The Witch and the Beast

Episode 8

I'd wager this episode ends with Ashaf and Guideau sitting about twenty feet removed from where they started. That's not to say nothing happens, but you can feel this arc spinning its wheels as The Witch and the Beast ramps up to the big brawl between beast-mode Guideau and the unsheathed Ashgan. Rather than surprise the audience with an unexpected development, the plot advances by reinforcing and reiterating things we already know about these characters. Helga is a sympathetic failgirl, the Executioner is a real bastard, and so on. It's a fine installment, but not one of the series' best.

The wry sense of humor still helps a lot. Guideau finds Ashaf looking like a popsicle and bitterly calls him a jackass, to which Ashaf responds by shaking off the ice and lighting another cigarette. Their badass buddy cop shtick continues to charm me. That consistency also buoys the scarce moments when Ashaf loses his unflappability, like when Helga gets stabbed this week. When his eyes go wide, you know it's about to get real. Elsewhere, I like the staircase made of swords that Helga uses to get back on the roof. I don't think it's meant to be a sight gag, but I find humor in the contrast between the destructive power of the summoned weapons and the practicality of their application. Furthermore, I enjoy watching the direly wounded Guideau angrily drag themself toward the adolescent angstings of Helga in the final scene. Again, TWatB knows how to play up juxtaposition for yuks.

Those laughs are needed, too, because the episode is otherwise one of the show's darkest and dourest affairs. The flashback to Helga's witch family shows the Executioner burning, brainwashing, murdering, taunting, and torturing his victims with villainous relish. It's a little much. To be clear, I like that TWatB doesn't shy away from getting gory and exploitative, but these efforts ring a little more hollow than its past dalliances in the trash. We barely spent a minute with Helga's coven before her mom turned into a daughter-killing puppet. It feels lazy instead of feeling tasteless. The Executioner also isn't a very fun or unique villain. His design is forgettable, and his speeches are bloated and cliched. His nasty Frankensteined mind-control glove is the closest this blowhard gets to a compelling gimmick.

Cugat, on the other hand, handles his heel-face turn with plenty of aplomb. Perhaps most importantly, he looks much hotter without the mask and with tons of battle damage. The disheveled bishounen chic is strong. We learn that his sense of justice is more than institutional, too. Despite being betrayed by the Paladin Corps, he mourns for his men as the Executioner callously sacrifices them to fuel his nefarious plan. By potent contrast, Cugat sacrifices his limbs to his elemental to protect Guideau, Ashaf, and Helga. While he may not be a complicated character, he fits into this arc well. When humbled, he doesn't double down. He reassesses the situation and realigns himself accordingly.

This makes Cugat the perfect foil for the Executioner, whose tragic flaw is his hubris (although it's difficult to call it “tragic” when he deserves what's coming to him). His unwavering confidence in his power and intel crashes against Ashgan's true nature as a mindless and uncontrollable avatar of destruction. The Executioner responds with denial and doubling down. And as far as displays of unparalleled power go, Ashgan bisecting a floating castle and watching it crash to the ground is pretty good. Unfortunately, the anime fails to capture the weight of this moment because the two halves of the castle move like pieces of clipart you're struggling to align in a Microsoft Word document. So as not to repeat myself, I try not to rag too much on the show's limited production values, but that was a particularly egregious (and funny) instance.

This episode ends on a high note, at the very least. Helga gets her first kiss, and Guideau prepares to step out of the coffin for the first time since the premiere. I appreciate the series' restraint in whipping out their beast mode. Sure, it's more fun to watch Guideau in their angry femme gremlin form (especially when they're gnawing on dog treats), but that restraint also makes this cliffhanger more exciting.

Rating:

The Witch and the Beast is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. He can be your witch or your beast. Or none of the above if that's cool. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.