Chained Soldier – 11 – A Common Enemy

While it looked like the humans were poorly matched against their opponents last week, the tables are gradually turned here in one battle after the other. While Kyouka takes on the Unihorn, Tenka finds that Yuuki’s sister (her sister-in-law) moves so fast, all she can do is flee by teleporting; there’s no time for an attack of her own.

So Tenka, who can teleport 666 times in a row, just keeps playing defense, counting on Kyouka to eventually defeat Unihorn and help her out. As she teleports away again and again, she’s also learning Aoba’s movements. That’s the DDF Commander Difference: extra attention to detail and above all, patience.

When Coco reveals that she’s super slimy and her trusty dog is nigh invincible, Shushu and Sahara switch it up. Instead of being huge, Shushu shrinks to the size of a baseball, and Sahara launches her into the dog’s mouth. Then she grows to huge size again, and the dog explodes in a grisly cloud of gore, bone, and fur.

This, of course, it’s the largest plot hole in Avengers: Infinity War: Ant-Man could have easily gone up Thanos’ **** and blown him up from the inside. Anywho, Sahara grabs one of the dog’s teeth and uses her highest-level Sheep power to launch herself at Coco, slashing her across the abdomen. Great creativity and teamwork from the muscle-heads here.

How does Yachiho deal with Hinami suddenly being choked out from behind? By simply rewinding time. Every time Naon and her spider show her a move, she’s able to go back in time and counter it. When she needs a rest, Hinami protects her in kind, by among other things sprouting a hundred guns from her hair and firing them in all directions.

When some of the bullets hit Naon hiding in the wall, Yachiho rewinds time and targets her directly. While they’ll alway be a little hostile or competitive with each other, it’s more than clear that Yachiho and Hinami love each other dearly and will always have each others’ backs—literally in this case.

That brings us back to Tenka vs. Aoba. She’s gotten into such a repetitive rhythm of dodging attacks and teleporting that Aoba is totally caught off guard when Kyouka breaks that rhythm with her katana. She makes it possible for Tenka to finally use her attack for offense. But when she has Aoba right in her sights, she hesitates.

Aoba strikes her down with a direct hit, and asks her why she hesitated. Tenka’s answer proves her love for Yuuki: she didn’t want to make him upset by killing her. Aoba assures Tenka she didn’t need to go easy on her, but she also beams as brightly as we’ve ever seen her as she thanks Tenka for thinking of her brother’s feelings. She’s decided she likes Tenka now.

Mind you, that doesn’t mean she wants Tenka to marry Yuuki, but in her battered, possibly concussed, yet mostly lovesick/horny state, Tenka can’t help but hear Aoba’s words and start visualizing a life with Yuuki  as her husband and Aoba as her sister-in-law.

It’s quite simply sweet as hell, and if it brings the battle to a screeching halt and serves as a momentary truce of sorts, so what? Battles are fun, but character stuff like this is fun too, and really deepens my connection with the characters. This isn’t good vs. evil. These battles only even started because hotter heads prevailed.

Turns out it’s a good thing everyone stops whaling on each other at this point. As soon as Naon and Coco appear before Aoba with Shushu, Sahara, and the Azuma sisters in tow, the two “godlike” humanoid Shuuki Shikoku and Jouryuu blast a hole in the cave ceiling and descend.

To the humans’ surprise, these two are not on Aoba’s side; in fact, they consider Aoba and her friends to be “mutts.” Shikoku introduces them as the “Eight Thunder Gods”, leaders of the Shuuki. One stomp from Jouryuu sends everyone flying, and when one of Shikoku’s snakes bites Unihorn, it turns on Aoba.

Clearly, these two are extremely powerful, possibly more powerful than Aoba, Kyouka, and Tenka, especially when they’re already extremely beaten up and fatigued. But that mighty wind Jouryuu kicks up? Aoba shields Yuuki and Kyouka from it, and when she’s down on the ground and Unihorn is about to deliver a critical blow, Kyouka comes between them—while riding a freed Yuuki.

If Coco can get herself and everyone healed and they find their second wind, I’ll take all of them plus Yuuki working together against anyone, any day. It’ll be an uphill fight for sure, but it looked that way for the humans last week. A lot can happen in twenty minutes, and Shikoku’s naked arrogance might be something that can be exploited.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 06 – A League of Their Own

Two weeks since he became a teacher and the Rotsgard store finding success despite the Ogres running it, Makoto has to fend off incessant political marriage proposals from students, suggesting his status at the academy has risen.

But more importantly, Tomoe and Mio are back, and with significant screen time! In fact, most of this episode is evenly split between them, and something happens I did not expect: they meet the heroes before Makoto! First up is Tomoki meeting Tomoe.

It does not go well for our silver-haired power-drunk young friend. In fact, Tomoki shows his whole ass this week to be nothing but a pathetic twerp who has tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants.

Tomoe doesn’t waste too much breath on him, and what breath she uses is able to dispel his Magic Eye effect on Lime (she herself is immune). When Mora reveals she’s a dragon tamer, Tomoe demonstrates the gap in their power by destroying her staff.

