Taishou Otome Fairytale continues to be the most ridiculously sweet anime of 2021 and takes the sweetness to near cavity inducing in episodes 9 and 10. As folksinger, Kotori, stays with Yuzuki and Tamahiko to learn about love and Tamahiko starts to get closer with his classmates it kind of seems like everything is finally going well for the pair.
Then episode 10 happens and honestly the two are still super sweet but Yuzuki goes to Tokyo to visit a friend and on the day she’s due to return an Earthquake strikes.
Now, I’m pretty sure this isn’t the kind of anime that goes for a tragic ending but it might and we really have no way of knowing until we get into the next episodes.
Taishou Otome Fairytale knew exactly how to escalate its tension for the final episodes.
While Taishou Otome Fairytale isn’t the most exciting anime to watch, it really does show some understanding of when to build up tension and when to let your characters take a breath and it balances the sweet moments with bitterness in an almost perfect mix to leave you feeling that the story never really gets too dull but you walk away feeling happy and relaxed.
Even Ryou’s return and gentle teasing of Yuzuki after she’s asked to help Tamahiko with food while Yuzuki is away isn’t enough to spoil the overall mood. Admittedly, that character is a lot less annoying in her current form then she was after she was first introduced.
Episode 9 of Taishou Otome Fairtyale continues to develop Tamhiko’s friendship with Hikaru and Tamahiko is actually surprisingly perceptive for once, realising that Hikaru was avoiding visiting his house while his sister Kotori was there. The reason why doesn’t make a huge amount of sense but Tamahiko and Yuzuki weave their sweet magic and by the end of the episode everything is fine.
Kotori meanwhile takes over Tamahiko’s tutorial with the village kids and we get a sing-song moment that drags on a little too long but fits in with the general sweetness of the story.
Likewise, by the end of the episode we have both Tamahiko and Yuzuki really considering where they are in their relationship and the final shot with the two on the bike is just super adorable.
But in order to not let things get too cutesy, episode 10 has Yuzuki receive a letter notifying her that one of her friends is now pregnant and going to move to her partner’s home town. Given the era and difficulty travelling, Yuzuki is worried she won’t see her again but also doesn’t want to leave Tamahiko.
And Tamahiko, demonstrating just how much he’s grown from those first few episodes, encourages her to go and even takes her to a local shrine and buys a charm for Yuzuki’s friend.
The farewell scene at the train station is yet another cavity causing moment but honestly this anime is really built on those so we’ll go with it and realistically I love this couple so much even if the anime itself is only so-so.
But Taishou Otome Fairytale is aware we are coming to the end of the season, and also that things are going way too smoothly for out main characters, and so disaster strikes in the form of an earthquake. Pre-mobile phone era Tamahiko has no way to contact Yuzuki to ask if she is okay or even where she is (given she was meant to be returning) and so he is about to set out to look for her.
The one thing I was a bit miffed about with Taishou Otome Fairytale was when Tamahiko tried to help the rescue efforts in the village and was more or less shoved aside. Seriously, you are in the middle of a crisis and you are going to chase away help? It would have made more sense to send Tamahiko to a job he could do rather than telling him to go away.
Anyway, looking forward to the final two episodes.
At first glance it seems like I didn’t really like watching Banished From The Hero’s Party particularly during the mid-season where I was expressing a fair amount of indifference to it. And realistically, indifference is where I’ll be in a few weeks as any memory of this anime vanishes from my memory.
Except that there’s one or two things about Banished From The Hero’s Party that will out last any memory of anything else that happened during its run and weirdly because my mind will fixate on those couple of points rather than the ho-hum nature of most episodes, if I do think about this anime again in a few months or a year I might actually recall it being significantly better than it actually is.
So I’m going to need to break this down now because while this is a perfectly adequate slice-of-life fantasy anime it is one of those mid-tier affairs with very little outside of one or two points to really recommend it and in a sea of anime this is one that really doesn’t need to be prioritised for viewing.
Banished From The Hero’s Party meanders but maybe that’s what you are looking for.
The title of ‘Banished From The Hero’s Party, I Decided To Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside’ pretty much tells you the set-up for this story. Red, who used to be Gideon, left the hero’s party after the Sage (Ares) told him he was holding them back because he wasn’t strong enough to support them anymore. Agreeing, in his own way, Red decided what he wanted to do with his life post adventuring hero was open his own apothecary shop in a small town kind of away from everything.
Of course he first has to earn funds for that venture and so initially works as a low level adventurer which gives him time to build relationships with many of the people in town and then he builds his shop. Also, a Princess who also acts as an adventurer who knew him before, known as Rit, just happens to come across him, decides to hand up her adventurer’s hat and moves in with him.
