First Impressions / Grancrest Senki

「野心」 (Yashin)
“Ambition”

If there’s one thing to say for Grancrest at this stage it’s that it will prove to be one interesting fantasy. While we are still lacking in serious world building or firm descriptions of the main premise (beyond those faint wafts of seal unification and demon exorcism), the show continues to offer up some amusing characters while slowly revealing intriguing little details. It’s gradual development apparently focused on long-term payoff, but it remains to be seen just how good the final results will be.

This week of course saw Siluca and Theo expand Siluca’s Theo’s territory by firmly defeating another Lord Lassic intent on adding them to his own collection. Nothing really impressive—it’s mostly a building up the power base by eliminating a monster of the week situation—but Grancrest again spices matters up in a couple of ways. For starters we have Siluca’s friend Aishela (Ueda Reina) who definitely in no way is an artist…unless we are talking about matters of physical performance. Say what you will about Theo, but show knows how to forge some hilarious female characters and uniquely dress them to boot. Valkyrie armor and a war hammer? Oh yes I’ll be having that. All of that. And that doesn’t even touch on her special fighting style or that obvious demonic tattoo power-up begging for an explanation. Theo may be bland and generic hero material, but I’ll be damned if these girls don’t make up for it big time.

To be fair to our green haired idealist, however, he’s not all that bad. There are hints Theo is not a complete pushover, and while his overall backstory is about as imaginative as a rock, he doesn’t take Siluca’s foxy “assistance” at face value. The kid right now is simply inexperienced, he follows Siluca’s lead because he does not know any better and she produces results. Good results. It’s likely in the future once Theo is strong enough and properly weathered that he will begin actually leading while Siluca falls back into a support role. While typical hero development, I quite like how Grancrest doesn’t simply hand Theo easy victories; his defeat of Lassic for example was entirely due to Siluca and friends, and he only overpowered Lassic’s mage after Siluca had completely worn the guy out—Theo’s poor sword skill isn’t repeatedly emphasized just because. Theo in one form or another will have to work for his goals, and if the show continues featuring and developing his fighting prowess as shown here, we are likely in for some fun once the later fights roll around. No matter how much I may long to see more Aishela beat foot soldiers senseless, seeing what Theo is actually capable of is starting to prove interesting.

While Grancrest is still not without its concerns, the good for me is still outweighing the bad, especially when it’s looking like the show might be a two cour affair. We may be lacking in story details right now, but if Grancrest is actually destined for a long run, there’s plenty of time yet to forge something amazing. No guarantee of course, but I’m willing to take the bet. After all boys and girls we have yet to get to the inevitable Siluca-Aishela-Cait Sith bath scene. Don’t deny—you know you want it.

Random Tidbits

As an idea of Grancrest’s detail, the fight between Lassic’s and Theo’s holdings is an excellent representation of early medieval warfare. During the feudalization of France and Germany from ~900-1100, landed nobles (especially in France) often fought one another with “armies” of only a few men. These battles were heavily dependent on individual talent, with mercenaries employed as a means of bolstering weak numbers. The objective as seen this episode was never to kill the opponent, but simply get them to submit and/or surrender the thing (title, land, woman) being fought over. As Lassic humorously indicates, it was not uncommon for enemy nobles to quickly become allies (or even friends) once their differences had been settled.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「PLEDGE」by ASCA

Preview

116 Comments

    2. True. But think of it another way. Even if her plans had holes in it due to being inexperienced, do you think Theo would have been successful? Basically she’s the “damsel in distress” for a battle while Theo would have been the “damsel in distress” for the entire “war”.

      Silver
      Reply

    3. I wouldn’t say she’s there just yet. She fought the other mage to a standstill who Theo only overcame because he was too exhausted to swing back.

      It’ll be something else entirely when Siluca cannot even lift a finger against threats only the green haired hero can defeat.

      Pancakes
      Reply

  2. https://randomc.net/image/Grancrest%20Senki/Grancrest%20Senki%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2028.jpg

    – Siluca was extremely arrogant, she has underestimated his opponent and end up fucking herself with his shit together with his shit plan, stupidity and arrogance.
    – Moreno-sempai destroyed it completely together with his shit plan.
    – Moreno-sempai was ready to strike her the final blow.
    -But Theo shows up at the right time to save her.