Tomoki wants Tomoe’s katana, then Tomoe herself, but the answer to both is no, and he doesn’t have the power to make her. In fact, she uses illusion magic to cast him, Lily, and Mora back into the forest with the warning that he won’t last long as Gritonia’s Hero if he tries to pull this shit again.

I’ve come to loathe Tomoki, so seeing him cut down a size or two was deeply gratifying, and there was no one better to do it than Tomoe. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like Tomoki will give up on her.

On to Mio, who is trying to discern kelp from seaweed on the beach when a giant wolf shoves her into the surf, soaking her kimono. She prepares to kill the beast with a flick of her fan, but a girl leaps out to help the wolf dodge: it’s Hibiki! Mio is impressed by her contrition and decides not to kill her or Horn.

More importantly to Mio is the fact that this hyuman knows her sea grass, which means she probably has some cooking pointers for her. What neither of them realize is that they once met before when Mio was the Spider Disaster, the first battle Hibiki fought that she couldn’t win.

Just as Tomoki is no match for Tomoe, Hibiki is no match for Mio. She and Tomoe are in a different league, power-wise. But while Tomoe’s encounter with Tomoki was thoroughly unpleasant, Mio and Hibiki have a much more positive, cordial, and productive encounter.

A giant mantis monster maims Hibiki’s tank and she’s forced to ask Mio for help, only for her and her party-mates to watch dumbstruck as Mio beheads the boss with one flick of the fan. When it tears her precious kimono in a last-ditch attack, she unleashes a devastating explosion.

Mio puts Hibiki and her party to sleep, and when they wake up, they’re in their intended destination of Tsige. A note from Mio brings Hibiki to the Kuzunoha store in Tsige where she and Mio come to an understanding. Beren will forge the equipment they’ll need to survive the wastelands, while Hibiki will teach Mio how to cook.

Woody notes that Hibiki has concealed her identity as hero and descended into despair ever since the loss of Navarre, who was clearly more than a friend or a sister to her. Her meeting and befriending another strong woman in Mio is an opportunity to cheer up, heal, and move forward.

Six episodes in and Tomoe and Mio, my two favorite characters in the show, have finally been integrated into the season arc. Hopefully Mio and Hibiki’s friendship endures, and the next time Tomoki messes with Tomoe will be his last! But first thing’s first: when Makoto returns to the Demiplane to check in, something is very off. What could it be?

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 05 – Class Is in Session

In the week leading up to his first lecture as a part-time instructor, Makoto frequents the restaurant where Luria works, where Shiki becomes addicted to the “cream hot pot.” Ilumgand, the golden-haired student who was talking to Luria last week, is watching this, and doesn’t like it. Makoto also meets Luria’s older (but smaller-chested) sister Eva, an academy librarian.

Makoto’s fellow instructor Bright sends ten of his students to Makoto’s first lecture. Their attitude ranges from okay with this as long as it makes them stronger, to skeptical an instructor who communicates through writing and has an assistant will be of any use to them. Needless to say, none of these students have ever met anyone like Makoto or Shiki.

While Shiki is all too happy to play the bad cop, Makoto insists upon being as tough and unyielding teacher as Tomoe. As such, Shiki is the good cop, which combined with his good looks make him an immediate hit with the four female students. The students start out underwhelmed by this ugly young man who can’t speak, so Makoto decides to engage in a mock battle with Shiki to demonstrate his power.

Shiki serves as the aggressor while Makoto defends. The kids think every attack Shiki sends will be the end of Makoto, but in reality none of them get through his barrier. The two put on a clinic of silent spells of all elements, and once they actually start using incantations (in a language they don’t recognize) the battle really heats up.

By the time Makoto thoroughly beats Shiki (who has become stronger since training with Tomoe and Mio), the students are a combination of impressed, in awe, and scared shitless. One of the girls who talked down to Makoto has an arm wound from the debris of the battle, so Shiki heals it with ointment from their new shop and she’s immediately smitten with him.

With that, the first class is in the books. Shiki expects that half of the ten students will be no-shows for the next class, and that turns out to be so. However, the five remaining students are there because they know there’s something special about these classes and their instructor.

In the next lecture, Makoto has them come at him with everything they have, with the specific goal of getting them to experience how it feels to reach their limits of mana and stamina. For all five students, it’s the toughest battle they’ve ever been in, and they all fail, but they also learn a lot.

As for the students, they’re an eclectic group … for Hyumans. There’s Daena, a kid with hair like a black-and-white cookie who is married with a kid on the way. Misra is the son of temple officials who sacrifices his mana to keep the mock battle against Makoto going.

Abelia, the only girl who stuck around, is balanced in physical and magic attacks (and shares a last name with Ilumgand). Izumo is a mage-in-training. Finally there’s Jin, a skilled swordsman and natural leader. Makoto observes and analyzes his students and believes them to have potential, especially after surviving two of his classes.

Unfortunately, teaching this class isn’t the only thing Makoto will have to deal with at Rotsgard. There’s also the matter of Bright-sensei wanting him dead. He sent the assassin Makoto had absolutely no trouble with, and in a darkly-lit meeting that accentuates his hidden evil, he orders that assassin and his guild to redouble their efforts to eliminate Makoto. It should be fun watching them try and utterly fail.

