Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!

[shinta|hikari]

She invited her blood be drawn when the monster was getting beaten up. That thing probably never had any compassion given to it, so even such a small act could warrant saving her life.

I hate but also love this cliffhanger. I haven't wanted to see the next episode of an isekai so bad in years.

What this show does well is how it takes its time building up instead of rushing through pay offs. Any other isekai (other than slow-ass Overlord) would've finished this princess arc in 1 episode. We get three.

[Kraco]

Alexia garnered some sympathy from the experimental monster, but they didn't really focus enough on it for it to feel actually deserved.

She invited her blood be drawn when the monster was getting beaten up. That thing probably never had any compassion given to it, so even such a small act could warrant saving her life.

At the end of the day, the monster would have seen Alexia was also a victim, being tortured by the mad scientist, even if in a different manner. Since the monster would obviously hate the madman, it would consider any other victim to be on its side, so simply freeing them would be an act against the scientist and whoever stands behind the scientist. I'd say Alexia's own actions, which didn't antagonise the monster, was all that was needed. Probably Alexia's despondent behavior helped as well, since it was similar to the monsters own behavior.

[KrayZ33]

Hmmm, I'm not sure I really understand how many of the "knights" are with the cult.
Shadow Garden attacking mutliple places at once means they are fighting those in with the cult, am I right?
Or are they actually attacking the "good guys" as well because they have no real allegiance.

Anyway. I love all these misunderstandings. The show is fun. I just wonder how his daily, normal life will turn out eventually. The "background character" theme in this episode felt rather forced to me. Not sure if that torture stuff was necessary or even a good choice to tell that part of the story.

[shinta|hikari]

The torture part was there to show how utterly insane the protagonist is. He can ignore physical torture, which is already crazy, but couldn't endure not acting like the best mob character. It opens up the possibility of him doing even crazier things for the sake of his "lore and character."

I think there are a lot of knights in the cult, but not just knights. They are attacking all the cult hideouts and groups they have uncovered, not the knights themselves. I think the knights also just happen to be peacekeepers, so all of them are mobilized during this crisis.

[Shadow Skill]

My favorite new anime this season

[shinta|hikari]

Episode 5:






Did Alexia figure out Shadow was him, so she asked to extend their relationship? And that was why she figured slashing him like that wouldn't kill him?

[Kraco]

Did Alexia figure out Shadow was him, so she asked to extend their relationship? And that was why she figured slashing him like that wouldn't kill him?

I'd say she was just feeling really happy because she got rid of the forced marriage deal, was much more satiefied about her sword fighting style, met her sister very warmly, got to witness an outstanding fight, and naturally about surviving an incident she had little chances of surviving realistically. She had got along with Cid sort of well. Somehow I doubt she has a whole lot of friends. Maybe she was just feeling so great she wanted it to continue, Cid also being involved in it. The slash could be mere Japanese slapstick comedy.

Up to the very title of the show, Cid being a grey eminence is the point, so it would make sense nobody realises who he is, aside from the team nominally working for him (the Greek alphabet girls).

[KrayZ33]

Can't express enough how much more I'd enjoy shows if they would stop using these DragonballZ-faster-than-light-attack nonsense.
Not sure why japanese studios tend to use that in just about every single fight. It looks silly, dumb and kills the whole mood.

[Ryllharu]

My takeaway has been Alexia could act like herself around Cid, and started to really enjoy that feeling, reinforced by all the realizations she went through during her abduction and subsequent rescue. She can relax around Cid, to a degree. His rejection of her and her slicing out a huge chunk of his neck arteries is for laughs.

Can't express enough how much more I'd enjoy shows if they would stop using these DragonballZ-faster-than-light-attack nonsense.
Not sure why japanese studios tend to use that in just about every single fight. It looks silly, dumb and kills the whole mood.

It really does, especially considering the whole point of that scene was Alexia saw her own simple sword-fighting mirrored in someone as absurdly strong as Shadow.

[Kraco]

Yeah, I have also never liked it. It must be largely a budget issue, and, let's face it, animators aren't likely to know anything about real fights anyway. Nor do the light novel or manga authors. For as much as Japan worships swords, most Japanese directors, animators, and authors probably have never held one in their hands, due to the draconian Japanese weapon laws also covering blades longer than a bread knife. Furthermore, the Errol Flynn movie swordsmanship definitely had its impact on Japan as well.

[KrayZ33]

Yeah, I have also never liked it. It must be largely a budget issue, and, let's face it, animators aren't likely to know anything about real fights anyway. Nor do the light novel or manga authors. For as much as Japan worships swords, most Japanese directors, animators, and authors probably have never held one in their hands, due to the draconian Japanese weapon laws also covering blades longer than a bread knife. Furthermore, the Errol Flynn movie swordsmanship definitely had its impact on Japan as well.

