Forum - View topicArifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest (TV).
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smurky turkey
Posts: 3075 |
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Well, we are finally reaching the end of the labyrinth and I have been holding back with posting since two big labyrinths back to back really was too much for me (and I did not want to repeat that every week). That is not to say that there were no moments of growth and fun but I am really over the challenges and with that in particularly the mindgames. I am also so over Kouki and his wanting to be the savior spiel.
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Thesarum
 SubscriberPosts: 621 |
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Welcome back fellow enjoyer of self-aware edgelord hijinks!
Well you'll be pleased to know we are now essentially done with Labyrinths (this was the last one) so it's time to kick the plot into the final arc. Though as this is a 16 episode series we're also essentially done with that too. I think we'll get some downtime and then a stinking big cliffhanger to end on. I agree, as does pretty much the whole party: We're bored of Kouki feeling sorry for himself. He's not quite done with it yet ... but this is probably the low point. Hopefully, we'll get some of the good character development stuff with respects to that in the next episode. We do get an extended hit of "Kouki hates that he's not the center of attention" this week. His long festering resentment of how everything seems to always "just" go Hajime's way (conveniently forgetting that time he was left for dead at the bottom of the first labyrinth) feeds his motivated reasoning. He's always cast himself as a hero (even before coming to this world). He self-defines as someone who is honourable and just. Therefore those who oppose him, think differently, or just do things he finds inconvenient are, by definition, not honourable or just. Hajime therefore, is a best a scoundrel, and perhaps a brutal criminal. When others, and especially the two girls he likes and have always been his friends, side with Hajime and even fall for him, the only logical explanation for why they can't see the way he does, is that they're brainwashed. Eliminating Hajime would solve all the problems (except, of course, for the actual rather than imagined problems with this world). Better and more powerful opponents than Kouki have of course already tried that. He doesn't stand much chance. It's a measure perhaps of Hajime's growth over the last two seasons that when Kouki positions himself as an enemy he doesn't immediately enforce his rule 1: "all enemies will be killed without mercy or compromise". Shizuku announces her intentions to the harem and they mostly just roll their eyes and say "well, I guess that was inevitable really". Her confession to them was pretty cute though. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 3075 |
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The show has introduced a fair array of baddies thus far yet I found none of them as annoying as Kouki. Those villains atleast had some sliver of awareness in accepting the fact that they are not doing great things but still do them because they want to or think they have to. Kouki meanwhile is so deluded in that his way of thinking is the only correct one that his mind can simply not accept any other reality. The two labyrinths he entered both gave him the opportunity to grow and rid himself of that obnoxious mentality and instead he doubled down.
Instead of becoming a hero of any kind I now see him joining the baddies as the more likely option. |
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Thesarum
Subscriber Posts: 621 |
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Well, if these trips through the labyrinths and the implied message of the Liberators (something like "Listen guys: God has a lot of mental attacks, you need to be resolute and true to your purpose but clear eyed to your weakness, and have absolute trust in your comrades") is anything to go by, Kouki is certainly not cut out to be on the side that's against the god of this world, because that is very much not a description of him. |
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3715 |
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For me, Kouki is about the insecurity of the writer, who's afraid to include any male character with anything that could possible serve as a positive aside from Edgy McEdgeface. Giving Kouki humiliating defeats is the writer's way of trying to convince himself that there's any value is trying to make Hajime a heroic lead.
This show is at its best when murdering cute ice bunny monsters. It's at its absolute worst when it turns the Gary Stu playbook up to 11. |
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Thesarum
Subscriber Posts: 621 |
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There are minor male characters that are portrayed with various degrees of positivity, but you're right that there cannot be any threats to Hajime's dominance of his harem or to his edgelord-flavoured masculinity. It must be inconceivable at all times that any of the women on the show (including all those outside the harem) might have an attraction to anyone but him, or that other guys might actually achieve anything much on their own. Ryutaro is a lovable and loyal meathead who only really thinks about punching things so doesn't really have any interest in girls. The knight commander from the first series was more a father figure than anything else, Shea's father Cam is generally shown to be a caring father and decent leader, but ultimately he's subservient to Hajime. Er... I think maybe that's the lot? Does the fish guy count? The rest are jerks and idiots. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 3075 |
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And so ends a season I have rather mixed feelings about. Story wise a lot of progress was made with the show now clearly heading towards the end, there was solid character progression with more romance too and there was plenty of action to enjoy. That said, the two labyrinths being back to back arc wise while both having mindgames in them really soured me on the later episodes. At some point I just wanted it to be over while I loved the first 4 or so episodes.
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Thesarum
Subscriber Posts: 621 |
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I kinda expected us to get another few beats into that post-credits scene to get a cliffhanger with a deeper drop. It's not too much of a spoiler, given the mid-season cliffhanger but tags anyway spoiler[They're waiting at the airship, and of course Nagumo's attitude is "piss off I don't care" until they reveal they've taken a whole pile of hostages, including Myu and her mother. Fun side detail, Nagumo hides Kaori's real body beneath the ice before they leave for the demon realm to protect it.] As ever, this episode rushes through a bunch of stuff, such as providing a much abridged discussion on the nature of magic, ancient magic and creation magic if I'm remembering it right. Though that seems a sensible enough adaptation choice since listening to Hajime sit and give a lecture on magic for 15 minutes isn't exactly what we're here for. The scene recapping Hajime's time at the bottom of the first labyrinth is, I think, much longer too and really lays on the suffering for the assembled party. It's the answer to Kouki's "If only I had been the one to fall" that the anime doesn't quite deliver with as much punch. Overall, I guess this season's been pretty mid. We've had some proper character progression, but as you say that's been driven chiefly from back-to-back mindbend labyrinths that are too samey, especially in this speedrun format. Production quality has never been fantastic, but it's been serviceable-to-decent mostly (there was a bit of a mid-season dip). It's perhaps a low bar, but Hajime still owns no slaves, and we've not looked at any stats screens in a very long time. That alone puts Arifureta head and shoulders above 50% of the output of the isekai mines. It's decidedly not high art, but it's a fun enough time, and sometimes that's all we need from our entertainment. |
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