Oh, how awesome. This episode just takes the most overused clichés of a midboss-battle, and gives them a totally original twist. I couldn’t help but love it. Makai Senki Disgaea is turning more awesome by the minute as it reaches the ending. The last three episodes will probably resolve the main plot. Hmm, I wonder what those angels are up to…
In any case, I mentioned that the episode took all sorts of overused scenes for mid-boss battles (not our Mid-Boss, by the way), and gives them an extremely original twist. For starters: the main characters get to be spectators this time. This really remains the battle of Gordon and Jennifer, and Flonne makes sure for some awesome fangirling, Etan makes sure that the enemy ship gets destroyed, and Laharl just stands by watching. The characters also realize this, which makes for some pretty funny side-marks. I especially loved Flonne´s fangirling, and Laharl´s and Etna´s reaction to this. She makes sure that the two of them don´t interfere because of this. I also loved that the two of them just ran off at a certain point when the side-villain started to tell about his backstory. ^^;
Then the side-villain telling his backstory. The cheesyness of all of it managed to save it. Most anime try to throw in an extra amount of drama, with a villain who needs thirty minutes to be convinced. But this guy actually has been jealous of Gordon, being called the “Defender of Earth”, and therefore tries to beat some sense into him in an extreme way. Flonne then really gets into her part when she gets to convince the guy to stop his evil plans. After the speach, he’s about to do something. In most of these situations, the number of choices for the villain is limited to two options: 1. Do some evil thing. In this case, shoot Gordon. 2. Join the good guys. This episode managed to introduce a third option: Get blown away by some exploding machinery. A brilliant use of a Deus ex Machina, in my opinion.
Then we get thrown into another cliche: the side-villain is about to be engulfed by flames, and the main character has to choose between leaving the guy and saving the guy. The side-villain actually manages to convince Gordon to go after Jennifer, and leave him to die. Flonne has other opinions, though the Prinnies take her along with Gordon. But then again, this is another cliche, no? That’s what I also believed. Until the guy reappeared, perfectly healthy, only to commit suicide and save the day. I loved that part.
Then the main villain. How many villains manage to gain mind-control over one of the side-characters? I don’t think that amount can be counted, just take a look at Bleach and see the horror. But how many characters manage to achieve this by equipping the victim with a headband, equipped with two round, fluffy antenna’s? And how many anime make the villain call this “Transforming”? (On a side-note: I just loved Laharl and Flonne’s speculations about how the transformed Jennifer would look like ^^;).
The next cliche: the main villain has to convince the controlled character to stop being controlled. Most bad anime try to reach a climax, at which the controlled character’s emotional strength manages to break the controller (again, look at Bleach for a perfect example). Makai Senki Disgaea does not do this. Instead, the main villain attempts to blow it up, with Jennifer along with it, the side-villain shows up, grabs the headband (which was not secured at all, by the way) and jumps off a large height, killing himself.
Then we come to another cliche: the villain losing, and escaping (again see Bleach for references). Still, Makai Senki Disgaea manages to make this worthwile. For starters: he doesn’t get any help from others. Second of all, he uses a method you so would not think off. Disgaea is very good in making perfect use of semi-Deus ex Machina’s. Also, the way this was animated turned into a hilarious sight. The whole process also takes up less than a second. This fact only makes you realize what happened after it actually happened. It may be my personal taste, but I just love scenes like this.
And the last one is the villain trying to move as far away as possible, until a more important villain runs into him, and kills him anyway. Except for the fact that this isn’t a more important villain, it’s Mid-Boss. And the fact that the villain doesn’t die. Mid-Boss just says a few lines, the villain gets impressed, Mid-Boss gets hit by a comet, disappears and the villain escapes. ^^;
Overall, I was wrong with my prediction. Flonne doesn’t break down, she actually gets stronger because of it. I’m getting very curious about the last couple of episodes from this anime. In any case, I just loved her in this episode. She managed to help turning this into a true parody on mid-bosses. ^_^