    I laughed so hard I peed my pants.

    cutemi2
    Reply

    1. I agree with you, she had a very boring first half of the first ep that felt incredibly contrived.
      -Oh no I, (important young and probably teenage, woman) have to rush so I’m not late for the (important event)
      -Okay, I just made it!
      -Oh no a plot happened!
      -Oh no, sakuga, I couldn’t stop a bad thing!
      -Wow this is terrible, the consequences will never be the same
      (complaints about how adult male authority figure is a pervert that is lacking common sense)

      Platton
      Reply

      1. And what of that make her a cunt exactly? Are young women forbidden of being intelligent and capable? Isn’t a guy who only hires hot women and make them dress like that a fucking pervert? We have even confirmed what a piece of shit he is at the end of episode 2.

        Seriously, why do people these days have problem with female characters being anything other than submissive cheerleaders? It’s like we are back to the 50s.

        Ayal92
        Reply

      3. In Deep Space Nine: The Ferengis females would be an very good example of this here

        You know the episode with Quark’s mother? And she has to “beg for mercy” naked? You nail it

        Worldwidedepp
        Reply

  7. My goodness, so much hate for Siluca in the comments. Seriously, how can she _dare_ not to worship the male MC with starry eyes… and break out of the mold of the typical pretty and subservient trophy.

    I’ve always wondered why “power trip fantasy” isekai has become so popular. Some people really seem to have issues.

    Mentar
    Reply

      1. Yea, Theo has been doing terribly since he accepted her. I’m sure that he not only would have inproved his title and Crest faster, he would have fended off the attack all by himself and not with the allies Siluca brought and called in.

        You illustrate exactly what I was saying. Having an independent (and without doubt also flawed) yet capable woman with a domineering attitude disturb power fantasies of viewers is too much for some people to handle without crude insults.

        Mentar
        Reply

      2. WoW, it’s amazing how people continue using the same excuses to justify and defend their waifus like ten years ago, but it’s quite obvious that, if the same thing had happened to a male character, people would be shitting on him now, and those damn SWJs would be screaming “muh sexism”, just as they did with Kazuma from Konosuba.

        CurrentState
        Reply

      3. Projection much? Actually, with the hater bunch it’s more likely that an arrogant-domineering male lead would be hailed as the Return of the True Hero [tm].

        Think whatever you want. I’m just pointing out that many people in here prove to be incapable of watching a character like Siluca without labeling her “bitch”, “shit”, “cunt” and the likes after less than 45m of story. Which shows a degree of personal insecurity and weeniness that I find remarkable.

        This is the crew which is the target audience for the wave of trivialistic power-fantasy isekai which is currently polluting the airwaves. How far have things degenerated that even mildly controversial characters going against the typical mold elicit such hostility? Pitiful.

        Mentar
        Reply

      4. @mentar

        it is an fact that in many cultures the Woman are taking in the control of the Money. Mostly the Mother or Female. Woman have more an hand to save money then Men do, in this Culture.. Mostly do forget that and only see the Male as the only pineapple existent and woman just crawl in his Shadow

        it is an Culture thing.. Even in this time and age

        Worldwidedepp
        Reply

      5. If it were not for Theo, she would be dead. Siluca losing is used to show how she is weak, arrogant, prepotent and, above all, show how much the fans usually overestimate the female characters.

        leatherhead
        Reply

      6. @leatherhead

        That could be just Role playing of her “Class”. She is an Pure Mage/Wizard right? in MMO’s they have powerful Magic, high Intelligent, but an very weak Body stamina and Armor.. Some would say they are like Artillery on 2 Legs

        But yeah, even Princess Peace of Mario was that at the beginning

        Worldwidedepp
        Reply

      7. @leatherhead: Is this what you think this scene is supposed to display? Siluca as arrogant, impotent, weak and overrated? My take is different:

        1) It shows that Theo – while being generally willing to follow Siluca’s lead – is able and willing to act on his own when it’s required and warranted. He waited until the very last moment and then courageous stepped in, even though his sword skills are lacking.

        2) Siluca was significantly injured by the backstab, yet still gritted her teeth and fought on on defense, hoping for allies to rescue her. No idea why doing that would be “arrogant” or “weak”. If anything, it establishes that she is no Mary Sue.