Their day to day lives take up the bulk of most episodes and while there are some really great relationship moments between them (more on that later) their pursuit of the ‘quiet life’ as they have picnics, visit saunas and generally manage a shop just isn’t that interesting and that’s kind of why the mid-season ends up feeling pretty empty. Which could work for a slice-of-life but the slices need to be interesting or charming and here the supporting cast in the village are pretty dull and there just isn’t much to hold your interest.
However, Banished From The Hero’s Party doesn’t forget about the hero’s party and most episodes end, or at some point cut across, to a few moments with them. Turns out Red was a lot more needed than even he realised as the party are now frequently getting lost, are unable to negotiate with others for what they need and are generally miserable. Also turns out he’s the hero’s sister and while her blessing, being the hero, makes her fairly cold and unfeeling eventually she decides enough is enough and heads out to find her brother.
That kind of brings all the plot threads from both Red’s life in the village and the hero’s party together as all the characters collide for a series finale that actually feels a lot more satisfying than it perhaps should and realistically that is the second reason I’m feeling this anime was better than it actually was. I’m a sucker for a good finish and that most of the plot ideas did come together and we finally resolved the situation with Ares and the Hero and well pretty much everything except perhaps the demon lord who may or may not still threaten humanity really left me feeling this ended on a high note.
The other reason Banished From The Hero’s Party left a positive impression was the super cute relationship between Red and Rit. There’s a lot of the usual blushing, saying something suggestive and then looking away, but there’s also genuine warmth and affection between the two and their relationship progresses smoothly throughout the series in a way few anime manage as they usually force characters into a holding pattern.
Honestly, Red and Rit are going to be remembered long after I forget everything else about this anime because this was definitely one of the better romances I’ve seen in a fantasy anime and it isn’t the main plot. Their romance is just another thing that happens in their time in the town.
But I do then need to remember the things that Banished From The Hero’s Party didn’t do so well. Such as creating any supporting characters who were in anyway interesting or in anyway felt like real people. Or the whole premise of characters having blessings that sometimes had such strong impulses people would go on killing sprees but at other times didn’t seem to affect the person at all. it seemed inconsistent and the explanations we got of blessing didn’t do much to clarify.
Banished From The Hero’s Party also had some serious pacing issues. We’d go from sleepy and stalled daily life to suddenly a mob forming in the town and conspiracies involving drug trafficking and demons and it felt like someone just decided they’d gotten bored and so had kicked the hornets nest just to shake things up. Likewise the cutting between Red’s life and the hero’s party were clearly meant to show how his life had changed and the impact on his absence, but the two plot lines were so disparate that each time we cut from one to the other was jarring.
Visually the character designs are super cute with main characters getting adorable though not entirely functional clothing and armour but the supporting cast, once again, is short changed in Banished From The Hero’s Party and their designs and clothing are all pretty bland and forgettable. Likewise the fantasy setting is nice and bright but generic. Even the ‘elven ruins’ they set the final conflict in have pretty much no distinguishing traits.
Honestly though, Banished From The Hero’s Party is easy enough to watch but it wouldn’t be my first recommendation if you were looking for fantasy. On the other hand, they do wrap up the plot pretty well which means you at least aren’t left hanging out for a sequel (though they did leave some room for continuing the story) and the relationship between the main two characters is sweet. So if you do watch it you should find something to enjoy.
As always, I’d love to know your thoughts so if you watched Banished From The Hero’s Party, I Decided To Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside leave us a comment.
So far one of the things I’ve consistently praised about Saihate no Paladin is the deliberate choice not to rush through set-up or events just for the sake of quick thrills. Instead this story has taken its time to build up the character and the world and that means my emotional investment is significantly greater than it usually is for this kind of hack and slash fantasy. Which makes me wonder why episode 12 feels so incredibly rushed as our main character gets over his sudden round of self-doubt, rallies the troops and defeats the immediate villain before finding out he’s pretty much in charge of the region in the space of twenty minutes.
The only justification I can see for the sudden haste is that overcoming this creature and somewhat resolving the issue in the southern woods does at least provide a sensible resting point for the story for the season to end on.
Saihate no Paladin’s final episode for season one feels all too hasty.
Unfortunately, by rushing it, Saihate no Paladin has undermined that sense of deliberate pacing that has permeated the entire story so far. While there’s nothing wrong with episode 12 -indeed when compared to the ending some something like Banished From The Hero’s Party, the final episode of Saihate no Paladin comes out significantly stronger – and yet it loses something of its own tone in the process.
