I know many of you probably don’t follow sports, but I’m going to throw a sport’s analogy at you all anyway. When a legendary coach leaves a team, like when Steve Spurrier left the Florida Gators or when Phil Jackson eventually leaves the Lakers, the guy after him, no matter how good, is never going to get the respect he deserves. Likewise, as good as this week’s episode was, it was never really going to match last week’s episode. But then again, this episode never really tried to match the level of last week’s. Instead, we got more of a stage setting episode that finally bridged the different time periods introduced, but it was still pretty interesting.
The subs for this show really make it too easy for yaoi jokes, but that might just be the case with all shows
The first half of the episode focused on the two or three years Ryner spent locked up in a poorly secured dungeon. Truth be told, I thought that if the show spent any time covering Ryner’s stay in jail, that it would be no more exciting than watching grass grow. But given the way this scene was handled convinced me that this show will likely remain one of my favorites this season. The great back and forth between the prison guard and Ryner concerning the books Ryner was researching and the guard’s daughter over the course of his sentence was unexpected to say the least. When the guard came to release Ryner, thinking he was to be executed, you could see that the two did seem like “Buddy’s”.
In the end though, my guess is that the only reason there was so much attention placed on this relationship was so that Ryner didn’t just run away upon his release was out of respect for the guard’s position (Considering what Lucile would have had done to that guard had he escaped). This is pretty emblematic of Ryner’s general outlook on life and it nice to see it rather than him just saying it.
Why they just can't use normal numbers is beyond me.
We later learn that Ryner spent his time in jail preparing a manifesto that detailed how to use the legendary relics as a deterrent to war (a little too Code Geass: Season 2 for me, but whatever). While the particulars about his research were not revealed, I would imagine that he used his Alpha Stigma to memorize the knowledge from all of those books he read. From what I’ve read and saw when Ryner activated his powers in the last episode, it seems the Alpha Stigma is some sort of power that little kids give themselves so they can do anything and everything under the sun.
While we were led to believe that Ryner was being leg to execution, he was instead led out of the prison compound to a waiting Ferris. After the two had a short fight, Ferris eventually strong-arms Ryner into accompanying her to meet the king. Unlike the last episode, I really thought that this fight scene finally delivered some of the clean crisp action I had been waiting for. Though the previous episode obviously had a bunch of action, I didn’t enjoy it due to the overuse of shades that blocked a lot of the blood and the other gimmicks the animators used to cut costs. This fight used a few of those same gimmicks, but it looked much more polished. Now I know the fight in this episode was a lot shorter and only featured two characters, but if future fight scenes are able to meet this standard, it would be a big boost for this series’ long term prospects.
I would be willing to watch that show as well.
The last part of the episode introduced Sion as the new King of the Roland Empire, which might have been a surprise to some viewers if the first episode wouldn’t have given it away. After reading Ryner’s manifesto, Sion orders Ferris and Ryner on a quest to find the legendary relics. It is pretty easy to see that Lucile is controlling Sion behind the scenes and has other plans for the relics’ use, should they be found. Another interesting tidbit we got from this scene was that Kiefer is still alive and is traveling the world. Considering that our heroes are about to do the same thing you would imagine we have not seen the last of her. It was also pretty intriguing to see Ryner’s reaction to the news that Kiefer was still alive, as he seemed rather indifferent to her over the past few episodes.
Though it is clear that this series will have a fairly interesting plot, whatever happens, it is still unclear as to what that plot will be and what themes it will cover. A lot of people have seemed to wonder, myself included, as to why this show is taking its sweet time introducing plot points and explaining character back stories. While it is unfortunate a lot of people may have dropped this show after first episode or two, I am beginning to appreciate the slow build up. As much as I enjoy series that jump straight into explaining back stories and character’s abilities in the first few episodes, this show has taken a different route, and I commend it for taking that risk.
Cue dramatic cape flip.
Looking forward to next week, I am afraid that we may return to the dull comedy routine of the first episode, especially when considering that the past three episodes contained a lot of great story telling. One good thing about a return to the present day is that we now have a far better understanding of what is going on with the plot, so the transition may not be as bad as I think it might (plus we will get more Ferris). Now that the stage is set, it would seem that the series may take on more of an episodic format, but I wouldn’t really mind if the story jumped around a bit as it seems that is when it is at its best.
There is one final thing I want to note before ending this post. It seemed Ryner was pretty liberal with his Alpha Stigma powers in his fight against Ferris. This represents a fairly dramatic shift in his character from the previous episode, so I suppose that his outlook on life may have changed while he was in prison. But if this isn’t the case, then it certainly gives the impression of some sloppy writing considering how Ryner let his classmates die so easily last episode. Anyway, that is just something I am going to keep my eye on.
I think he was using a different ‘type’ of Alpha Stigma (reflecting attacks, not DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY RAEGGGGGGGGGGGGG); maybe he learned to separate the two while in prison, and didn’t want to try using it before that because even if he tried to reflect attacks, it would end up as DESTROY DESTROY RAEGGGGGGGGG.
That said I’d like to see a transition back into the Episode 1 carelessness – though there is obviously now some deeper plotlines with Lucile plotting EVIL DEEDS
I would likely agree with you that he learned to separate his powers while in prison, but it could also be a change in his mentality. As for a transition back to the episode 1 carelessness, I’m all for it, just as long as that is all that is taken from that episode.
He also learned a lot of spells last fight, so he doesn’t have to go crazy in this fight to get things done. If he permanently acquires any spells that his Stigma sees, he’s going to have a buttload of a mental spellbook pretty soon.