        Mentar
        Reply

    2. @Szan, and you honestly sound uneducated.
      Since when does making a valid stance in a dispute count as being “Feminist” or “SJW” as people put it. I guess when women are involved. But whatever. Man, this is what’s wrong with the online culture/mindset. People are more willing to accept opinions that fall in line with their own than listen to objective facts without labeling someone else SJW or Feminist.

      SDFGS
      Reply

    1. I can’t watch girls that cute anymore. It actually hurts my heart and makes me consider suicide because I’ll never be with them.
      3D is disgusting. 2D is impossible.
      Just looking at this thread and knowing I’d like her is painful.
      That’s why I’m not watching friends.

      RahlEH
      Reply

      1. Not that the visuals are exactly bad but rather… uninspiring? Not that I mind as much anymore as I was in episode 01 since I’m actually enjoying the content quite a bit more now. 😀

        Silver
        Reply

  12. The first episode is too rushed for anything to make any sense. If mages could just summon demons like that to level up crests why isn’t every Lord worth his salt fucking God, since they can just get their contracted mage to summon demons and grind the hell out of them? Why don’t they have super soldier programs where they just give entire groups of people Crests and force them to grind summoned demons? Can’t MC just get his contracted mage to summon a bunch of demons and immediately become overpowered as fuck? The world isn’t properly fleshed out for us to even empathize with MC or his aims, and why would the Princess Bride call off the marriage jist because her dad got killed by a fucking demon? If anything, the appearance of demons would have caused humanity to unite and develop better countermeasures, no?
    Finally, how did the brown butler instantly know what the mage was going to do in testing MC? Does this mean she’s done this before and has potentially killed a bunch of people? Nothing makes sense in this show and its awful

    Volibear
    Reply

    1. My take was that she was manifesting the local Chaos energy in a material form and then letting Theo collect it. The only reason she could do that was that the local lord wasn’t actually doing his job of keeping the area pure and was letting the Chaos energy spread. The amount of Chaos energy likely determines how many and what demons can be summoned and a Lord doing his/her job is going to be doing pretty much what you are suggesting.

      The plot of this series seems to be focused around the fact that most lords are failing to perform their actual duty of handling Chaos and are more focused on politics. The wedding disaster in episode one happened because the local Chaos collector had not been emptied in a while, overflowed and manifested as demon lord that killed two of the most powerful people in the setting.

      Ultimatecalibur
      Reply

      1. Well what can you expect from the people who decided to celebrate the marriage that will settle the peace in front of the altar of the demon overlord.
        Where was the honey moon going to take place? In the Cursed Woods? Where were they going to settle their home In the valley of certain death?
        I mean, what could possibly go wrong.

        darkhunter
        Reply

    2. Agree it was rushed. As people are not scaling up very much I have to assume that the summon a beast to gain power might only work at the lowest level and take you from basic to a knight. If you could go any higher using the summoned beast method I am sure Siluca would have done it or said what they needed for a larger beast. In fact, Silcua to get the next level up had them go take out a lord. The ability to get stronger by taking someone else out might be a major factor in the wars.

      RedRocket
      Reply

  13. It is a pretty standard fantasy show, which is good considering that we have to deal with isekai crap these days. What endears me to it is that it is based on a tabletop RPG, which is something you hardly see these days.

    RGaspar
    Reply

  14. Just an act of curiosity..

    Is there no any side effects, where Prince Charming is collecting the others Crests and add up ti himself? Or do he just “suck out” the Power of the other wielder?

    Do not this grow on Power or Crests do not take toll on his “Willpower” to not fall to the “easy” way out? fallen to the shortcut of the “Sith”?

    Perhaps he needs the Girl as an beacon of the “right” side in an ocean full of Storms

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

    1. What was the purpose on the first anyway? Why do so many Crests existed in the first place? to spread “Justice” in an Land full of Darkness? or to easy the burden of this Heavy Power to so many wielders?

      Dear manga-ka and Director.. What are the reason from the start? Then we can reverse the actions while taking/combine to much power on one Person. Well perhaps the Girl can convert some of this burden into “Mana” for herself.. So he endure the pain and she take the “burning” from his Chest

      (That is my Lighting struck World building right after breakfast)

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

      1. This is coming in part from the Grangrest Senki game, which does have an English fan-translation.

        Chaos pours into the world from another dimension leading to monsters and natural disasters.

