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Episode 12: See You Tomorrow
Episode Overview
With Ranta in a dire situation, his party find themselves questioning what can they do, if anything. Will they go to save him or plan for his demise and have Mary dispel his soul like she did for her comrades? Either way, their decision shall push the pendulum toward either life or death.
Review Summary
At this point I honestly feel like I have review fatigue and after Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (Erased) presented the first finale, and honestly the best, each and every one after has been held to such a standard. Something which honestly is unfair for Erased was the only anime I followed which was good from the start, had a clear vision of what it wanted to do, and maintained this vision throughout the season. That is in comparison to Grimgar and Ash which started off good, but eventually became aimless. Then, like Dimension W, it came up with an almost last minute big baddy to fill the void it had almost all season long. Of which, the bad guy eventually became a real serious threat, and interesting, but ultimately left the feeling that their introduction was too little too late. Leaving you with a decent anime that didn’t find its footing until it was basically over.
Main Plot (with Commentary)
Call it perseverance, or maybe just luck, but either way Ranta finds a way to make it out alive. Which makes absolutely no sense for it seemed at least ¼ of all the Kobolds in the mine honed in on that floor. Then, on top of that, Death Spots was there. Yet we see Ranta on the 3rd floor once again, in the fields, and his party finding him once discovered. Leading to another battle with the Kobolds, but surprisingly less showing up than before. Which, again, makes not a lick of sense for it couldn’t have been more than 30 minutes to an hour since they were last called to action, so how is it that when the howls echo and bells go off, Haruhiro and crew didn’t immediately end up surrounded again?
In general, though, suspension of disbelief is a serious requirement for the majority of the episode for the big moment of the episode comes with Haruhiro assumingly sacrificing himself so that his party may live. Something Mary isn’t happy about at all, since you know she has some sort of feelings for him, but every now and then, you get this feeling that while they all care for each other, there isn’t this will to die for one another. Hence why Moguzo and company didn’t run back in for Ranta, nor did they even attempt to do so for Haruhiro. After all, while cohesive and strong as a team, basically everyone is as weak as they ever were when alone.
But perhaps that is a harsh statement for considering what Mary has gone through, fighting to the very end and it meaning nothing almost in the long run, maybe they aren’t running and retreating due to fear or being cowards. Maybe they retreat because they know through Manato the burden of a party member dying and they know the weight of Haruhiro’s death would already weigh heavy, for he would be their second leader to die, so if he says to go, why question it?
Let me digress however for Haruhiro doesn’t end up dead, even though he ends up in a pit with Death Spots. For, you see, that line he cuts through when he attacks, he sees it, and after Yume shoots Death Spots in one eye, thus blinding him, Haruhiro finds a way to get close enough to stab him in the other and he ends up taking down this ridiculously formidable monster by himself. Leaving you with the mixed feelings of seeing Haruhiro as an accomplished warrior and thinking Death Spots got a real crappy ending.
Either way, with Death Spots death comes a lot of gold, a lot of respect, and Haruhiro’s life continuing. Yet there comes, for but a moment, a question of Haruhiro’s past life. For he notes there are fading memories of his old world, the one we live in, but it seems that world doesn’t mean much to him anymore. He is now a citizen of Ortana, someone who kills beings for a living, and this is what he accepts with a smile on his face. Giving us an ending which is slightly head turning for more reasons than one.
Low Points
Honestly, I found it so hard to believe anything that happened this episode. From Ranta surviving, to the party not being overran on the 3rd floor, to Haruhiro defeating Death Spots, the last episode seemed more geared toward fan service than the truth. It is like, they feared killing off anymore characters so they stretched any sort of possibility there could have been that the team could survive these extraordinary circumstances. Which bothered the hell out of me.
In retrospect, why is it that despite Haruhiro’s team going to well-known hunting grounds, pretty much they were the only team hunting? That didn’t make much sense with the goblins and surely made even less sense with the Kobolds. After all, while Goblins are low on the totem pole, the mines seemed like the place where your seasoned soldier would go. So for them to be there completely by themselves, it made no sense to me.
On The Fence
I found the ending, dealing with Haruhiro fine with losing his memories of where he came from, to be a weird departure from the expected. Granted, he has now well adapted to Ortana and its world to the point of going back to his own would be a difficult adjustment, but him accepting things are they are just seemed too weird. If only because most shows don’t pursue that option. Most programs deal with the lead characters fighting tooth and nail to go back home, and just dealing with their new world as they have to. With Haruhiro and crew though, and perhaps most of the people in their world, since who knows if they all were born there or not, they seem to not even question their past and just focus on surviving. A change of pace which I like, but sort of question since it leads me to wonder has anyone ever looked into going back home or not?
Though it has probably been an “On The Fence” topic multiple times, I must admit I was hoping for at least a kiss between characters. Hell, even Ranta being a perv and grabbing Yume would have been something. For while I get the stress of their world doesn’t necessarily inspire their libidos, at the same time there have been hints of intimacy, like with Yume and Haruhiro, and then with Mary and Haruhiro there seemed to also be a burgeoning connection. So with the series assumingly ending with nothing happening, I don’t know if I should be thankful the show didn’t waste time on romantic drama or upset that it didn’t address any of the chemistry between characters.
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