![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leliel_12[Trigger Warning: Yep, it’s slavery apologia day. Again. Also the slave trader, neglectful parenting, discussion of fictional hate crimes, and abusive relationship dynamics.]
[Mild spoilers for Metaphor: ReFantazio.]
[Image heavy by necessity.]
[Link to Das Sporking]
[You may have noticed that my (Leliel) IRL co-sporker has renamed his handle to Wanderer2691, or Wanderer. I’ll explain if asked over DMs.]
[Scripts are from https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewforum.php?f=2415, not sporker original work]
[Sporking chamber, wherein Yukiko, Iana, and Chie are finishing up listening to Wanderer rant about the other spork.]
Chie: …I’m feeling lucky we don’t know the first thing about Warhammer 40,000, and I find Evangelion too depressing…
Yukiko: The sheer amount of hilarious grossness that is Nurgle is not enough to intrigue me…
Iana: …I can’t decide if I’m offended more as a woman or as a schemer…
Leliel: Hey, camera’s on - sup, spork fans! We just gone done overviewing why Wanderer2691 is no longer part of the Thousand Shinji spork we’re doing at this moment! …and relatedly, why our next spork is lighter fare!
Wanderer: [Shivers] This spork should not feel like a vacation…at least it’s just slavery, and misogynistic…
Iana: …and profoundly dumb politics…
Yukiko: …and extremely creepy relationships…
Chie: And as obvious in this particular duology, really terrible ideas of heroism, both intentional and not…
Wanderer: Again - should not feel like a vacation.
Leliel: Says you. And to be fair…we are currently out of the Horror Zone. Unfortunately, she’s still here, and as we’ll see, this is where the Cardinal Heroes take their true form: scapegoats for Naofumi. No matter how little agency that gives the entire world.
Spitefic: Civilian Details
“So,” Suspire began, looking at the chaos in the red skies above them. “That be the Wave of Calamity. A shame that something so fetching and spectacular be of such an ill nature…I would enjoy getting me quartermaster to paint this.”
Romuli gave him a weird look. “...there’s painting on a pirate ship?”
“Lieutenant Kaelin be proof dead men tell tales for longer than he numbered among the quick, and he died partly of old age. Man neither needs sleep nor food, and when he runs out of duties to manage, he needs something to do lest he become ever-more anal-retentive and me other crew see if a ghost may yet be strangled,” Suspire deadpanned. “Painting and cards be his fallbacks, since Underworld dyes not be especially vulnerable to salt in the air when drying. But, I digress.”
Romuli shrugged. “Fair enough. Though, now that I’m seeing a Wave up front…I can’t help but wonder if it’s like the Blight that your golem friend mentioned. He did say it often manifests in a breakdown of space.”
“It would not be completely unlikely. Since Autochthon defined a lot of physical laws and several formulas in math, the Blight mutated itself to be not unlike the Wyld, the fae proto-world the Primordials forged creation from. Including a breakdown of space…and hate of conventional society, as he invented doctrine too,” he said, noticing a bunch of Dire Centipedes started charging from the forest lines.
“I’m on it,” Romuli said, before leaping at the great bugs.
Three slices later, the woefully underleveled myriapods lay in a pile at the feet of the beastman ex-gladiator, with him having little more than a very bored expression.
“I don’t understand,” a guard from the village they had occupied muttered. “Aren’t there supposed to be guardians here? Like the Shield Hero?”
“The Shield Hero,” Luz said with the kind of distaste that one associated with extreme profanity, “is already contracted to a bunch of guards.”
“Then…” The guard didn’t look especially pleased by that explanation, her brow furrowing. “Why isn’t he sending some here, if he has reinforcements?”
“Because then he wouldn’t be seen doing good by said allies, and so not building a reputation,” Anne said, sourly. “Because he needs people to appreciate him for ‘logistics’. Please ignore that he needs to stop the leader of the wave somehow.”
“Now, I can’t say I be all that down on the idea of helping villagers over just a decapitation that not be very swift,” Suspire said, a black bolt sniping an Ogre before it had fully lumbered out of the trees. “But I do also be the sort who arrives here first to coordinate defenses ahead of time, if everyone knows where the Wave is. Rather than get stuff for me personal power - I have the power of Death within me, so I have the privilege, but that Shield be hardly lacking in potential either.”
“...which is why I find it interesting…” Romuli, sniffing the air, trailed off. “Hold on, there’s a unit heading towards Horizon’s garrison. Smells like Curse Dolls.”
Luz craned her neck in that direction, saw the living sackcloth, nodded, and let loose a glowing light from a bottle. Pretty soon, there was a loud bang and a flash of magical artillery, and a bit of the forest exploded, sending diseased-looking straw everywhere.
“As I was saying, it’s interesting that, suddenly, Beloukas knows all about breaking level caps. And how eager he is to suddenly care about sewer monsters when giving out artifacts - it’s not his concern who leaves what in the aqueducts, he’s moved on.”
Anne thought. “...not unless it’s the monsters themselves. Say, Captain? You and Iana said Dragon Kings are often mindless-seeming lizard monsters before their memories come back, right? Are there any that look like crocodiles?”
“Aye, the Mosok, but-” Suspire blinked. “Oh!”
“Yeah…” Luz nodded along. “You’ve been seeing a lot of symbols of a four-armed guy that looks like your Unconquered Sun and is associated with being a smith. Given how long Exalted live, maybe if he’s killing Dragon Kings before they have a chance to get their ancestral memories back, is that they might remember him, or at least something similar?”
“...and if he is some kind of divinely empowered hero-king,” Romulus finished, grimly. “Then pushing Naofumi into areas where it’s shown rebellion is inherently suspect no matter how bad the king is, and always show it as a disaster…seems like a good way to make the Shield Hero think some other Hero is the only thing fit to rule anything he wants…”
[Mild spoilers for Metaphor: ReFantazio.]
[Image heavy by necessity.]
[Link to Das Sporking]
[You may have noticed that my (Leliel) IRL co-sporker has renamed his handle to Wanderer2691, or Wanderer. I’ll explain if asked over DMs.]
[Scripts are from https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewforum.php?f=2415, not sporker original work]
[Sporking chamber, wherein Yukiko, Iana, and Chie are finishing up listening to Wanderer rant about the other spork.]
Chie: …I’m feeling lucky we don’t know the first thing about Warhammer 40,000, and I find Evangelion too depressing…
Yukiko: The sheer amount of hilarious grossness that is Nurgle is not enough to intrigue me…
Iana: …I can’t decide if I’m offended more as a woman or as a schemer…
Leliel: Hey, camera’s on - sup, spork fans! We just gone done overviewing why Wanderer2691 is no longer part of the Thousand Shinji spork we’re doing at this moment! …and relatedly, why our next spork is lighter fare!
Wanderer: [Shivers] This spork should not feel like a vacation…at least it’s just slavery, and misogynistic…
Iana: …and profoundly dumb politics…
Yukiko: …and extremely creepy relationships…
Chie: And as obvious in this particular duology, really terrible ideas of heroism, both intentional and not…
Wanderer: Again - should not feel like a vacation.
Leliel: Says you. And to be fair…we are currently out of the Horror Zone. Unfortunately, she’s still here, and as we’ll see, this is where the Cardinal Heroes take their true form: scapegoats for Naofumi. No matter how little agency that gives the entire world.
Episode 10: In the Midst of Turmoil
Leliel: Well that’s…stark.
{MELTY} Eh?
[NAOFUMI] Get lost.
[MELTY] Please, wait! You have to hear me out!
{NAOFUMI} I don't "have to" listen to a damn word that comes out of any of the filthy royal mouths.
Iana: …and rather daring. Not uncalled for, though. She did kind of lie about it…and of the three royals interacted with so far, two out of three are, well, what Horizon would term as “good reason for a societal refitting.”
Chie: Agreed. No points here, for once Naofumi flipping people off is the right reaction - and more right than the show realizes, given who Mirellia is.
Wanderer2691: Anyway, a guard comes to retrieve the upset Melty to meet with Aultcray, Filo attempts to follow but is stopped, and…we get a flashback that explains why Melty’s even back in Melromarc to begin with.
[MIRELLIA] Melty, I need you to do something for me.
[MELTY] Of course.
[MIRELLIA] I want you to return to the capital right away and admonish the king for his unjust and outrageous treatment of the Shield Hero. Ordinarily, I would go myself, but as you know… {*looks at the diplomatic guards*}
{MELTY} You can always count on me, Mother.
Leliel: This…raises a few questions.
Yukiko: To start with - as we noted, the very nature of protecting the Shield Hero means that, maybe, she should know what the Shield Hero looks like? Even if her royal education is…well, the sort of thing that produces her sister?
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 329
Chie: For another, why is Melty needed for this? If this is a bit of chewing out Aultcray, isn’t this the kind of thing you can send over with, uh, a letter? About the only reason she’s going is so the writers have a reason for her to meet Naofumi - no matter how absolutely dumb her guards are.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 387
Iana: Finally…crown princess of the nation. Pawn in a marital dispute that also is defending someone your main religion calls the devil. Do you see the issue here, Your Alleged Highness? Especially if your political enemies find out?
GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRL-LOSS: 331 (One for treating her literal daughter as a gofer, another for risking her reputation as the crown princess.)
Leliel: Bonus round - given what we learn about Faubrey, why was Melty anywhere near there to begin with?! Harmful to minors, do you know that concept?!
GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRL-LOSS: 332
We are in the first cutaway and we’re already finding something to rant over…
{ERHARD} Ya know, she's got a point, kid.
{FILO} Hey, Master, I don't understand. How could you treat Mel so coldly? Why? Tell me why! Please!
Iana: …is this show really going to make me defend…ugh, well, for one, Melty is literally the crown princess and exactly zero other royals have left anything resembling a good impression on Naofumi, she actively hid it despite how important that is, she is clearly serving as her mother’s agent for unknown reasons, she is a total stranger who basically made him unknowingly party to a potential major diplomatic incident if she got hurt…the scroll goes on. And it’s extremely precious that this show suddenly expects us to believe that Naofumi’s cynicism is unwarranted just because it wants Melty to be a member of this Circle. Now excuse me, I need some chewables to get the taste of defending Naofumi out of my mouth.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 387
{NAOFUMI} Listen to me, Filo. It's not a good idea to play with Melty anymore.
{FILO} What?
{RAPHTALIA} Master Naofumi, speaking to her like a father isn't going to help Filo understand things any better.
Chie: Leaving aside that once again, this girl is literally Naofumi’s property and yet expects us to see her as his daughter…
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 437
…can I just say, I don’t think this is exactly something she needs to understand so much as being safe? For the sake of argument, let’s say Filo’s relation to Naofumi really is father-daughter, no issue…I don’t think Naofumi is exactly able to explain how political scheming or manipulation works.
