Well, this week’s episode was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I suppose I will start with what I wasn’t a fan of, starting with Naofumi and his squad for most part, being responsible for “defeating” (despite the fact it wasn’t truly dead until Glass single-handily killed it herself) the fake boss on their own. Now this didn’t surprise me, in fact I kind of expected it— but that doesn’t mean I wished they hadn’t gone down that route. Of course it somewhat helps to know for Naofumi to defeat the Dimensional Soul Eater, using the Rage Shield’s power comes with a high risk, such as being possessed by the Zombie Dragon’s core the boss had recently embed into his armour. This is a prime example of something he hadn’t initially anticipated, especially since he hasn’t used it often. But that is also precisely why Naofumi caught me off guard when he didn’t hesitate to use its power. I thought we wouldn’t see him resort to it until extremely dire circumstances, but instead we saw him prioritizing the race against time, since the longer the waves goes on, more lives will be lost, and that’s not a bad thing at all. If anything, it further highlights how pragmatic he is.
But more than that, I think what bothered me the most was how many of the heroes (aside from Naofumi) were as passive as they were. I don’t know about you, but I felt like this aspect of the fight when they were standing around doing nothing or bickering amongst each other felt forced. While I recognize it was was set up to enable Naofumi to shine in a new light for these characters, one where they witness him be the rational one who takes the lead so they can get shit done, but I felt in some parts I felt it was unnecessarily dragged out. The only exception to the case was when Naofumi brought out the rage shield, and he and Filo were basically being possessed by the Zombie Dragon’s grudge— because let’s be real: none of them expected the Shield to be capable of such power, heck even I probably would have reacted the same had I been in their shoes.
As for my favourite part of the episode, well we need to give a special shout out to OP Granny herself. She was Naofumi’s first patient who had indirectly taught him that he could make money through conjuring potions make profit. She has proven to be a powerful lady, single-handily taking out the monsters while the Ake Squad continued to struggle with it. Clearly the medicine Naofumi had made for her worked wonders, because even he is left startled and wondering what the hell he fed her! HAHA!
Another part that was unfortunately short-lived was when the heroes finally started working together. Motoyama continues to proves he is stupid to the point he can’t think for himself or is certainly a sore loser. Basically, that guy is hopeless, but Itsuki and especially Ren at least are on the right track. It is a positive development, and is something I would like to see more of, but unfortunately I get the feeling we aren’t going to experience that as much as I would like.
Last but not least, we cannot forget about the reveal of the ‘true boss’ Glass. Well, actually it’s not for certain if she is the final boss, but she’s related to the Wave nonetheless. It’s a curious thing to see someone connected to the Wave who has a mind of their own, as opposed to the likes of the undead we see ravaging villages. No surprise how she only perceives Naofumi as the only one worthy of the “Hero” title of the lot did little to nothing against the fake boss. However her and the fake boss’ secondary (albeit brief) appearance certainly gives all of the other heroes the much needed reality check that this world is not the game they initially thought it to be. Should they survive this next phase of the this on-going wave, I am curious whether or not this battle will change their perspective of the world and how they approach it.
Looking forward to seeing how the true battle will play out next week!
