Forum - View topic(The) Eminence in Shadow (TV + movie) (w/ index).
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11443 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Season 01: (The) Eminence in Shadow (TV) Season 02: (The) Eminence in Shadow (TV 2) Movie: (The) Eminence in Shadow - Lost Echoes (movie) Source: Light Novel (ongoing @ 5 Volumes, written by Daisuke Aizawa, illustrated by Tōzai) Demographic: Seinen Animation Studio: Nexus Genres: action, comedy, drama, fantasy, romance, supernatural, tournament Themes: alchemy, conspiracy, dark fantasy, demi-humans, ecchi, elves, factions, gore, harem, isekai, power struggle, reincarnation, school, sorcery, swordplay, tragedy, transformations, vampires, zombies Plot Summary: Even in his past life, Cid's dream wasn't to become a protagonist or a final boss. He'd rather lie low as a minor character until it's prime time to reveal he's a mastermind or at least, do the next best thing-pretend to be one. And now that he's been reborn into another world, he's ready to set the perfect conditions to live out his dreams to the fullest. Armed with his overactive imagination, Cid jokingly recruits members to his organization and makes up a whole backstory about an evil cult that they need to take down. Well, as luck would have it, these imaginary adversaries turn out to be the real deal-and everyone knows the truth but him. Air Date & Platform: Season 01: October 5, 2022 (Wednesday) Available on: HIDIVE Season 02: October 4, 2023 (Wednesday) Available on: HIDIVE Movie: Pending Available on: Pending Episode Count / Runtime: Season 01: 20 episodes Season 02: 12 episodes Movie: Pending Total: 32 episodes ---------------------------------- EPISODE INDEX (Clicking on the episode will take you to my post that has a summary, comments, and screen-caps) (Note: The arc names are fan-made, but will hopefully help break the series down for easier time management or binge-watching) - Season 01 (Shadow) Episode 01: The Hated Classmate Episode 02: Shadow Garden is Born (Alexia Midgar) Episode 03: Fencer Ordinaire Episode 04: Sadism's Rewards Episode 05: I Am... (Midgar Academy) Episode 06: Pretenders Episode 07: A Fencing Tournament of Intrigue & Bloodshed Episode 08: Dark Knight Academy Under Attack Episode 09: The End of a Lie (Lindwurm) Episode 10: The Sacred Land, City of Deception Episode 11: The Goddess's Trial Episode 12: The Truth Within the Memories Episode 13: A Bloody Showdown as an Offering to Annihilation Episode 14: Your Lie, Your Wish (Bushin Festival) Episode 15: The Strongest Weak Man Episode 16: Unseen Intentions Episode 17: Moonlight That Pierces the Darkness Episode 18: Betting on a Moment Episode 19: Dancing Puppet Episode 20: Advent of the Demon OP1 (w/ Lyrics): "Highest" by OxT ED1 (w/ Lyrics): "Darling in the Night" by Seven Shadows (Asami Seto, Inori Minase, Suzuko Mimori, Fairouz Ai, Hisako Kanemoto, Ayaka Asai, and Reina Kondou) ---------------------------------- - Season 02 Episode 21 (S02E01): Episode 22 (S02E02): Episode 23 (S02E03): Episode 24 (S02E04): Episode 25 (S02E05): Episode 26 (S02E06): Episode 27 (S02E07): Episode 28 (S02E08): Episode 29 (S02E09): Episode 30 (S02E10): Episode 31 (S02E11): Episode 32 (S02E12): Last edited by Tony K. on Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:16 pm; edited 13 times in total |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4158 |
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Episode 3: and 2. And 1.