Yukiko: But of course, this show wants Melty to be the Token Actual Pure Princess, so now it’s awful. Because as we will see, worldbuilding is completely subordinate to writer convenience.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 388
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 333 (This too, if mostly because Raphtalia should be aware of just how underhanded the royalty is from her experiences with Malty. Enough to at least be neutral about not trusting her sister.)
Wanderer: But, Filo runs off, upset, while Naofumi confirms he doesn’t trust a single royal here, but then the guard from before shows up - along with his unit:
Leliel: This guy’s name is Ake, by the way. Ake confirms he and his squad are Lute natives and, after the sterling way Ake’s ostensible commanders acted and having his town saved by Naofumi, they want to help Naofumi during the Waves, which is why he was following Naofumi around. This I like because, well, you remember how badly that fight was managed, along with the complete recklessness with collateral. Even if this shown remembered the Shield Devil is a thing, these guys are not exactly going to be completely unshaken in faith after all that.
Wanderer: Naturally, this is immediately ruined. Because Naofumi has a challenge before Ake and Company can back him up…
This is later revealed to be Naofumi’s idea of being a benign trickster, since he actually wants them to scrounge up enough money to buy equipment…except that absolutely nothing stops him from being honest. This way, it comes off like “humiliate yourself for me so I can trust you”, and that’s really not exactly the kind of thing that gets anything other than a yes-man, prick.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 480
Chie: And as a side note, that pendant is basically a secondhand accessory…and Erhard just makes a “Well, I have to admit it; you never change, kid”, and Filo calls him a meanie. That’s the extent of people caring about this level of extortion. This isn’t even something they call him out until he explains his actual logic, either. So this is okay to them. Jerks.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 389
Iana: In any case, Naofumi starts paying Erhard for an armor upgrade, when he notices something about Raphtalia and Filo’s levels:
Leliel: …I’m pretty sure this is a weird translation in the sub, as an asterisk looks like *, not five points. But, it’s minor, just bringing it up so nobody’s confused. Lord knows we have enough issues from the plot.
Wanderer: But, basically, both Raphtalia and Filo have hit the level cap…I would immediately start asking why Erhard, who doesn’t have Status Magic, is able to figure out what that means and tell Naofumi, but then I remembered he has Appraisal Magic and can probably tell if he has enough time to examine someone. So, benefit of the doubt, on the off-chance this is really clever. Off-chance.
[ERHARD] It lets you increase your level cap. Only those recognized by the court have the option, but since you are a hero, it's possible.
Wanderer: …I am not so charitable here - the “court”? Which court? Aultray’s? The local district judge’s? A tribunal of the world’s best tennis champions? Given how Erhard immediately says he’s gone through an upgrade simply as a random blacksmith, it’s clearly not that hard. It might also be a translation issue, but even in that case, there is not “just because you’re a hero” - and oh yeah, Shield Devil. If there’s any hero where the court wouldn’t recognize…
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 335 (One for confusing language, one for Naofumi being a Cardinal Hero when convenient.)
Yukiko: Wait, what? Aren’t the purposes of the Dragon Hourglasses to serve as a timer until the next Wave of Calamity? They serve as important a function as literally enabling someone to reach past the pinnacle of their original abilities. That implies they were around before the Waves, but then…why hourglasses? Were they something else?
Leliel: From the wiki, they were always Hourglasses, and no, there’s no reason given why the empowerment site is always ticking down ominously. Or even if it was before the Waves suddenly became a thing.
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 336
Iana: So, Naofumi encourages Filo and Raphtalia to choose their own upgrade path while making their way over, because he will go home as soon as the Waves of Calamity stop and this show continues to think that owning property is the same as adoption. Blight-ridden oil slick that it is.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 438
Yukiko: Given what he’s done to you and the codependency he exploits, I sure hope so. So long as it is my world. [Grins evilly as she opens her fans threateningly.]
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 439
Chie: That’s when Naofumi discovers that the Church controls access to the Hourglass…and apparently, it’s one of their major moneymakers.
[NAOFUMI] Fifteen gold pieces?!
[SISTER A] Yes, sir, a class upgrade will cost gold pieces per person.
Leliel: [Panicked look] …by the way, this is a gacha term. [Hides]
Wanderer: …hey, no worries. My sudden pyroclastic rage is being calmed by the idea of Naofumi losing each and every one. Because he’s a moron who thinks “thousands of gacha rolls” is a good comparison to make, because that’s what matters.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 481 (admittedly, this is more ‘really?’ than anything else, but ‘allegedly intelligent character being prone to things like gambling without acknowledgement it’s a flaw’ is a personal bugaboo of ours.)
Leliel: [Comes out] But…side note, really. What’s the conversion rate here? We have a fuckton of lootboxes for 15 gold, but what’s the yen equivalent? Fuck, how many silver is in a gold piece!? We know copper’s pretty cheap, it paid for a good-sized kid’s meal, but silver is the more frequent valuation for adventurers and as we’ll see, other traveling rich folk…but what’s the denomination? I’m pretty sure the gold charge is a scam because the Church hates Naofumi, but assuming it’s accurate, Erhard’s a pretty middle-class guy, and he was able to pay for a level upgrade. This wouldn’t be such a bugaboo, except our hero is a merchant. The economics is a thing he’s directly involved in and supposedly smart about!
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 337
Chie: So, Naofumi pays for his gladiatrix first over Filo - only to be informed of a ‘mistake’, that Aultcray has forbidden the Shield Hero from using his hourglass. You know, because he’s the Shield Devil, and even if Naofumi didn’t somehow pick that up, then he knows that the King personally despises him. I’m beginning to see why Wanderer and Leliel think he’s, I dunno, completely oblivious. And this show thinks this is some kind of revelation that nobody could see coming.
Yukiko: Oooh, I just remembered something! Did you know the Greek name ‘Outis’, meaning ‘nobody’, was an alias assumed by Odysseus to take advantage of a particularly dumb cyclops with no mind for puns? …Somehow I doubt the Great Strategist would even bother taking Argonaut Raphtalia near somewhere he knows has a monarch that makes Agamemnon look like a particularly forthright and merciful puppy.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 482
Iana: Naofumi takes the money back, in spite of the fact this was almost certainly a trap to extort him and they really should have squirreled it away by now and…oh, Dragons preserve me…
Chie: Wait, is that a picture of…oooh, nooo….
Yukiko: …another fun fact. Filo wondered if Naofumi was going to sell her back to Beloukas to get the profit needed. This is a legitimate thing to wonder and not at all the gag with heartwarming headpats of denial the show plays it off as. [Facepalms, middle finger strategically placed outward]
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 439
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 483 (WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE AT TRAUMA CENTRAL FOR RAPHTALIA, NAOFUMI.)
{NAOFUMI} Looks like your business is doing okay.
{BELOUKAS} And it is all thanks to you, if I may be so blunt. Yes, your traveling trade has been extremely profitable for me as well as you [Filo], thank you so much.
Leliel: …I got nothing. Naofumi has literally brought good business to a slave trader and is continuing to lean on him for favors. Explicitly because Filo is a filolial queen, so now Beloukas has a good reputation among slavers. Clearly, the main issue with him being a hero is that he isn’t in Golarion - there is a very large, very rich empire which would love to have him as an icon. So what if it’s Cheliax, the Empire of Devils?
(Pictured: Asmodeus, God of Tyranny and Contracts, Dark Prince of Hell. National Patron of Cheliax. “Devils” is rather literal.)
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 492 (Ten, because this offends us that deeply even if it’s not something he’s actively doing.)
Wanderer: Ugh…cutting through this, basically Naofumi notes that Beloukas had a slave that broke the level cap for sale, and still does, so he wants to know how Beloukas did it. While Beloukas needs a Dragon Hourglass too, nothing says it has to be Melromarc’s, and as a [urk] favor to his money ticket, he points Naofumi in the right direction for free.
{BELOUKAS} If we're talking favorable countries for you to upgrade classes, there's the Mercenary Nation Zeltoble, Demi-Human Country Siltvelt, and Shieldfreeden. I suggest Shieldfreeden. Even though it's a country of demi-humans, it's surprisingly welcoming to humans.
Iana: …clearly, given how it’s recommended by the guy who enslaves demihumans for a living to his sponsor and the reputation he gave. Did nobody notice what species was in those cages - of course not, the writers didn’t.
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 338
Chie: But getting there before the next Wave would take too long normally, so Beloukas has a deal for a stopgap weapon for Filo - wyvern talons.
The rest is just haggling on a price, but there’s a statement here we need to examine after Naofumi talks him into some reins…
{BELOUKAS} You've grown into just the kind of man I really adore! You make my spine tingle!
Yukiko: This is supposedly about being impressed at haggling skills. Given Beloukas’ profession, however, there is only one real way to treat this and remain somewhat noble:
(https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0171.html)
And really, given how paternal Beloukas is acting towards Naofumi here…it’s clear this show really wants us to like him so we excuse his job and purpose. All part of the apologia, I suppose.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 440
Leliel: But, to test it out, and as a favor, Beloukas asks them to dispose of some sewer monsters that…honestly is kind of pointless, but it does allow Filo and Raphtalia time to do stuff, and isn’t too long. It does give us this image though:
Iana: I am now imagining that as amphelisia venom, literally the result of a demon made to brew all forms of acid and poison in their gizzard. It is a good agony he is going through. Not to mention, done by a cute little chubby iguana, which is just lovely humiliation.
Chie: Cut to hotel, Naofumi patches up Raphtalia and she interrupts his strategizing to…
{RAPHTALIA} Once all the Waves have been repelled, you'll probably go back-- back to your home world and I'll never see you again.
Yukiko: …actually no. She’s providing me a trace for me to know where to look for when Naofumi gets close to me.
Wanderer: …the slow descent of Yukiko Amagi into Dexter Morgan aside, this is really grinding in just how toxic this show’s attitude towards what Raphtalia actually is shows - because it absolutely refuses to have anything except daughter-cum-waifu, and every time her relationship with Naofumi is focused in, it repeats itself. Methinks the slaver doth protest too much.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 441
Leliel: Thralls-this-show-calls-adoptive-daughters have a spat, Naofumi ends it, and one montage later, Naofumi travels north where…shock of all shocks, he’s asked for a toll, in spite of his merchant pass!
Yukiko: While he expresses sympathy for the guard, I find it a bit precious that “guard still charges for use of important road by merchants” to be something so strange it is worthy of note and a symptom of extreme poverty, as we’ll see here. Like…nobody’s found a road so useful it pays for even merchants to maintain it?
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 339
Iana: But, it impacted Naofumi, so as he says…
{NAOFUMI} Whoever's in charge is a scumbag. That toll told the whole story.
Chile: …a whole two silvers, if that much. That’s an abusive toll. Of a professional licensed merchant who likely has that as pocket change. Tightwad!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 493
Wanderer: But, away from that gate, we discover elements of said poverty, with these guys.
Who have been reduced to barter due to having lost even their money and being refugees from further north.
{VILLAGER}Some say that an adventurer was apparently sent from this place to put together a resistance force and begin a revolution. Now we're in this mess.