Will has been a character we’ve watched grow up and find his feet. Two episodes ago he finally became an actually recognised Paladin. One episode ago he experienced his first real taste of failure since saying goodbye to Mary and Blood. And in this episode he more or less has a little bit of a sulk about it, has Menel come along and beat him up a bit, and instantly he’s just fine. Even tells everyone else that it’s all good.
This is the first time it has felt like Saihate no Paladin has trivialised a pivotal character growth moment and the episode suffers because of it.
Though points for Menel for knowing when it was time to beat his friend senseless.
Regardless of how satisfying it is to see Will, Menel and the others get back on their feet and plan to defeat the demon beasts, and then do just that, the episode is marred by this absolute abrupt turn around from the end of last episode where Will resolves to go it alone because he’s almost immediately reversed position and it feels far too trite.
Then, we also need to look at the battle. It was definitely satisfying and overcoming the chimera that took down Menel last week needed to happen for the season to come to some kind of a close, and yet Saihate no Paladin blurs through preparations with a few stills and a quick narration and then the fight begins. And all too quickly Menel and Will are separated from all the extras for their own fight against the chimera so it just makes you wonder why they bothered dragging them all along.
Despite all those complaints, ultimately this final episode leaves us in a good position to end the season as it brings one phase of Will’s journey to an end. Now we just have to hope a season two actually comes out because while it has been announced details are few and far between. I have thoroughly enjoyed Will’s story up until this point and really do want to find out what is next for these characters and this world so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for more details of Saihate no Paladin season 2.
The final two episodes of Banished From The Hero’s Party finally have everyone pretty much face off against everyone else as half the characters try to somehow force Ruti to properly take up the mantle of hero, even if that means taking away her free will or killing her brother, and the other half try to give Ruti the right to choose her future. Weirdly, only one human character actually dies despite the number who get their clothes slashed off (and why does every girl get slashed between the breasts).
But you can’t really argue with episode 12 too much given it satisfactorily has every character’s goals explored and resolves the issue before episode 13 gives us the epilogue and continues the natural progression of one of the sweetest couples I’ve seen in anime for a long time.
Banished From The Hero’s Party gives us a final fight before settling into the slow and quiet country life as promised in the title.
I think the one character I still don’t get in Banished From The Hero’s Party is Ares. I mean, his obsession with accompanying the hero is all too clear but just having the Sage blessing doesn’t seem to account for his over the top possessiveness. And even if all his plans had succeeded after aligning with a demon, would Ruti have really still travelled with him? Particularly if he’d actually succeeded at killing Gideon?
As the episode progresses, Ares becomes increasingly unhinged and finally ends up where so many failed villains end up by the end of a fight they’ve clearly lost: standing alone and wondering why the person they are trying to kill just won’t die.
Don’t take it personally Ares, you just aren’t the protagonist of this story.
Though it does make you wonder why they bothered letting him live during his last attempt to kill Gideon.
As for the demon they don’t actually ever really explain his motivation. How does it benefit him to have the hero back in action? I mean it is a cool fight scene and all but I felt like we are still missing part of the story here.
Meanwhile, Mr Crawley Wawley ended up being pivotal during one part of the battle and so proved he’s more than just a cute spider in Banished From The Hero’s Party.
But, the battle does end and Banished From The Hero’s Party gives us a final episode where wounds are healed, choices are made and characters learn that despite their blessings they can make some choices. It’s a little bit cloying and yet kind of perfect for how this anime has progressed.
And we do at least return to Red and Rit’s life with the two making it clear that they aren’t together because of their blessings and they aren’t planning on going anywhere. Seriously, those two are so cute and perfect together.
Perhaps the one genuine complaint I walk away from these final episodes with is that silly hat Ruti was wearing as she went about town. It just looked ridiculous.
That and the other characters who had all kind of showed up for the final showdown also just kind of went their own ways and disappeared again as quickly as they arrived. Sure Red, Rit and Ruti were the central characters but when they brought all the others in to the story they could have at least finished with a BBQ or something.
Anyway, that’s it for Banished From The Hero’s Party but be sure to check out the full series review.
It’s always hard to know what an anime will be like before the season begins. All you can really do is read a synopsis, watch a trailer and give it a go. Platinum End had a lot of fanfare prior to launch based on the a manga created by Tsugumi Ooba who also created Death Note and Bakuman it seemed like it would be a relatively safe bet. Throw in some heavy advertising and pre-season discussion pieces and Platinum End seemed destined to sweep the season.