This show is... give me a second... not what it is. So far, there have been three episodes and so far, there have been three first episodes. Every episode, the genre keeps changing, the setting keeps changing, the cast keeps changing. Cid is the constant but he doesn't fit as the constant. This show is... we're back to this. The way ISEKAI works is that some nobody goes to another world for a power fantasy, it's not supposed to start with "Kickass fantasizing but it's real" who then dies but then uses his fighting skills and super tenacity to... not that. None of this. It doesn't work this way... OK, I think I got it. This show is... "wrong genre savvy" combined with... no, wrong, genre savvy... but the story is changing ... to him... I'm genuinely impressed by it. I don't what it will be at the end... I don't know what it will be tomorrow... |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11443 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Yeah, I watched the first two episodes and thought about posting reviews. But I couldn't tell what the heck was going on just between the 1st and 2nd. He's in modern day the 1st, then feudal age the 2nd. But it didn't have any transition or exposition to explain how or why the settings changed. He was just there in one place, and then another. It was also a bit bloodier and darker than I expected for an isekai.
I'll give it another shot, once I catch up on other stuff. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24157 |
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Yeah, this show is very scattershot. I'll check out episode 4 just out of curiosity as to whether the show is finally going to reveal what it actually is. I'm not a big fan of, "I've been transported to this interesting world where magic is real... but I just want a mundane existence, thank you very much" trope, but at least in this instance there is a rationale for it. He doesn't want a mundane existence, he wants an appearance of a mundane existence so that he can do the Eminence in Shadow thing. Unfortunately, that premise still means we have to sit through, "how do I remain Background Character A" machinations which don't interest me.
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camseyeview140
Posts: 241 |
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Yeah I just don't see the brilliance that the reviewers and others are saying with this show. Like, it's meant to be a shitpost in a way? Like, it feels like it is sort of making fun of the isekai power fantasy nonsense, but it also double downs on the genre's worst tropes so...what really is the point? I have done three episodes so far, and I'm just not seeing what makes this so special compared to other isekai/power fantasy anime that play it so straight intentionally that it becomes a fun parody of itself like that Misfit of Demon King Academy.
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Edjwald
 Posts: 1586 |
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The thing I'm still not clear on (and I like the show and have watched the first 11 episodes) is whether the MC
(A) Believes that the Cult of Diablos is all some elaborate cos play which makes his killing people left and right a bit problematic or (B) Understands that the cult of Diablos is real but just uninhibitedly enjoys using them to live out his trope obsession.. Which makes the glee he finds in the death or destruction the cult causes a bit problematic. Either way, the best way to enjoy this show is to just assume that MC is batshit crazy and semi-delusional in a world where this makes him a perfect fit. He's crazy and emotionally detached, but unleashing it on a bunch of villains who deserve it. Like *Dexter* sort of, but less self-aware. |
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Probablytomorrow
Posts: 165 |
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Okay, so I think the answer is somewhere in between.
I think he is aware that he’s destroying an evil cult, but he also thinks that Shadow Garden is planting people in the cult to help him pretend it’s the Cult of Diablos. He doesn’t really know or care which parts are the fantasy and which are the reality. So, then, he believes both sides of this battle are villains, including him, and he’s totally cool with that. The joke is that by ludicrous coincidence the Cult of Diablos is real and he’s technically on the good guys’ side. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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Well, it's probably not entirely a coincidence. He did wind up playing a pseudo good guy vigilante or anti-hero in both worlds, and the bad guys he was hunting in the "real" world were also real bastards. So it might be his fate, in a weird way, or a recurring pattern that's a natural result of his...tendencies? Inclinations? But yah, makes sense.