Leliel: …oh boy, here we go. It’s time for Cardinal Defame-O-Clock.
{NAOFUMI} Do you have any idea what this adventurer was like?
[VILLAGER A] We don't really know, but the rumors say he used a bow.
Chie: …okay, so Itsuki caused this…somehow? Revolutions are violent business, but…how?
Wanderer: Trust me, the reason says way more about this show than him.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 105
Iana: Some reflex of his dying conscience triggered, Naofumi sets up a soup kitchen, and finds a harp that has ‘plot element’ written all over it:
…and then the party makes their way back to Castle Town for pre-Wave lunch, where none other than Ren and Itsuki are in a nearby booth, chatting.
{ITSUKI} but y'know what happened after that? When I went to the Guild to pick up the reward, they had already paid it out to somebody else.
{REN} Same here. I lost a job request from some guy out of the blue.
{ITSUKI} Looks like someone's going around pretending to be us.
Chie: Given how relentlessly negative these two are portrayed as, I’m getting a sense we should dislike them for their greed - unlike the profit motive of our protag, of course.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 107 (One for both.)
But as it turns out, Itsuki’s been taking requests from the Adventurer’s Guild to overthrow random despots known for taxing people too much, including for…
{ITSUKI’S PARTY MEMBER} Yes. From what I can tell, it seems that the local lord is heavily taxing the citizens, way beyond the court's set limits, and he's using that revenue in a vicious campaign to suppress dissenters of any kind and to hire mercenaries.
Yukiko: Keep the reason for that in mind - the cranked up taxes were for hiring thugs to legbreak opposition voices. So, Naofumi catches on Itsuki’s the hero who caused the refugee crisis, then he overhears how Itsuki describes his target.
Leliel: Naofumi suppressing laughter gets Itsuki’s attention, at which point he drops this other line:
Wanderer: …question. When did Spider-Man suddenly enter into the conversation?
Yukiko: …this show is about to make A Point, isn’t it?
{ITSUKI} It's you, huh?! You're the one who's been impersonating us, stealing our jobs and taking our rewards.
[NAOFUMI] What the hell would I do that for?
{ITSUKI} Who else would come up with an idea like--
[NAOFUMI] Did you ever think that may be you're trying too hard to be some sort of supercool secret vigilante? And that you're not very good at it?
Wanderer: …oh brother. Naofumi, and this show, thinks this old chestnut is novel. Ugh, I’m going to state up front that The Boys started to suck rapidly after it decided the concept of heroism was like, totally lame man, and forgetting its actual point, and going to mark a point down for already starting on this cliche…
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 495
Leliel: I’m not even going to give this self-righteous self-hating geek prattle more text than absolutely needed, because it’s probably something you’ve read before if you’re anywhere close to comics and the need of insecure alleged intellectuals to boast about how very mature they are by saying the concept of caped heroes is bad because something something unrealistic - basically that last king Itsuki overthrew was due to high taxes, but then, shock of all shocks, the former resistance started hiking up taxes to pay for infrastructure - and that caused the refugee crisis as people couldn’t pay.
Iana: [Eyes narrowed, steepling her fingers] …Let me guess. Naofumi is going to whine at Itsuki that he didn’t change the world for the better, just who was in charge.
[NAOFUMI] And all you did was switch who was running the village. It never solved a damn thing.
Ah. Of course. This old chestnut - the same exact thing that my dear brother-in-law’s supporters tried to claim as they were being hauled off to the stockade - as part of how we ‘needed’ them when they were the ones draining the treasury on personal gifts to begin with. Because, fun fact - the kind of excessive taxes that provoke actual armed revolt are the kind of thing that don’t go to infrastructure - they end up in the back pocket of special interests, rather than paying for the bread and circuses that keep people content, full, and peaceful. The average salt-of-the-earth bellowing fool may whine and whine and whine about how taxation is theft, but even if he sincerely convinces himself of it, he won’t actually resist until he feels backed into a corner and his belly empty. Happy people don’t revolt, and stable revolutions tend to address why they revolted. They often don’t work, but from the sound of it, our dear Shield Hero would prefer that the commoners lie down and take it because ‘the king knows better’. Especially when a similar man is actively hiring legbreakers rather than listen to his constituents.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 496
Leliel: And here’s where I reveal a trick - because while full-circle revolutions and especially internal coups that don’t change a damned thing are unfortunately common…Peter Parker wasn’t actually the original hero invoked with Itsuki’s “fuckups.” It was actually someone who uses a bow - Robin Hood.
[pause]
Yukiko: …as in the man who actively robs from the rich and gives to the needy. That Robin Hood. That was the negative comparison. Because Itsuki is trying to overthrow greedy noblemen and may not stick around to make sure it’s done right. While Naofumi is the very definition of driven by getting money.
Chie: But of course it is, Yuki! After all, you can’t expect Robin Hood to be actually heroic! Naofumi would be one of his victims!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 497
Wanderer: But don’t think we’re letting Mr. Animal Farm off the hook - because Itsuki is still set on being mad that he thinks Naofumi is stealing the credit, and outright refusing to believe him. This is pure and plain narcissism, and why we mentioned we thought a competent show would gradually upgrade him to major antagonist; we’re going to break down exactly how to do it in the mid-duology break. But here, he’s just being yet another popular kid for Naofumi to pwnzors, even as Ren takes the discovery that miasma theory is a thing in this world like a pro, even apologizing to Raphtalia when he notices a burn on her.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 108
Yukiko: Thankfully we can skim the rest - Naofumi gets his upgraded armor, now with Dragon Zombie gem parts now in his breastplate, Ake and company show up but are told to keep the money and the accessory to buy gear and to report to Naofumi in the morning for strategy - then we cut to another person on Mr. Hood’s larceny list as we cut back to Mirellia.
{SHADOW} Melty appears to have made contact with the Shield Hero's party, Your Majesty.
Also, this is in Faubrey. Clearly, the Shadows can travel fast so…why not have them as messengers?
[MIRELLIA] If the Shield Hero is the kind of man I hear he is, reconciliation will take quite some time.
but this, too, is her duty as the future ruler.
Iana: Ah, you’re making your preteen daughter miserable and putting her through hell, possibly at risk to her life, to toughen her up. That is very novel and not at all the kind of thing an abusive parent pulls out of their aft end to justify making their child as miserable as they are. Ugh, this is why I take any excuse to get away from the Real True Aristocrats of Champoor, these people are like overly perfumed weeds. And they always want to speak to the manager.
GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRL-LOSS: 340
Chie: But, the Wave starts, and we get a woman who is obscured by an excessive amount of foreshadowing:
Wanderer: And we’re done! …again, it’s really sick that I see this as an easier lift than even other sporkings in this stupid show.
Leliel: Which also means it’s time for a chew-out - this time of the kind of character Itsuki is supposed to be!
(https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/505949-let-me-tell-you-why-thats-bullshit)
And this is really frustrating, because it’s a character archetype I really like - a particular kind of villain with good publicity TV Tropes likes to call the Evil Hero, someone with a traditionally protagonistic job who is, in fact, a fairly villainous person…while taking their job seriously. To contrast, let me show one of Atlus’ own recent examples, or as much as I can without spoiling, Louis Guiabern!
(Source: Wikipedia, not linked due to spoilers)
Yukiko: …why hello there, Griffith. With…horns.
Wanderer: Louis here is the main villain of Metaphor: ReFantazio, Atlus’ foray into high fantasy - he’s the effective head general of the game’s major setting, the United Kingdom of Euchronia, and semi-publicly the assassin of the previous king, Hythlodaeus V. Except he’s such a war hero and so charismatic that while he all but boasts about it, nobody cares, since Hythlodaeus was not a popular king and Louis ideals of ruthless meritocracy have a lot of appeal. Later on, you discover he’s been using his position to manufacture crises in order to make it seem like a military dictator like him is the only possible and feasible option for survival of Euchronia - as in, shortly before you recruit the first party member. Louis is many things, but “subtle” is not one of them - the man personifies bombast. Seriously, this is how he crashes the King’s funeral to make his case for royalty:
Iana: …okay, I am copping to hypocrisy and I admit I don’t enjoy coupists, but…I like the cut of his jib. Nice bit of showmanship.
Leliel: The thing is…Louis is popular for many reasons. For one, he’s a genuine war hero, having put down a couple of armed revolts and being well-known for killing the giant, nearly invulnerable monsters known as “humans” (roll with it). For another…he’s a ruthless meritocrat. And only that, which means he’s not a different thing that has haunted Euchronia - virulently racist.
Wanderer: See, Echronia has several “tribes” of different physical descriptions, what we might call “demihumans”; Louis’ horns mark him as a clemar, the most common and probably what would be humans in a similar niche in Dungeons and Dragons; the adaptable default. This makes them the top of the racial caste system along with elf-like roussiante, and most clemar look down on non-roussiante tribes at best, at worst..well, the first paripus, animal-eared people at the rump of society, that we see is…being beaten to death by guards for stealing bread.
Chie: [Long blink] …remind me to direct internal affairs to Echronia’s precinct…
Leliel: So, yeah. Louis doesn’t care - if you can fight, you’re in, and that makes him a hero to violent people who hate the way the world treats them, as shown with the paripus Magnus Brothers who are often his agents throughout the game, and Cisrium Zorba, a necromancer who is part of a despised hybrid people. That doesn’t mean what he does isn’t bad. He’s still a ruthless darwinian authoritarian even before you see what makes him tick. But he is a hero who is solving quests and winning fame, and it’s clear he’s the protagonist of his own story.
Wanderer: Contrast with Itsuki, who is…completely blank except when he needs to be shown up:
(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InformedAttribute)
Leliel: That thing about how making fun of Spider-Man was a sudden shift from Robin Hood is really telling, if you ask me - because Itsuki really clearly isn’t some merry outlaw or a dark twist on it. As we’ll see, since he experiences the world he’s been isekai’d in as a JRPG, he sees tyrants as basically filler bosses and side quests while he is training for the main plot. Which means he does absolutely nothing that could be defined as “Dark Robin Hood”; he doesn’t steal, he doesn’t give, he isn’t even a bandit, he uses a Guild job board. Which also opens up why they are accepting assassination jobs for adventurers, but whatever.
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 341
Chie: But the thing is - just calling him a different hero makes it clear how…empty he is. In fact, apart from his refusal to acknowledge fault…what did he do wrong? He literally just followed a rebel movement and assumed they knew what they were doing. You know, like anyone working with an established force.
Wanderer: Even more telling is how the franchise tries to condemn him - because it claims his issue is “replacing people with worse or similar successors”, except that isn’t his intent, it’s just to solve an issue so bad someone posted an assassination job. One gets the sense that Itsuki’s problem, according to this show, is that he cares at all, as opposed to amoral money-grubbing. And as the web novel later shows, when it needs him to be a protagonist - he suddenly becomes so much more humble and supportive, like there was a switch now that he needs to qualify as a good guy, ie nice to Naofumi. Ultimately, this is why we said that Itsuki not being a major villain is a sign of just how badly this show is even in concept; because he’s the perfect foil to someone trying to help people economically and regards himself as a friend to commoners, a trigger-happy narcissist who can’t accept the world is more than fighting things. Except this also might make Naofumi’s life harder, so the big-old morality switch is jiggled. Absolutely nothing makes him memorable as an antagonist, let alone a character.