        Things called crests appeared and began empowering individuals, most importantly giving them ability to stabilize regions by curbing the influence of Chaos.

        The Crest bearers soon turned from protectors to rulers, and because the power of crests can be bestowed a feudal system develops, with most crest-bearers being given their crests by and owing fealty to a stronger Crest bearer above them.

        The power of Crest can not only be given it can also be taken or surrendered to another. This lead the Crest Bearers to quickly turn on one another in a” Game of Crests”.

        Some modern crest bearers like Theo naturally manifest a crest as a result of some exemplary act;Theo got his crest after slaying a monster.

        The power of a Crest is synonymous with Noble Rank, after killing the Biberus Theo essentially underwent an in-universe level up. Since Crest-Bearers are supposed to be protecting the land that they rule from Chaos Born existential-threats and they fight among themselves for power and territory, Theo had every right to walk up to the castle and take it.

        There is a Mage’s Guild in the setting and it serves as a neutral power between the major faction. However the Guild is not without constraints since every Mage is supposed to be sworn to sever a Lord.

        Siluca Meletes was sworn to serve a Lord whom she wanted no part of, a most licentious man who only accepted young,nubile,female, mages as his contractees.

        Upon seeing Theo in action and finding his personality,temperament, and goals more to her liking. Siluca swears to him instead breaking her contract with the playboy, and making herself the woman behind the throne in Theo’s court.

        Thrice great Hermes
        Reply

      2. Well, the purpose here was to made the clue of the “mystery” about the Crest to help on the world building

        Turning an Card Game into an Anime is there to fill the Gaps that the Card game have….

        But thank you for the explanation. Now they need to flesh this background out to have an force that keep this world moving

        Worldwidedepp
        Reply

  16. it was not uncommon for enemy nobles to quickly become allies (or even friends) once their differences had been settled.

    Why do i now have Bleach! in my Mind. Where Ichigo can ride the Horse until he can trow over the Rider!..

    You know, the scene where Ichigo fights his inner Hollow.. Well same would be here. The new friends stay friends until the “Rider” shows an weakness

    It’s some kind of the Old Samurai “Land Wars” in old Nippon

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

  18. Haven’t been around as much lately, so maybe I just haven’t seen a bunch of these users around, but the level of discourse has really fallen if readers have nothing to say in comments beyond “shit” or “trash”. Not lumping in every criticism here, since some of them have concrete points, but the hate in comments like TheRoyalFamily’s seem a little strong. It honestly feels like a brigade of trolls, but maybe I just happen to be in the minority with Pancakes as someone who sees potential here.

    Oh well, I’m intrigued enough to keep watching this, so I’ll be following along if you do pick this up.

    SK
    Reply

    1. You’re not the only one. This level of primitive insults is flabbergasting and very different from the Random Curiosity crowd of the past.

      Let’s hope that these folks move on to their usual cesspools soon…

      Mentar
      Reply

    2. You guys are being too paranoid about it. That’s a A-1 show, and the threads related to the A-1 shows have always been so, after the launch of the SAO anime in July 7, 2012 and they have become more acute after the launch of the Aldnoah.Zero anime in July 5, 2014.

      @Mentar I read your comments in the thread. You sound like one of those american feminists.

      Szanboti
      Reply

    3. We have Fate Apocrypha to thank for that. Honestly, since that show aired a whole new wave of users came onto here and just spew dumb crap that braindead baboons would be capable of. So basically the type of comments one would see on streaming sites. Like if you go on gogoanime and see the comment section of the 2nd episode of Citrus….god the stupidity running among there. I’ve been around RandcomC for years now and its always been a place for somewhat intelligent discussions (unless its an ecchi show being covered) with the occasional flame war but now we’re getting some 4chan level of intelligence coming here (anyone who doubts it clearly joined this site within the last year).

      SDFGS
      Reply

    4. Last week’s comment wasn’t so bad, though. On the other hand, it was full of spoilers, lol. This week’s comment are generally not too bad because I can definitely see the criticisms in terms of the story and development as it felt really rushed with a lot of details being removed (the manga does a much better job at explaining the various complaints that people have here). The comments on Silica though… are disgusting. I had to double check that I’m on Random Curiosity because it sure wasn’t like this before (I’ve been lurking around here since the blog first started under Omni, the 1st owner of this blog), lol.

