Episode 8
AAAAAHHHHHHH MY HEART.
Man the last half of the episode was a FEELS TRIP. I had anticipated this episode to be pretty slow considering all the action that happened last week. However, I didn’t expect my heart to be filled with so many feels. The first half felt pretty slow along with some janky animation, but it wouldn’t surprise me if most of their budget went to those pretty stellar fight scenes last episode. I honestly thought this episode was going to be some sort of filler. The first half of the episode definitely felt like one. Especially when they somehow found their way into Caillte’s forest. However, the episode was quick to put some very plot related situations in when they find an unconscious Seth with Myr. We also end up meeting Myr’s wife… who apparently is a tree woman. Okay… I will try not to question it lol.
Also I feel like I’ve talked about this before in the first season, but I really love the nature backgrounds in this show. Obviously all the budget went into doing these backgrounds and I’m not even mad lol. I was a little confused as to the suddenness of Ocoho and company just happened to enter the forest like this and how they were able to keep their wits since apparently everyone who ventured in would lose their way.
The second half of the episode was just SO GOOD. Not only is Seth talking to people who could possibly help his situation and even restrain his beast side, but he was finally able to make up with Melie. I’m so glad they didn’t choose to drag out this painful drama. My heart wouldn’t be able to take it. Everyone also seemed to catch onto that they need some time alone to talk things out and I couldn’t help the growing smile on my face. They really did just need a space to talk and I’m glad that Seth allowed himself to be vulnerable. Through this talk, it shows just how much of a positive and calming influence Melie has on Seth. It was shown the more anxious Seth got, the stronger that creepy eyeball thing gets as if it uses Seth’s negative emotions to get bigger. However, the more Seth talked to Melie, the smaller the eyeball thing got.
It was so touching to hear how much it meant to Melie that Seth wasn’t afraid of her curse. He even brought her back when she was losing control. Seth became so important to her because he was the person she had longed for. As she said before, she wanted someone to be by her side to stop her whenever she went out of control and Seth did just that. As she continued talking about how much Seth’s friendship helped and saved her, the fact that the eyeball thing started shrinking spoke volumes. And my heart just burst through my body when Seth finally acknowledged he couldn’t handle his berserker side on his own and tells Melie he’s glad he has her. UGH MY HEART. I just ADORE their bond and friendship. Even if they don’t end up in a romantic relationship, I just need their friendship intact. THEY’RE JUST SO PURE I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. It was also just a relief to finally see Seth smile and laugh with Melie again. The awkwardness has finally dissipated and they’re probably closer than ever. Disputes between close friends do tend to bring them closer so I’m glad they finally sorted out their complicated feelings towards each other.
This episode made me feel so warm inside because Seth and Melie are finally back to being friends. It was so painful to see their falling out despite knowing how much they meant to each other.
Episode 9
Initially, I was honestly scared that this series would start adding filler now that we’ve entered some sort of training arc with Seth. Especially with how dull the training with Yaga was in the city of Sorcerers. Technically, you could probably categorize this episode as filler. However, they made sure to put plot relevant content within the episode, preventing it from falling into season 1 filler. Cross your fingers that Lerche keeps it up.
So it’s addressed that there is a high possibility that there is a traitor amongst the Sorcerer Knights and Mordred continues raising some possible traitor flags. While it may seem like he’s in support of Ocoho, I still haven’t forgotten that weird spell he cast on her in a previous episode. Not to mention, we still don’t know what happened to Sagramor despite Mordred claiming he’d show up later. And by being in support of Ocoho, he got Brangoire booted from his position of leading the apprentices, leaving the job to a new person. Highly suspect if you ask me. Especially since he’s the only other sorcerer knight that’s been put in the spotlight outside of Sorcerer Knight business. But who knows, maybe he’s a red herring.
It was also a little surprising how much favor Ocoho is getting from the Queen. She seems to have developed a soft spot towards Ocoho and their whole interaction just felt like “girl time”, which is kind of funny considering how much larger the Queen is compared to Ocoho. Though it is interesting how the Queen brings up how there could be those who look down on her attitude and advises her not to draw too much attention, which makes me nervous for Ocoho. The fall from grace I had expected several episodes ago has yet to happen, but with this warning, I’m all the more nervous as to what Ocoho’s fate will be. Will she become an official Sorcerer Knight or will someone pull the rug out from underneath her… I’m looking at you, Mordred.
Seth wakes up after his wounds are finally healed… only to find that he’d been asleep for nearly three years. At first I thought they were kidding and just messing with him. However, it seemed to be true, but time in the forest moves differently compared to time in the outside world. So if Seth really wanted, he could leave the forest the exact same time he left. Though I had a pretty good laugh that the first thing Seth thinks about is that Alma would kill him for not calling her in three years. Priorities, my dude lol. Anyways, because time moves separately in the forest, in theory, Seth could train as long as he wants and have no repercussions time-wise. Almost like a video game where you go off and grind for however long as you want and the plot doesn’t progress. How convenient.
The training montage between Seth and Myr was nicely paced as we got to see how Seth has improved while also explaining just how he should be doing things differently such as gathering fantasia. I like how certain things were explained as well as being demonstrated throughout Seth’s training. Such as how magic isn’t just used to destroy, but also create. By trying to catch Myr in the forest, Seth had become more attuned to the fantasia all around him and was able to use it to his advantage rather than charging headfirst like he typically does. It’s nice to actually get to witness Seth learning different abilities, rather than them being pulled out for the first time in fights. glances at season 1
I’ve developed a newfound respect for Myr as he not only was an attentive teacher to Seth, but he was also very protective of him when things started going south. WIth him, it’s almost like Seth doesn’t even have to worry as much if he does turn as Myr seems to have the ability to contain the beast within him. Though I doubt he’d want to turn into that multiple times on purpose. I really appreciate that Myr is seriously looking into Seth’s problem and not just leaving it to him to figure it out on his own. He takes everything Seth feels into consideration and tries to diagnose the problem from all angles. I feel like so many anime have mentor characters give the typical answer of “the answer is inside of you” or “figure out the rest on your own” so it’s refreshing to have Myr be super attentive to Seth’s problem. Especially since said problem is extremely dangerous. I also like that despite Seth’s training, he still failed to control the thing inside him and went on a short lived rampage. However, Myr did not berate or scold Seth for it and instead asked him to try again so that he could go inside and see what is going on in that front.
Speaking of which, the fact that the “freeloader” inside Seth seems to be acting as a peephole to where he feels like he’s being watched at all times is terrifying and unsettling. Especially when the black eye thing seems to be trying to bring another force to Seth to offer him up to it. Even Myr doesn’t know who this someone is, but he knows that it’s searching for him. Which is TERRIFYING. It also brings up an even bigger risk for Seth to go berserk now that this thing seems to appear and try and take him whenever he does. It’s honestly no surprise that whatever Piodon did to Seth, it wasn’t for his benefit. Piodon has always been a shady guy and this just bumped his shadiness up to 11. I do hope that Seth won’t trust Piodon after this and heed the words that Alma told him at the beginning.
Despite this being the training arc, a lot happened this episode and I really enjoyed it. A lot of red flags were raised and a lot more intrigue was added. Such as with Seth’s situation with his beast mode and how he is learning how to feel the fantasia around him. We also find out that Diabal in a horned infected as well. Which sets him up as possibly being connected to Seth in some way. I’m guessing that those weird dreams of the hidden passage that Seth was having was linked to this guy. This season continues to intrigue and impress me. Keep it up Lerche!
