Hmmm… I wouldn’t say this was a bad episode, but I think there was a good portion that just dragged on much longer than it needed to. Perhaps it was another way of trying to redeem Yuka as a character, but at this point I think it’s fine if she doesn’t become “more likeable” at this point. She certainly has moments where she shines, but then her gamer otaku persona comes out and then she’s kinda back where she started. But aside from her quest to help Kahabell express her feelings, the rest of the episode really seemed to fly on by.
Starting off with Kahabell, I really like that they kept the dark tone from the end of last week’s episode. I appreciate that she was able to get revenge against the Deokk soldiers because they were some pretty scummy individuals. However, what I also liked is that they set up the idealization of the king with the soldiers. Perhaps it was just the Captain of the group who really had strong feelings for the king, but I think it was a solid enough motivation for their actions. Do I agree with the actions? No, but it does make sense why they made the choices they did. And again, having Kahabell execute these soldiers was pretty cool. I think it was a good way to start off the episode, and it honestly made me excited for the remainder of the episode. That tone didn’t stay, but it did give us enough to see the Deokk king speak with an attendant who needs to figure out a way to kill our heroes. On that note, I don’t think we’re going to be returning to the real world any time soon in this season. They still have a second part of the quest to complete, so despite delivering the “goods” now they probably have to finish that last .2% of world exploration while trying to avoid hero killers. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but we’ve already met everyone from the opening, so I don’t have high hopes.
As far as Yuka’s “Get Kahabell to confess to Yotsuya” plan, I thought it was kind of charming at first, but as it kept going I definitely wasn’t all that into it. I’m glad that Yuka tried to help, but maybe she could have talked to Kahabell and told her that she was going to give her the opportunity to tell Yotsuya how she really felt and they could have been in on it together. But having Yuka trying to do it all one sided definitely got old really quick. And the payoff wasn’t even worth it. It was just Kahabell thanking him for allowing her to get revenge for Bhimsberg. Like a brief misunderstanding would have been fine, I just really think it went on too long and it took away from the enjoyment of the episode.
But in terms of quest completion, good job team! You brought the captives to a church and brought the severed heads to the police. Iu and her team did their best too! They found some cargo and put one of the delivery men in their place. It wasn’t the goods that they needed to deliver, but at least they did something! So now it’s time to work on the second part of the quest and to split up once again. I’m interested to see if they’ll send everyone out on their own again, or if they will mix up the two teams. Either way, aside from exploring 5% of the world, I think their biggest worry is whatever Deokk’s assistant has going on. Ah well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what next week brings.
Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with this episode. It wasn’t terrible, but it was just ok. And I think that honestly reflects my feelings towards this anime as a whole. It’s not the most impressive thing out there, but it isn’t bad. There are certainly some shining moments in there and other times where it’s just not my cup of tea. But it does leave me with the curiosity to know what happens next, so I think that’s always a good thing!