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 20 (finale)
Apparently, this was the finale, which I could not be entirely sure of based on other arc finishes. I really don't know a lot of what to say about this show. It does have some pretty good, or smart and self-aware stuff that are pretty good, and I have seen some viewers are into it. But to me so much of it has a lot of pointless conflicts or self-indulgency that goes beyond the self-aware jokes. Looking at this show for enjoyment I am going to look at the philosophy of Cid, and the character just puzzles me, as he is mean to invoke the dark anti-hero that does everything for a purpose, but actually he misses that important last bit. I don't think he does anything for a true ideological good reason, rather that it is for the sake of being the dark anti-hero. In effect to me it just makes him feel like a selfish child who just does things for his own indulgence, and just like all of his followers trying to read more they just looks silly. In a meta sense I would expand that further parts around him in the show. You could try to read anything into his organisation being a bunch of girls who are also powerful and probably do want to do good. But really there is no meaning there and they just want to have a bunch of babes, who could look cool, and make boob jokes. I am so sick of boob jokes that involve some woman who is insecure about being small and makes some big dumb joke about it. It pretty much always just works to highlight that these are female characters written by males to shamelessly appeal to them, and a chore to watch. Sexy characters can be done in ways that makes them powerful and fun to watch, but done wrong it just poisoned the entire pretty large female cast here. But going back to male characters, I am also still so sick of the two male friends that we get in so many shows, mostly harem like, and appear in this show too. It is like they appear to be the two grounding characters of male comradery for the male lead, who try to be both kind of good guys, but also a bit more shameless than the male character so you are happy that the main character is not quite them. But in most shows and here, they are just so gross that I don't like any time on screen, with their boys will be boys thing, and comic relief, that I can't like a main character that would be friends with them. Even if this main character puts on a facade. And next I am really confused by the setting of this show, such that it often felt like it could not decide if it was general fantasy setting that is pretty normal for this sort of thing, or be surprisingly close to modern times with more modern technology, shopping centres and fast food. I know the show was supposed to be having a rapid change in it, mostly from him introducing things from Earth that he remembered, apparently by just telling it to a bunch of his followers, but I don't know how logically it follows that those things are feasible. It just felt like the show wanted to write in a bunch of specific jokes of introducing moder stuff to fantasy setting, or maybe just pull in familiar modern stuff rather than maybe think how the setting could be its own thing. I will repeat after all that complaining that it did have some fun stuff, but maybe at the end of the day I am just too grumpy and stuck in my own ideas to just enjoy it for itself. My rating will be Decent (6/10). |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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In some respects, the MC is an emotionally blank canvas that everyone projects on. The women like Alpha who were turned into monsters that he saved want to believe that he's their messiah. The women who are obsessed with improving their fighting skills like Beatrix see defeating him as a goal. The women like Iris who are caught in a horrible situation where their world is falling apart because of unseen, unfair forces see him as someone to blame their hatred and feelings of powerlessness on. ,I guess the fact that they're all women is a cause for wish fulfillment or eye-rolling or dislike depending on where you're coming from.
I'm pretty much on the same page you are as far as the main character goes. If I'm supposed to like him or want to be him, I don't. Like I said earlier, he's a batshit crazy sociopath incapable of forming real relationships or deep sentiments. I don't care about the power fantasy aspects one way or another. I'm pretty sure the male friends aren't supposed to represent real bonds of male friendship. Again, the MC doesn't have friends. They're so pathetic and disposable because the irony is that they don't realize they're mob characters. I do like the weird gumbo of a world that is a mix of magic and technology more than you do. I enjoy the randomness of it rather than worry about the inconsistencies. I like the way I can't always predict how the show is going to play out, and I think a lot of the embellishments with fighting and sorcery are cool. I also really hate the Church of Diablos and want to see it go down. When the MC's destructiveness comes down on them, I love it. When the MC's inability to take anything seriously hurts good people, I don't. For example, the innocent Sherry Barnett snapped and has unnecessarily become a tormented, obsessive villain. Maybe she would have snapped even if Cid had respected her as a human being enough to tell her the truth about her adoptive father. But his casual "Oh well, she's better off hating me than knowing the truth" was obviously BS. He just didn't want to be bothered. At the same time, that attitude of the MC becomes the storytelling engine that creates future conflict. I guess I see Cid as the chaos element that keeps kicking the plot beehive and stirring things up. If the MC dies in the process, I'll be nonchalant. "Huh. Fitting end to his scenario." Instead of a 6 though, personally, I'd probably give the show a 7.5 out of 10 so far, maybe even an 8 depending on what day it is. I'd rate it higher, but even though I think I see what it's trying to do, I don't think the show has enough finesse at times. For example: Perv Asshat? Yuck yuck. The MC just happens to wander into the right place at the right time again? That's not just plot armor...he's friggin Iron Man. I guess I could rationalize it as parodying all the unlikely coincidences in fantasy trop...huh? What's with this serious, way too realistic development? Some people might view that as part of the shows offhanded wink wink, nudge nudge charm. For me, it' gets a bit too lazy and heavy handed now and again. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4158 |
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Cid doesn't have plot armor, the world has a Cid obsession. Cid doesn't want to be a hero, he wants to be the villain mastermind power lurking the shadows but the world he's in is having none of that; All the men in that world are awful, useless or worse and Cid's better than them by default.... default setting, that is.