P.S., Tomoe and Mio only get one scene each this week, and their relegation to the margins is my one complaint with an otherwise strong season. I get it: you can’t have characters as loud and OP as they are involved in either the Rotsgard storyline or those of the other two heroes. I just hope we get a little more time with them at some point!

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 04 – Those Who Can Do, Teach

Tsukimichi brings the focus back on Makoto this week as he and Shiki finally arrive in Rotsgard. When they encounter a group of guys in academy uniforms seemingly pestering a young lady, Shiki teaches them a lesson. The woman with aqua hair didn’t ask for help, but she extends an open invite to the restaurant where she works as a waitress.

Makoto thought he’d be taking the student entrance exam for the academy, but the paperwork from Rembrandt indicates he’ll be taking the teacher’s exam. Chalk it up to Morris needing reading glasses, but considering how OP Makoto is, perhaps a teacher is the more appropriate position. Like in the plaza, Shiki is quick to perceive Hyuman slights and rudeness, greatly aging the first employee they encounter; the second one is more cordial.

Makoto and four others are teleported to the test grounds, where they must collect three of one of three colored orbs within three days to pass the exam. This leaves us alone with Makoto as he troubleshoots and monologues. The red orb can only be neutralized and captured with a physical attack, the blue with a magic attack, and the yellow with a ranged attack. But because Makoto is so OP his initial attempts to collect the orbs only end up shattering them.

Over the next couple days he eventually finds the right sweet spot between too strong an attack and too weak an attack, but on the morning of his third day he’s attacked by an assassin. The assassin is no match for him, but was able to make the other three examinees drop out. After breaking his poison dagger with his bare hand (he’s immune to poison), Makoto paralyzes the assassin and kicks him into the stratosphere.

The red orb turns out to be the toughest to capture until Makoto realizes he can use the simple, non-magical knife he borrowed to prepare fish to eat. Once he has a red, blue, and yellow orb, he returns to the academy, where the proctor is gobsmacked. Examinees were expected to collect three of the type of orb that best matched their skills; no one has ever come back with all three types.

Makoto’s misunderstanding made his exam a lot more difficult than it needed to be, and by the end even though the test area was paradise compared to the wastelands he had grown quite sick of it. But thanks to his impressive performance, he is hired as a temporary instructor, and that appears to attract the attention of a certain bespectacled lady.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 03 – Now for Wrath, Now for Ruin

When the heroes of Limia and Gritonia meet, it’s extremely awkward thanks to Tomoki. Whether he’s determined not to show any affection for Limia’s hero in front of his lover or party, he’s very rude, curt, and petulant with Hibiki, who is only trying to get along.

I have to think part of it is his unresolved feelings of inferiority and victimhood back home. Hibiki is a reminder of the world he left behind, so it makes sense he’d be hostile. All the adulation he’s received has given him a big head, to boot.

But while power has corrupted Tomoki and turned him into a big haughty self-involved jerk, Hibiki is ever modest and grateful for her support, in particular from Navarre. The two have developed a rapport that borders on the romantic.

Hibiki tells Navarre how easy her life was and how she came to this world in search of a challenge. She didn’t think she’d find someone she could trust to watch her back, but she’s found her in Navarre. As sweet as this scene was, it was tinged with the bitter notion it might be a death flag.

The battle commences, with Tomoki insisting it take place at night, when he’s secretly immortal. He charges right in with his party, but ends up falling for a simple trap: the ground in front of the demon fortress opens up and swallows his rank-and-file.

When he confronts the “demigiant” demon general Io, he doesn’t introduce himself or ask his name, which is bad form in combat. When Hibiki comes in to back him up, she doesn’t repeat his mistake, but Io uses a magic ring to remove the goddess’ blessing from both heroes, leaving them weakened and fatigued.

Tomoki, terrified he’s no longer immortal, flees immediately with his party, who don’t question his orders. Hibiki, a little disgusted by Tomoki’s craven conduct unbecoming a hero, stays put, and she and her party fight what increasingly looks like a hopeless battle against the blue demon colossus.

Just as Hibiki starts going to a dark place where she’s faced with an foe she’s not strong enough to defeat, Navarre gets with Woody and tells him to implement a plan he’s not happy about. That’s because Navarre wants powers to be bestowed upon her and her alone to defeat the demon general.

These powers, represented by a red rose brand on her neck, come at the cost of the user’s life. Hibiki doesn’t know this until she’s being whisked away by Woody’s high-speed flight magic. Navarre, who’s never looked more beautiful than she does in her final moments, gives one look back at Hibiki before turning to her foe.

Hibiki is powerless to stop her best friend in this world from sacrificing herself in a literal blaze of glory. But Navarre, a sword ogre, doesn’t see her actions as tragic, but the height of honor. While she gained a hyuman friend in Hibiki, she’d always known her death would come on the battlefield, giving absolutely everything she’s got.

There were two heroes on the battlefield that night: Otonashi Hibiki, and Navarre Polar. Iwahashi Tomoki is a lot of things—blowhard, chuuni, figurehead, pawn—but he’s no hero. If he had actually put his life on the line, maybe Navarre wouldn’t have had to die. I’m really upset about losing her so soon after we met her.

