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「悪の魔道士(ダークメイジ)と学園襲撃(ビッグイベント)」 (Aku no Madou-shi (Daakumeiji) to Gakuen Shuugeki (Bigguibento))
“Dark Mage and Big Event”
This week it’s everyone but Arata who is powerful, except for with the ladies. When it comes to being impure, Arata is still number one.
Arata is Useless
I feel like Arata’s potential has been mishandled. When he picked the third option in the first episode and vowed to become a mage to save Hijiri, I was looking forward to him being a first-rate harem lead along with a first-rate badass. He’s done the former, but he’s failing in the badass area. Partially this is because the story is going too fast—it needs to have spent some time building the world and letting Arata train, instead of throwing him into danger and forcing him to dues ex machina his way out each time. The Yui dungeon was especially bad with this. But much of that could have been done off-screen. The problem is that he enters every conflict woefully unprepared, to the point that he’s a detriment to his allies, until he’s suddenly not.
This week, he absolutely was a detriment to his allies when he let himself get kissed by Liese. First rate idiocy, I don’t know why anyone puts up with him after that. Had he not let her get so close to him (despite Lilith’s warnings!), Mira or Levi would have beat Liese. I’m glad they didn’t—that would have been too easy—but I would have preferred it be because Liese was already powerful, not because Arata screwed up.
Fortunately, the story immediately did something totally correct—Arata was justifiably useless for the rest of the episode. His Dress Break magic was gone, so I would have been pissed if he dues ex machina’d them out of another problem. But he didn’t, thankfully.
Everyone Else is Badass
Pretty much everyone else got to strut their stuff this episode though. Liese is the first truly credible threat, and I’m glad, because this show has been lacking in tension, action, or plot, and it has finally arrived. There’s still much I don’t understand—why being a demon lord is desirable, for one. Use those spoiler tags, manga readers—but at least the action has ramped up.
Take Levi—she threw a kunai at Liese’s head! Seeing the ninja fight seriously was beyond great, because it’s the kind of “What kind of cool magic/tactics/reversals are they going to pull out now?” magic-action I so dearly love. I did facepalm when Liese realized she was in trouble when Mira analyzed her magic … even though Mira and Levi discussed their plan to stall her right in front of her. There she was acting no smarter than an RPG boss monster. Fortunately that wasn’t the end, Levi is even stronger than she first appeared, and Liese wasn’t up to snuff yet because she hadn’t mastered her magic. I thought that glitch thing was going to be something Arata did, and was prepared to rage, but nope! Good, good, we need more of this.
Training Arata, the Hard Way
Once again, I don’t understand how Akio beating the tar out of Arata is going to help him copy her magic. This anime is doing a mediocre job of world-building and exposition. What I do like is that the story is finally letting him train in earnest. Arata is weighing down the story simply because it’s constantly throwing him in so far over his head that I can’t even call it sink or swim—he doesn’t understand what’s going on enough to have a prayer! Which is story-level mishandling, but it’s something I think can be fixed if the other characters stall Liese long enough to give him time to train, no matter how that training is handled.
Plus, I just can’t hate a training scene that gives us this:
“S-stay calm and listen. I’m sure, a few seconds from now, I’m going to be bleeding out all over the place, so I’m going to say this while I can. This feels incredible. Thank you, and I’m sorry.”
Hah! I feel like how gradually Arata’s relationship with Mira is moving is great, because her hard-tsundere antics are fun to watch, as is seeing Arata accidentally get under her defenses. Plus, I agree—not too big and not too small is nice. Handheld. I’ll stop now. It’s nice though.
Looking Ahead
To conclude my thoughts: the series is getting better now that there’s a credible villain, the Trinity Seven girls are all showing their power, and there’s a plot of any kind. Arata is weighing the story down, but there’s a chance to fix that if he can get some purposeful training in, and acquire enough knowledge to have a credible chance of tackling challenges without a mid-battle lecture. In the meantime, I’m totally all right with watching the Headmaster be amazing. The dude is a badass, and seeing him fight Liese because she had the bad sense to flirt with him a little (or so he claimed) was funny! Plus whatever that is. My interest, Trinity Seven. You have it again. Try not to screw it up.
tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Arata is weighing the story down b/c he knows nothing, but everyone else is amazing. Levi, Mira, Liese, Headmaster! #trinity7 06
Random thoughts:
- Liese prefers to skip the process and get straight to the results … part of me likes that kind of thinking, and part doesn’t. You don’t have to take the journey everyone else says you do, but you do miss out on somethings when you try to skip the journey altogether.
