“War Game (War Game)”


「戦争遊戯」 (Sensou Yuugi (Woo Geemu))

In the space of a single episode, the issues of the mysterious Soma faction and the incarceration of Lily are resolved in one fell swoop. While it may have been quite fast, I felt like JC Staff managed to touch upon most if not all of the important stuff. And what made this episode so great was that Lily gained heaps of incredible. character development.

We can see that Lily had an extremely difficult time within the Soma familia. She was horrifically abused and exploited, yet she was trapped in the circumstance because of her addiction to Soma’s liquor. She finally found it in herself to escape her plight, but when Zanis threatens her newfound companions in Hestia and Bell, she doesn’t want harm to befall them and surrenders herself back to the Soma familia. Blackmail so to speak. But what I find the most admirable was her unconquerable soul. When coerced into consuming Soma’s liquor, despite feeling the irresistible effects, her undying will to do what she could to save Bell and the Hestia familia, overcoming her earthly desires. She was able to beseech Soma despite the state she was in and convince him to call off the yard fight and allow her to convert to Hestia’s familia. And Hestia deserves credit too. I just love Hestia’s Hestia’s, her belief in Bell and her pluckiness when faced with difficulties. She went out of her way to hatch a plot to save Lily which actually succeeded, and I thought her grandstanding with Apollo at the conference of god was pretty amusing. Sadly, it’s very unfortunate she ended up with the least ideal war game. But insurmountable odds exist to be broken and that’s precisely what’s been making Bell’s journey exciting so far. At least I know he’ll never back down, because he is utterly devoted to Hestia and ardent in his pursuit of Ais. His training seems to be going really well so far, and I’m excited to see the fruits of his progress once the war game actually rolls around.

It seems like we’re blitzing through the source material at quite a blistering pace. This is JC Staff we’re talking about, so I’m not surprised. I suppose it hasn’t become a hatchet job like Index yet? So I’m happy to give them some benefit of the doubt, though it’s a pretty fragile trust given they haven’t exactly had the best track record. I’m still fuming over Sword Oratoria. But so far, I’ve really liked the spirit of the source material they’ve conveyed through this specific adaptation. Bell is still going from strength to strength, I absolutely adore Hestia, and Lily’s gone through an incredible character development arc in the space of a single episode. The future looks brighter with Welf and Mikoto potentially coming in on a loan from Hephaistos and Takemizuchi on the hero transfer market, though I’ll cautiously reserve judgement until the War Games arc actually delivers. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading my post and see you next week for (hopefully) the start of the War Games!

19 Comments

    1. I think they made the first season not knowing if the show would be a hit or not, so they covered as much LN as they could and hoped the sales boost would make it worth the effort. At least now they can take their time as they have guaranteed anime sales to help them break even on the cost of production.

      Lyfe
  1. No, I don’t think Lily’s addicted to Soma’s liquor (her parents did though). I think that’s the first time she taste it, and she overcome the trial by sheer will.

    SMinstrel
    1. I’m 99% sure the anime skipped this and it’s not just coming up, but I’ll put it in spoilers anyway:

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Aex
    2. Just more of a “tidbit info”. Unlike drugs, Soma wine does not have any withdrawal symptoms. But drinking it will definitely put you on a high, as if your soul was taken away.

      Kimberly
    1. The war was forced to begin with, it is not shocked that some underhanded things happened.
      https://randomc.net/image/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka/Danmachi%20II%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
      https://randomc.net/image/Dungeon%20ni%20Deai%20o%20Motomeru%20no%20wa%20Machigatte%20Iru%20Darouka/Danmachi%20II%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
      Am happy with Freya’s involvement, Bell got a little extra help. Sort of wish she was the main love interest. After seeing Sword Art Online’s Quinella, a part of me feels like I want to see a heroine that gives off a “dark sexy” vibe.

      A possible outcome, if Apollo won, Apollo rapes Bell then Freya will begin an all out war against Apollo. While I know this won’t happen, it would shake things in a nice level when we use our imagination .

      Greed
      1. I don’t mind Freya so much (she does have a great seiyuu) and this wouldn’t trouble me but overall, she isn’t as much fun as Hestia. She could pull off the dark sexy vibe though.

        As to your possible outcome, you’re on your own there. Now if Freya was pushing for the contest, then that would add more and better tension, and also be better than her taking Hestia’s role directly.

        Mockman
      1. They kinda glossed over just how evil he really is.

        Show Spoiler ▼

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