Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul

Episode 7

Seven episodes into Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul, we've reached the show's first major climax – or part of it, anyway. Having looked forward to this moment for weeks, it was disappointing to see the episode cut off before any major reversals, leaving us on a cliffhanger. As usual, there's still plenty of entertainment in the great jokes, animation, and character moments; I just can't help but feel that the decompression is getting a tad excessive. It may just be that two-cour pacing feels strange in this era when most anime get a meager dozen episodes.

Otherwise, Azazel's assault goes roughly as expected – he can't get a now-more-experienced Nina to transform this time, so he gets his ass handed to him by her new boyfriend. His demon buddies get killed, and Azazel himself looks down for the count. My guess is that Mugaro is gonna use their superpowers to save him, outing himself as the wanted child and getting kidnapped as a result. That'd send Nina on a rescue quest and start her active involvement in the plot. Also, Mugaro is now even more Obviously Michael's Son, since all the gods make comments about how much he looks like someone they know.

On that note, it's nice that Bacchus doesn't seem interested in selling out Mugaro. I doubt that the temptation is over for him, but he's not a bad enough guy to sell out an innocent little kid. (At least not without feeling bad about it.) The kid's having a good time at the festival alongside Nina, Rita, and Kaisar's severed hand. They've opened up an omelet stand this time, which makes me wonder where Rita learned to cook like this. Didn't her zombie family eat maggot soup for 200 years? I guess you'd have to learn to cook for yourself under those circumstances.

Speaking of Rita, she gets a small moment this week. It looks like she harbors some angst about her child body and never having been able to grow up. Considering that there are hints of a romance between her and Kaisar, I wonder if she'll have an arc about coming to terms with her body, or if she'll be magically restored in some way?

The episode's standout moment was probably Nina's encounter with Azazel. He tries to hug her into a dragon, but when that doesn't work (it seems that “Chris” has raised her arousal threshold), he leans in for The World's Most Awkward Kiss. Nina isn't having any of it, so she punches him into a nearby wall. That'll teach him to involve her in a liberation war without her consent! He then runs off to deal with the situation on his own, while Nina hangs back. While Azazel went about recruiting her in the wrong way, I doubt Nina will be happy when she hears about all those freedom fighters who died. RIP Dante and succubus lady. Especially succubus lady. She was nice.

Little by little, Nina's virgin soul hardens. I hope that her real first kiss is better than Azazel jamming her face into his bosom and then inching his lips towards her in a grimace. There's also the question of who it'll be with – but there's still a ways to go on that front. I feel that Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul may work best if you shotgun the whole thing once it finishes airing, but I can't say I'm not enjoying it week to week too. Much like Nina, every high makes me harder to please, and I'm always ready for the next climax.

Grade: B

Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.