Alright, this episode definitely felt more like a filler. Especially when Seth dropped lines like “I wonder how Melie and the others are doing~” That basically just screams filler episode along with the excessive amount of flashbacks. However, I do think they did a decent job with this one as it did not make me want to throw a table out the window like most of season 1 fillers. Not to mention it took 10 episodes to get to a filler so I’m not as salty about it. Though upon some research, apparently the first half (minus Seths’ part) was basically filler and Ocoho’s development actually was in the manga. So I suppose we haven’t completely fallen into filler territory. But we scratched the surface. However, if they combine both filler and actual manga content, I won’t have any complaints. As long as SOMETHING is plot relevant I am fine.
The first half of the episode was pretty boring with basically another introduction of Lord de Gulis and more of his shenanigans. And dude, you’re basically hitting on a child, STOP IT. Anyways, I felt like I was nodding off with him and Brangoire arguing over how they do things. Honestly, I do feel like part of their beliefs have merit, but since they both lean so heavily into their beliefs, it becomes a little unbalanced. I do see merit into Brangoire’s urgency to get things done so that he can protect as many people as he can. However, I can also see the importance of establishing a connection to the people and making a personal effort to see if they’re okay after a nemesis attack rather than being cut and dry about it like Brangoire. Lord de Gulis also values individual abilities while Brangoire cares more for teamwork, to the point where it becomes more so “follow my orders or else” kind of thing rather than it being genuine working together. I feel like they might be setting the two up to learn from one another and eventually be more balanced individuals. But it’s also a little hard to see them changing as both are VERY stuck in their ways.
Though it was pretty irresponsible of Lord de Gulis to hit that one nemesis and not check to see if it was actually dead. Especially when it revealed itself to be an echo nemesis and split itself into several parts. And while that giant nemesis posed as a giant distraction, I think Lor de Gulis was being too focused on looking good for the people. Thankfully, Ocoho was able to sense that something was off and was able to catch the echo nemesis before it hurt the people closest to it.
My favorite part of the episode had to be when the focus shifted to Ocoho along with some questions that popped up. I love how intuitive Ocoho is as she didn’t immediately follow the rest of the sorcerer knights because she felt something was off. And good thing she didn’t because those people who were right next to the nemesis would probably have been killed. Thank goodness for Melie as well though since she was able to put a forcefield around them to keep them safe. I also love seeing Ocoho fight… though it’s probably because I’m always a sucker for close combat fighters. She’s also a pretty good foil to Seth’s fist fighting and uses her legs more to fight. Not to mention she’s a very intelligent fighter by utilizing different things to defeat her opponents such as throwing her shield into a Nemesis.
It was honestly great to see Ocoho develop as a character. Especially since she started out as a bumbling sorcerer knight apprentice who strictly followed orders and then see her slowly start to break out of her shell and think for her own in favor of saving others by Seth’s influence. She even went against the Queen’s suggestion to keep a low profile and instead used Gysoni on the other knights to bring them back to help. She kind of reminds me of Deku from My Hero in a way as she wants to protect and help people, even if that meant going against “orders” at times. On one hand, that is a very valiant mindset but on the other, going against certain orders could cause an even bigger problem. However, I do think that mindset is good for certain situations, such as this. And I do respect that Ocoho chose to be selfless instead of worrying about her ordination as her actions most likely saved so many people with her quick thinking.
However, I think the most interesting thing that popped up in this episode was Ocoho’s version of Gysoni. Unlike Brangoire’s Gyosani that just seems to share his thoughts with everyone, Ocoho seems to be straight up brainwashing them to carry out her orders. We’ve seen Ocoho and the others act normally while under Brangoire’s Gyosani, however, when under Ocoho’s Gyosani, everyone seems to lose consciousness and are unaware of what they are doing. Not to mention that she was able to brainwash Mordred and Sagramore who are supposedly the strongest ones in the group. It puts into perspective just how powerful Ocoho can actually be. We’ve seen Ocoho use Gyosani before on Dracoon, but I definitely didn’t realize that she was basically controlling him rather than just sharing her thoughts mentally. The foreshadowing was there, but I just wasn’t paying attention… This makes me really worried for Ocoho because in a previous episode, she had a similar soulless expression after her private chat with Mordred. We still don’t know what happened after that so I’m worried that if Mordred really is a traitor of some sort, he may use her ability to take control of others in a way she would never want. Unless he has a similar ability as well.
ANYWAYS, it looks like that merchant group have their eyes on her as well and I’m really worried about all the attention Ocoho is getting especially after the Queen’s warning. Something bad is looming over her and I just can’t help but feel anxious about her fate. I mean, I’ve been worried for a while, but this brings up a new sense of dread. Which also makes me wonder if her brainwashing Gyosani has anything to do with her curse since she specifically avoided revealing it. HMMMMMM…
This episode felt very fillerish at the start, however it definitely proved to be an important piece of the plot in regards to Ocoho’s Gyosani ability. I’m sure that will come into play in future plot points sooner or later. Most likely sooner. I was also surprised to see Sagramore back without any explanation of where he had been since he’s been missing for a couple episodes. Though maybe they’ll touch on that later. We also learn a lot of interesting little tidbits such as how Lord de Gulis is actually Mordred and Sagramore’s guardian, which is how they’re so successful. Seth also is shown to be given a bracelet made of a special tree in the forest that connects Seth to that world, which will probably be very handy in his training to control his inner beast. However, it also looks like time is slowly ticking on Seth as if he falls into that darkness too many times, he may lose himself to it. So there’s a bit of urgency there.