Leliel: And in light of the actually interesting character Itsuki could have been, ten more points, because of how utterly enslaved he is to writer convenience.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 118
{NAOFUMI} If we lose, all the villagers will die, and so will you! Quit thinking this is some sort of game 'cause it's not!
Yukiko: Oh, good, they weren’t. So, clearly they’re already on it, put away that report form. HR appreciates the feedback, but given how your co-workers are clearly trying to do their jobs, it’s more likely to clog their workflow and massively annoy them. Nobody likes a whiner, and that is valid for unjustified whiners.
Wanderer: This is part of a really annoying undertone to this series - the idea that the Cardinal Heroes treat this world as a game and play around. The thing is…if that were the case on a more total and noticeable level, we’d be seeing a lot more violent behavior. Because, let’s face it - Grand Theft Auto is a series where the whole point is to turn off your conscience and embrace your destructive id in a place where there’s no real-world or narrative consequence. Basically, enjoy the chaos, and a lot of open-world games lean into that. But these three? Ren’s just kind of training the blade, Itsuki is literally overthrowing tyrants for a job (the author forces him to do it badly, but whatever), and Motoyasu…okay, yeah, he’s trying to sleep with a lot of women, but it’s not like he doesn’t care for them as people, shallow as he is. He hates slavery too much to be considered a complete rakehell. But this series really, really wants us to think Naofumi is somehow better because “empathy”, all while ignoring this world is a literal LitRPG. It runs on video game logic, that’s what Stat Magic even is! So, yeah, no wonder these three keep (allegedly) making that mistake, literally everything runs on video game logic!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 498
Iana: To recap, Ren reveals he believes if he kills the Skull Captain enough, the Soul Eater will be spawned in to reveal itself, which I am told is apparently a thing in some fighting game bosses, so for once I can see the internal mistake that this franchise claims he makes. However, Naofumi notices something off about the Captain’s shadow (we can’t easily show it, but it does not totally match his movements), and whistles for Raphtalia to cast a spell that will unleash an extremely bright flash.
…and apparently, that incantation is standard for sorcery in this world. Except when it isn’t. Can someone explain why this incantation is only sometimes needed though, especially for a glorified flash powder bomb?! Or digging shallow pits from the race earlier?!
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 342
Chie: This causes a face to appear in the Captain’s shadow and roar in discomfort…
…along with the shadows of every other monster on this boat. When she stabs the shadow, it erupts into energy…along with every other shadow, with Itsuki (who hops on board) noting the flames are appearing everywhere.
Wanderer: Apparently, the original Dimensional Soul Eater split itself into a bunch, and recognizing the game’s up, its flames merge back into one:
Leliel: See, I like this design. It’s clearly undead, but it’s also demonic in an alien way, especially with its fish-like qualities. One gets the sense that it is very much a native of an alien world with at least somewhat different monstrous ecologies. It won’t last, because we’ll see humans are native to its world too, but as far as Mr. Spirit Nomming Catfish goes, one gets the sense at least the monsters are different.
Yukiko: To cut through a rather good scene, the Cardinal Heroes discover that it’s immune to lightning, and Filo’s wind spells only hurt it enough for it to notice. It also has some nasty dark magic bad breath that knocks out most of the people on board, as the Heroes aren’t able to cancel it in time. Naofumi was able to block it with his shield, though…which leads to the awkward realization that he and his gladiatrixes are also the only persons doing any damage at all…
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 122
…but that aside, it is a cool fight, that has a good note of Naofumi getting worried when he realizes how gradual it is - Elrasla and Ake can only hold out for so long, so he-
Leliel: …decides to use the I Win Button, making all of that thing we liked a bit pointless. Yeah, sure, there’s reasoning for it, but frankly, the Super Powered Evil Side already being used as a resource does not deserve me nodding along to the “desperation” of this moment, when he got it barely a couple episodes ago and all he knows is that it badly burned Raphtalia to the point of needing holy water for her to recover.
OTHER WORLDS’ WORTH OF FILLER: 6
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 499 (“Meh, this is taking too long, I’m going to use the destructive wildfire that sends me into a berserk rage that hurts my loved ones! Ner!”)
At least he asks “Forgive me”, but the follow-up doesn’t make it much better.
[RAPHTALIA] Don't you remember what I told you? You can always count on me to be your sword.
Iana: …you know, my father was intent that I’d protect Ravatri not just as if she was my sister, but dearer to me than life itself. That I, as close cousin to royalty and future vizier both, was ultimately someone who had nothing but the life of the potential future Empress-Consort of Champoor keeping the entire family alive, and to fail her was to fail my nation itself. This is one of many reasons why I don’t talk to my father much anymore; it’s not a way to live, and I’m literally a backup for the throne if something horrible happens to Ravatri and her heirs, not a battle thrall. If I hadn’t hit it off with my cousin, I’m pretty sure I’d be plotting her death out of spite for how unappreciated my assigned role was. Suffice to say, blech.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 542
Wanderer: Anyway, he gets Filo to swear to protect Raphtalia just in case and you know this isn’t beating the Khorne allegations, dude.
(Yuri Barkov, post-Chaos corruption: https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Godslayer)
Fuck, Tzeentch is probably laughing his ass off right now, given how my escape from his lamest Champion put me smack-dab in the path of the just-as-narcisstic Chaos Undivided one…
Chie: Awkward references aside, as he taps into it-
[ZOMBIE DRAGON] You will pay...
[NAOFUMI gasps]
[ZOMBIE DRAGON] You will pay!
Chie: So, as it turns out, drawing on the power of an evil artifact that is literally powered by anger when it activated first around a being so angry it reanimated his corpse might have had side effects! Who’da thunk it?!
Yukiko: On the one hand, the fact that a remnant of the Zombie Dragon’s will is now a part of the Shield and is a bit miffed at being awoken to help out his killer isn’t something that Naofumi knew was going to happen…on the other hand, what he did know was that Raphtalia was badly burned, and the Rage Shield didn’t even return the Zombie Dragon to the grave - that was all Filo! In fact…
That Naofumi took the reanimating crystal and reforged it into armor probably made the zombie ghost even more mad! Excellent foresight, Shield Idiot!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 500 (Not seeing a car crash coming is understandable. Driving in poor visibility conditions with knowingly busted seatbelts deserves all the scorn.)
Iana: So, this causes the Shield to agree with our assessment of Naofumi’s character by accident…
…and the Rage Shield officially evolves into the Wrath Shield, with attendant armor remodeling to symbolize Naofumi’s Zombie Dragon-ridden state:
Wanderer: Pretty soon, the Dragon’s influence spreads to the Horror, causing her to assume her true nature:
Man is she going to be pissed when she realizes she’s working of her species’ archenemy’s lingering will. But, because it’s contractually required that the Super Powered Evil Side is an I Win Button, both she and Naofumi end up wailing on the Soul Eater pretty thoroughly, promptly Malty to open her mouth.
{MYNE} and that certainly isn't how a hero is supposed to fight.
Chie: Uh, Your Highness? Maybe save the catty commentary for after the rage demon you’re insulting is out of earshot?
RED MENACE: 71
Leliel: *Motoyasu* “I dunno, maybe the fact he’s a literal wildfire right now and is screaming bloody murder, possibly invectives at Ren? Kinda trying to avoid hurting my team by getting in his way” Not that the show wants to admit that.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 123
{MYNE} Miserable demi-human, how dare you!
Yukiko: That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook either, you racist ditz.
RED MENACE: 72
{RAPHTALIA} Master Naofumi's fighting in our place, doing what we lack the courage to do! [That’s right…]
If only I were stronger… I wouldn't have to put him through this!
Wanderer: Fun fact; believing you have agency over the selfish desires of another is a symptom of being caught in an abusive relationship, and self-blame. One likely provoked by the abuser. Just oughta mention that.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 543
But, this gets through to them, and they start helping attack the Soul Eater’s minions to stop them from reinforcing it…which doesn’t sit well with Motoyasu, as Designated Wrong Guy:
Iana: Itsuki agrees and points out it’s only because they need to at the moment, and I feel that needs no further elaboration. But also that I would be entirely sympathetic to Motoyasu about helping a slaver and rapist, and at least forcing him to make it worth our time later. Like, for example, a promise to free slaves.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 124
{MYNE} Sir Motoyasu? You can't be serious--you're not going to help the Shield?!
Leliel: [Opens mouth]
[REN] Then why don't you kill that thing?
Leliel: …I hate it when the show sporks itself with her sheer inability to stop being the Menace.
RED MENACE: 73
Yukiko: But, according to this franchise, Naofumi has no desire to act out what the Dragon wants - likely because it will damage his stuff, realistically - so cut back to his mental plane where he’s battling against the undead will…
…in the most boring way possible, just kind of writhing around and telling the voice to shut up…
And being saved through the power of Stockholm Syndrome confirmation - apologies, I mean found family. Seriously, didn’t this just happen with the actual Zombie Dragon and through the nearly same exact way?
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 544
Wanderer: Oh no, because now Raphtalia didn’t have to risk herself to snap him out of it. So there’s even less tension when it comes out now!
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 390
Chie: The worst part is, Naofumi’s internal dialogue is actually heroic. He realizes that he’s not actually here for personal revenge, but to ensure the villagers and his new backup are saved. And the resulting spell is appropriately dark for a Deadly Sin-based weapon, summoning an iron maiden to skewer the Soul Eater once it’s caught in one of his shield balls. It’s just the Raphtalia-shaped elephant in the room that ruins it, which is why heroic slavery is such a toxic thing in these shows.
Leliel: We also have an r/selfawarewolves moment here when Ren describes what the Shield is:
Yukiko: Ren sees this in terms of a VRMMO, yes? He clearly recognizes an abusive Game Master buffing a friend when he sees one. Whiny as this, and Motoyasu proclaiming he’ll do better next time (and being mocked by Filo) is supposed to be.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 126 (One for both.)
Iana: But then, the Wave of Calamity…doesn’t clear. Rather, a new Soul Eater shows up. We get this attempt at showing that no, Ren totally does see this as a game:
…and the text ignoring this is entirely valid, as Aultcray himself said knowledge of the game forms that the ritual call for heroes manifested was supposed to be very informative…
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 127
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 343
Wanderer: And that’s when Ominous Foreshadowing Lady makes her debut, with the traditional Totes Strong One Hit Kill To Establish Supposed Threat.
Wanderer: Everyone, meet Glass.
Iana: …excuse me what.
Wanderer: Glass. That’s her name.