Tragically, after the first few episodes aired the conversation quickly shifted and soon after it became clear that even if Platinum End picked up this wasn’t going to reach the heights that Death Note had soared to. That said, Death Note has its flaws but it came out a fair time ago when there wasn’t as much competition for our attention, when we hadn’t seen that type of story a million times before and honestly for all its flaws it is still pretty charming to watch with characters who leave an impression.
Platinum End on the other hand brings little joy to the screen and the misery isn’t overly affective as the audience is left relatively indifferent to one dimensional characters who seem determined to make about the worst choice possible in any given situation.
It wasn’t terminal at episode 3 or 4 as there were pockets of potential nuance or places where characters could grow from, and then the next 8 episodes happened and the only thing I can say about episodes 8 through 12 is that each one was more unbelievably stupid and tiresome than the last.
Now, if I were to compare Platinum End to the abysmal misery-fest that was Full Dive then Platinum End actually comes off a little bit better because at the very least the protagonist, Mirai, is at least attempting to make choices that will lead him to happiness and he was dumped into the whole god-candidate situation without any real choice in the matter.
But that’s not exactly high praise.
Hard to say anything other than Platinum End missed the mark or tripped over its own ambition before it even got going.
For those who somehow managed to miss the discussions earlier in the Fall 2021 season, Platinum End begins with Mirai deciding life is just not worth living and stepping off a roof. Now having a story begin with a character suicide is nothing new but you would hope in this day and age that there would be some deeper reason for it other than to establish an edgy back-story for a character and provide a justification for animating scenes of child-abuse.
Tragically, there really isn’t. While the first couple of episodes kind of hint we’re going to explore how Mirai was beaten down in life to the point where suicide seemed like the better option, all too soon the story sweeps us away to… Well, in theory the conflict between the god candidates and Mirai’s now absolute conviction that he shouldn’t kill which largely just puts himself and his friends in danger but somehow even at episode 12 he’s still able to speechify about it mid-battle.
What small glimmers of hope we’re given for some kind of character arc will fade as Mirai goes from quiet and depressed boy to seeing a brief (and overly repeated flash back) of his mother telling him the reason for living is to find happiness and his father telling him that the worst thing he could do is kill someone and somehow that now becomes the foundation for his existence. Why it hadn’t been motivating him prior to the angel and the confrontation with his aunt and uncle who abused him is anyone’s guess.
Basically, Platinum End hasn’t given us a compelling protagonist. They haven’t even given us one that makes a lot of sense. Mirai is largely boring and passively allows the plot to happen around him spending most conflicts waiting and seldom taking any kind of action. The few times he does involve himself usually end up with some kind of dramatic internal monologue or speech that makes little sense in context.
And yet, Mirai is still one of the better written characters which kind of goes to show what kind of train wreck the rest of the cast are.
Initially I had some hope for the angels as Nasse, the angel who saves Mirai from his suicide attempt, was at first quite amusing and their moral compass was questionable which I thought could be an interesting idea to explore.
Instead, Nasse has become the glorified cheer-squad for Mirai.
The other angels occasionally get some of the better lines in Platinum End but mostly they just kind of stand or float around and offer largely unnecessary commentary on matters. They fill up a lot of the screen and contribute almost nothing. And part of that is because the angels of play a passive role in this story and aren’t meant to interfere but basically they’ve become weird appendages, drawn in crowded rooms or hovering on the edge of battle-grounds and serving no purpose.
Still better than Saki, who is listed as a main character on MAL but has done basically nothing the entire series and when she’s finally got her wings just before the half-way mark her contribution is still almost nothing and the only thing she did achieve she got through flirting.
I know, the source material for Platinum End isn’t recent and if we look at the creator’s other works we can critique the way they write female characters to death there as well, but surely if you were going to animate this story in 2021 you would at least consider making Saki vaguely useful.
But hey, it doesn’t really matter that our protagonists feel completely devoid of common sense or interesting characteristics when they are placed against a villain who is originally coming across as coldly logical (and yet warped with the whole sister encased thing going on) and yet all too soon comes across as childish, reactive, and hopelessly inept at manipulating those around him. Plus he blames everybody else for his failures and accepts no responsibility.
Yeah, these characters can beat each other to death for all I care at this point. Platinum End has very successfully made me very disinterested in them and their actions.
If I hadn’t already decided to move on at the end of the Fall Season, episode 12 would have been the final straw as characters stand around mid-battle rather than taking action and the actions they do take seem absurd (and that’s being nice about it).
With the plot of Platinum End not having really progressed in twelve episodes and little revealed about how the god candidate will be chosen in the end, I have no investment in who wins in the end and I’m not even sure it matters particularly. I know that the short term plots all seem pretty lame and basically goes along the lines of Metropoliman sets up some kind of trap for other god candidates, someone or more than one person, stupidly walks in, a fight occurs, usually someone will die, Mirai and Saki will gasp and be sad, and then we’ll rinse and repeat.