Whither Makoto? Well, his battle against Sofia and Mitsurugi in the first season finale took place the same time as the heroes’ siege of the demon fortress. We even see the column of light he makes from their POV. And while we know he did a number of the demons, it also did a number on him, as we see Tomoe and Mio desperately healing him.

Now that we know the whole deal with the two Heroes brought here from Japan, and how one of them is no hero at all, we return to the present, and Makoto about to reach his destination of Rotsgard Academy.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 02 – Two New Beginnings

Tsukimichi steps away from Makoto, Tomoe, Mio, and the Demiplane Gang entirely this week, instead focusing on the stories of the other two heroes from Makoto’s world. First up is Otonashi Hibiki (Kakuma Ai), who is actually Makoto’s senpai at their school. Raised by a powerful, successful family and hardworking and calculating, there’s nothing Hibiki can’t achieve with ease, which is her whole problem: she’s bored.

The Goddess summons her to eliminate that boredom by sending her to a world where she’ll face challenges as an adventuerer and one of two Heroes who will save the world. (Of course, the Goddess doesn’t mention Makoto.) And so, while she started the day in Japan, she ends it in the royal palace of the Limia Kingdom with a wolf familiar.

Joining Hibiki in her Hero’s Party is Navarre, a bloodthirsty ogre swordswoman; Woody, a powerful Mage; and a brawny blonde knight. On their first quest together they rescue the talented priestess Chiya, who cuts her hair and joins the party on the spot.

It should be noted that Hibiki does not have an easy time in this first battle. Her first slash of a kobold cuts too shallow and hesitates when it begs for its life. It then cries out for help, resulting in dozens of reinforcements. It’s then when Hibiki refuses to give up and rallies to victory. By the end she’s a sobbing mess, but Navarre comforts her.

The five-person party kicks ass in all of the battles that come, but all winning streaks must end. The first true defeat Hibiki faces, both in this world and the one she came from, is at the eight insta-regenerating legs of all-devouring Spider Disaster we have come to know and love as Mio.

I’ll point out that both her first battle and this defeat aren’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, but they are competently animated and feature some flourishes of style. Hibiki wakes up in her room surrounded by her bandaged but otherwise okay party-mates, but thanks to Mio she is determined to become stronger so she’ll never suffer such a defeat again.

The second hero the Goddess snags is Iwahashi Tomoki, who judging by the uniform is a middle schooler, bullied by the boys and loved by the girls for being a “fragile bishounen”. But he hates the way he is, and how he can’t even win at video games, so the Goddess lures him with the promise of a transformative new life as one of two Heroes in another world.

In addition to the physical and magical level-ups Hibiki gets, Tomoki is also given a magic eye that allows him to enthrall anyone, as well as immortality at night during the full moon, which sounds pretty lycanthropic. He’s also, as he specified, much taller and brawnier, and has silver hair instead of black along with heterochromia.

While Makoto started out in the wastelands and Hibiki arrived in the middle of an celebratory crowd, Tomoki appears in this new world in the presence of one person: Lily Front Gritonia, second princess of the Gritonia Empire (which is, for now, allied with Limia against the Demons).

He soon meets Guinevere, a lady knight, Yukinatsu, an alchemist specializing in golems, and Mora, the resident dragon tamer. All three women make contact with his magic eye, which he can’t yet control, and all of them fall madly in love with him, providing the motivation for joining his party.

Not to be left out, Princess Lily intends to avoid the effects of Tomoki’s eye while keeping him wrapped around her finger. Her late mother was a believer in the “capricious” Goddess, and Lily is ready to do whatever it takes to defeat the Demons. That includes stealing a march on the other women and taking Tomoki’s virginity right away.

Thus this episode ends with both Hibiki and Tomoki having lost their innocence and finding themselves firmly integrated into this new world. There are still other players in the OP and ED we’ve yet to meet, but for now they seem like decent new additions to the cast, and  I’m excited by the prospect of Makoto crossing paths with them at some point.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 01 – Answered Prayers

Moonlit Fantasy’s second season picks up where the first left off, as Makoto is on his way to Magic Academy with Shiki by his side. They make a stop in the town of Obitt, and Shiki searches for the very best inn for the young master (fearing Tomoe and Mio’s wrath if he doesn’t).

Makoto chooses not to wear his mask in town, which gets him some looks. When he stops by the guild, he finds a woman begging in vain for aid against a group of bandits called Moon over the Ruined Castle, which is the same name as a famous Japanese song and one of Makoto’s faves.

Back in the Demiplane, Mio is attempting to cook for everyone, but the first attempt leads to serious casualties as her “curry rice” contains ingredients inedible to demihumans, such as soft emeralds. The camera panning to various characters suffering ill effects of having tasted the curry is a clever way to re-introduce the large cast of supporting characters.

Makoto has decided to follow his heart when in doubt, so when he sees the girl from the guild being harassed in an alley, he rescues her and her werewolf friend. She introduces herself as Lana from Tapa Village; the wolf, whom Makoto heals, is Eto. Makoto introduces himself as Kuzunoha.