I wouldn't blame the budget here, because the scene would've been better without the whole thing (I'm talking about 1:1 the same but without that little saiyan-encounter - as if the show was 10 seconds shorter).
The way he held his sword and was sidestepping or blocking the attacks was "amazing"-ly simple and good. It didn't look amazing, but it just felt right and got the point across. He re-applied his posture after every exchange and that just looked professional and exactly what Shadow/the girl were all about.
Basics leveled up to perfection. The viewer was supposed to respect that, that's why the author made that whole scene a thing, and I actually DID respect that *a lot*

The Saiyan-BS that followed ruined everything and was 100% unnecessary.
Even if they wanted to express how strong the oponent was after the transformation. They did so by how he was able to destroy walls by merely swinging his sword and by using the air-current/pressure that was created by doing that (as silly as that is).
A simple yet heavy-strike, sidestepped and partly parried by letting the attack glide away from his sword would have been 20x more awesome and just as "cheap" to show.

I actually *hate* animation studios for doing that... just why .
It's also one of the reasons why I think anime are mostly just cartoons (the old type) and have a hard time getting people onboard... I'm not going to pretend it's the only thing, but I think you get my point. It's almost as if they are scared of themselves when something becomes too serious, or whatever... and it would be fine if the scene was actually supposed to be funny, after all, these kind of moves are mocked in many shows as a joke battle-move.
There are places were it fits (mostly when it's a joke), and then there are places were it's just cheesy and dumb.
It's probably not in their own hands, but if I were an animator and would have to use this saiyan-nonsense, I'd actually feel pathetic to be honest, it must feel like flinging dung on your paper. It just doesn't look good and I don't think there is a single human being above 12 years old that thinks it does. And the amount of blood and scenes in this show tell me this isn't supposed to be a show for small kids.

[Kraco]

Yeah, I admit it's certainly not only a budget issue, but obviously some flashing curvy lines are easier to draw and animate than actual sword swings in an intelligent manner. True, it's also a tradition of trying to depict a fight faster than an eye can follow. It's just unfortunate that the result is an Errol Flynn fight faster than an eye can follow, where the purpose seems to be to hit the opponent's sword as many times as you can. It's actually even worse if the fighters are more powerful, resulting in a fight that's only colourful lines filling the sky, as the combatants are jumping/flying around, clashing here and there, but it's too fast to comprehend.

[Kraco]

Episode 6


- - - - - --



Those are some miserable friends, but I guess if you want to appear like a nameless mob character, then worthless friends are the best cover. After all, you can judge a person by the kind of company they keep.

It felt like not a whole lot happened in the episode, aside from world building and setting the pieces ready for the new arc. It's a bit annoying this is one of the "MC must always be poor" Japanese trope series, but on the other hand, it's something Cid has consciously brough upon himself, not something dictated by the world (author), so it's easier to accept. If he wants to carry the public role of a nobody, he can't very well be a millionaire. That being said, he does seem mildly annoyed by it, even though it's his own decision.

[Ryllharu]

It's not that he's poor, it's that he spends it all on decorating so he can look cool.

The girls are just much better than him at earning money with the knowledge he gave them.

[shinta|hikari]

Or the girls have none of his "must be a mob" mentality, and they do their utmost while just keeping hidden, resulting in more profits. If he decided to do away with his mob goal, he can just secretly steal treasures from rotten elites and be rich.

[KrayZ33]

Episode 7

-------------------

Pretty sure that was NOT a background character move .

This show is so silly, I like it though.

[shinta|hikari]

Which one was not a BG character move? The self-sacrifice one? I think some genre of shows have a mob character who dies trying something heroic just to show that story doesn't respect such idealistic actions.

[Kraco]

Yeah, it's also a minor character move because it results in death, which is supposed to encourage the MC to try harder later. Usually the main character doesn't die, so that alone makes it a background/very early character move. Of course sometimes the main character does die, but not before having left their deep impact on the new MC and story. The girl hardly knows Cid, so it's not the MC dying after having taught everything to her, leaving his mission to her, etc.

It was kind of cruel Cid was carried away from the arena prematurely, cutting short his planned performance.

Other than that, those chocolates must have been as good as Light Yagami's potato chips.

[KrayZ33]

Well, the thing is that he doesn't die. So it's basically the main characters plot armor and thus a main character move.
On top of that he is playing the no-name background-character. Not a supporting character.

[Kraco]

Well, the thing is that he doesn't die. So it's basically the main characters plot armor and thus a main character move.
On top of that he is playing the no-name background-character. Not a supporting character.

Everyone is their own life's main character. That's not something he can change. His cover to hide the gray eminence "reality" is being a minor character, so he's trying to pull off random stunts that suit his concept of a mob character. In the first place, his whole life is nonsense, so it's no surprise the arbitrary mob character acts don't exactly work for their intended purpose, that often, nor is he obviously looking for continuity. It's enough if it looks like something a mob character could do then and there. In the end, he treats his life like a giant theatrical performance, so the appearances are extremely important.

He can't act as a no-name character because everyone has got a name in real life, unlike in the games/movies. So, concentrating on that is probably not a priority for him. A mob character can still have a name, as "named mob" is a concept. It doesn't really matter. Some random alleyway gangster beaten in a single manga frame could have had his name announced if it serves the script, but he would still belong to the mob.