I’m not surprised that this episode went the direction it did, but nor did I particularly enjoy parts of the episode. When a character is moaning and crying out (after being magically inspected) so loudly I feel the need to turn the sound down and I finish the episode wondering if there was even ten minutes of content, there’s probably something lacking (although it would have been hard to squeeze some story in amongst the outfit changes and bed sequences I guess).
Episodes like this one are kind of expected when you watch something as clearly fan-service focused as this anime has been.
Delaying their journey to deal with the elf situation in order to visit a slave market to investigate the removal of the collars is a fine excuse to stall the plot while we instead get some magical shenanigans that of course involve Shera once again wearing an incredibly revealing outfit and then writhing and moaning on a bed while Diablo investigates magical flows (and they still don’t get the collar off because that would kind of puncture the whole set up of the show I guess).
However, in case you think Rem is being ignored, there is actually some minor plot points being developed outside the tent where Alicia teachers Rem a ‘charm’ in a scene that suggests a number of possibilities but keeps fairly quiet as to which way they’ll ultimately take things.
This was perhaps one of my favourite moments of the episode because it actually added to the characters and the plot and ultimately it felt meaningful. Also, if you actually want to see Rem writhing about on a bed, just wait until the end of the episode where Shera decides that she can treat Rem to the experience.
The other thing of note that happens this episode is Shera’s brother, Keera, shows up at the inn and plays the sweet brother who has been misunderstood. It was clearly a fairly lame act in the first place and about the only character buying it is Diablo (which plays nicely into his lack of social skills).
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Right before the credits we get a scene of the brother playing his flute while standing on the apex of a tree (because that’s normal) and he lets his crazy out. The scene kind of lacks impact because even without it we more or less knew that this was the case, and really they could have had the same dialogue shown while he was walking away from the room. It didn’t really need its own scene.
Basically if you are watching this show for the fan-service, this episode is a treat. If you are watching for the plot, there are a few pieces here and there that you will need for later so this episode isn’t skippable, but it won’t be the most enjoyable either.
Images from: How Not To Summon a Demon Lord. Dir. Y Murano. Ajia-Do. 2018
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Karandi James
I enjoyed the title of your post, possibly more than the actual episode! There were one or two points where I did skip forward a bit. A shame after some episodes that spent more time being interesting.
I know. This show was actually starting to really do some interesting things with its plot and characters (at least far more interesting than I expected from the first two episodes). Then we get this.
Well…having come over from Cactus Matt’s blog he made a really brave attempt at trying to justify the fanservice scenes in this episode (as usual he did it in quite the hilarious and entertaining way). But yeah…I don’t see myself watching this series any time soon. Probably not for me 😊
For people who enjoy fan-service, there’s probably a ton of fun to be had in an episode like this one. However, this week it came at the expense of story and while I’ll tolerate fan-service I’m watching for the actual plot.
Yeah that’s actually what turned me off from Highschool of the Dead as well. I really enjoyed the action scenes (no the real action scenes lol 😂) but the rest of it just got ruined by the overuse of fanservice. Real shame actually as it really could have been a great show. So yeah, I can totally understand your feelings towards this one. 😊
I really enjoyed Highschool of the Dead. It was trashy in the fan-service and trashy in the horror and action department, but it just kind of worked for me. Totally get that it won’t work for everyone though as there’s a lot of elements there that will make some people drop it.
Haha..true enough. Speaking of trashy, I’m about to find out what old Zack is up to in Angels of Death by starting on episode 6 😊Of course I will keep you posted about whether it is a mediocre, or totally mediocre episode 😂😂
Looking forward to the update.
Well I just finished watching it 😊 Let’s see..what to say about this one. Well, it was a little bit less interesting than last week’s episode. But…it wasn’t bad either. Rachel did two pretty surprising things in this episode which of course I am not going to spoil. Zack was just being the usual Zack…and we are back to game mode as we are entering another new floor. Though…the ending this time was quite the cliffhanger. Still…it has certainly improved when you compare it to episodes 2, 3 and 4. That’s not saying much I guess, but I’m still, at least for the moment, not having regrets having not yet dropped this. 😊
Glad you are enjoying it. I may binge it once it is done, but I don’t think I can go week to week. I just wasn’t interested enough.
I’ve never seen this show however, it seems to use the ol’ fanservice-quality anything=good equation. I’m sorry you had to endure this.
It isn’t as though there are no other aspects to the show. It does actually have some really good points. But this episode was definitely a bit much.
Couldn’t really have said it better myself. I basically tuned out during the scene at the slave market and did other things while it played. But pretty much everything after that was solid (as this series goes, anyway) and I am a bit curious about the thing with the charm. I also did genuinely find that scene between Rem and Shera (the talking part, anyway) sweet.
The friends part was kind of sweet with Shera and Rem, but then the show felt the need to throw in yet more fan service (as if there hadn’t been enough in the episode). There are parts of this show I definitely like but the fan-service stays just on the edge of too much.
Yeah. It can be rather off-putting. Though it’s far from the most egregious of the season, at least.
Okay, this is the worst I’ve kept on my line up. What’s beating it that I’m not watching?
Yuna and the Haunted Hot Springs is faaar more shameless Though to its credit, it’s a hard Ecchi where this isn’t (at least to my knowledge). But yeah. It’s definitely the worst you’re still keeping up with. The upside is it looks like things are gonna get back to the more interesting stuff next time, what with Shera’s transparently evil brother and possibly whatever was going on with that charm on Rem’s hand.
I think they possibly could have tried harder with Shera’s brother. Then again, dragging out the is he evil or not question might have gotten tiresome as well, so at least we’re just cutting straight to it.
It’s also pretty obvious from the OP. So there really isn’t an actual question about it. There’s an image of him in there that’s very blatantly deranged.
You just have to love that about villains who look blatantly deranged. In real life, people so rarely give you such a clear warning label.
Oh, definitely. They can be some of the most entertaining villains, when handled well.
Yeah, I dropped Yuna after just a few minutes of episode 1. Have to agree with you here.
Will admit I didn’t really watch right to the end of episode 1 of Yuna either. I let it play but I wasn’t really paying attention after abut ten minutes.