      And guys, stop bullying Xellos.

      Silver
      Reply

    5. It’s par the course the days sadly. As Szanboti SDFGS mention a lot of it comes down to A-1 being involved, the rest a mixture of fans and their tastes. You cannot do much about it the worst excesses (ban hammers only exacerbate the issue I find), but at least such comments are easy to ignore.

      Just have to see how the rest of the show plays out. I certainly hope I’m not being too optimistic about Grancrest’s potential lol.

      Pancakes
      Reply

      1. Naw. I don’t think you’re overly optimistic about it. At least I don’t feel like you are super enthusiastic about it but rather just simply enjoying it while giving it some thoughts about it. One thing to note though is that apparently this entire episode covered chapter 2 of the novel. It’s starting to feel like they are rushing because they want to get to a certain part of the entire story? Because even if it’s only chapter 2, it seems like they still cut out a lot of details even when compared to the manga adaptation. Either way, I’m still hopeful for its potential. I really enjoyed Louie and Lodoss and even those two shows took a while to actually do well.

        And woot woot! I finally wrote my e-mail right this time. I slightly missed a letter when inputting my e-mail in a few of my other comments in this post so my Gravatar never showed up for them unlike it does now.

        Silver
        Reply

  20. The thing with the characters is that from what I saw in the manga there’s more development time before the first battle and he checks out the villages. They seem to be rushing the beggining to get to the meat of the story which isn’t bad but it misses out on explaining things and developing the current caste. Also Warrior Girl is a qt.

    pmcyrax777
    Reply

    1. Theo visiting the villages and his interaction with the villager added quite a lot of character to him and his predecessor as well as improving the relationship between him and Siluca.

      Heinzendegger
      Reply

    2. Yeah exactly what I’m getting at. They skipped the beggining of character building and making you understand hat is happening. When I was watching the episode and they skipped it I was like wtf??? And the interactions between him and Siluca feel more artificial since they’ve shown almost none of the development and interaction that took place in the beggining.

      zidox
      Reply

    3. I regret how the anime downplays Siluca’s dere side and that Theo didn’t walk in on her at the moment – it’s one of those things that make her more human rather than a hypercompetent sidekick, and one of the moments where she and Theo lean more toward a friendship instead of the business-like relationship they have here.

      Weird D
      Reply

  21. I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s the source material for this series? I’m reading the manga, but I couldn’t find any LNs.

    And while I know it’s not fair to compare different versions of a story, I must say I’m enjoying the manga much more so far – the characters are more fleshed out and nuanced there : Lassic is show to be a fairly good guy and his friendship with Moreno is explained, Theo is shown building up goodwill with the villagers, Siluca actually displays some insecurities and frustrations. Comparatively, the anime feels too rushed so far, at the expense of the chemistry between the characters.

    On an unrelated not, Siluca looks really hot with her hair down…

    Weird D
    Reply

    2. Complete lack of characterization or any set-up. We have no reason to give a shit about characters or the world. The episode starts off with this supposedly huge event we’re supposed to care about but don’t because we know nothing about it, then dumps multiple characters on us without any reason to care about them. Then it ends with some sort of political intrigue that again, we don’t care about because we know jack shit about anything. The first episode is supposed to hook you in, give you some idea of where the show’s going, and give you a reason to care about the characters. The first episode catastrophically fails at all of that.

      Ibn4 b-but it’s only the first episode!
      It demonstrates such a fundamental lack of understanding of how to structure a story that there is zero chance it will improve. Shit writers don’t magically get better over a short period of time

      Jacquipuff
      Reply

  22. As a manga reader I find myself disappointed with how the show is truncating the story.
    The content skipped this episode was Theo getting to know the subjects of his dominion.

    That wasn’t filler, it let us get to know the characters of Theo and Siluca better as well as allowing the us audience to begin to develop an investment in the villagers;and that investment in the villagers has a payoff later.

    Curiously they down played just how attached Aishela is to Siluca…and Siluca to her.
    Aishela is so touchy feely with Siluca, and Siluca’s response is “Not in public” rather than “aii! Pervert!”, one might get the impression that the two of them had a romantic history.