Plus the costumes the characters wear get more ridiculous as the season progresses. Metropoliman wearing his suit was ridiculous enough but then Mukaidou randomly started bringing suits along for Mirai and Saki and Saki’s has cat ears and a tail. Apparently they serve a functional purpose but so far all they’ve done is helped her flirt with a sword wielding psycho.
However I’m not just mindlessly bashing this anime. The OP is actually pretty cool and dramatic and if it prefaced a much stronger story or at least a story full of compelling characters it would feel justified, and some of the visuals have been really striking and interesting (others not so much but I’m looking for positives here).
All and all, I don’t hate that I tried Platinum End. I’m actually fairly convinced older teens who come to this series without having watched a significant number of similar stories may actually even find some redeeming qualities here (provided they aren’t put off by some of the subject matter). For me though, Platinum End is an anime full of potentially interesting ideas (because they’ve been far more interesting in other anime) but it lacks characters with enough depth to anchor the plot and without that the plot is just kind of flailing about without weight.
That said, if you’ve given Platinum End a go I’d love to know your thoughts on the series.
Images from: Platinum End. Dir. K Kise. Signal MD. 2021
Banished From The Hero’s Party Episode 11 finally explains what was going on when Rit ran into Danaan earlier in the series. Admittedly it was a small moment and not the most significant thing happening but it is nice to have that kind of continuity in a series.
So turns out there’s two Danaans running around. One is actually the demon that ate the hand of the real one, meaning the real one only has one hand which at least makes them relatively easy to distinguish. It is always considerate when doppelgangers give you some kind of obvious visual cue as to who is who.
Not that it really matters when the demon version is just with Ares, who has finally arrived in Zoltan, and Ares doesn’t need much incentive to trash Red’s shop or to try to get Ruti to go adventuring with him again. I have to wonder just how delusional Ares is and he isn’t done yet as Banished From The Hero’s Party decides not to kill him even after he throws Red into a wall right in front of Ruti.
He does at least finally get stabbed though Ruti makes sure he can heal the damage.
Banished From The Hero’s Party has finally brought all the players togehter.
Part of me wonders why Ares is so obsessed with accompanying the hero on her mission. Since Red left the party that mission has been miserable and full of bad food and failure. Surely even Ares has to realise at this point that even if he wants to accompany the hero, others are needed to ensure success.
Then again, he doesn’t seem like the most reasonable kind of person and given he’s pretty much listening to a demon (one he knows is a demon) by the end of this episode I guess we can’t expect much in the way of logic from him for the foreseeable future. Ruti should have given him a bit more damage to content with. Maybe then he wouldn’t have time to come up with silly ideas like the one he’s now contemplating.
Meanwhile, staying true to its strengths, Banished From The Hero’s Party decides to simply lay the cards on the table with Ruti’s friend explaining to Red what she’s been doing and Red deciding to accept Ruti’s decision and lending a helping hand to ensure it doesn’t land her addicted or going on a rampage. He’s like every nice older brother in anime wrapped into one caring package.
Even Ruti was a bit taken back by Red simply accepting that she’d decided she didn’t want to be a hero anymore.
The two have a talk about it and Red explains he was trying to find a way to diminish her blessing even after leaving the party but he hadn’t succeeded and it is just great to see two characters that actually listen to one another and try to respect what the other one wants.
Again, surprised that Banished From The Hero’s Party ended up being that anime given earlier episodes were pretty vapid and yet they’ve kind of snuck the character development in underneath what seemed like fairly unremarkable story telling and the pay off at the end of the season is actually kind of worth it. It doesn’t elevate some of those earlier episodes given they felt pretty pointless but it at least makes me feel happy I kept going with this one.
So with everyone either at the old elven ruins or on their way there, I guess this is where we’ll have whatever climax this story is going to throw at us? Here’s hoping Banished From The Hero’s Party can end on a high note. I enjoyed the opening even if it felt pretty average and the mid-season was watchable but not remarkable so a decent enough ending will work to bring this one to a close.
You can read my full thoughts on Banished From The Hero’s Party here.
When Banished From The Hero’s Party episode 10 started, I wasn’t expecting the happy reuinion between Ruti and Red we seemed to get. Other than a few awkward words the two more or less fell into their roles of doting brother and younger sister fairly readily except that Red/Gideon has said he won’t return to the party and Ruti is still hiding something from Red (you know, the guy she broke out of prison).