Tapa may be a long way away, but that’s no problem for Makoto, who picks up Lana and Eto and flies there, arriving at the gates before sundown. Once there, Lana heads into the village, which Makoto can sense has been attacked again by the bandits. When Eto asks why he’s helping them, Makoto says he doesn’t like a bandit group having the same name as a song he likes. Simple as that!

Mio fares no better in her second attempt. While she uses nominally edible ingredients (meat, fruit, and vegetables), the ways in which she prepared the dishes render them just as inedible as the emerald curry. Tomoe suggests Mio travel the world and hone her skills, and to her surprise, Mio is all for it. So are the others, who are sick of being poisoned!

Makoto “takes a walk” into the forest where the bandits dwell, uses Silence Kai to eliminate all sound in their radius, then uses the confusion to pick off a few of them with arrows. By the time sound returns, Makoto has a lot more targets, so he decides to take them all out with fire, fondly recalling when Emma first taught him.

He doesn’t kill the bandits, but he does make them change their name, and makes it so they won’t threaten Lana or Eto’s villages again. When next we see him he’s back in Obitt, checking in with Shiki, who has found a passable (and expensive) inn in which to stay.

Before heading to bed, Makoto looks up at the moonlit sky and considers when he’ll encounter the other two heroes from Earth the Goddess summoned into this world. That should be interesting! Moonlit Fantasy delivers a quiet first outing in its return, but reminded me why I loved the first: that colorful special-sauce balance of action, comedy, and a smidge of drama … with no melted pot handle aftertaste.

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 – 11 – Pride Before the Fall

Despite Rishia being his opponent in the arena, Itsuki spends most of the start ignoring her completely, shouting up at Naofumi and even firing arrows at him when he’s surrounded by kids. Itsuki believes Malty’s lies about Naofumi exploiting the child slaves, and is determined to use his newfound “justice” (i.e. the Curse Series crest Malty gave him) to defeat all evil in the world.

Itsuki soon learns he can’t ignore Rishia anymore. She’s a lot stronger and tougher than when he booted her out of his party. She no longer recognizes this version of Itsuki, and she’s just as determined to follow her own personal justice in order to get him to snap out of this funk.

Each time Rishia pushes Itsuki back with her Hengen Muso techniques, Itsuki retreats deeper and deeper into the Curse series, which bestows him more power, but power that’s tinged with the very evil he claims to be against. That power won’t work against Rishia’s strength and justice. Even when he binds her shadow and legs and drops a giant golden bull head on her, she simply smashes it to bits.

Itsuki thinks he has the upper hand when he snaps Rishia’s sword and she refuses to take Naofumi’s sword. But when Itsuki tries to fire a decisive shot at her, something nobody expects happens: the Bow itself betrays his curdled will. Instead of harming Rishia, it breaks her Slave Crest and provides her with a transluscent blade that can morph into a boomerang.

Rishia uses the morphable weapon to great effect, defeating Itsuki in the arena. He ends up falling back into his dark memories of once believing he was a hero of justice only to end up among the lowest-ranked of students. His pride, then, as now, was his undoing.

The one and only person Itsuki believes will support him no matter what is Bitch, but when he rushes to her accommodations, she and the remnants of his party are already gone. She left behind a note thanking him for all the prize money he made for her, and left a stack of debts in his name to pay off.

Itsuki is so overwhelmed by this betrayal he smashes the Cursed Series crest against the wall and then faints. When he comes to, he’s in a cabin by the sea in Luroluna Village, Rishia by his side. She takes his hand, tells him where he is, and that Naofumi will be paying off his debts, and she promises to help him as well.

Itsuki, still a little catatonic from everything he’s been through, nevertheless sheds a tear of gratitude, and allows Rishia to guide him by the hand to the garden, where they’ll begin his road to recovery from Bitch’s machinations and his own shattered pride.

Naofumi and Raphtalia look on as Rishia guides Itsuki and Eclair trains with Ren. Now all four Cardinal Heroes are in the same place, and well on the road towards working together as a single unit, just in time for the impending arrival of the Phoenix.

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 – 10 – Bow Flex

Hey, remember Rishia Ivyred? Dumped like a bag of sand by the Bow Hero Kawasumi Itsuki, she joined Naofumi’s party and vowed to become stronger and more useful. Thanks to Elrasla she’s become a competent swordswoman. She seeks neither revenge nor apology from Itsuki—she simply wants to show him she isn’t the weak burden he abandoned.

As Filo runs off with Melty and Raph-chan to level up together, Naofumi appoints Eclair the village ruler, noting that she’d been over-relying on Melty for administrative duties, which kept the Crown Princess from necessary training. Ren offers to help her out, which she accepts. Then S’yne returns with a big sack of prize money and some news: the Bow Hero is fighting in the underground arena.

Naofumi brings Raphtalia, Ren, Sadeena, S’yne, Atla, Keel, and a handful of kids to participate in battles to gain experience. But Rishia has come in hopes she can speak to Itsuki. Instead, he completely ignores her and shoves her to the ground as he heads to the arena.

Itsuki glowers at Naofumi, telling him Malty Melromarc has informed him him all of the horrific crimes he’s committed. Bitch has already messed with the other three heroes, so it would be weird if she didn’t sink her pretty fangs into the Bow Hero as well. Like Ren and Motoyasu before him at first, Itsuki doesn’t believe anyone but Malty.

