Endride – Episode 15 [Monster]

Well well, turns out Ibelda is still alive after all.

Crime’s everywhere in Endora, and the opening scene of this episode features some thugs rifling through some civilians’ belongs. There’s a rustling in the bushes and initially one might think it’s the Ignauts coming to save the day, but nope, it’s Ibelda coming to fuck them up.

Elsewhere a regional lord is stealing from one of the villages in his territory. He’s taking all their rations so the villagers will effectively starve to death. Now it’s the Ignauts’ grand arrival, and they waste no time laying waste to the lord and all his henchmen. When it’s evident he’s going to lose the fight, the lord flees with a couple of his men, and the Ignauts are treated to a meager victory feast.

During this meal, Demetrio explains Endora’s situation to the village elder, and tells of the Ignauts’ plan to head to the capital while trying to calm the country’s chaos along the way. Shun feels that the village is safe, but Emilio and the village elder point out that the regional lord will probably just come back. So Emilio wants to travel to the lord’s castle to try to talk to him. Taking a page out of Demetrio’s book eh Emilio? Demetrio agrees and splits the Ignauts up into two groups, with Shun, Eljuia and Demetrio accompanying Emilio to the lord’s home.

But when they get there, they see that someone has already beaten them to the goal. The lord is very frightened of something or someone, even though Emilio and Shun are not threatening him, and it’s only when the lord is stabbed through the chest from behind that they see why. Ibelda is there, and he’s out for blood. He’s slightly different now though – his left arm looks like it’s made from melted black putty, and it’s able to cast multiple spectre-like creatures at his will. Demetrio is stuck fighting Ibelda one-on-one while Shun and Emilio try to slay all of Ibelda’s minions, but the monsters just keep coming and Demetrio’s on his own with only Eljuia for minimal protection.

Ibelda grabs Demetrio by the throat and throws them through one of the windows into a courtyard below. He pins Demetrio to the ground with one arm, and with his other arm he’s about to slash Demetrio to ribbons, but a flying projectile knocks Ibelda’s weapon off-target. It’s Guidoro with the last minute rescue! He fights toe-to-toe with Ibelda, who takes a big hit and retreats.

After the fight, Demetrio invites Guidoro to join the Ignauts. Guidoro hesitates, pointing out that the Ignauts have been fighting against  him for a long time. Demetrio rebuts this argument by saying that Guidoro is an honorable fighter, and Guidoro finally consents, on the condition that Guidoro will be the one to eventually slay Ibelda himself. Demetrio agrees and the Ignauts gain a new addition to their team. Shun takes the opportunity to tell Guidoro that if he needs anything, he can come to Shun for help because Shun is his senpai. This was a nice nod to a scene earlier in the episode where Emilio was rubbing in Shun’s face that he was Shun’s senpai because Emilio joined the Ignauts before Shun.

My thoughts: One more episode down. This one was a little predictable – we all knew Ibelda wasn’t dead right? It was just a matter of whether he’d made it up to the surface or not. What did catch me off guard was the return of Guidoro. But he’s cool, so I’m happy I didn’t see that twist coming.

Animation’s still a bit derpy, but the opening theme is starting to grow on me. Gotta take the pluses where I can find them right?