Still no explanation of what lies behind the village massacre, but it seems we might get some answers next episode. I like what’s being shown about the daemons – that they all come in pairs and have their own personalities, even if at first glance they’re something like dumb fish. And look at those art skills!
Everyone in the Village of Spring is a bunch of assholes, only thinking of Hinagiku as a pawn in a power play. The more we learn about them, the worse they look.
The way they portrayed Sakura’s and Hinagiku’s past and present makes me feel like there’s another tragedy waiting around the corner, and it makes me feel uneasy. And I don’t mean the kidnapping.
They made a live-action version before the anime
I’m having a hard time liking the characters in this show. So far, most of them have been presented primarily in a negative light. I probably don’t even need to mention Agott – she took on the role of the bully right from the start, and her ego led to a situation where Coco could have died. But I have a problem with Coco too. This episode in particular highlights her massive flaw: acting completely on impulse, which this time resulted in throwing the whole group into a very dangerous situation. Would it really have been that hard to notify Qifrey, who was in the same shop at the time? What was she even planning to do once she caught that witch? I know Coco is still a child, but she’s not a toddler anymore. Expecting some level of foresight, even just thinking one step ahead, shouldn’t be too much to ask. Especially since Coco already has experience with the consequences of her thoughtlessness. She could really use some self-reflection. I can’t even blame Agott for scolding Coco this time. From Agott’s perspective, she had to go to the shop for new shoes because Coco ruined her old ones, but instead, she gets dragged into a wild chase after Coco that ends with the whole group being teleported into a dragon’s labyrinth. And in the labyrinth, Coco destroys the sigil Agott was drawing to try and get everyone out of the trap. I’d be pissed off too if I were in her.
On top of that, we have Qifrey, who doesn’t strike me as a good teacher. His hands-off approach clearly isn’t working. He threw a new student into a room with a bully. He left them to their own devices, which resulted in a situation where someone could have died. After that, he didn’t impose any consequences on Agott. Not to mention how, at the very beginning, he entrusted a child fascinated by magic with making sure no one peeked at him while he worked. How naive is he? I don’t know the source material, but for some reason, I’ve seen frequent comparisons between him and Gojo Satoru. Maybe it’s just about the look and similar role, but at this stage of the story, Gojo was portrayed as a very charismatic guy, competent in what he does, and with a good sense of humor. He was extremely likeable. Qifrey, on the other hand, pales in comparison, stumbling at every turn. Of course, being a good person isn’t the same as being a good character, and I don’t intend to make the mistake of thinking these are the same thing. However, in my opinion, introducing characters this way from the very start doesn’t work as well as it could. They lack some balance.
It probably sounds like I hate this show, but I don’t. I just have high expectations for stories that carry so much hype, and the quality of character writing is always something I pay close attention to. Visually, the series is still a beautiful spectacle and the world presented is very interesting. I’m hoping that with the next episode, we’ll dive a bit deeper into the plot.
Oh, and why is it always the bad guys who have the superior drip? Their pointy hats are way better than these bland cones
There was a lot of exposition in this episode, but it was presented in a way that wasn’t boring at all. The Hana-Dera duo is really fun, and it’s nice to have a main character who is neither dumb nor a genius, just smart and level-headed.
I get the impression that Sakura has never killed anyone before and she’s actually afraid of doing so, which is interesting given her position as a guard
Another fun fact is that the guitarist on this song is Marty Friedman from Megadeth, and the Japanese version was sung by Granrodeo’s lead singer, Kisho Taniyama
Maybe I’m just dumb, but this episode was rather hard to follow. I don’t mind jumping on the timeline, and I almost never have issues with it, but combined with the fact that I find it difficult to quickly remember all the names and that some character designs are very similar to each other, the show makes it harder than usual to tell who we’re watching in some scenes
Fortunately, it seems I was right that the pacing was fast in the previous episode because it served as an introduction and had to pack a bunch of different things at once. This episode is an improvement on that front – the story flows more naturally. As I said before, I love the art style, but I’m starting to have doubts about whether this kind of narrative can hold up in the long run. IMO, creating ‘smart’ characters by making everyone else around them dumber never works well and becomes tedious after a while. So far, nothing Aoteru has said sounds particularly smart or impressive enough to put the masses in awe.
Great episode. Turns out Yuru is way more pragmatic than I initially thought. Instead of the typical rage or despair we usually get from most shounen protagonists, he’s cold and calculating, even when his world is turned upside down. It’s actually kind of refreshing. I also like that, so far, there doesn’t seem to be a clear villain. Sure, Asa’s team basically executed every adult in the village, but it feels like she had reasons we just don’t know yet.
I think the sisters really need a heartfelt talk, and Sakura needs a machine gun.
Not everything is lost for Itechou! Sakura is putting up a front, but when no one can see, she still blushes when she thinks about the past with him.
There is the Mononoke series too, but you could watch the movies without knowing it
I imagine the idea is to have these intertwining narratives across the whole story. In that case, this episode makes sense, but at the same time, shifting the focus to the backstory of another character so soon, when it doesn’t feel like we should already be done with the first one, doesn’t sit right with me. But overall, I like it. The style, colors, and the fact that it seems to be more of a character drama than something focusing on the arts are nice. This was one of the better premieres I’ve seen this season.
Great episode. Nakamura had an unbelievable streak of wins this time. The ladies fangirling over made-up yaoi matchups are a riot
Honorable mention that is probably too short to qualify, but given the occasion I still wanted to share it with you
100 meters - Hiroaki Tsutsumi (100 meters OST)
Hunting Soul - HAYASii (insert song - Dandadan S2)
Ninkoro Dance - MARUMOCHI - (Ninkoro ED)
SugaRiddle - yanaginagi (Shoshimin S2 ED)
They nailed the atmosphere and all, but I’m pretty disappointed by the lack of comedy in this episode