“Muaha, I am the bad guy of this series. I currently dislike this group of people with annoying powers who have been killing off all of my comrades and subordinates one by one, so they need to be taught a lesson. So what do I do? I shoot one of them with an energy ball. Hah, now that should keep their healers busy for a couple of hours! I am a genius!”
… I mean… I think we’ve found ourselves the most pathetic bad guy of the season here. Even considering that he did intend to kill Tsukumo and did not know about the crosses that Yuki made, isn’t it just common sense to just… you know… check whether the body really is dead? There’s a ton of magic in this series here that has unexpected effects, that energy ball could easily not have been fatal. So far, that girl at least has come up with a pretty solid plan to take care of the good guys. All he has been doing is trying to look cool, poking people and dropping wine glasses.
This series really has parts at which it’s very good, but others at which it leaves so much to be desired. I mean, the lead cast still is excellent: every episode so far has continued to add more to these people, and this episode was no exception in the way that it pushed Zess and Hotsuma to new levels. The soundtrack is still really good, and this episode added even more great tracks for this series, and it also knows how to create an atmosphere.
The bad guys however… nah. There’s also no originality here whatsoever (I mean, you can compare this show to a ton of other series and concepts and it only stands out in the way that it used the things it stole from all sorts of other stories.
But yeah, I have to give credit where credit’s due: I’m beginning to like Zess more and more. I first didn’t really like him, but the way this episode showed him all eager to get some action made up for a lot. He had this smug air of “I’m gonna kick ass and there’s nothing you can do about it, bitches”. In the quiet moments around Yuki he also was much calmer, compared to the obsessive stalker he was in the first few episodes.
Rating: * (Good)
Murr… Me thinks me drop this. The bad outweighs the good for meh. xD
I would disagree about Reiga’s attempt to kill Hotsuma. As you have said, this may be just writers doing a poor job. On the other hand, they may have used this to underscore the importance of Yuki who – unlike all other characters – has no offensive power whatsoever. How many series can you name where cleric is the protagonist and successfully manages to keep the team alive? There may be some, but none come to mind.
The Reiga guy also didn’t display particular pleasure or interest in killing Tsukumo and given he is the BBG i can hardly believe he would doubt his own ability to dispatch a grunt in one shot.
Furthermore, even after Yuki healed him, I fully expected Tsukumo to die as soon as he relaid the message: the music didn’t not hint at the happy outcome.
The show has flaws, but the moments of brilliance eclipse the flaws: the conversation between Toko and Zess (especially after he claims to be no ally of hers), the monologue of the Ashley and her beautiful disappearance among other equally elegant and atmospheric moments make it a diamond in the rough. 🙂
Ok, i’ll stop here.
At this point, I’m mostly watching this show for the deadpan comedy Zess never fails to unintentionally deliver.
im lovin this show now!!!…
they always find ways to make me laugh!!! xD
i knew that tsukumo would never die… ofcourse i already knew it wouldnt be an injury that would disfigure a part of body….they need to keep the bishies look like bishies xD…
I’d go for the head, if i were reiga xD
What irritates me is the way they drag along the revelation that Reiga and Kanata. It’s not like that hasn’t been obvious from the first episode; and every episode it goes : oh, are they going to reveal it so that the plot can really start now? We’re already at ep 11 and it doesn’t feel like we’ve had much more but establishing the characters and setting. Argh.
Other than that (and the stupidity of Tsukumo being left for dead by the villains so easily), that was a pretty good episode. Zeiss actually showing glimmer of personnalities by being nice to a variety of people including ^people who are not Yuki, an other characters had opportunities to do stuff and showing their personnality.
You’d be surprised at what’s not obvious to people. I read a blog that still hasn’t put the pieces together that Reiga and Kanata are one in the same. However, we shouldn’t pander to the slowest amongst us.
I guess reiga just didn’t care whether Tsukumo was dead or not.
He was just a small fry who got in the way and either hes was immediately dead or on the verge of death. Why should he care to check which one it was?
It was just a Zweilt, afterall and his goal seems to be getting God’s Light.
So either that Zweilt dies and Yuki tries to prevent the others from dying as well and thus walks into the trap or he survives but is in a condition where he can’t talk and it will cost lots of energy to save him. And Yuki will nevertheless try to save his other friend.
And a weakened God’s Light isn’t so bad either.
So it really doesn’t matter if he really killed that Zweilt or not as both will lure Yuki out of the hideout and that’s what he wants in the end.
The only thing I found kinda pathetic was his whining after Yuki chose to help his friend first and not returning with him.
I mean, honestly: He always admired Yuki for his kind and warm heart, so why is he getting angry when Yuki follows this kind heart and decides to help Shusei instead of just escaping with Kanata?
Or is he just envious that Yuki is protected by Hotsuma instead of himself? But Yuki doesn’t know anything about Kanata having any powers, so…. why on earth should he take Kanata with him?
So I thought that scene was a bit pathetic…
Yet the rest was quite nice and I’m really lovng the soundtrack and its use more and more.
The story might not be the best ever but it’s surprisingly quite enjoyable to watch.
Dropped this a few eps ago and reading your blog I dont regret it one bit lol I dont like yaoi to begin with and yeah.. this has so much wasted potential