Yukiko: …she looks awfully opaque for it…
Wanderer: No, I don’t know why her name is “brutalized sand.” There’s probably a Japanese cultural reason or pun that makes sense, but I have no idea what it is. Feel free to tell me.
Chie: But, she mocks the Cardinal Heroes for being weaklings and losers, and says only Naofumi is worthy of being called a hero (boo!), introduces herself, and says that she’s the true boss of the Wave, or at least heavily implies it.
Leliel: See, this I like. It implies that, at minimum, some monsters are intelligent and fully on board with the Waves - it’s hard to see in this photo, but Glass’ pupils are vertical like a cat’s, implying she’s not a baseline human. However, it also implies she could be a demihuman or similar, which raises even more mysteries! Quite simply, Glass is genuinely intriguing. And it pains me that her primary role in the next episode is largely to be Naofumi’s hype woman on some level.
Wanderer: And speaking of, join us next time, when Naofumi outdoes the sheer force of subreddit irony in terms of r/thathappened, and Malty makes her move to secure inheritance! Till next time!
Leliel: Well that’s…stark.
{MELTY} Eh?
[NAOFUMI] Get lost.
[MELTY] Please, wait! You have to hear me out!
{NAOFUMI} I don't "have to" listen to a damn word that comes out of any of the filthy royal mouths.
Iana: …and rather daring. Not uncalled for, though. She did kind of lie about it…and of the three royals interacted with so far, two out of three are, well, what Horizon would term as “good reason for a societal refitting.”
Chie: Agreed. No points here, for once Naofumi flipping people off is the right reaction - and more right than the show realizes, given who Mirellia is.
Wanderer2691: Anyway, a guard comes to retrieve the upset Melty to meet with Aultcray, Filo attempts to follow but is stopped, and…we get a flashback that explains why Melty’s even back in Melromarc to begin with.
[MIRELLIA] Melty, I need you to do something for me.
[MELTY] Of course.
[MIRELLIA] I want you to return to the capital right away and admonish the king for his unjust and outrageous treatment of the Shield Hero. Ordinarily, I would go myself, but as you know… {*looks at the diplomatic guards*}
{MELTY} You can always count on me, Mother.
Leliel: This…raises a few questions.
Yukiko: To start with - as we noted, the very nature of protecting the Shield Hero means that, maybe, she should know what the Shield Hero looks like? Even if her royal education is…well, the sort of thing that produces her sister?
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 329
Chie: For another, why is Melty needed for this? If this is a bit of chewing out Aultcray, isn’t this the kind of thing you can send over with, uh, a letter? About the only reason she’s going is so the writers have a reason for her to meet Naofumi - no matter how absolutely dumb her guards are.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 387
Iana: Finally…crown princess of the nation. Pawn in a marital dispute that also is defending someone your main religion calls the devil. Do you see the issue here, Your Alleged Highness? Especially if your political enemies find out?
GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRL-LOSS: 331 (One for treating her literal daughter as a gofer, another for risking her reputation as the crown princess.)
Leliel: Bonus round - given what we learn about Faubrey, why was Melty anywhere near there to begin with?! Harmful to minors, do you know that concept?!
GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRL-LOSS: 332
We are in the first cutaway and we’re already finding something to rant over…
{ERHARD} Ya know, she's got a point, kid.
{FILO} Hey, Master, I don't understand. How could you treat Mel so coldly? Why? Tell me why! Please!
Iana: …is this show really going to make me defend…ugh, well, for one, Melty is literally the crown princess and exactly zero other royals have left anything resembling a good impression on Naofumi, she actively hid it despite how important that is, she is clearly serving as her mother’s agent for unknown reasons, she is a total stranger who basically made him unknowingly party to a potential major diplomatic incident if she got hurt…the scroll goes on. And it’s extremely precious that this show suddenly expects us to believe that Naofumi’s cynicism is unwarranted just because it wants Melty to be a member of this Circle. Now excuse me, I need some chewables to get the taste of defending Naofumi out of my mouth.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 387
{NAOFUMI} Listen to me, Filo. It's not a good idea to play with Melty anymore.
{FILO} What?
{RAPHTALIA} Master Naofumi, speaking to her like a father isn't going to help Filo understand things any better.
Chie: Leaving aside that once again, this girl is literally Naofumi’s property and yet expects us to see her as his daughter…
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 437
…can I just say, I don’t think this is exactly something she needs to understand so much as being safe? For the sake of argument, let’s say Filo’s relation to Naofumi really is father-daughter, no issue…I don’t think Naofumi is exactly able to explain how political scheming or manipulation works.
Yukiko: But of course, this show wants Melty to be the Token Actual Pure Princess, so now it’s awful. Because as we will see, worldbuilding is completely subordinate to writer convenience.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 388
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 333 (This too, if mostly because Raphtalia should be aware of just how underhanded the royalty is from her experiences with Malty. Enough to at least be neutral about not trusting her sister.)
Wanderer: But, Filo runs off, upset, while Naofumi confirms he doesn’t trust a single royal here, but then the guard from before shows up - along with his unit:
Leliel: This guy’s name is Ake, by the way. Ake confirms he and his squad are Lute natives and, after the sterling way Ake’s ostensible commanders acted and having his town saved by Naofumi, they want to help Naofumi during the Waves, which is why he was following Naofumi around. This I like because, well, you remember how badly that fight was managed, along with the complete recklessness with collateral. Even if this shown remembered the Shield Devil is a thing, these guys are not exactly going to be completely unshaken in faith after all that.
Wanderer: Naturally, this is immediately ruined. Because Naofumi has a challenge before Ake and Company can back him up…
This is later revealed to be Naofumi’s idea of being a benign trickster, since he actually wants them to scrounge up enough money to buy equipment…except that absolutely nothing stops him from being honest. This way, it comes off like “humiliate yourself for me so I can trust you”, and that’s really not exactly the kind of thing that gets anything other than a yes-man, prick.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 480
Chie: And as a side note, that pendant is basically a secondhand accessory…and Erhard just makes a “Well, I have to admit it; you never change, kid”, and Filo calls him a meanie. That’s the extent of people caring about this level of extortion. This isn’t even something they call him out until he explains his actual logic, either. So this is okay to them. Jerks.
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 389
Iana: In any case, Naofumi starts paying Erhard for an armor upgrade, when he notices something about Raphtalia and Filo’s levels:
Leliel: …I’m pretty sure this is a weird translation in the sub, as an asterisk looks like *, not five points. But, it’s minor, just bringing it up so nobody’s confused. Lord knows we have enough issues from the plot.
Wanderer: But, basically, both Raphtalia and Filo have hit the level cap…I would immediately start asking why Erhard, who doesn’t have Status Magic, is able to figure out what that means and tell Naofumi, but then I remembered he has Appraisal Magic and can probably tell if he has enough time to examine someone. So, benefit of the doubt, on the off-chance this is really clever. Off-chance.
[ERHARD] It lets you increase your level cap. Only those recognized by the court have the option, but since you are a hero, it's possible.
Wanderer: …I am not so charitable here - the “court”? Which court? Aultray’s? The local district judge’s? A tribunal of the world’s best tennis champions? Given how Erhard immediately says he’s gone through an upgrade simply as a random blacksmith, it’s clearly not that hard. It might also be a translation issue, but even in that case, there is not “just because you’re a hero” - and oh yeah, Shield Devil. If there’s any hero where the court wouldn’t recognize…
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 335 (One for confusing language, one for Naofumi being a Cardinal Hero when convenient.)
Yukiko: Wait, what? Aren’t the purposes of the Dragon Hourglasses to serve as a timer until the next Wave of Calamity? They serve as important a function as literally enabling someone to reach past the pinnacle of their original abilities. That implies they were around before the Waves, but then…why hourglasses? Were they something else?
Leliel: From the wiki, they were always Hourglasses, and no, there’s no reason given why the empowerment site is always ticking down ominously. Or even if it was before the Waves suddenly became a thing.
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 336
Iana: So, Naofumi encourages Filo and Raphtalia to choose their own upgrade path while making their way over, because he will go home as soon as the Waves of Calamity stop and this show continues to think that owning property is the same as adoption. Blight-ridden oil slick that it is.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 438
Yukiko: Given what he’s done to you and the codependency he exploits, I sure hope so. So long as it is my world. [Grins evilly as she opens her fans threateningly.]
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 439
Chie: That’s when Naofumi discovers that the Church controls access to the Hourglass…and apparently, it’s one of their major moneymakers.
[NAOFUMI] Fifteen gold pieces?!
[SISTER A] Yes, sir, a class upgrade will cost gold pieces per person.
Leliel: [Panicked look] …by the way, this is a gacha term. [Hides]
Wanderer: …hey, no worries. My sudden pyroclastic rage is being calmed by the idea of Naofumi losing each and every one. Because he’s a moron who thinks “thousands of gacha rolls” is a good comparison to make, because that’s what matters.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 481 (admittedly, this is more ‘really?’ than anything else, but ‘allegedly intelligent character being prone to things like gambling without acknowledgement it’s a flaw’ is a personal bugaboo of ours.)
Leliel: [Comes out] But…side note, really. What’s the conversion rate here? We have a fuckton of lootboxes for 15 gold, but what’s the yen equivalent? Fuck, how many silver is in a gold piece!? We know copper’s pretty cheap, it paid for a good-sized kid’s meal, but silver is the more frequent valuation for adventurers and as we’ll see, other traveling rich folk…but what’s the denomination? I’m pretty sure the gold charge is a scam because the Church hates Naofumi, but assuming it’s accurate, Erhard’s a pretty middle-class guy, and he was able to pay for a level upgrade. This wouldn’t be such a bugaboo, except our hero is a merchant. The economics is a thing he’s directly involved in and supposedly smart about!
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 337
Chie: So, Naofumi pays for his gladiatrix first over Filo - only to be informed of a ‘mistake’, that Aultcray has forbidden the Shield Hero from using his hourglass. You know, because he’s the Shield Devil, and even if Naofumi didn’t somehow pick that up, then he knows that the King personally despises him. I’m beginning to see why Wanderer and Leliel think he’s, I dunno, completely oblivious. And this show thinks this is some kind of revelation that nobody could see coming.
Yukiko: Oooh, I just remembered something! Did you know the Greek name ‘Outis’, meaning ‘nobody’, was an alias assumed by Odysseus to take advantage of a particularly dumb cyclops with no mind for puns? …Somehow I doubt the Great Strategist would even bother taking Argonaut Raphtalia near somewhere he knows has a monarch that makes Agamemnon look like a particularly forthright and merciful puppy.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 482
Iana: Naofumi takes the money back, in spite of the fact this was almost certainly a trap to extort him and they really should have squirreled it away by now and…oh, Dragons preserve me…
Chie: Wait, is that a picture of…oooh, nooo….
Yukiko: …another fun fact. Filo wondered if Naofumi was going to sell her back to Beloukas to get the profit needed. This is a legitimate thing to wonder and not at all the gag with heartwarming headpats of denial the show plays it off as. [Facepalms, middle finger strategically placed outward]
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 439
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 483 (WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE AT TRAUMA CENTRAL FOR RAPHTALIA, NAOFUMI.)
