First Impressions / Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry

「剣士殺し II」 (Kenshi Koroshi II)
“Sword Eater II”

While I may have been a little critical of Ayase last week, this week felt like a complete 180 in the correct direction.

Betrayal? I think not!

Like I said last week, the next few episodes would be pretty crucial for what direction the series as a whole would be going since the notion of SILVER LINK doing something crazy with its adaptation was always a possibility. Luckily, it looks like we’re not straying too far from the original and we were given what I thought was the second best episode thus far in the series. Second best because come on, nothing will ever beat Ikki and Stella’s confession, am I right?

When it comes to dirty tactics, Ayase’s successful attempt to blow Ikki’s Itto Shura before their big battle is probably one of the craftiest things I’ve seen in a long time. Preying on Ikki’s blind kindness and forcing him to go all out in order to save them from plummeting to their deaths, I was blown away with how simple yet underhanded her plan was. Simple enough that there were enough holes in it for plenty of things to go horrifically wrong but just so underhanded against someone like Ikki that Ayase had enough confidence to do what she did precisely because she knew Ikki would do whatever was needed to save her life. Man, just thinking about the implications of her plan makes me shiver a little!

That said, it’s tough to fault her since she’s seen firsthand what kind of power Ikki packs and if we’re being honest, what do you really do against someone like that? Toss in that her head is a little screwed up because of some pretty traumatic events (ie: losing everything precious to her) and you can start to see why desperation would take over. Thankfully, Ikki is the embodiment of capturing negative emotions and transforming them into something positive. Something that I think made the ending of the episode feel that much sweeter, since I’m sure we all knew what Ikki was going to go into the fight with his all, even if it meant letting Ayase get her way right until the very end.

Looking Ahead

With Ayase finally integrated into the group and any bad blood behind everyone, things are looking pretty solid for our group. However, it looks like Ikki and friends have another bad guy waiting for them — the Sword Eater. While I doubt Ikki will have any compassionate words for him, I’m sure it’ll be fun to watch the inevitable fight between the two. Seeing how Ayase has personally asked Ikki to save her though, maybe we’ll get to see a different side of Ikki this time around. In any case, I’ll catch you guys here next week!

End Card

27 Comments

  3. I don’t know what it was, but I just felt a lot more invested in the troubles this episode compared to the trouble involving Kirin with Asterisk…

    Maybe it’s because the emotions felt more realistic whereas Asterisk’s was a lot more cutesy with Kirin, even when she stood up to her uncle.

    Maybe because it feels like Ikki is more deeply involved with helping Ayase compared to Ayato with Kirin.

    Or maybe I just got turned off at the end of Asterisk with Ayato suddenly pulling out several new moves involving completely different fighting styles out of nowhere (and having to borrow others’ weapons to do so), making it feel a bit like an asspull that he managed to win whereas Ikki went to using something we had already seen him use before (his “Perfect Vision”).

    …whatever it was, I feel Cavalry won this week for me, lol.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

    1. Probably because Kirin’s issue in Asterisk is more mind related (she could’ve ditched her uncle after getting into the school, but she’s too nice for that) than Ayase’s problem – an actual person that she cannot beat at the time (top 8 in the nationals).

      info600
      Reply

    2. Who knows. They seem to be smoothening some things, which might be better for the anime in the long run: the explanation in the manga, intended to showcase the importance of honor, actually made the law and the penal system in this version of Japan look useless at best and corrupt at worst. I don’t know in the LN, though.

      Mistic
      Reply

  6. Despite her having the spotlight for two episodes, I think the anime maight be rushing with Ayase. I don’t know how it is compared to the LN, but it’s noticeable for a manga reader.

    I miss that line when Ikki, always a champion of pride and honor as a knight, accuses her of besmirching her pride as a knight and asking her if she would be proud even if she recovers what she lost. Her answer felt like a punch:
    “That’s not something you have to worry about”.

    Well, Sword Eater is next, I guess.

    Mistic
    Reply

    1. Seeing him shatter a building was pretty great. Admittedly, it adds to the ongoing ‘just how did anyone ever think he was weak’ question that has dogged this series since the beginning, but it was just cool looking.

      KaleRylan
      Reply

      2. You’ll further see this later on as to why he never got to showcase his new found powers. Don’t forget he had absolutely nothing at the beginning. We actually are seeing a guy who already has run through the beginner section of the powering up. Finding a new skill set to work with.

        It’ll also be some of the worst things I’ve seen done to a person (Ikki) and you really just feel for the guy. You also wonder how the hell he is the way he is. Not the absolute worst, but it is some of the worst.

        It’ll also make you like Ikki more. Yes, considering how awesome he is already, you’ll get to find out even more how awesome he is.

        … 🙁 I couldn’t wait and read the light novel. Hence why I know this. I won’t spoil anything with the above, but just wait for it. It amazingly will get better.

        Also to those who read the manga and say “you know, I wonder if it seems like they are rushing Ayase” they pretty much are doing so.

        Dorian S.
        Reply

  8. Don’t you think “plenty of things to go horrifically wrong” is a deliberate part by Ayase? In the sense that if Ikki decides to abandon her she is actually committing suicide carrying her guilt to grave.

    cryarc
    Reply

  9. This show surprised the hell out of me. I’m one who watches pretty much anything the season has to throw at me, and I don’t know why, but I love shows like these. The usual generic Seiken to Dragonar Machine-doll to Blade Dance to Trinity Asterisk no Fafnir Rakudai Kishi no 35th shoutai Absolute Keiyakusha DxDuo no HxH to Hundred Stratos type shows, I have no real explanation as to why I like them so much, I just do, lol.

    I mean, sure; I like higher-end stuff like Tatami Galaxy, Evangelion, GiTS, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Lain, and whatever else is on the “Top anime of all time” list. I just enjoy these a lot too, lol.

    This one is surprisingly well done, when you look at the frames, there is a surprising amount of subtlety in the characters emotional changes, and each frame, especially in tense moments has a reason to be there. There is very little dead-air, sadly Asterisk (while higher budget and having a much better musical score by far, short of a few tracks in fight scenes in Rakudai), does not have this. Still watching and enjoying both, even though they’re pretty much the same show; only Rakudai Kishi was done better in a lot of ways.

    This show plays everything so straight, and it works, because they have no shame in it, it’s one of the most cohesive shows of this type I’ve seen, and manages to stand out a bit imo.

    blandoklortdo
    Reply

  10. Ikki (I keep mixing him up with Hikki) is certainly a better person than I am. If you are going to be underhanded as well as do something blatantly against the rules you should fail for it. I get that he figured there was more to it and still wanted to keep her friendship but what ever way you look at it it was a betrayal.

    Gouka Ryuu
    Reply

  11. MMHM, MMHM, MMHM! Yeah, that’s more like it! Admittedly I’m late getting into this series but man was it pretty nice experience. I like the more fluid animation in this series even though the colors and the backgrounds are a little lacking. Dialog’s pretty good too and the VAs in this series are giving off great performances! It’s really been a while since I’ve seen shows like this, which are known for their infodumps and still un-innovative direction during exposition sequences. But nevertheless this show’s definitely better than Mahouka. Owh God that series… I don’t even wanna think about it, no sirreee!

    Also, #AyaseBestGirl

    Nishizawa Mihashi
    Reply

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