    Thrice great Hermes
    Reply

      1. The manga is good enough, but not great.
        However Character and setting building,especially through seeing people
        interact with the world and each other, is something that it does well.

        The anime for whatever reason is cutting around that.

        Thrice great Hermes
        Reply

    2. Thrice great Hermes Aishela is 100% straight, she just likes to bully Siluca. In the LN Aishela is currently in love with this shota we have seen in this episode, she is always chasing him. With regard to the novels, the two twin sisters are in love with Theo and both are hot for Theo, and nun girl seems to have a crush on Theo.

      Jacquipuff
      Reply

    3. Well that was a pretty damn shit episode.
      I know nothing about the novel but it was very different from the manga to which I am just going to assume is way more honest towards the LN.

      rainbowcourage
      Reply

    1. I’m getting sick and tired of these damn yurifags trying to shove their retarded yuriwank ships down our throats. Aishela is 100% straight, she just likes to bully Siluca. In the LN Aishela is currently in love with this shota we have seen in this episode, she is always chasing him.

      Jacquipuff
      Reply

      1. Yea… here’s a tip… if you’re going to make a perfectly sound and valid argument you’re not really helping yourself by including slurs like “fag” at any point. Because no matter how right you may be about the shipping and what’s actually canon everyone that reads your post now is just going to think you’re a total prick.

        qwert
        Reply

  24. When I saw the OP my first thought was “God damnit they’re going to keep her in that stupid skimpy outfit”.

    Then the actual episode started and “Yay! She’s back to wearing the cool looking uniform from the first scene of episode 1!”

    Then she changes back into the skimpy outfit because she “doesn’t have anything else to wear”. something tells me for the rest of the series she’s never going to have a chance to go clothes shopping.

    qwert
    Reply

  26. Arrrrggggh!

    Putting aside the issues of them cutting huge amounts of development time from the anime, there were some huge “What the fuck?” moments in this episode.

    Everything up to the big battle was pretty standard stuff. Siluca even went back to her cool clothes! Would have been better with actual pants instead of shorts, but it’s decent enough.

    The cait sith was cute. New friend was cool. Enemy lord is set up decently. Special note that he’s a bit hard up, financially, due to his focus on training up an army. Lots of potential.

    Then the ‘war’. They’re actually smart and keep Theo-derp in the back, protected by a set of guards. Yay! Then three heroes go off to face an entire army. Stretching things a little bit, but it’s clear that the tattoo’d fighters have some significantly special boosts, and Siluca is a prodigy mage, so it works.

    Aishela’s fight worked well. The enemy spent most of their time running, which I can’t blame them for, and you could actually see that as being a valid delaying tactic, if they assume the primary group will eventually win the battle.

    Siluca also did well. Aside from switching back to that fucking stupid skimpy outfit that she has admitted to hating! If they explained it as giving a significant boost to her magical powers, and that she didn’t have any other comparable enchanted outfits of her own (given their new home in the boonies, away from any major trade centers), I could accept it. But, “easy to move around in”? That’s Grade A Bullshit, and I hate the writer for it.

    Not sure if the guys she fried are dead or just passed out, but either way, competent magical casting for dealing with a group of soldiers on her own. Then the ambush, and the one-on-one fight. It worked reasonably well, and I was enjoying it.

    Until Theo-derp showed up, with the “I can tell which army is going to lose” line. When there’s no indication that he had line of sight on either of the two flanking fights going on, and the central fight was going in butler-san’s favor. Oh, and he left behind the dozen or so soldiers who were there to guard him from things like getting himself killed in a one-on-one fight with an enemy mage who was fighting on par with your side’s mage, and your mage has already shown herself to be way above your fighting class! Little things like that.

    Theo had no business getting involved in that fight, for any reason. But we can ignore the idiotic behavior as we move on to Siluca reaming him out for his stupidity, right? Or at least acknowledging that she can use him to overwhelm Moreno when they’re both tired out. Right?

    Nope. Cue “Poor, helpless damsel in distress who turns away from the guy trying to kill her to have a casual conversation on the battlefield, and then gaze in wonder at his awesomeness.” 17:52 — wide-eyed, gape-mouthed amazement and adoration for the “hero”. I wanted to puke.

    This was the first point where they seemed to have swapped in a different character that happened to have the same face. Severely broken SoD on character consistency.

