With this episode we basically get an idea where the show will head for the rest of the series and I pretty much enjoy the direction they taking so far. Of course it makes sense that in order to get past those obstacles, the band needs to ally with others who are most suitable for the jobs, even if it happens to be a female demon who practiced necromancy, oops. Well I certainly don’t want anything to do with the demon in my group but I have an impression that she has been frightening people so that they would just leave her be herself. From what I see in the opening intro the other guy (I presume to be the guy who has that Soul magical blah blah blah Flute) looks even more peculiar. Lin Xue Ya proved again to be the mastermind who really plan everything ahead and it would be boring and cliche if he were the master sorcerer, so I hope the show avoids that. But he seems so confident to deal with the demon Xing Hai here, so I guessing Xing Hai has deep appreciation for him, just like Shou Yun Xiao the archer. I like the fact that this series acknowledges that not all demons are necessarily evil, which would add a little bit of context to our demon lady next episode. I also like the whimsical reverse-gender role of her “cutting off parts of 100 beautiful men to make a perfect living doll”, it’s just fantastic when you try to imagine her doing that.
The most interesting bit is of course the three obstacles the cast have to overcome. Well, setting up the Seven Sin Tower in the borderline of human and demon realms is a nice touch, because the show can dwell into dark magic and devil territories. I can see the clash of light and dark arts between the girl Dan Fei and the demon Xing Hai, and I hope they can explore that tension a bit in coming episodes. The three obstacles: The Village of the Dead, The Valley of the Doll, Labyrinth of Darkness; are not at all unique, instead we have encounter some of these before in other anime, but for this one I have high hope that Gen Urobuchi could make those materials interesting.
For a wuxia-action show, this episode in particular surely takes its time, as the first two-third of this episode was dominated by these characters talking to each other. But when the action kicks in, it sure looks wonderful and fun. I have said it before but there is certain charm of practical effects in puppetry that we can’t see in animation, like the body-exploding last episode. With this episode it was head-chopping. But the action is not even the highlights of this episode, it is the dialogues that maintain the campy sense that so entertaining to watch. There are many silly moments like when our main character Shang Bu Huan frustrated of the idea of him tagging along with the group, but get slightly annoyed when those characters proceed to introduce themselves and ignoring him (“Quit trying to move this conversation without me”); or when Dan Fei confronts him on the importance of protecting the legendary swords, instead our main character just ranting about the very idea of putting your own lives to protect the swords (which actually a very valid argument); or even the two most silly guys of the show Juan Can Yun and Shang Bu Huan talk about picking up girl and accuse each other of being pervert. Those moments create a weird chemistry between the cast but I hugely enjoy them that way. Like a puppetry show, these characters are just there to perform their larger-than-life roles, but they perform it so goddamn well that I have no complain whatsoever.
~SuperMario~