Honestly, the two spending the day visiting the sauna and walking about town was kind of cute and it really just made me want to punch Ares all the more for his getting rid of Red given clearly Ruti needs her older brother. As you see how others respond to her hero blessing you realise just how isolated she is from others and having a grounded and supportive brother around must have been a massive relief.
Banished From The Hero’s Party shows great chemistry between the two siblings.
What might have been an instant sore spot, Rit, turned out to not actually lead to the petty kind of conflict you might see in another anime. Banished From The Hero’s Party definitely addresses the relationship between Rit and Red and Ruti is jealous to an extent but rather than lashing out about it she instead takes a bath with Rit and explains how she is feeling.
While Ruti might be blunt, she isn’t petty and she doesn’t even really blame Rit.
For Ruti, having the hero’s blessing has controlled her whole life and her brother is one of the few bright spots in it as she remembers his warmth from even before the blessing kicked in.
I seriously didn’t expect Banished From The Hero’s Party to be as good at nuanced relationships as it has turned out to be when I first started watching it. It seemed just to be a b-list generic fantasy anime and yet it has turned out to first develop a plausible relationship between Red and Rit that has been pretty satisfying to watch and with the inclusion of Ruti they’ve now demonstrated it wasn’t just an accident.
While the plot of Banished From The Hero’s Party remains kept at arms length and at times you have to wonder if the characters really care at all about the whole hero defeating the demon thing, given no one seems in any rush to accomplish anything, at least we’ve got decently developed characters who most of the time seem to deal with things in a sensible manner. You also have to wonder if the demon is actually a threat at all given most people seem to just be living their lives without concern.
I do wonder if Ruti is going to get back on mission given her declaration that she is going to live in town. I know she has another goal other than just finding Red but being close to Red seems to be directing her decision a bit here. I also wonder if Ares and the other members of her party will catch up with her and how that will go. Please let Red punch Ares.
Of course, Banished From The Hero’s Party is only supposed to be 13 episodes so we’ve got three more episodes to really build to some kind of climax and resolve in order to get an ending. Unless we’re just doubling down on the slice-of-life aspects in which case I guess we can just sauna and milk-drink our way to the end of the season and call it though I somehow don’t believe that would be particularly satisfying.
You can read my full thoughts on Banished From The Hero’s Party here.
It would be hard to describe Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 as anything but an odyssey at this point. We began with Rudeus, Eris and Ruijerd still on the demon continent and crossed oceans having adventures and facing perils along the way. All three of the characters faced personal challenges and grew as a result and all of them still have room to progress as their weaknesses can still bring them down.
However, because Rudeus’ journey has become this epic odyssey, there’s really no defined beginning or ending (at least in this leg of it). Instead we pick up mid-journey and continue on a ways coming to an emotionally satisfying point (for the protagonist at least) but not one that provides any kind of clear resolution on the journey itself.
It also makes it kind of hard to review because as with any journey, the one undertaken by the characters here in Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation has high points and low points (both in terms of the journey and the writing).
What makes Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation work?
For all the flaws that might be pointed out about this isekai anime, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation actually remains pretty compelling viewing. We have flawed characters who are at times difficult to like and choices that are hard to accept. Also, there’s a range of other issues that might put viewers off.
And yet this story isn’t trying to be a dark affair where everyone remains miserable forever.
Instead, Mushoku Tensei tenuously balances the emotional (and physical) punches our characters suffer with lighter moments where small successes or connections bring them joy. A single episode may tip between the two tones in an instant and back again or may choose to wallow or embrace a single thought to really dump the audience into the emotional notes the character is experiencing, but it never surrenders to becoming fatalistic or just unpleasant for the sake of it.
A fine line and one that less nuanced stories have failed to grasp. You can’t just have your character be miserable and the punching bag of the world minute after minute, episode after episode, and still elicit sympathy for them. After awhile the audience becomes more or less immune to it and you either have to increase the pain inflicted or accept that nobody is emotionally invested anymore.
As much as I don’t like Rudeus, his character moves through bouts of depression and self-doubt and loathing, to soaring confidence after achieving some success and routinely his own cockiness is what leads to the next punch that brings him low. He feels believable as a character because he isn’t just perpetually optimistic, nor is he constantly in a low state of mind and there’s usually a clear catalyst that compels him to move from one state to the other.
This also means that it sometimes feels very satisfying watching Rudeus get knocked down.
Mushoku Tensei manages to make him obnoxiously cocky (just in small spurts) and while there is some charm and appeal to Rudeus when he’s on top of the world, it makes the next blow feel kind of necessary.
