codenamed Witch who Shido initially has a great introduction except he sees something he shouldnt. Natsumi sneezes which makes her lose concentration revealing her true loli form which she has an incredible complex about. This small incident is what starts Natsumis revenge arc on getting back at Shido for seeing her true self. Natsumis game is transforming into a person in the twelfth pictures she provided however this comes with a twist as for each passing day he guesses wrong someone from the pictures disappears. This game continues until only five people from the pictures are left but in this case Shido guesses correctly and does so using a very logical reasoning. His reasoning was rather simple actually since Yoshinon is indeed Yoshinos puppet and has no right to see something she doesnt yet thats exactly what he did during their date. That concludes Shidos quick thinking theory in figuring out that it was Yoshinon who Natsumi was masquerading as. This time as revenge Natsumi turns the spirits into their lolified versionsbut even so Shido and the spirits still came to save Natsumi when she was in trouble because thats just the nature of this group of characters. The final episode of this arc Shido and his partners have to save Tenguu city from two falling satellites which doesnt happen without Natsumis help right at the end. During this battle even the first seasons OP played which was such an iconic nostalgic moment. It was simply awesome hearing the OP mid episode again similarly as we did in the movie. After some thinking Natsumi decides to accept her true self since the group has already accepted her for who she is and allows herself to be sealed and join the harem. The final moments of the episode show us Origami clad in DEM combat gear which leads me nicely into explaining the second arc. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963877226296770650/unknown.png 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963877916826017903/unknown.png The second arc of this season focuses heavily on Origami and takes up essentially the remainder of this season excluding the final episode. This arc begins with Origami retaining her motive from five years ago that she will kill the spirit that took her parents lives and not only that but she will kill all spirits. This however does not go as planned as even with DEM equipment she still has a finite amount of energy as she is human but this is where we see Phantom appear once more to give Origami her spirit powers. We also see a bit later how Kotori received her spirit powers from the same entity however in this case Phantom recognises Shido as she even graces us in a temporary form rather than the static light weve seen up to now. She knows something that we nor Shido do not which only makes me curious to understand who really is Phantom? The reason we even go back to the past to the fated day five years ago is because Origami now in spirit form pleas Kurumi to send her back. Kurumi has twelfth kind of bullets as there are twelfth hours on a clock so each hour represents a different power. The twelfth bullet Yud Bet allows her to send someone to the past so this is exactly what Origami does however doing so causes an ever greater disaster than what originally happened. While losing control of herself fighting Phantom she eradicates her own parents instead of Kotori being the one to do so. This leads to her falling into despair and becoming an inverted spirit in present time. Once more Shido repeats this timeline with the help of the Kurumi from five years ago as she also shot Shido with Yud Bet so at this point its becoming a mess of going back in time during a period that Shido has already gone back in time. This time however he manages to save Origamis parents at the cost of his life or so we thought yet he wakes up the next day like everything is fine. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963878495740633128/unknown.png In this timeline all seems fine until Origami herself appears. In this timeline she has long hair and a completely different personality as she even blushes in an adorable way. This Origami is sweet however she is also the inverted spirit Devil and seems to turn into a spirit at the mere sight of another spirit. During this form she doesnt seem to have any memory of the events as when she turns back into a human she is clueless as to what had occurred. Essentially she has a split personality between the adorable and shy Origami as well as the despaired girl who wants to kill every spirit she sees. During this timeline Shido takes her on a real date since he has to seal her and well this date as all dates with Origami past and present are certainly an experience. She had lapses in memory where the old perverted Origami showed signs of herself and thats the one and true Origami that we love to see. By the end of this episode and arc Shido seals and saves Origami so thats another true member of the harem as her spirit energy now also resides within Shido. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963879314384896060/unknown.png 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963879602047033374/unknown.png This Origami arc finally gave screen time to best girl I was waiting for Kurumi to appear and it only took about seven episodes but she finally did. There is something seriously incredible about simply seeing Kurumis presence. I have a long history with this character but that aside she would still likely be my favorite character in the show. Kurumi is a rare one of a kind character that I simply cant get enough and her presence on screen gives me so much joy. I am still hopeful and waiting for her true arc if it ever comes. Kurumi is a side character yet appears in some of the most important moments and saves Shido and the spirits countless times too. She is the definition of an astounding villain. Her motives although evil are reasonable and her actions throughout the series show she actually has a soft side to her which is always welcome. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963879855206846544/unknown.png The final episode of the season which felt like Shidos arc seemed rushed as his arc was covered essentially in twenty minutes. Now I havent read the source so there might not be anymore to it but even as an anime only viewer it felt rushed. Basically Shido overloads on spirit energy and starts going out of control so its now the sealed spirits turn to save their saviour. We have the fascinating encounter with Ellen as well as even she was no much for the now powered up Shido. In the end all eight sealed spirits kiss Shido to seal his powers which should supress his powers for a while. Now I wonder if he will still be able to use some of them briefly similarly to how the spirits can use their powers at less strength even though their powers have been sealed. Touching on why I feel Shidos arc had more than the anime showed it just seemed so forced especially near the end of the episode. After giving Natsumi five and Origami six episodes it may have been best to leave Shidos arc for the following season because now his arc is essentially finished within just a singular episode. Thats not to say the ending was unsatisfying but I felt like it could have done and showed more. This wasnt a bad season but it was the weakest excluding the movie. I still have high hopes for S4 as I await Kurumis arc at last. 800https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/635602177833959439/963880534516318269/unknown.png S1 Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/15742 S2 Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/15781 Movie Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/16134 S4 Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/17309