- I like the relationship Arata and the grimoire have. KugiRie is giving a good performance.
- Virgins of the world, this is not the usual response to a kiss. Unless you’re really good at it. Like me. And you won’t find anyone who will deny that!
- Strip tentacle magic-stealing demons!? T-that’s so evil *nosebleed*
- I’m looking forward to next episode. For reasons. D-don’t judge me!
Check out my blog about storytelling and the novel I’m writing at stiltsoutloud.com. The last four posts: Save it for your daydreams, Storytelling is subjective, Delusions of importance, and Only once. For book updates, sign up for my mailing list.
Full-length images: 07, 15, 17, 19, 23, 34, 37.
Preview
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What is this? SAO?
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%2034.jpg
I don’t like the fact that you think SAO was the first thing to have rape tentacles. I’ll give you a much earlier example:
Demonbane Visual Novel (released on 2003)
And I’ll give you an even earlier example. The Novel “The Dream of The Fisherman’s Wife” dating back to 1814, has dem tentacle grapes.
(~￣▽￣)~ ♪ Cause I’m N Luv wit a ninjaaaa she poppin she rollin she rollin she climbin that pole and I’m N Luv wit a ninjaaaaaa ♪
It’s to the tune of I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper) by T-Pain, stop downvoting me you uncultured swine!
The Ninja is definitely the best character.
The headmaster being that awesome was a nice touch. Seeing him school the supposedly Demon Lord candidate girl who stole Arata’s power was cool, and Liese’s expression at the end that screamed regret at the sudden realization that she just bit off more than she could chew was priceless. From the preview it almost looks like Liese’s going to fan service her away out of the Headmaster’s clutches. I do see him falling to that kind of tactic despite all his power.
The anime follows the manga pretty closely so far, but yeah, Arata is pretty useless at this point : he is a Demon Lord candidate (key word, candidate), meaning lots of raw magic, but he has zero skill in using it, and doesn’t seem inclined to learn since he can just copy magic – but once again, copying a skill and knowing how/when to use it are different things. That’s why the Trinity Seven are all badass – and yes, Levi appears to be the most badass of them.
Show Spoiler ▼
Still, you simply can’t get enough Arata’s antics and comments and Mira’s reactions.
Show Spoiler ▼
And other anime shows usually goes with adults are useless trope. Thank goodness this is not one of them.
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%20Preview%2001.jpg
Thank you very much
To be fair to Arata, since he was so ill prepared there wasn’t much he could do to stop being kissed– and no other girls stopped it either.
Headmaster is so badass you can tell he’s out-trolling the troll, like a trickster God, and pulling punches left and right. He’s only taking her as seriously as he needs to– otherwise the world is a joke and can be rebuilt.
On Arata being ill-prepared, I agree. The problem is that him being so ill-prepared doesn’t make him an attractive character, nor does it make him interesting to watch. It makes him seem useless, which is admittedly the fault of the story hitting him with so many challenges before he even has a chance to learn some basics, but it’s still a problem to be sure.
I think Arata is suffering a character translation problem rather than a flaw with the actual character himself. The manga is once a month release and every episode is fitting around 2 chapters. So while the anime seems like it is throwing a lot of challenges at him at once, the manga is getting some new challenges every 3 to 4 months. At the same time it continued to introduce and establish Arata’s relationship with each of them early on. Consider it took roughly 14 months to introduce all members of the Trinity Seven and you can see how that would be enjoyable for manga readers while the anime feels rushed. That thrill of who are these ladies, what can they do, and why do they matter.
Long story short: Early driving factor “whose that
pokemonTrinity Seven”. Can now focus on MC development.I agree it is a technical problem, but I think like you I forgive lesser problems in the face of a more entertaining story overall. i.e. There’s so much to like, I can’t complain too much because I’m too busy having fun.
As a thought challenge, I am reminded of Kami Nomi’s Season 1 Episode 12 Summer wars:
http://kaminomi.wikia.com/wiki/Summer_Wars_%28Episode%29
At RandomC covered by Takaii, but the MC’s fantasies not really discussed much:
https://randomc.net/2011/06/30/kami-nomi-zo-shiru-sekai-ii-12-end/
Single vs Multiple heroines? Cliche vs Stand-out? So many writing decisions… but I am forgiving if the end result is fun.
I think Arata’s problem is a core writer/creator problem for fiction, concessions are made that may challenge suspension of disbelief in order to create entertainment that would otherwise not happen. How skillfully you can create your experience while remaining internally consistent, but also stylized entertaining is a challenge.
