I had a hard time choosing which image to go with. I ended up going with serious Rose, but almost went with silly yaoi bait:
This episode is like the calm before the storm. Our heroes have gone on their training arcs and have since returned. Our protagonist has gotten some first-hand experience healing others and (last episode) steeled his resolve and found a reason to fight. And, finally, we now know that the demon army is on the move. It is going to be an intense couple episodes as things heat up in battle. We also get a bit of a lore tease this episode, previewing Rose’s backstory. It is very clear that she carries the scars of her past with her, both mental and physical.
One of the things I am interested in seeing with this adaptation is how they adapt the coming conflict with the demon army. In this episode, there were some very clear corners cut when it comes to animation. If the animation doesn’t deliver during the action-heavy sequences in the conflict, then it will definitely take some of the impact away. I hope that they give it a better treatment than a vaguely red blotch on some dude’s leg in this episode.
In any case, we have a couple days left to prepare thanks to some Bridge Over the River Demon heroics by Rose. Usato was feeling pretty good until we get a dramatic premonition right at the end of the episode. Seeing a vision of his friends’ deaths is sure to have an impact on him since the thing he is fighting for is to protect those friends.
We finally get to see what those two healers in the city are doing…
And it looks just like green glowing hand magic, no matter if it’s a tummyache or a lacerated leg.
Versatile stuff, this isekai healing magic is…
As wsj018 said, there’s a grim foreshadowing at the end.
The writing is as subtle as an anime girl’s hammer…
Yeah, I think, compared to a lot of isekai out there, this one actually has well written characters for the most part. The friendships and motivations feel real and engaging. Then, there is the larger plot of the world they are in, which is so awfully generic that, if you zoom out even a little bit, sounds like every other isekai. I think just the synopsis turns a lot of people away because of that.
I think the main problem is that so far the writing has been a little too straightforward.
Like I said earlier, there’s nothing subtle about it: Everything is tell, tell, tell, leaving no mysteries about the characters or the setting for the viewer’s mind to fill in.