    So they capture Morena, with Theo getting all the credit, and return to the central fight, calling for surrender. Which Lassic does. Now, it was probably the smart thing to do, but there was honestly almost no in-story justification for doing so.

    It was smart because it combines the strengths of Lassic’s military training skills and Siluca’s civil management skills. Siluca’s kingdom has no army, and Lassic’s is doing badly financially. They would both, eventually, fall. The problem is that Lassic doesn’t appear to have any reason to understand that that union would be beneficial to both sides like that.

    He does seem smart enough to be able to figure this out, but to make it believable, they would have needed to have left in the bits of the story where Siluca and Theo visit their villages, and provided a means where that would allow Lassic to learn what sort of lord he was challenging. From there, attacking Siluca’s kingdom would be a win, no matter which side won the war. It didn’t matter which side led, as long as they merged their strengths together.

    But, Lassic had no such character development for his actions and motivations, so instead seems more like a foolish idiot.

    We’re two episodes in, and should have gotten four episodes of story. The writing and direction is really bad.

    David
    Reply

    1. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but anime is rushing quite a lot, and they also cut out a lot of details and scenes even when compared to the manga
      In the manga Theo was in one of the towers of its castle watching the fight with a lunette, see https://i.imgur.com/9J1aqLE.jpg -Theo left the castle to help her when he saw that Siluca was losing fight and she had no means of winning Moreno. Also, Moreno was giving a beating on Siluca beyond humiliating her and breaking her (emotionally and psychologically), and when Moreno was ready to give the coup de grâce in Siluca, Theo arrives at the right time to save Siluca’s ass, see https://imgur.com/342dd165-c429-447e-82d5-5437df7e446a

      KratosLafite
      Reply

      1. Yeah, as noted at the end of my post, they’ve crammed 4 episodes of story into 2 episodes. Incredibly rushed.

        As for Siluca vs Moreno, those manga snips certainly gave it more justification, though it still helps emphasize the poor helpless damsel that has to be saved by the barely-competent-to-not-stab-himself Theo. Given how much they made of her supposed prodigy-level abilities in the first episode, that’s an incredibly fast fall into irrelevance.

        David
        Reply

    2. -55 people losing to 3
      -They didnt even use the advantage of having a castle protect them
      Wow nice strategy going on her. I guess this will be power levels and all normal soldiers without a will just get one shotted like fodder?

      SilverZephyr
      Reply

      1. I actually don’t have any real problems with the fight setup, given the conceits the story is working under.

        It’s quite clear that the evil shadow/tattoo users are vastly superior to normal soldiers. As such, having them take on a dozen or so each does not break suspension of disbelief. Heck, Aishela blew a whole through an entire tree with one strike. That’s not something a common foot soldier, no matter how well trained, is going to stand up against. (So yes, normal soldiers are nothing more than fodder, and completely irrelevant in any fight involving someone with tattoos or a crest. Standard fantasy trope.)

        As such it really ended up as mage vs mage; assassin vs brick; and powerhouse vs cute boy she decided to tease. Lassic should have been the entire difference in real fighting power (and effectively was, as he had a standoff vs assassin-butler-san (still can’t remember his name)), and as long as Siluca’s side could clear out the flanking elements, they had a pretty good chance of winning. If Aishela hadn’t decided to play around, she could have moved in to support the central fight and it would have been a quick win, as long as Siluca herself didn’t get overwhelmed.

        It was just turning Siluca into a humiliatingly weak character out of nowhere that really made the entire thing fail.

        Also, apparently (from the post above yours), they did actually use the castle for defense in the manga. It was just apparently too much work to do that in the anime, as that would have involved having something other than cardboard cutouts protecting Theo, and also animating Theo’s actions within the castle to justify him leaving it to help Siluca.

        David
        Reply

    3. The rate of compression is worse than you stated.
      While the first episode was about 1/2 to 2 chapters worth of story in one episode.
      For episode two however they literally cut 8 chapters worth of story to go directly
      to the fight.

      Thrice great Hermes
      Reply

    1. Ugh…so this is another show with waifufags shitting on male MC and overstating the female characters with filthy waifufaggotry?

      Is there any anime website on west that’s safe from waifu/yuri fags and his cancer nowadays?

      No

      Jabberwock
      Reply

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