This episode really shows the power of long and slow-paced series. While Erin indeed lacks the excitement of series with an erratic pacing like the Armed Librarians, at the same time it’s got a story that’s so well built up that it can really take an in-depth look at it. The power of the story of Erin lies in the fact that Erin sees things that everyone else sees, and just keeps taking daring conclusions and actions that nobody else in the setting sees. Thanks to the slow pacing, we’re really given an insight into how this happens.
This series is full of things that are bound to happen: in this episode, Damya finally threatens Erin with the safety of the students and teachers at the academy. It’s something that was bound to happen, the moment Erin started to take care of Lilan. And yet this episode showed her as she comes with a solution that I never even thought of: what if the Grand Duke became king? That would mean that the Beast Kings would lose their function as war machines. We’ve seen people claim before that the country would fall apart when its two half get unbalanced, but I realize that we’re also supposed to take that with a grain of salt: I mean, with Damya at the head, the country is bound for destruction anyways.
The only thing that I dislike about this series is the great amount of flashbacks in this series. This series just keeps recycling the same frames under these flashbacks, when a character is talking, and it’s about to get a bit overused. Ah well, at least it’s not the worst way to save budget. The drawings still look as solid as ever.
I think that at this point, I still consider Seirei no Moribito as superior to Kemono no Souja Erin. While Erin has better developed characters and a longer length, it still beats Erin for me in terms of the awesome production-values and its huge attention to detail in just about everything. Still, I do have to say that Erin is getting closer and closer to the height of SnM.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
The Duke’s son is no less a would-be tyrant than Damya, he’s just drawn to be the dashing hero that unifies the kingdom’s people under a common banner with his control of the military. It’s not like there’s really a good end for the kingdom. Even if he’s Augustus there’s another Damya in the future waiting to turn the Touda against the citizens, and now that Erin’s unwrapped the box containing the beasts there’s a civil war in its future when someone else manages to replicate her results. Just from turning the country’s sword inward, it will only be because The Author Says So that the Duke’s legions don’t rape and pillage their way through the lands of the golden haired people that looked down upon them for generations.
Good episode but what is up with Damiya’s obsession with the original queen or rather the original Shin Oh’s power to command Ohjus?And anybody remember the group that opposes the Shin Oh(not the Duke)?I forgot the name but is Damiya behind them?
I completely agree with you on the recycling old frames part. The flashbacks got on my nerves quite long ago.