Revenger

Episode 10

Another week of Revenger, another excellent and thought-provoking episode.

The tension keeps ratcheting up higher and higher as everything comes apart at the seams. I think my favorite part about this entire setup is how it plays with audience expectations while upping the ante. Revenger's entire central conceit is being put into stark focus and it is making everyone involved risk their lives to deal with the fallout.

The opening conversation between Usui and Saimon Shishido is perhaps my favorite part of the episode. What seems to be a surface-level discussion of art at first ls later revealed to be a way for Usui to feel out Saimon's earnestness and judge for himself just how genuine the request was. It's simply solid writing, the basic building blocks of setup and payoff that show deft control of the craft.

But the added layers of reflection on art and how it relates to Raizo are what I find most intriguing. Usui turns this into an opportunity to talk to Raizo about what he intends to do after all this is concluded, and gives him the notion that there is a path other than seppuku when the dust has settled. Obviously, he has a long way to go as an artist and he can learn and grow from this in the future. He's only just started and he is so talented it would be a shame to lose that at such an early age.

Yet there is still the further layer of commentary on Raizo's life as a whole. Much like an artist coming to appreciate their ugly work later in life, Raizo may come to have a new perspective on what happened with the clan. Obviously he did take his father-in-law's life and by extension his wife's, but he was also just following what he was told by his superiors – something we have come to find out was pure falsehood. But even if the mission had not been deceitful and Raizo had done his duty, he might very well have spent his entire life as a warrior. In this capacity he would have continued to kill others, and even if those were justified killings, there is a tragedy to a life dedicated to ending others. Perhaps this has in a strange way created an opportunity for Raizo to break away from that path and create beauty as an artist.

Also everything with Soji and the nun and the gambling house is all great, moody stuff too. I'm honestly going to be upset when this season ends.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Revenger is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.