It also means you have more sympathy for him when he’s brought down low because you know how hard he worked to pull himself out of that state before.
of course, there’s also his confusing relationship with the man god that continues this season and it is so hard to tell whether this guy is actually trying to help or not. Hopefully some of his mystery is revealed should there be a follow up season.
Eris is a far easier character to appreciate despite her beginnings in season one as the self-entitled brat. Mushoku Tensei has really put some effort into her character arc and as a result she’s someone who can now turn an entire scene around just by entering it. Her effort and hard work are seldom rewarded though and that feels a little cheap given how much time she has put into becoming a warrior.
Alas, Eris suffers from not being the reincarnated protagonist of this isekai story and so instead of getting to win the fight and save the day, for the most part she’s either absent from the fight or side-lined too quickly.
Still, despite that, she’s been given a wonderful emotional growth period throughout this part of Mushoku Tensei and her character is a true delight. I just wish she occasionally got more than a side villain to defeat.
Of course, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation has quite a large cast and while that helps the feeling that this world is real and rich and full and populated, the downside could be felt all too clearly in the final episode of Part 2. instead of being able to wrap up any one character’s story arc, all of these characters, spread across continents, are still moving on their journey’s. It meant the season final, while trying to give us an emotional arc for Rudeus, kept splitting its focus against a myriad of supporting characters and the end result was that none of them really left an impression.
Which could really be a complaint for the whole series. Outside of the main trio, the only characters who really leave an impression are ones like Paul, Rudeus’ father, and largely he makes an impression for the wrong reasons. Though bad anime fathers are a dime a dozen and at least Paul mostly tries, he just has the emotional maturity of a child.
One thing we do get a lot of in this part of the story are encounters. Our characters are traversing unknown lands and passing through cities so there is no shortage of bandits and monsters and bad-guys for our characters to cross swords/spears/magic with.
I don’t really remember the fight sequences from part 1 of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, but I can say confidently the fights here are highly entertaining with some good fluid movement and enough variability to keep them interesting. Whether it is Rudeus using magic, training to use his demon eye, or simply Eris or Ruijerd relying on raw skill, power and speed, the fights are all quite fun to watch.
Another thing I really enjoyed about Mushoku Tensei that seemed to feel a bit different from other anime was that rather than an OP we instead had the characters continuing their journey during the opening credits with a montage of images each week while he music played. It meant we got to see more or the daily lives and events the characters when through than we might have if 2 minutes was taken up each week with the same OP visuals.
It was worth appreciating.
Basically, if you enjoyed Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation season one, part 2 continues the journey seamlessly and gives you more from all of the characters. For those who were on the fence in season one, a lot of the same problems still exist in terms of content at times. That said, despite the fact that Mushoku Tensei fairly regularly steps on the lines I’ve drawn it doesn’t seem to cross them to the point where I don’t want to keep watching.
Instead, for all the moments where it leaves me feeling uncomfortable it gives me three or four moments where I’m impressed by how a character has been written or a situation has been resolved. The one or two missteps where a plot feels like it just kind of got wrapped up and shoved aside without enough effort, are few and far between.
So my verdict for Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 is that it is very watchable and quite interesting. Not perfect but it does seem to distinguish itself from the sea of isekai out there.
As Platinum End hits its midway mark I look back on these twelve episodes and just wonder how this has stretched so long already and just why it feels the need to drag this on for another twelve episodes. For me, I’m letting it go now that I’ve finished the fall season and I’ll be writing up my final thoughts on Platinum End soon but it is pretty clear that this was a disaster of an anime and episode 12 is no exception.
Basically we’re put in a situation where Mirai needs to take action and everyone is standing around either crying, shouting at him to act, or mocking him, but no one is actually doing anything. Except the guys in charge of the soundtrack. They are working over time to try to make this Ferris-wheel standoff actually look like something vaguely tense.
Platinum End continues to be one of those anime that just make you wonder who okayed the script.
On that note, I’m kind of glad I didn’t take the whole virus threat very seriously because clearly the writers didn’t either. Given the crazy girl goes to release the virus and Mirai stabs it with a white arrow.
Seriously?
Can someone explain to these people just how small a virus actually is? I mean, sure I saw the green ball of stuff in the capsule as well but assumed it was a large quantity of the virus that would be scattered if released. Instead, it turns out it is a single ball that can be pierced with an arrow.
Hello, scientists, you can just stab a virus to death with a magic angel arrow.
Wow. Dumb. Even by Platinum End standards.
Of course that doesn’t end the standoff because now Mirai is holding the arm of the girl and Metropoliman is going to shoot him with an arrow. Meanwhile the girl is going to launch fingernail syringes at him. And everybody else is going to stand around…
Until they don’t.
