OP Sequence

OP: 「Blow out」 by 鈴木このみ (Suzuki Konomi)

「愚者と死神」 (Gusha to shinigami)
“The Fool and Death”

I assumed wrong when I thought the terrorist plot from the last episode was stopped after the two guys from last week were wiped out. Good thing it didn’t end there, because Glenn’s face-off against the other two terrorists this episode was much more action-packed. They did rush through both encounters so they wouldn’t have to spend four episodes on setting the scene for the show, and most of Glenn’s deathly injuries are cured by deus ex machina, and Lumia’s abduction makes Sistine reconsider her positive outlook on magic too quickly, but it didn’t spoil the episode’s revelations and fights.

I was concerned that they would push for Glenn being a reformed pacifist to make him more presentable to the audience, especially after he tied up the mooks from last week and finished the rapist guy off with a “punch”. Those worries went away relatively easily with this episode as Glenn straight-up stabs one of the terrorist mages. Tying up the rapist guy for the non-lethal route didn’t help much either since it only made him a sitting duck for his friend’s skeleton army to practice their chopping skills on. He did knock out Huey, who miraculously played the long con at the academy just to be able to create a human bomb to take out the academy, but they establish nicely in the episode that he wants to use his abilities to fulfill his childhood dream of being more noble.

It sets Glenn apart from some protagonists that go out of their way to make sure someone constantly trying to kill them is spared, or is weighed down by immense guilt from any casualties. He still is able to show remorse and distaste for killing, but it’s interesting that the show is fine with showing Glenn willing to resort to his old talent of mage-killing if it’s necessary. It also adds to the payoff of this episode by building a stepping stone towards Glenn working to be the mage of justice he always wanted to be.

And thus, we end the introduction arc trilogy with a sneak peek of what’s to come in the opening credits. The OP hits on some explosive notes as they hint at the conflicts to come where Glenn has to have intense battles with mystery rivals, how the girls around him have connections to his past, a few slides of Cecilia’s time with Glenn, and, above all else, a girl with blue hair who goes from a cute student to a knight with a giant sword in seconds. If anything, it makes the set-up to all of these moments all the more enticing to see what happens next.

 

Preview

End Card

15 Comments

    1. I assume you read the novel till volume 5. bBcause it has some stuff that relates up to volume 5.
      Not too much of a spoiler but just for incase.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      And just to leave my own comment on this show, I decided to read the novel after watching the first two episodes, and I was honestly impressed. Just to be clear, volume one was pretty weak, no questions about that. But when I finished reading volume 2, I realized that I enjoyed this volume a lot (I’m not gonna explain why, and hopefully the anime will do the job). I kept reading and now I am on volume 8 and still enjoying it. It’s certainly no masterpiece, or even in the very-very good range, but I felt that this is a series that is not as generic and bland as people are assuming it to be. The things this series provide is basic, but it does it right. Something that I can only wish more series do.

      DRN
  1. I have to admit, this is a decent LN. In it’s three eps, it creates a protagonist who you can understand his motivations and why he has become jaded; the series established that the MC is skilled as fuck but not overpowered which creates believable tension in the fights; and the characters are endearing enough that you can see why they would care about each other and therefore you can care about them. It’s so easy to write a decent,fun Ln fantasy story with an effective protagonist and yet most writers make it seem so hard. The MC is powerful; funny yet not overly wise-cracking, and compassionate enough to root for. As i always say, the quality of your story can be brought up by your protagonist and this is the case with this series along with the fact that it just commits to its storytelling in the most straightforward and unobtrusive way. On a side not, there’s something about the design of the female school uniforms that irks me. Do these girls work part time at hooters or something?

    sonicsenryaku
    1. The uniforms are wonderful and empowering. Why empowering everyone who wants to oppress women makes women cover their bodies. It sort of women’s sexuality threatens the male control I speculate.
      As far as distracting the males after two weeks the males are used to it and revert to same amount of flirting they would do with women from very conservative outfits to totally nude.

      RedRocket
      1. you do realize that the problem with the school uniforms isnt so much about how revealing it is more than it is that they are dressed like that AT SCHOOL!!! Like why? it just doesnt seem like the kind of clothing one would wear at a professional institution. And if that’s the case, why are the males uniforms not as revealing. It’s clear the school uniforms were designed to look sexy but again the question is why? these kids are going to school. The context just doesnt match the design; this is the problem

        sonicsenryaku
    1. I’m leaning towards Rumia but I secretly root for Serika but their relationship is akin to mother-son.But from vol 2 onward, it seems like the author is trying to make Sisti the end girl cause Show Spoiler ▼

      Bored_Onlooker
      1. @bored I feel the exact same way. If it was between the two student girls, i prefer rumia because i appreciate how upfront and honest she is with him along with understanding who he is as a person. If i factored in Serika, id much rather her be with Glenn.

        sonicsenryaku
  2. Might be way to early in a story to use the term Deus Ex Machina as the story has not had enough time to spell out what everyone can do yet. I use asspull for illogical unwarned twists that do not work earlier in a story but their must be a better term.

    Here either we are told she has this power or we are shown she has this power and this is early in a story where a unknown power can be expected. So either she uses the power and we learn of it or she tells us I prefer the former dramatically.

    Warning this genre often has final hidden trump cards in the final battle. This can be illogical as why not use the trump in earlier close fights. But the last hidden power at the climax is a genre tradition. Now that you have been warned this hidden power in the ending can not be called Deus Ex Machina as you are expecting it. Now you can still say the plot was poor though 😉

    RedRocket
    1. I admit the healing makes sense even if they integrate it in an asspull-ish way for it to be after every time he’s been almost dead, but the Deus Ex Machina of the episode for me is how Rumia was able to burst through the force field just conveniently enough to reach Glenn. Her healing powers are fine, but her putting her hand through the force field was way too convenient. She could’ve totally slipped out of it earlier if she put as much heart into it as she did when she thought Glenn was out for good.

      Choya

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