Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 2

Episode 4

An amusing aside aspect of Arifureta that emerged over the course of the initial season's run was the sliding scale of the series' own identity. What started out seeming like the angry screed of a spurned social pariah mellowed out once Hajime divorced himself from really worrying about following up with his classmates, got a girlfriend and a bunch of superpowers, and went on his own gods-killing way. Things generally took on a much more irreverent tone after that, settling into adventures that still had plenty of stakes, but were framed by Hajime's interactions with the increasingly-irritating inadvertent harem he'd picked up. It could be hard to tell how much of that was the original intent for the story, and how much could be chocked up to original author Ryo Shirakome flying by the seat of their pants, jumping across setpieces and concepts at the behest of their own attention span.

The topic of that tone becomes relevant this week as Arifureta jumps from Tio's arrival after her escape last episode straight over to Yue straddling Hajime on top of a submarine in the middle of the ocean. Part of this is presumably designed to deliver on Tio and Kaori's reassurances of Hajime's survival, to just cut right to him having survived a friggin' volcano with no issue. But more importantly, I think, it reinforces that lighter approach I was talking about with Arifureta. We had to confirm that Hajime and the rest of the crew were fine, then use that as a framing device while he and Yue bang on top of a boat while reminiscing about how they actually escaped the volcano, which is how we also come by the information.

The absurd design of doing that betrays a more procedural approach to actually showing the escape happen. To reiterate: This is a showcase of Hajime summoning an entire submarine he crafted in order to drive it through lava. This should be the most awesome thing ever, but even after they blast out through the lava flow, get accosted by giant monster-sharks, and have Yue cut them to ribbons with wind magic, the presentation can't seem to muster much enthusiasm for it all beyond the tenor of a "Well that just happened!" movie-trailer punch-line. It's like the author suddenly realized they were as tired of the volcano-dungeon plot-line as we were, so they expedited getting out of it to move onto the next setpiece, by way of Hajime smacking mermen around with giant fish before his remaining party members literally drop out of the sky to rejoin him.

Even as I criticize the show's lack of energy for things like the volcano escape, I should stress that I honestly don't see any of what Arifureta's doing here as particularly bad. The series is best when it's refusing to take its edgelord indulgences too seriously, so moving from segment to segment without dwelling on things is to its benefit. I complained the previous episode about the focus-group badassery in Hajime's battle quips, so of course I'm going to prefer the moment in this one where he can't get a cool line out because he's too busy choking on a fish he was eating. This is the version of our hapless hero who accidentally seduces a village's local mer-mom seconds after meeting her, only to realize he needs to cool her off since his harem is already far too untenable. Basically, any storytelling tones that remind me that Hajime is always only putting on the affectations of being a stoic badass are right by me (To confirm, yes, I think all isekai protags should be more like Diablo from How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord).

That mer-mom, myu's mother Remia, even infuses the episode with the kind of more genuine sentiments Arifureta can wield effectively within its irreverent moods. Remember that myu herself was a conduit to make clear how Hajime and friends unilaterally oppose the systems of slavery that were otherwise accepted in this world. And here our gruff badasses with hearts of gold immediately show their recognition that reuniting a mother with her lost daughter isn't something that should incur a debt. There's a question of how committed Hajime should be to the relationship he forged with myu up to this point, but that goes hand-in-hand with the investments he's made with his various connections, the found community he's built up to ride that submarine with him to this point in the show. That's a strong driving thread, that a family can be one wannabe-badass otaku and his harem of monster-women, and family means no one gets left behind.

Running counter to that odd sense of community is further confirmation that Arifureta's second season might have the idea to continuously follow even its more background plot threads. Cuts back to the rest of the class were scattershot to the point of forgetting about people in the first season, but now we once again cap off an episode with a check-in on Shizuku, this time as she converses with another one of my favorite characters from that first season: Ai-Chan-Sensei, the adorable tiny teacher. This is mostly here to reiterate that point about Hajime being branded a heretic if you missed it previously, but it also lets these secondary characters speculate on some kind of conspiracy around the King and other officials. Basically, it seems the whole 'evil Gods manipulating everything' part of the plot may be coming to the forefront more than previously, which is going to get the rest of the class more involved than the backdrop they basically were before. It's all pure setup, but I'll take it as a sign of Arifureta's basic storytelling maturing from the way it just kind of forgot about this bunch previously. It's a reflection of where this episode landed, that is, as the version of the show I personally prefer, and I hope it can stay in this groove for at least a little bit.

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Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 2 is currently streaming on Funimation.

Chris is a freelance writer who appreciates anime, action figures, and additional ancillary artistry. He can be found staying up way too late posting screencaps on his Twitter.