In the Land of Leadale

Episode 3

While episode 3 doesn't exactly rectify my issue with this show's overall lack of direction, it does manage to take some constructive steps: Cayna figures out a little bit more about this world and what happened to it, and I'm glad the show at least acknowledges the darker implications of what happened before this world changed or in the week of the servers shutting down. I also like how the episode sort of ends with Cayna feeling a bit depressed about her discovery; now that it has dawned on her that she is more or less alone, she's at a loss about what to do.

To be honest, I kind of wish this was in the second episode instead, because it feels like a better follow-up to the mystery that was established in the premiere. I also think it would've been a funnier way of introducing her children by having them be the ones to console her. That said, the show still seems primarily invested in presenting the fluffier, almost mundane aspects of this fantasy world. I'm not saying I'm against that being the general tone moving forward, but as of right now, I don't really think the show has earned it quite yet.

That could be because I'm not particularly a fan of this show's brand of comedy, which can sometimes come off as a needless distraction from the prevailing issue at hand. The entire introduction of Cayna's daughter with her husband at the academy is a perfect example of this because it didn't make that much sense outside of just introducing the attached daughter trope. She works fine as a foil, but it also doesn't really make her that much different from her brother, even if the scene at the end where she orders people to put him in a coffin was probably the highlight of the episode for me.

Not to mention the whole exchange between her husband and her mother at the beginning just felt very odd. I understand it was probably there to establish that Cayna's magic is different compared to the NPCs, and I especially liked the little detail where they ask where she got the vial from when she magically mixed together a healing potion, but how we got there felt very awkward, since he basically asked her to show everybody how to make a healing potion right after telling her to never do that.

To summarize, there are nice little moments and beats in this episode, but I'm not a big fan of the way that they're set up, established, or placed. It's worrying that the show still has an identity crisis three episodes in, but maybe we'll get a better sense of direction out of both Cayna and the show next week as she gets out of her funk.

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In the Land of Leadale is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.