Sherry would have been going after Shadow regardless of what Cid told her as she has too much invested in her step-father. I don't see what telling her "HI, I killed your father because he was trying to kill me, the villain" achieves. WE know and Cid knows the father killed Sherry's mother... how would Cid explain that to someone who doesn't want to hear it? Now that we've gotten to 20 episodes, I can finally know what this show is; Inverse Negima. But if Cid started his numbering with the alphanumeric elves, is the counting consistent with Rose being Shadow Garden's latest addition, 666? ... I was going to say that's enough to start its own town but that's in the show. I loved the show, finding it to be a refreshing take on the POWER isekai genre but by way of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time main characters and its term of "ta'varen": You are the main character in a power fantasy and you get everything good and bad that goes with that. Right now, this show is fairly light on the responsibility side of "with great power..." but he's yet to lose anything so far. The most amazing thing about these 20 episodes is that it apparently adapts 2 light novels directly... apart from that first episode which is... later/earlier. And I don't think Cid is crazy or sociopathic, I think he's on a power trip and the world is indulging it. It's true: If you're having delusions of grandeur that you're the center on the universe... if the universe agrees, how are you still crazy? |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1586 |
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Actually, in some ways it would make a lot of sense if there was some Hamlet-like theory going on where this was all in Cid's head. Or some Red King in Alice in Wonderland scenario where everyone's afraid to wake up the Red King because he's dreaming them all, and if he wakes up the world will end. |
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InfiniteJest
 Posts: 136 |
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Just finished the 20 episodes and I think it’s vastly overrated.
Took me 3-4 episodes just to get past the annoyance of the show changing genres. So it’s parody. But without much edge. Cid is just playing a a game. He has insane godlike powers. There are secret societies and fighting tournaments. And each girl he runs into is instantly obsessed about him. But it’s a parody of the genre. Feeble imho. The Isekai genre is already a parody of itself. Adding 20 episodes to lampoon it didn’t make it funny because too often the show started to take itself too seriously. It was a dramedy that was neither comedy nor drama. It needed to commit but it never really did. The closest was Lord Perv Asshat where the joke finally became so blatant I did a double take. But it went on too long without focus. A 90 minute movie would have been a better vehicle for the material. 6/10. It could have been much much better. I’m Not a fan of The Hero is Dead either but at least it always knows where it’s going. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 2665 |
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You are not wrong and yet it was the anime I kept looking forward to the most each week and sometimes even rewatched an episode several times. 95% of that is just how much of an amusing edgelord Cid is.
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InfiniteJest
Posts: 136 |
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Hey Smurky you may be into something there.
Some shows are a lot better if you watch them in small bites. Weekly release schedules sometimes allows pacing that works if you’ve given it a rest or haven’t just watched 4 prior episodes. Some shows are filled like a single movie just broken up into chunks and that works better for binge. Eminence might have felt better if I’d seen an episode, had a week go kinda forget a few details, then come back and see whatever new thing they were up to this week. Watching it all in a 48 hour period just made it seem like a frenetic jumbled mess. Possibly because that wasn’t how it was intended to be watched? |
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