Atla suggests beating some sense into the guy, and I honestly like where her head’s at. I don’t think Rishia owes Itsuki a goddamn thing and would be wise to steer clear of him altogether, but he did save her life, so I respect her desire to at least talk to him, which only seems possible if she fights and defeats him in the arena.

Back at an inn where Itsuki’s reunited party and Bitch are staying, he provides more gold for her claimed cause: saving all of the slaves. Of course the money is just for her, and she intends to squeeze every possible coin out of Itsuki before ditching him like she ditched the Shield, Spear, and Sword.

Will Rishia be able to talk (or beat) some sense into Itsuki? I hope so, for as much as I loath yet another hero falling for Bitch’s wiles, we know that all four Cardinal Heroes will have to level up sufficiently and fight as a team in order to defeat the coming Phoenix.

As Elrasla said, Rishia is still raw, but she has confidence she can fight and win in the arena if she stays focused. That said, Rishia is raising her sword against her savior; will that perceived debt cause her to hold back? Hopefully not, because I want to see Bow Hero reformed. I also just want to see Bitch lose once more and take up a new hobby—one that doesn’t involve cozying up to and manipulating heroes.

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 – 09 – Tripping the Light Dragon-tastic

Naofumi’s last shield just manages to absorb the Emperor Dragon’s attack, but he knows he won’t be able to stop the next one. Before it can charge up, Atla rushes into close range to use her pressure point attack. Because it becomes more powerful the tougher the defense, she manages to knock the dragon back, and it fires its breath at the ceiling, flooding the den.

The water washes everyone back outside. Atla is fine, and her actions not only saved everyone, but bought Naofumi and the rest of the party time to recover and regroup. That night, Wyndia confirms to her and Fohl that the dragon is indeed her father, and we get a heartwarming sequence of the dragon gradually learning how to take care of a demihuman infant entrusted to him by a dying man.

It’s while reminiscing about her childhood that Wyndia recalls touching her father’s one upside-down scale—his weak spot. Fohl makes sure Wyndia is okay fighting her dad, and she says she is; she wants to say goodbye to him properly. Seeing these sweet kids warms a drunk Sadeena’s heart.

Before the sun rises, the party gets organized: Sadeena, Wyndia and Melty will use choral magic to restrain the dragon while Raphtaia and Eclair launch melee attacks. Atla is eager to help, but Naofumi insists she hang back, as her unique power to undermine ultimate defense will be their last resort. This appeases Atla, who adorably tells Fohl she’s the ace.

As the skies begin to brighten, the curtain rises on one hell of a dragon boss battle. After luring him out with the Wrath Shield, the choral girls encase him in a giant cube of water, where Sadeena transforms into her orca form and gives him the business, supported by attacks from the swordsmen.

While his offense attacks, Naofumi distributes shields and buffs to everyone. Despite the large number of combatants, everything is kept nice and tight and the battle is easy to follow. When the Emperor takes off the kid gloves and zaps everyone with vicious beams of light, Atla senses her time has come.

Having built up magical energy back at camp, she and Fohl rush the dragon, only for her attack to bounce off a veil he has raised. Fohl keeps bashing at the veil until it shatters, allowing Atla to charge up her pressure index point finger of death, targeting the dragon’s weak upside-down scale. Her attack, which proves decisive, is presented with some decent sakuga along with one final flourish from Kevin Penkin’s boss fight music.

While Atla was committed to get the job done even if it meant sacrificing herself, she lands in Naofumi’s arms exhausted but alive. He may need to have a chat about her maybe not going so hard next time. The disabled Emperor coughs up Filo and Gaelion, who are none the worse for wear. All that’s left is to finish off the greatly-depleted dragon, achieved with one more round of choral magic, with Gaelion assisting in summoning a great orb of water.

Sadeena dives into the orb of water, which parries the dragon’s final breath attack, and she retrieves the Emperor’s core. Then Raphtalia delivers one final Mist coup-de-grace, atomizing the dragon just as the sun rises over the mountains. All that was missing from this satisfying conclusion to the battle was a good old-fashioned victory fanfare. Wyndia sets up a grave for her dearly departed father, and to her surprise, Ren leaves some flowers and prays beside her.

The villagers thank the Shield Hero for protecting them from the Sword Hero, but Naofumi calls them out for manipulating Ren and departs in a huff. Ren is deeply contrite for what went down and doesn’t believe he deserves forgiveness, but Wyndia forgives him anyway.

She actually knew he was manipulated all along, and that he really shouldn’t have been the target of her ire, but she made it so anyway. Both she and Ren have grown a lot, and are ready to move forward together as allies of Naofumi.

As for her father, he’s actually still around, as Gaelion is his new vessel. However, in the interest of allowing her daughter to carry on with her life, he’ll keep his presence secret, and asks Naofumi to do the same. Rather than give Filo her XP back (though he did absorb her curse), Gaelion grows big enough for Wyndia and Naofumi to have a celebratory dragon ride.