{NAOFUMI} Looks like your business is doing okay.
{BELOUKAS} And it is all thanks to you, if I may be so blunt. Yes, your traveling trade has been extremely profitable for me as well as you [Filo], thank you so much.
Leliel: …I got nothing. Naofumi has literally brought good business to a slave trader and is continuing to lean on him for favors. Explicitly because Filo is a filolial queen, so now Beloukas has a good reputation among slavers. Clearly, the main issue with him being a hero is that he isn’t in Golarion - there is a very large, very rich empire which would love to have him as an icon. So what if it’s Cheliax, the Empire of Devils?
(Pictured: Asmodeus, God of Tyranny and Contracts, Dark Prince of Hell. National Patron of Cheliax. “Devils” is rather literal.)
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 492 (Ten, because this offends us that deeply even if it’s not something he’s actively doing.)
Wanderer: Ugh…cutting through this, basically Naofumi notes that Beloukas had a slave that broke the level cap for sale, and still does, so he wants to know how Beloukas did it. While Beloukas needs a Dragon Hourglass too, nothing says it has to be Melromarc’s, and as a [urk] favor to his money ticket, he points Naofumi in the right direction for free.
{BELOUKAS} If we're talking favorable countries for you to upgrade classes, there's the Mercenary Nation Zeltoble, Demi-Human Country Siltvelt, and Shieldfreeden. I suggest Shieldfreeden. Even though it's a country of demi-humans, it's surprisingly welcoming to humans.
Iana: …clearly, given how it’s recommended by the guy who enslaves demihumans for a living to his sponsor and the reputation he gave. Did nobody notice what species was in those cages - of course not, the writers didn’t.
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 338
Chie: But getting there before the next Wave would take too long normally, so Beloukas has a deal for a stopgap weapon for Filo - wyvern talons.
The rest is just haggling on a price, but there’s a statement here we need to examine after Naofumi talks him into some reins…
{BELOUKAS} You've grown into just the kind of man I really adore! You make my spine tingle!
Yukiko: This is supposedly about being impressed at haggling skills. Given Beloukas’ profession, however, there is only one real way to treat this and remain somewhat noble:
(https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0171.html)
And really, given how paternal Beloukas is acting towards Naofumi here…it’s clear this show really wants us to like him so we excuse his job and purpose. All part of the apologia, I suppose.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 440
Leliel: But, to test it out, and as a favor, Beloukas asks them to dispose of some sewer monsters that…honestly is kind of pointless, but it does allow Filo and Raphtalia time to do stuff, and isn’t too long. It does give us this image though:
Iana: I am now imagining that as amphelisia venom, literally the result of a demon made to brew all forms of acid and poison in their gizzard. It is a good agony he is going through. Not to mention, done by a cute little chubby iguana, which is just lovely humiliation.
Chie: Cut to hotel, Naofumi patches up Raphtalia and she interrupts his strategizing to…
{RAPHTALIA} Once all the Waves have been repelled, you'll probably go back-- back to your home world and I'll never see you again.
Yukiko: …actually no. She’s providing me a trace for me to know where to look for when Naofumi gets close to me.
Wanderer: …the slow descent of Yukiko Amagi into Dexter Morgan aside, this is really grinding in just how toxic this show’s attitude towards what Raphtalia actually is shows - because it absolutely refuses to have anything except daughter-cum-waifu, and every time her relationship with Naofumi is focused in, it repeats itself. Methinks the slaver doth protest too much.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 441
Leliel: Thralls-this-show-calls-adoptive-daughters have a spat, Naofumi ends it, and one montage later, Naofumi travels north where…shock of all shocks, he’s asked for a toll, in spite of his merchant pass!
Yukiko: While he expresses sympathy for the guard, I find it a bit precious that “guard still charges for use of important road by merchants” to be something so strange it is worthy of note and a symptom of extreme poverty, as we’ll see here. Like…nobody’s found a road so useful it pays for even merchants to maintain it?
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 339
Iana: But, it impacted Naofumi, so as he says…
{NAOFUMI} Whoever's in charge is a scumbag. That toll told the whole story.
Chile: …a whole two silvers, if that much. That’s an abusive toll. Of a professional licensed merchant who likely has that as pocket change. Tightwad!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 493
Wanderer: But, away from that gate, we discover elements of said poverty, with these guys.
Who have been reduced to barter due to having lost even their money and being refugees from further north.
{VILLAGER}Some say that an adventurer was apparently sent from this place to put together a resistance force and begin a revolution. Now we're in this mess.
Leliel: …oh boy, here we go. It’s time for Cardinal Defame-O-Clock.
{NAOFUMI} Do you have any idea what this adventurer was like?
[VILLAGER A] We don't really know, but the rumors say he used a bow.
Chie: …okay, so Itsuki caused this…somehow? Revolutions are violent business, but…how?
Wanderer: Trust me, the reason says way more about this show than him.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 105
Iana: Some reflex of his dying conscience triggered, Naofumi sets up a soup kitchen, and finds a harp that has ‘plot element’ written all over it:
…and then the party makes their way back to Castle Town for pre-Wave lunch, where none other than Ren and Itsuki are in a nearby booth, chatting.
{ITSUKI} but y'know what happened after that? When I went to the Guild to pick up the reward, they had already paid it out to somebody else.
{REN} Same here. I lost a job request from some guy out of the blue.
{ITSUKI} Looks like someone's going around pretending to be us.
Chie: Given how relentlessly negative these two are portrayed as, I’m getting a sense we should dislike them for their greed - unlike the profit motive of our protag, of course.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 107 (One for both.)
But as it turns out, Itsuki’s been taking requests from the Adventurer’s Guild to overthrow random despots known for taxing people too much, including for…
{ITSUKI’S PARTY MEMBER} Yes. From what I can tell, it seems that the local lord is heavily taxing the citizens, way beyond the court's set limits, and he's using that revenue in a vicious campaign to suppress dissenters of any kind and to hire mercenaries.
Yukiko: Keep the reason for that in mind - the cranked up taxes were for hiring thugs to legbreak opposition voices. So, Naofumi catches on Itsuki’s the hero who caused the refugee crisis, then he overhears how Itsuki describes his target.
Leliel: Naofumi suppressing laughter gets Itsuki’s attention, at which point he drops this other line:
Wanderer: …question. When did Spider-Man suddenly enter into the conversation?
Yukiko: …this show is about to make A Point, isn’t it?
{ITSUKI} It's you, huh?! You're the one who's been impersonating us, stealing our jobs and taking our rewards.
[NAOFUMI] What the hell would I do that for?
{ITSUKI} Who else would come up with an idea like--
[NAOFUMI] Did you ever think that may be you're trying too hard to be some sort of supercool secret vigilante? And that you're not very good at it?
Wanderer: …oh brother. Naofumi, and this show, thinks this old chestnut is novel. Ugh, I’m going to state up front that The Boys started to suck rapidly after it decided the concept of heroism was like, totally lame man, and forgetting its actual point, and going to mark a point down for already starting on this cliche…
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 495
Leliel: I’m not even going to give this self-righteous self-hating geek prattle more text than absolutely needed, because it’s probably something you’ve read before if you’re anywhere close to comics and the need of insecure alleged intellectuals to boast about how very mature they are by saying the concept of caped heroes is bad because something something unrealistic - basically that last king Itsuki overthrew was due to high taxes, but then, shock of all shocks, the former resistance started hiking up taxes to pay for infrastructure - and that caused the refugee crisis as people couldn’t pay.
Iana: [Eyes narrowed, steepling her fingers] …Let me guess. Naofumi is going to whine at Itsuki that he didn’t change the world for the better, just who was in charge.
[NAOFUMI] And all you did was switch who was running the village. It never solved a damn thing.
Ah. Of course. This old chestnut - the same exact thing that my dear brother-in-law’s supporters tried to claim as they were being hauled off to the stockade - as part of how we ‘needed’ them when they were the ones draining the treasury on personal gifts to begin with. Because, fun fact - the kind of excessive taxes that provoke actual armed revolt are the kind of thing that don’t go to infrastructure - they end up in the back pocket of special interests, rather than paying for the bread and circuses that keep people content, full, and peaceful. The average salt-of-the-earth bellowing fool may whine and whine and whine about how taxation is theft, but even if he sincerely convinces himself of it, he won’t actually resist until he feels backed into a corner and his belly empty. Happy people don’t revolt, and stable revolutions tend to address why they revolted. They often don’t work, but from the sound of it, our dear Shield Hero would prefer that the commoners lie down and take it because ‘the king knows better’. Especially when a similar man is actively hiring legbreakers rather than listen to his constituents.
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 496
Leliel: And here’s where I reveal a trick - because while full-circle revolutions and especially internal coups that don’t change a damned thing are unfortunately common…Peter Parker wasn’t actually the original hero invoked with Itsuki’s “fuckups.” It was actually someone who uses a bow - Robin Hood.
[pause]
Yukiko: …as in the man who actively robs from the rich and gives to the needy. That Robin Hood. That was the negative comparison. Because Itsuki is trying to overthrow greedy noblemen and may not stick around to make sure it’s done right. While Naofumi is the very definition of driven by getting money.
Chie: But of course it is, Yuki! After all, you can’t expect Robin Hood to be actually heroic! Naofumi would be one of his victims!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 497
Wanderer: But don’t think we’re letting Mr. Animal Farm off the hook - because Itsuki is still set on being mad that he thinks Naofumi is stealing the credit, and outright refusing to believe him. This is pure and plain narcissism, and why we mentioned we thought a competent show would gradually upgrade him to major antagonist; we’re going to break down exactly how to do it in the mid-duology break. But here, he’s just being yet another popular kid for Naofumi to pwnzors, even as Ren takes the discovery that miasma theory is a thing in this world like a pro, even apologizing to Raphtalia when he notices a burn on her.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 108
Yukiko: Thankfully we can skim the rest - Naofumi gets his upgraded armor, now with Dragon Zombie gem parts now in his breastplate, Ake and company show up but are told to keep the money and the accessory to buy gear and to report to Naofumi in the morning for strategy - then we cut to another person on Mr. Hood’s larceny list as we cut back to Mirellia.
{SHADOW} Melty appears to have made contact with the Shield Hero's party, Your Majesty.
Also, this is in Faubrey. Clearly, the Shadows can travel fast so…why not have them as messengers?
[MIRELLIA] If the Shield Hero is the kind of man I hear he is, reconciliation will take quite some time.
but this, too, is her duty as the future ruler.
Iana: Ah, you’re making your preteen daughter miserable and putting her through hell, possibly at risk to her life, to toughen her up. That is very novel and not at all the kind of thing an abusive parent pulls out of their aft end to justify making their child as miserable as they are. Ugh, this is why I take any excuse to get away from the Real True Aristocrats of Champoor, these people are like overly perfumed weeds. And they always want to speak to the manager.
GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRL-LOSS: 340
Chie: But, the Wave starts, and we get a woman who is obscured by an excessive amount of foreshadowing:
Wanderer: And we’re done! …again, it’s really sick that I see this as an easier lift than even other sporkings in this stupid show.
Leliel: Which also means it’s time for a chew-out - this time of the kind of character Itsuki is supposed to be!
(https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/505949-let-me-tell-you-why-thats-bullshit)
And this is really frustrating, because it’s a character archetype I really like - a particular kind of villain with good publicity TV Tropes likes to call the Evil Hero, someone with a traditionally protagonistic job who is, in fact, a fairly villainous person…while taking their job seriously. To contrast, let me show one of Atlus’ own recent examples, or as much as I can without spoiling, Louis Guiabern!
(Source: Wikipedia, not linked due to spoilers)
Yukiko: …why hello there, Griffith. With…horns.
Wanderer: Louis here is the main villain of Metaphor: ReFantazio, Atlus’ foray into high fantasy - he’s the effective head general of the game’s major setting, the United Kingdom of Euchronia, and semi-publicly the assassin of the previous king, Hythlodaeus V. Except he’s such a war hero and so charismatic that while he all but boasts about it, nobody cares, since Hythlodaeus was not a popular king and Louis ideals of ruthless meritocracy have a lot of appeal. Later on, you discover he’s been using his position to manufacture crises in order to make it seem like a military dictator like him is the only possible and feasible option for survival of Euchronia - as in, shortly before you recruit the first party member. Louis is many things, but “subtle” is not one of them - the man personifies bombast. Seriously, this is how he crashes the King’s funeral to make his case for royalty:
Iana: …okay, I am copping to hypocrisy and I admit I don’t enjoy coupists, but…I like the cut of his jib. Nice bit of showmanship.
Leliel: The thing is…Louis is popular for many reasons. For one, he’s a genuine war hero, having put down a couple of armed revolts and being well-known for killing the giant, nearly invulnerable monsters known as “humans” (roll with it). For another…he’s a ruthless meritocrat. And only that, which means he’s not a different thing that has haunted Euchronia - virulently racist.
Wanderer: See, Echronia has several “tribes” of different physical descriptions, what we might call “demihumans”; Louis’ horns mark him as a clemar, the most common and probably what would be humans in a similar niche in Dungeons and Dragons; the adaptable default. This makes them the top of the racial caste system along with elf-like roussiante, and most clemar look down on non-roussiante tribes at best, at worst..well, the first paripus, animal-eared people at the rump of society, that we see is…being beaten to death by guards for stealing bread.
Chie: [Long blink] …remind me to direct internal affairs to Echronia’s precinct…
Leliel: So, yeah. Louis doesn’t care - if you can fight, you’re in, and that makes him a hero to violent people who hate the way the world treats them, as shown with the paripus Magnus Brothers who are often his agents throughout the game, and Cisrium Zorba, a necromancer who is part of a despised hybrid people. That doesn’t mean what he does isn’t bad. He’s still a ruthless darwinian authoritarian even before you see what makes him tick. But he is a hero who is solving quests and winning fame, and it’s clear he’s the protagonist of his own story.
Wanderer: Contrast with Itsuki, who is…completely blank except when he needs to be shown up:
(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InformedAttribute)
Leliel: That thing about how making fun of Spider-Man was a sudden shift from Robin Hood is really telling, if you ask me - because Itsuki really clearly isn’t some merry outlaw or a dark twist on it. As we’ll see, since he experiences the world he’s been isekai’d in as a JRPG, he sees tyrants as basically filler bosses and side quests while he is training for the main plot. Which means he does absolutely nothing that could be defined as “Dark Robin Hood”; he doesn’t steal, he doesn’t give, he isn’t even a bandit, he uses a Guild job board. Which also opens up why they are accepting assassination jobs for adventurers, but whatever.
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 341
Chie: But the thing is - just calling him a different hero makes it clear how…empty he is. In fact, apart from his refusal to acknowledge fault…what did he do wrong? He literally just followed a rebel movement and assumed they knew what they were doing. You know, like anyone working with an established force.
Wanderer: Even more telling is how the franchise tries to condemn him - because it claims his issue is “replacing people with worse or similar successors”, except that isn’t his intent, it’s just to solve an issue so bad someone posted an assassination job. One gets the sense that Itsuki’s problem, according to this show, is that he cares at all, as opposed to amoral money-grubbing. And as the web novel later shows, when it needs him to be a protagonist - he suddenly becomes so much more humble and supportive, like there was a switch now that he needs to qualify as a good guy, ie nice to Naofumi. Ultimately, this is why we said that Itsuki not being a major villain is a sign of just how badly this show is even in concept; because he’s the perfect foil to someone trying to help people economically and regards himself as a friend to commoners, a trigger-happy narcissist who can’t accept the world is more than fighting things. Except this also might make Naofumi’s life harder, so the big-old morality switch is jiggled. Absolutely nothing makes him memorable as an antagonist, let alone a character.
Leliel: And in light of the actually interesting character Itsuki could have been, ten more points, because of how utterly enslaved he is to writer convenience.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 118
Episode 11: Catastrophe Returns
Leliel: And the first bit is…a flashback. To the previous episode. Which is mostly reminding us that Naofumi has a backup group now and needs a class change after this, so it’s not intrusive enough to be worth any points, but it’s funny they keep finding excuses to reuse previous footage to pad out the runtime. But…well, as we see Naofumi and company do some last minute prep…remember that jewelry Wanderer got so pissed about? Well, he springs the things he crafted on Raphtalia and Filo…and we discover something pertinent:
{NAOFUMI} It'll make your speed and agility twice what it was.
Wanderer: …are you saying…the fawning gifts…used to manipulate them…are literally practical tools to enhance their ability to serve him?
Iana: Oh! Oh no. Erhard is sure to claim it’s a hell of a gift, so that we are conveniently never allowed to make up our minds on our own, that might be inconvenient.
Wanderer: …one hundred more points. Fuck this if it’s even worse than I thought.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 541
Chie: …so, that bit of manipulation out of the way, Ake shows up just in time for the Wave timer to run out, and everyone is teleported to the site of the Wave, a town now being menaced by goblins and powerful lizardmen…but is having a rather easier time thanks to this lady, who KOs a couple big humanoid wolves with a couple kicks:
Yukiko: And for once, I’m not snarking - because this is actually the same granny who got saved in Episode 6. I am going to be snarky about the contrivance that this lady in particular, whose name is revealed in the LN to be Elrasla Ragnarok (whose parents really loved metal bands, apparently) is apparently Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho minus short genes, but narratively? It’s a good twist, and deliberately funny funny how she starts acting like Chie now that she’s better, and actually shows how improving the world helps Naofumi. It’s just really too bad that this show thinks that’s the only reason you should improve the world, and for once, this doesn’t make his life much easier so it dodges a CONTRIVANCE count.
Leliel: Good feelings caused by sudden martial artist karma don’t last, though.
[AKE] Sir Hero! Sir! All the villagers have been moved to safety! That's great. Now keep the enemy out.
[NAOFUMI] {Thinking, Looking Around} It's been three whole hours. What are those guys doing?
Chie: I dunno, looking for the boss? The thing that stops the Wave if you kill it? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to protect villages, but it’s not like the reinforcements are going to end unless you figure out the puzzle! Frustration I get, but for some reason the Cardinal Heroes still speak to you despite your rep as a rapist, so it’s not hard to at least, I dunno, send one of Ake’s team for an update. Or given how they’re there, go yourself.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 119 (This is portrayed as a negative…in spite of it being revealed that’s exactly what they’re doing. Just like last time, which is the job they had. As we’ll see, puzzle bosses are no joke.)
Iana: But, Ake and his unit, now being aided by Elrasa, decide to hold down the area while Naofumi goes out to see what the Cardinal Heroes are up to and - well then, I can at least see where the boss is:
Wanderer: …your hubby is going to be so jealous when you tell him.
Iana: Eh. The Blackjay has soulsteel-infused sails and a complement of at least one Exalted on board. Airships are…a leg up on her, but Suspire can use the Underworld’s sea to get around the “sometimes a destination is landlocked” issue.
Leliel: We also meet Itsuki and his party on the ground, trying to shoot the figurehead - alone. The others are on the ship, because as he puts it:
Yukiko: …this is immediately followed up by asking ‘how irresponsible can they be’ in the sub, but…how does he know that?
Wanderer: Spoiler alert - Ren and Motoyasu have the right idea! Itsuki got the puzzle wrong - but because it's a criticism of the Cardinal Heroes, the show politely agrees that this is a sudden act of insight…after it’s been shown he has no idea of how economies allegedly work and his own tendency to not check on things. So, suddenly he’s the voice of reason, just ask the lovely crewman of the Tulpar-er, the Shield Hero, Naofumi!
Leliel: [Sotto] Play Mouthwashing, if you are fine with its trigger warnings. It’s good.CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 120 (He’s literally focusing on the wrong aspect here, leading to a completely unintentional pwnage!)
Anyway, Filo flies Naofumi and Raphtalia aboard, where Motoyasu is fighting one of the kraken heads of the ship, and Ren, the Skull Captain piloting it.
Chie: …okay, I’m having trouble deciding which one I’d like to fight least. But, we quickly discover why the Soul Taker’s such a problem, because every time Ren beats the Captain…
He dissolves into energy and fully regenerates.
Iana: Meanwhile, Motoyasu isn’t having much luck with the kraken tentacles, which leads to this exchange:
{REN} What are you doing, Motoyasu? We need to take out the skeleton!
{MOTOYASU} We're gonna have to take out the kraken first or the Soul Eater won't spawn otherwise!
[MYNE] What are you saying?
[REN'S COMPANION A] You morons…
Wanderer: Ugh, puzzle bosses. If you watch people trying for world’s first on an MMO raid, this is actually a little less painful. I can see the Cardinal Heroes being stuck for three hours when their lives are in actual danger. But, Naofumi drops in, literally, telling the other Heroes to chill, and-
{MYNE} I agree! An incompetent hero who can't fight should just--
Leliel: -find a bitter song than Mansion Basement Remake for you two at some point. That song’s getting old given how inescapable you are-I got it!
[Somewhere, somehow, a useless goddess starts to sweat nervously, and doesn’t know why]
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 121
RED MENACE: 70
Yukiko: Naofumi rightly calls them out and how his defense against a Wave can’t last forever, but rather less justifiably…
{NAOFUMI} It'll make your speed and agility twice what it was.
Wanderer: …are you saying…the fawning gifts…used to manipulate them…are literally practical tools to enhance their ability to serve him?
Iana: Oh! Oh no. Erhard is sure to claim it’s a hell of a gift, so that we are conveniently never allowed to make up our minds on our own, that might be inconvenient.