Development time could be devoted to training, but the problem with training (in real life at least) is it is pretty boring and quite possibly not the story that wants to be told.
So yeah, his powers, and the challenges are kinda bullshit, but they’re pretty stylized and having fun doing it–so the realism vs stylistic on the fun / entertainment 3D spectrum is kinda not easy to do.
Within this story, I think he needed that “I am useless” moment — in order to overcome it. Challenge? Accepted. Not everyone can pull off the hyper-competency & dramatic flow of no game no life (though I wish more would, that stuff is awesome).
If our MC were purely competent on his own, he might not need all the other characters, and they wouldn’t get to shine as much. There’s also that risk of becoming magic jesus too with overpowered MC’s– which I could possibly forgive if they actually did something interesting with that power, or stylized it’s expression.
@ Drasca
I agree, I think it was good to have that useless moment, though it would have gone down a lot better if he hadn’t seemed to just stand there and derp into her trap. It’s coming on the heels of the Yui dungeon and the second Breakdown Phenomenon that it looks bad.
I definitely don’t think we needed a huge training arc. That would have been boring. But getting some of the exposition out of the way before they’re facing a villain would have gone a long way toward making this work better,
@ Ulvric
What you said about it being a monthly manga definitely makes sense though. With a month between chapters, you’re a lot more likely to lose interest if you don’t make sure each one has plenty of entertainment, so some of that can be forgiven. Sounds like they ought to have reshuffled some things for the anime, but that didn’t happen. Ah well, at least it’s getting better now.
OK…I was on the fence thus far for who was the best girl for me but after this episode, Levi is just too awesome!
Besides Arata basically standing their doing nothing besides making things worse this was a pretty good episode with a healthy amount of fanservice. Ninja was also awesome as always I love her she is mostly the reason I am still watching lol.
Mira, Akio and Ninja are my top 3.
But seriously, all girls are best girl.
You are right that the reason why it’s desirable to be a Demon King should be hidden under spoiler tags.
Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
To be a Demon King, one needs a Demon King Element. Arata has one because the world designated him to be it’s Demon King, Lise stole hers …. and
Show Spoiler ▼
Anyway, the threats are going to get more credible from now on.
MAGUS MODE!! U are right sir!, all girls ARE the best girl but Oh man………I’m at a scary point in my life because I think I’m outgrowing this Genre…its very very frustrating for me. I WILL however, see this through to the end!! its not a bad show, just really generic….
..BUT there is HOPE!!
…hopefully Mangas like that “i forget the name” but the one with the Monster girl harem, spider girl,snake girl, harpie etc. and Prison School manga will be made into anime…these are serious game changers a.k.a breaths of fresh air in my opinion.
Fingers crossed!!!
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%20Preview%2002.jpg
Just from the color of the eyes I think it’s Show Spoiler ▼
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%2037.jpg
So this is how Headmaster lectures his students. ^^
I do think that Arata’s “pre-violence” apology is something all guys would love to make. It is sincere and totally opposite of most MC’s reaction, so it’s very refreshing.
I always seen Arata as just a funny comic relief harem-lead that dont make us cringe like most other harem protagonists with no balls. I’m perfectly fine with him being useless in the background and letting the actual girls show their stuff, because that’s what we want to see anyway.
Arata will get plenty of time to shine later anyway. For now just enjoy the ride.
That’s actually a good way to think about it.
Need GIF of Levi’s kunai throw follow up.
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2008.jpg
I SWEAR!
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
I’m only here
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2009.jpg
for
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
the
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
plot…
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
It’s so very interesting.
Yui can play violin!?
We don’t need to judge you at this point. We’ve all known you for a very long time, Stilts.
Ninja is best, because she’s a Ninja.
https://randomc.net/image/Trinity%20Seven/Trinity%20Seven%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
I’ve read too H…. Swap the weapon with a mushroom….
But still, Ninja is cute
It’s been awhile since I’ve commented. Hi RC 😀
To Stilts:
Love your reviews and looking forward to your reviews on the rest of TS and possibly the third season of Kyoukai Senjou no *shot*
*rise as a zombie*
To comment, it does seem the story is progressing quicker as they missed a few manga points (not gonna say anything beyond that), but believe me, they have retained the great character development of the MC rather than giving him deus ex machina mode/instant Upgrade. This to me is a great thing as too many series of past mows through the plot just to get more viewers *cough* gundam seed destiny *cough*.
P.S.: headmaster is an idiotic badass…you’ll see why.
P.S.S. I’m surprised your not also reviewing inou battle wa nichijou-kei no naka de. I thought that would be along your avenue. I recommend it. (OwO)/