While this only makes the wagon-pulling Filo more jealous. However, as Naofumi says, all’s well that ends well, and they’re in a good place with the Phoenix drawing closer to its awakening.

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 – 08 – Daddy Issues

Naofumi is deciding who will stay in the village and who will accompany him on the hunt for Gaelion when a new crisis crops up: Filo is gravely ill. Gaelion appears to be sapping her XP, resulting in her level gradually lowering. Atla can slow the decline, but can’t stop it, which means they need to do something about Gaelion if Filo is going to survive.

Naofumi takes Raphtalia, Eclair, Ren, Sadeena, and Wyndia to the neighboring village where Ren had previously defeated a dragon. They tell Naofumi there’s a new dragon in the den located in the nearby mountain. Wyndia doesn’t seem to particularly like these people.

While on their way to the den they encounter a porcupine beast, which Wyndia handles all by herself using magical power drawn from the dragon veins beneath the earth. Her power comes as a surprise to Naofumi, but Sadeena says one day Wyndia will be able to use Jamming and Choral magic.

Back in Luroluna, things go from bad to worse with poor Filo, who becomes covered in the same marks of red light as Naofumi when he was consumed by the Wrath Shield. Eventually her eyes turn red and she goes berserk. As the Gaelion search party pauses for a fire, Wyndia shoots an ugly look Ren’s way as well.

Whatever beef she has with Ren, when she slips and almost falls down a sheer cliff, he saves her life and tells her he’s glad she’s not hurt. Now that he no longer sees this world as just a game, he’s trying to be a better hero.

When Raph’s magical light can’t reach a particularly huge cavern, Wyndia taps into the dragon vein and illuminates the entire den. Shortly after that they’re ambushed by the berserk Gaelion.

As they defend and counter his attacks, the berserk Filo suddenly appears, ridden by Melty, Atla, and Fohl. The dragon possessing Gaelion lets out a breath that converts Filo to human form … then swallows her whole. This results in a transformation in Gaelion from a small red Wyr to a much stronger and more ancient-looking dragon.

According to his HUD Filo is still alive, so the party launches an all-out attack on the dragon to rescue her. Their efforts bear fruit as the dragon is grounded, but when moving in for a decisive blow, they’re stopped by Wyndia, who begs them not to hurt her dad anymore.

That’s right; Wyndia can sense within this dragon the soul of her father, who was the dragon Ren killed some time ago. She tries to talk sense into her father, telling him that while the other heroes were bad, the Shield Hero has only ever been kind.

The dragon responds by trying to kill Wyndia, but fortunately Ren is able to block its attack and save her again. This dragon is no longer Gaelion or her father, but the Emperor Dragon from the Hunting Hero’s world. He opens his breast armor to reveal Filo is now a part of his core.

Now that he’s resurrected he intends to subjugate all humans. Naofumi re-buffs everyone, but even their best attacks, so effective before, are useless against the Emperor Dragon’s tough skin.

When Naofumi discovers the dragon is somehow drawing its defense from his own shield, he prepares to fail a power-up attempt on his Wrath Shield. But to his dismay, the dragon is also capable of hacking his HUD. Instead of failing, he successfully powers up the Wrath Shield several times, thus gaining terrifying amounts of power.

The dragon turns red and its power discharge pretty much KOs everyone. Naofumi manages to get in front of Atla, Fohl, and Wyndia and sets up every shield he has, but the dragon’s breath blasts through nearly all of them, which brings us to a cliffhanger ending.

Mind you, all of this could have been avoided if Naofumi hadn’t kept the soul of the Emperor Dragon on his bedside table. I mean, do safes not exist in this world? Like the slaver attack on the village Naofumi left inexplicably undefended earlier this season, this is a dilemma of his creation. Hopefully he can fix it before Filo and the others pay an irreversible price.

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 – 05 – Player Development

Naofumi, Raphtalia and Filo are fleeing Motoyasu’s grossness when they’re suddenly ambushed on the road by two randos … who are apparently the most powerful bandits they’ve ever faced? One of them makes a dig at the Heroes’ tendency to form harems, while repeatedly cackles with what I’d describe to be a “extremely punchable voice.”

In less than five minutes, Raph’s strength is sapped, Filo’s kick is dodged with one hand, and all of Naofumi’s shields and buffs are rendered ueseless as a massive meteor crashes down on all three of them. Thus ends Rise of the Shield Hero, with the abrupt deaths of its three main protagonists. I hope you enjoyed watching!

Oh … wait … they don’t all die? Oh, okay. Naofumi’s Shield Prison just manages to hold out, while dispelling Raphtalia’s buffs also dispelled a curse that sapped her speed. Even so, they probably survive another meteor, so it’s a good thing S’yne steps in to save them with her giant scissors.

The bandits refer to her as a “vassal weapon wielder from a destroyed world” but she and Raph cut down both of them. Rather than bleed like humans, they glow with blue light from within before crumbling. The show’s back on, folks! And as Naofumi still ponders what S’yne’s deal is, her growling stomach takes precedence.

They bring her back to Luroluna where she eats her fill, and explains that she was tracking Naofumi with a needle she planted on him back in the coliseum. The bandits worked for the Heroes who destroyed her world, which is different from the other world Naofumi & Co. visited, so there’s at least three worlds and likely many more.