Saki takes the initiative, and jumps directly in front of the syringes and hugs Mirai.
Girl if you are finally going to do something at least do something useful like attack Metropoliman while his white arrow is occupied, or knock Mirai out of the path of the syringes or literally anything other than turn your back into a giant target while you both stand there and do nothing.
But the end result is that Platinum End isn’t willing to kill of Saki, despite her serving practically no point so far in the story. Instead the sword wielding guy she shot with a red arrow who is convinced he loves her jumps in to cut the syringes but he misses one and takes one for the team melting in what should be a truly horrific moment but with the farcical nature of the fight here you can’t even take a guy liquefying seriously.
More than that, he spends his whole death scene confessing his love to the girl whose name he never learned and whose face he never saw. Because he found happiness and meaning through being brainwashed by a red arrow.
I genuinely didn’t think I could take much more of this scene when it mercifully ended with both the crazy guy and the virus girl dead (yeah he somehow lodged his sword in her before melting).
Apparently even the characters are over this silliness though as Platinum End decided it really didn’t need the third lackey brought along by Metropoliman to do anything and so he decided to up and leave.
Points for being the only person with brains in this scene. Having watched the last two lackeys get either injured or killed horrifically with Metropoliman not caring a bit, would you charge in and be the third act?
However, clearly they didn’t want the Metropoliman and Mirai fight until the start of the new year so instead of wrapping this up we get Mirai philosophising about happiness and killing people and justice and wow I didn’t think this episode could get worse but here it is.
With that I’ll end my Platinum End journey and wish those who choose to continue it well. Review of this first cour available here.
Images from: Platinum End. Dir. K Kise. Signal MD. 2021
Crazy sword guy, now deeply in love with Saki, breaks through the prison and allows Mirai and Mukaidou a chance to get out but Metropoliman and three psychos we don’t care about at all and have no characteristics other than being psychos appear. You’d think all out battle was about to ensue.
But instead Saki takes the time to deliver both mother and daughter of Mukaidou, in separate trips, back to their hideout while everyone else just kind of stands around.
Then they still all stand around while the three ‘heroes’ shoot each other with red arrows to ensure they can’t be taken over. I’m sure this is a touching scene of trust or something but honestly, what are the villains doing. Oh, right, they are just kind of standing around.
And then one of the psychos attacks by himself allowing three of the team to take him down.
Before another of the psychos reveals a humanity destroying virus and more or less demands one of the team allow her to test it on them or she’s going to unleash. By the way killing her will also unleash it.
Platinum End continues to demonstrate it does not understand how people act – ever.
Come on Platinum End. You can do better than this.
Besides, Metropoliman did the whole hostage thing previously in the stadium and Mirai and Saki let the little girl get shot with a white arrow and killed. The only reason the current hostage situation worked was because Mukaidou only has one motivation and that is saving his family.
And, do I have to ask but are the ‘bad guys’ here actually safe from that virus if it actually gets released or will they also die horribly? I only ask because the girl holding it doesn’t exactly sound like the most reasonable thinker.
Did this story really need bio-terror? I mean, Platinum End started out with a simple enough 12 god candidate concept. Now we have characters manipulating others, kidnapping, and bio-terrorism threats. And none of this seems to lead to anything resembling a resolution about the whole god-candidacy thing.
Meanwhile, after sleeping the night away, rather than say taking some action to ensure the guys trapped in the mirror house were dead, Metropoliman now seems pretty determined to kill Mirai at least. It seems like a weird sudden motivational burst after so little care prior and he knew that his ‘servant’ was useless so I don’t know why he’s so surprised things have ended up this way. Seemed pretty obvious really.
Meanwhile, somehow Mirai is still the protagonist even though this fight really is Mukaidou’s and not his. Yet even Metropoliman has zeroed in on him as the main threat with the white arrow. Which, for someone who can’t use it or kill anyways has to suck.
I think Mirai’s passive personality might be the biggest problem Platinum End continues to have (you know outside of a bonkers plot where events make little sense and a whole cast of characters who amount to single personality points). While it was kind of different at first not to have a gung-ho protagonist who wants to use their power to ‘help’ people or save the day, right now the short-comings of having a character who wants nothing and takes no real action, ever, have really become clear.
At some point I’m sure Mirai will hit his limit and do something but for now the story is weirdly fixated on a character doing nothing fast.
Then again, Platinum End literally had villains standing around while the other side planned, ferried hostages away, and made a friendship circle so I’m not exactly expecting much from episode 12.
The full review for Platinum End Episodes 1 – 12 can be found here.
Images from: Platinum End. Dir. K Kise. Signal MD. 2021
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