Spoilers.. like right in this intro there will be spoilers. In order for me to get to the spoiler I’m going to spoil some things so you were warned. What can I say, I like to spoil my readers… ok… bad joke…
Admittedly the wedding didn’t happen (see I spoiled not only that the wedding didn’t happen but also that there was going to be a wedding! 2 spoilers in 5 words and there’s more to come) and there is a small chance that those 3 bullies aren’t in fact dead, but there was at least one confirmed funeral. so like a 20% accuracy rate on my post title. I’m getting better!
There are a few things I really appreciated about this episode. For one the effort to inject some visual interest with a few varied art styles throughout the first act. I particularly liked the pop art comic panels. I think they suit the mood of the show well. But the cutout style flashback was cool too. Maybe just a touch too theatrical for this show.
Of course that’s just my bias. Cause I happen to like God of Highschool better when it’s a little goofy. Which it also was in the first act. All in all, great first act. I thought Mira’s sudden suitor was wacky in a fun way, the offbeat action was lighthearted and amusing. Good times.
This said, in my opinion past episodes already did a decent job at giving us Mira’s backstory so I’m not sure it was necessary to rehash it once again but hey, little Mira was cute. There was something clearly wrong with that baby though. And I think they swapped it out for a doll in the far away scenes cause it wasn’t moving at all in an awkward position. I don’t blame them. Working with babies is a nightmare.
Stories often do this thing where they justify a character’s actions in hindsight so when you take it as a whole it all seems reasonable and alright, you know? I mean mister purple hair guy did turn out to be bad news so it’s great that Jin was so persistent on stopping the wedding… Oh yeah… let me catch you up: Mira got proposed to out of the blue by purple hair guy and accepted cause he told her he would d everything in his power to revive the past glory of the Moon Light Sword Style. You know, classic boy meets girl stuff… and Jin was dead set against it.
Except when you really think about it, Jin and Mira met like a few weeks ago and really know each other from the tournament. Sure they had that little chase adventure when they first met but in essence it’s like a work acquaintance that started on the same day as you. Also from Jin’s point of view, purple hair guy is completely sincere. And she is the one who freely agreed to the wedding, no matter what her reasons may have been. After she openly told Jin that she wanted to do this, why was he still so inappropriately meddling in her affairs? He’s really lucky it turned out this way, he could have destroyed Mira’s future.
Dae had a much more reasonable reaction to the news. And why weren’t either of them happy for their friend? Honesty these guys have some issues.
After the whole commotion at the wedding and Jin’s triumphant line to Mira: it’s easy, just do what you want to do, I really wanted her to say:
Actually, I kinda do want to marry the handsome super rich guy who shares my dream and is my best chance of seeing it realized. He’s been nothing but kind and respectful to me and a long term relationship isn’t necessarily built on passion and infatuation. This would also secure the financial future of my beloved little sister and uncle who has been like a father to me. They are clearly struggling at the moment. It seems more reasonable than continuing in a dangerous tournament that could leave me with permanent damage if I even survive it and that has no guarantee to help me achieve my goals. I bet my family would be relieved as well than I can get back to a normal life and even indulge in myself a bit for the first time ever….
I know that the very next scene would have made that speech ironic and impossible but that only makes it funnier, no?
In the closing sequence of the episode we find out that Dae’s friend died. We don’t see it but it’s pretty heavily implied, and he loses it. Dae, not his friend… He ends up brutally beating Mira in their match together. I know this wasn’t the point of these events and it’s not suppose to be my takeaway. It’s very sad that Dae lost his friend and having now done a few hospital death watches those scenes were heartbreaking to me. Still I couldn’t help but think that Jin and Dae convinced Mira to give up a potentially easy life in order to stay in the tournament just so that Dae himself could immediately and ruthlessly eliminate her. There’s a real sarcasm in this.
Oh and I have a few people who have commented that they don’t like Jin’s star crossed eyes, but I really liked how the pupils narrow to a plus sign when he’s unhappy. I thought that was a nice little bit of design flair. Could just be lazy as well…
I was sort of hoping we would find out what the deal with those poison fruits from last week was. If anything Jin seemed way weaker this week, almost getting beaten by those bodyguards. Weird…. I guess next week it is then.
This storyline, as absurd as it was, would have been better served across two or three episodes, not rushed into one, that way our emotional investment in the mistake Mira was making, not to mention why she made it, and of course tease the bad guy’s duplicitous intentions which Dae and Jin sussed out and had to convince Mira of.
Plus Mira is cuter in her glasses than when she is done up like a barbie doll! 😉
Mira’s character design isn’t really my thing. I read the corresponding chapters 25 to 29 (since everybody was dumping on the episode). They did move somethings around and cut some things out (mostly a B plot) but in essence it stays pretty faithful to the toon – pacing included. And I think it was a good idea to cut Dae’s whole super villain “we were never friends speech”.
Maybe some things don’t translate to the screen.
I don’t know the source material but if it is as rushed in that as it is in this anime. then somebody needs to learn the art of pacing and not blowing all your ideas in one go.
A shame as this had so much potential to be a fun action show, and still is in places, but it needs to slow down and let the story and character growth breath a little.
I like the show most when it’s quiet and contemplative, which is rarely. I wish I liked it best when it’s goofy; that’d be far more often. I sort of suspected from the start that Mira wouldn’t advance: shounen anime very rarely put “the girl” into the final.
The marriage really should have been more of a family affair, too. All the best scenes belonged to the family anyway.
By now I’m pretty sure that (a) I’ll finish this season, and (b) I won’t watch a second one. It’s not really my thing.
Has it been quiet and contemplative? I may have missed that bit
For shots at a time; I don’t remember a whole scene. They often ruin it with a cheesy shot shortly after. (Can you tell that it’s not my fave show this season?)
I can. It’s not mine either but I don’t think I mind it as much. The again I was expecting to dislike it so I guess it may be a matter of expectations.