Naofumi is understandably weary of this stylish yet inscrutable clown girl with the glitchy speech. After all, he’s no longer a loner, but is responsible for a whole village full of innocents in addition to his party members. But so far she seems genuine in her desire to prevent more wielders like him from being killed off or their worlds meeting the same fate as hers.

S’yne quickly makes friends by manipulating sewn dolls to the delight of the youngsters, while Eclair and Rishia return from a training session with Keel and some other novices. Many have reached Level 40, so Naofumi agrees to take the kids to the capital to Class Up. Meanwhile, Pedoyasu finds a Filo feather and continues his pursuit.

In town, Naofumi impresses upon the youngins the pros and cons of classing up, and that they should think carefully about what they want to do, because he doesn’t want them to simply default to fighting classes. Keel is gung-ho about fighting, but another kid likes cooking, while one of the mole kids becomes an apprentice with Elhart, whom he already knows.

Back in the village, Naofumi observes Elrasla and Rishia training the tykes, among them Fohl and Atla. Not only is Atla looking much stronger and surer on her feet, but she’s got quite the martial arts moves and is a quick learner now that she’s been given the chance.

Naofumi decides to bring the white tiger siblings with him on the hunting trip, along with Keel, Eclair, Filo, Raphtalia, and Raph-chan. Defense of the village in his absence falls to Sadeena, Elrasla, and the newcomer S’yne, which seems sufficient this time.

Reports from Eclair’s investigation of the surrounding lands indicates that the survivors of a prison razed by the Spirit Tortoise could be a concern, as well as a group of extremely cautious bandits who only attack people who are alone. To that end, Naofumi has everyone buddy up in pairs or trios.

He proceeds accompanied only by Raph-chan, in hopes he’ll be the most enticing target for the opportunistic bandits. But to his surprise, the first people he meets in the forest aren’t bandits, but the Spear and Sword Heroes. A surprisingly focused Motoyasu is either sparring or battling Ren, who is now sporting a sinister black mask for some reason.

That’s a random end to what at times was a pretty random episode, but I’m giving it high marks because S’yne is a cool new addition to the fam, and I had a lot of fun watching the nuts-and-bolts development of the youngsters. Keel, Fohl, Atla and the others are uniformly charming and easy to root for, and I’m looking forward to seeing them strut their stuff, even if I’m far less enthused about continued interactions with Motoyasu and Ren.

I’m in Love with the Villainess – 05 – Knight Trials

Upon discovering Rae’s new familiar Ralaire, Claire prepares to report it so it can be killed, and isn’t impressed by its lesser tricks. So Rae appeals to Claire’s vanity by having the slime mimic Claire’s form. This pleases her, and she allows Rae to keep the familiar.

Rae, Claire, and Misha all pass the written portion of the Knights entry exams, so they all move on to the practical. Claire takes Rae aside and again asks her to agree to leave the school if she wins. Rae, who is certain Claire will pass, instead agrees to Claire’s terms if Rae loses.

If Rae wins, Claire has to do whatever she asks. With that, the magical duels commence within a magical barrier set up by the Knights captain and vice-captain. The first duel is between Princes Yu and Thane, whom Misha and Claire have the hots for, respectively.

Yu would seem to have the upper hand with his water and ice-based magic, but Thane is no ordinary wind-user, and manages to get his younger brother to yield. Misha puts up a good fight against Rod with creative use of her wind magic, but ultimately loses the battle of endurance due to lack of oxygen.

The final duel is perhaps the most anticipated among the students: Rae vs. Claire. As expected, the vast majority of the crowd is on Claire’s side, and Rae can’t blame them; she’d normally be on Claire’s side too! When neither girl attacks first, Rae decides to start by encasing Claire in a rock pillar, which she effortlessly melts with her flames.

Rae counters with a personal barrier made not of earth or rock, but tungsten carbide, borrowing a material from her original world. Claire tries to get around the shield by firing a fusillade of fiery blasts, but Claire shoots them all down with earth projectiles.

Claire can’t help but be impressed with the Commoner’s aptitude, rotten though she may be. But she intends to turn the tables by using an elite hereditary beam weapon. Her only mistake is going easy on Rae by firing a warning shot first; she would have surely won if that shot had been on target.

Instead, Rae simply creates a hole for Claire to fall in, then makes the hole so deep she cannot hope to escape. Even if she tried, Thane reminds Claire that Rae can also wield water, against which her fire is weakest. The Knights call the match for Rae by unanimous decision, while Claire is taken down another peg.

The next day the list of new Knights entrants is posted, and to Claire’s shock, her name is on it. Turns out whether combatants won or lost didn’t matter; the point of the practical exam was to determine the would-be members’ magical ability, which was exmplary for all three princes, Misha, Claire, and Rae.

So they’re all in the Knights! Also, because she didn’t lose, Rae can ask anything of Claire. Curiously, she asks for the exact same thing as last time: asking Claire to swear never to give up no matter what. Could Rae still be taking into account Claire’s default status as the villainess in the game, and this is a defense against that? In any case, Claire isn’t about to be rid of Rae anytime soon.