The Rumble Town arc continues and while the flashback slowed down the pacing a little, it definitely shed some light on where the Domitor’s motivations come from while also highlighting what a freaking piece of crap Konrad has always been. The guy is irredeemably terrible and deserves nothing but to be stripped of all status and to rot in prison. Not only did he try and get four children killed several times, he killed his superior because he didn’t agree with how he ran the town and even destroyed a part of the town and its residents as a sort of purging. Konrad really doesn’t care about the people of this town and would readily sacrifice them if it meant to “cleanse” the town. I’m still unsure of why the heck he hates immigrants so much or people who are “different” from him in general, including infected and sorcerers. The anime is laying it on pretty thick of why the audience should hate Konrad. And it’s working.
As soon as the Domitor started talking about how there were four infected kids taken in, I had a feeling that three of them weren’t going to make it. I just didn’t expect them to be freaking beat to death by the people of the town. I’m thankful they didn’t show it, since that’s one of the things that I cannot stand to watch. And when the town’s people heard of all of Konrad’s crimes, they sought to believe that the Domitor would be the one to save them. However, the Domitor was quick to tell them that she perceives all of the town’s people responsible for what happened to her and her friends all those years ago. And while some shout saying they weren’t even born then, the fact still remained that they all still took part in violent stances against immigrants, infected and sorcerers.
This anime makes me feel more twisted than I should, considering I always find myself siding with the “bad” sorcerers. It’s brought up so many times of “why should us sorcerers fight for the normal people?” It was first addressed by Bossman and again here by the Domitor. They bring up very valid points on why they should even bother protecting the people who are so quick to change their tune when their lives are threatened. These people have done nothing but blindly and indolently follow Konrad’s words so they don’t have to think for themselves. They all have such a mob mentality that Konrad used it to his benefit to smoke out all of the “impurities” of the town. It’s because of this mentality that sorcerers like Bossman and the Domitor are born hating everyone in this world. It’s a terrible cycle of hatred. And if society’s minds and hearts are not changed, everyone in this world will continue to suffer.
While Seth was fairly silent through the majority of the episode, his silence held a lot of meaning. I appreciated the fact that Seth said nothing as the Domitor talked about how everyone is to blame for what has happened, silently observing and taking everything she was saying. He didn’t try to correct the Domitor because he knows her feelings are valid, especially when he probably feels the same way about normal people. What I like about Seth is that he doesn’t always try to protect others for the sake of them specifically. A part of him still hates people for how they’ve treated sorcerers, however, he wants to bring about change in their perception of sorcerers. He knows the town’s people are not blameless, but is choosing to focus on the major catalyst of this entire thing, Konrad. I also love how Seth just blatantly called out Konrad on his bull crap, saying that he’s weak because he can’t do anything without deceiving others.
I also loved the fight between Konrad and Seth with all of the epic fighting choreography and animation. Though I was a little confused as to where all of this newfound strength from Seth was coming from. However, it didn’t take away from the fact that it was awesome seeing Seth being able to kick the crap out of Konrad, giving what the scumbag deserves. There’s still a lot of mystery to what Seth is, which could explain where all this power came from and his ability to use Fantasia bare-handed and (according to Konrad) not have his bones break in the process. It was also pretty cool to see Seth use an ability he’s only seen Grimm do once. His combat prowess is slowly evolving, taking in what he sees and then utilize it.
I can’t wait to see how this arc finishes off in regards to dealing with both Konrad and the Domitor. Since we’ve all been waiting to see Konrad’s get knocked off his high horse. I’m also curious as to what Grimm has to ask the Domitor and how she’ll even be dealt with. While she has her reasons, what she’s doing is still wrong. Even if the Nemesis she controls are freaking adorable.
