The thing with Disgaea is, it’s either incredibly good, or incredibly bad. At least, that was the fact, until the ninth episode arrived. After that, the bad part completely disappeared. In fact, this episode was the best yet. As the story now takes its focus towards the main characters of the show, some things about Laharl were revealed. This made for a totally incredible episode.
This episode was mostly about Flonne, trying to understand Laharl better, backed up with some amazing events. Etna tells her about Laharl’s mother, which is the first time that she’s been mentioned. She died, giving her life to Laharl. The Prinnies also get their secret revealed, which totally explains their acting in the previous episodes. They appear to be the souls of criminals, who have to repent for the sins they commited. Once they’ve done that, their souls are taken back, and are reincarnated again, in the hope of them, leading a better life. The pink Prinny also returns, and she appears to be (SHOCK) Laharl’s mother! The scene at which mother and son managed to see each other for such a short time was just so incredibly sad. Kudos to the creators.
Earlier, I said that Disgaea doesn’t work when it doesn’t focus on comedy, though I entirely take that back now. This was just drama, perfectly executed. People really need to forget about the game, and remember that this is the Anime called Disgaea, and not the game. The two of them can’t be compared that easily.
I also loved Mid-Boss. He already was great in his three-second long appearances throughout the anime, but whenever he appeared, something funny happened. You could count on it that he was about to make some kind of fool out of himself, and disappear as fast as he showed up. Even though these scenes were greatly amusing, what do you think happens when the guy begins acting serious? That’s right. The huge contrast between his serious side and his wacky side had an incredible effect. That’s something that a small selection of comedy-anime understands: create a character who is on one side incredibly hyperactive/silly/whatever, and then force this person into a situation in which he or she gets an active story, and has to act serious. A lot of anime mess this up, though (Magikano, anyone?), but other anime get it right (Jubei, Siberian Yagyuu and Excel Saga, for example). It’s all about creating the impact, and Disgaea managed to do it.
You also can’t come with the argument that Disgaea just bears one-dimensional characters, without any development at all. This show is filled with it. Remember the Flonne from the beginning of the anime? At this moment, she wants to know what’s going on, compared to her rather impulsive, short-minded version at the beginning of the episode. Etna also got more relaxed after episode six and Laharl begins to listen to Flonne more and more (her ramblings on the meaning of love and peace remains hilarious, even after this many episodes).
Still, the highlight of the show remains the short reunion of mother and son. Laharl appears to have some human genes, though these made him get extremely cold when his mother passed away. I loved it when I saw that his mother didn’t want to so say goodbye for a second time. Although he said nothing at that moment, it did hit Laharl at an important spot. And that’s what matters.
Overall, this episode was amazing. Drama at its best. I’d like to see how the ones who turned Disgaea down would react when they see this episode.
Interesting detail: Flonne recognizing that Laharl and Mid-Boss look a lot alike, based on their air of exitement. ^^;