Wanderer: …one hundred more points. Fuck this if it’s even worse than I thought.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 541
Chie: …so, that bit of manipulation out of the way, Ake shows up just in time for the Wave timer to run out, and everyone is teleported to the site of the Wave, a town now being menaced by goblins and powerful lizardmen…but is having a rather easier time thanks to this lady, who KOs a couple big humanoid wolves with a couple kicks:
Yukiko: And for once, I’m not snarking - because this is actually the same granny who got saved in Episode 6. I am going to be snarky about the contrivance that this lady in particular, whose name is revealed in the LN to be Elrasla Ragnarok (whose parents really loved metal bands, apparently) is apparently Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho minus short genes, but narratively? It’s a good twist, and deliberately funny funny how she starts acting like Chie now that she’s better, and actually shows how improving the world helps Naofumi. It’s just really too bad that this show thinks that’s the only reason you should improve the world, and for once, this doesn’t make his life much easier so it dodges a CONTRIVANCE count.
Leliel: Good feelings caused by sudden martial artist karma don’t last, though.
[AKE] Sir Hero! Sir! All the villagers have been moved to safety! That's great. Now keep the enemy out.
[NAOFUMI] {Thinking, Looking Around} It's been three whole hours. What are those guys doing?
Chie: I dunno, looking for the boss? The thing that stops the Wave if you kill it? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to protect villages, but it’s not like the reinforcements are going to end unless you figure out the puzzle! Frustration I get, but for some reason the Cardinal Heroes still speak to you despite your rep as a rapist, so it’s not hard to at least, I dunno, send one of Ake’s team for an update. Or given how they’re there, go yourself.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 119 (This is portrayed as a negative…in spite of it being revealed that’s exactly what they’re doing. Just like last time, which is the job they had. As we’ll see, puzzle bosses are no joke.)
Iana: But, Ake and his unit, now being aided by Elrasa, decide to hold down the area while Naofumi goes out to see what the Cardinal Heroes are up to and - well then, I can at least see where the boss is:
Wanderer: …your hubby is going to be so jealous when you tell him.
Iana: Eh. The Blackjay has soulsteel-infused sails and a complement of at least one Exalted on board. Airships are…a leg up on her, but Suspire can use the Underworld’s sea to get around the “sometimes a destination is landlocked” issue.
Leliel: We also meet Itsuki and his party on the ground, trying to shoot the figurehead - alone. The others are on the ship, because as he puts it:
Yukiko: …this is immediately followed up by asking ‘how irresponsible can they be’ in the sub, but…how does he know that?
Wanderer: Spoiler alert - Ren and Motoyasu have the right idea! Itsuki got the puzzle wrong - but because it's a criticism of the Cardinal Heroes, the show politely agrees that this is a sudden act of insight…after it’s been shown he has no idea of how economies allegedly work and his own tendency to not check on things. So, suddenly he’s the voice of reason, just ask the lovely crewman of the Tulpar-er, the Shield Hero, Naofumi!
Leliel: [Sotto] Play Mouthwashing, if you are fine with its trigger warnings. It’s good.CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 120 (He’s literally focusing on the wrong aspect here, leading to a completely unintentional pwnage!)
Anyway, Filo flies Naofumi and Raphtalia aboard, where Motoyasu is fighting one of the kraken heads of the ship, and Ren, the Skull Captain piloting it.
Chie: …okay, I’m having trouble deciding which one I’d like to fight least. But, we quickly discover why the Soul Taker’s such a problem, because every time Ren beats the Captain…
He dissolves into energy and fully regenerates.
Iana: Meanwhile, Motoyasu isn’t having much luck with the kraken tentacles, which leads to this exchange:
{REN} What are you doing, Motoyasu? We need to take out the skeleton!
{MOTOYASU} We're gonna have to take out the kraken first or the Soul Eater won't spawn otherwise!
[MYNE] What are you saying?
[REN'S COMPANION A] You morons…
Wanderer: Ugh, puzzle bosses. If you watch people trying for world’s first on an MMO raid, this is actually a little less painful. I can see the Cardinal Heroes being stuck for three hours when their lives are in actual danger. But, Naofumi drops in, literally, telling the other Heroes to chill, and-
{MYNE} I agree! An incompetent hero who can't fight should just--
Leliel: -find a bitter song than Mansion Basement Remake for you two at some point. That song’s getting old given how inescapable you are-I got it!
[Somewhere, somehow, a useless goddess starts to sweat nervously, and doesn’t know why]
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 121
RED MENACE: 70
Yukiko: Naofumi rightly calls them out and how his defense against a Wave can’t last forever, but rather less justifiably…
{NAOFUMI} If we lose, all the villagers will die, and so will you! Quit thinking this is some sort of game 'cause it's not!
Yukiko: Oh, good, they weren’t. So, clearly they’re already on it, put away that report form. HR appreciates the feedback, but given how your co-workers are clearly trying to do their jobs, it’s more likely to clog their workflow and massively annoy them. Nobody likes a whiner, and that is valid for unjustified whiners.
Wanderer: This is part of a really annoying undertone to this series - the idea that the Cardinal Heroes treat this world as a game and play around. The thing is…if that were the case on a more total and noticeable level, we’d be seeing a lot more violent behavior. Because, let’s face it - Grand Theft Auto is a series where the whole point is to turn off your conscience and embrace your destructive id in a place where there’s no real-world or narrative consequence. Basically, enjoy the chaos, and a lot of open-world games lean into that. But these three? Ren’s just kind of training the blade, Itsuki is literally overthrowing tyrants for a job (the author forces him to do it badly, but whatever), and Motoyasu…okay, yeah, he’s trying to sleep with a lot of women, but it’s not like he doesn’t care for them as people, shallow as he is. He hates slavery too much to be considered a complete rakehell. But this series really, really wants us to think Naofumi is somehow better because “empathy”, all while ignoring this world is a literal LitRPG. It runs on video game logic, that’s what Stat Magic even is! So, yeah, no wonder these three keep (allegedly) making that mistake, literally everything runs on video game logic!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 498
Iana: To recap, Ren reveals he believes if he kills the Skull Captain enough, the Soul Eater will be spawned in to reveal itself, which I am told is apparently a thing in some fighting game bosses, so for once I can see the internal mistake that this franchise claims he makes. However, Naofumi notices something off about the Captain’s shadow (we can’t easily show it, but it does not totally match his movements), and whistles for Raphtalia to cast a spell that will unleash an extremely bright flash.
…and apparently, that incantation is standard for sorcery in this world. Except when it isn’t. Can someone explain why this incantation is only sometimes needed though, especially for a glorified flash powder bomb?! Or digging shallow pits from the race earlier?!
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 342
Chie: This causes a face to appear in the Captain’s shadow and roar in discomfort…
…along with the shadows of every other monster on this boat. When she stabs the shadow, it erupts into energy…along with every other shadow, with Itsuki (who hops on board) noting the flames are appearing everywhere.
Wanderer: Apparently, the original Dimensional Soul Eater split itself into a bunch, and recognizing the game’s up, its flames merge back into one:
Leliel: See, I like this design. It’s clearly undead, but it’s also demonic in an alien way, especially with its fish-like qualities. One gets the sense that it is very much a native of an alien world with at least somewhat different monstrous ecologies. It won’t last, because we’ll see humans are native to its world too, but as far as Mr. Spirit Nomming Catfish goes, one gets the sense at least the monsters are different.
Yukiko: To cut through a rather good scene, the Cardinal Heroes discover that it’s immune to lightning, and Filo’s wind spells only hurt it enough for it to notice. It also has some nasty dark magic bad breath that knocks out most of the people on board, as the Heroes aren’t able to cancel it in time. Naofumi was able to block it with his shield, though…which leads to the awkward realization that he and his gladiatrixes are also the only persons doing any damage at all…
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 122
…but that aside, it is a cool fight, that has a good note of Naofumi getting worried when he realizes how gradual it is - Elrasla and Ake can only hold out for so long, so he-
Leliel: …decides to use the I Win Button, making all of that thing we liked a bit pointless. Yeah, sure, there’s reasoning for it, but frankly, the Super Powered Evil Side already being used as a resource does not deserve me nodding along to the “desperation” of this moment, when he got it barely a couple episodes ago and all he knows is that it badly burned Raphtalia to the point of needing holy water for her to recover.
OTHER WORLDS’ WORTH OF FILLER: 6
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 499 (“Meh, this is taking too long, I’m going to use the destructive wildfire that sends me into a berserk rage that hurts my loved ones! Ner!”)
At least he asks “Forgive me”, but the follow-up doesn’t make it much better.
[RAPHTALIA] Don't you remember what I told you? You can always count on me to be your sword.
Iana: …you know, my father was intent that I’d protect Ravatri not just as if she was my sister, but dearer to me than life itself. That I, as close cousin to royalty and future vizier both, was ultimately someone who had nothing but the life of the potential future Empress-Consort of Champoor keeping the entire family alive, and to fail her was to fail my nation itself. This is one of many reasons why I don’t talk to my father much anymore; it’s not a way to live, and I’m literally a backup for the throne if something horrible happens to Ravatri and her heirs, not a battle thrall. If I hadn’t hit it off with my cousin, I’m pretty sure I’d be plotting her death out of spite for how unappreciated my assigned role was. Suffice to say, blech.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 542
Wanderer: Anyway, he gets Filo to swear to protect Raphtalia just in case and you know this isn’t beating the Khorne allegations, dude.
(Yuri Barkov, post-Chaos corruption: https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Godslayer)
Fuck, Tzeentch is probably laughing his ass off right now, given how my escape from his lamest Champion put me smack-dab in the path of the just-as-narcisstic Chaos Undivided one…
Chie: Awkward references aside, as he taps into it-
[ZOMBIE DRAGON] You will pay...
[NAOFUMI gasps]
[ZOMBIE DRAGON] You will pay!
Chie: So, as it turns out, drawing on the power of an evil artifact that is literally powered by anger when it activated first around a being so angry it reanimated his corpse might have had side effects! Who’da thunk it?!
Yukiko: On the one hand, the fact that a remnant of the Zombie Dragon’s will is now a part of the Shield and is a bit miffed at being awoken to help out his killer isn’t something that Naofumi knew was going to happen…on the other hand, what he did know was that Raphtalia was badly burned, and the Rage Shield didn’t even return the Zombie Dragon to the grave - that was all Filo! In fact…
That Naofumi took the reanimating crystal and reforged it into armor probably made the zombie ghost even more mad! Excellent foresight, Shield Idiot!
I HATE YOU SHIELD GUY: 500 (Not seeing a car crash coming is understandable. Driving in poor visibility conditions with knowingly busted seatbelts deserves all the scorn.)
Iana: So, this causes the Shield to agree with our assessment of Naofumi’s character by accident…
…and the Rage Shield officially evolves into the Wrath Shield, with attendant armor remodeling to symbolize Naofumi’s Zombie Dragon-ridden state:
Wanderer: Pretty soon, the Dragon’s influence spreads to the Horror, causing her to assume her true nature:
Man is she going to be pissed when she realizes she’s working of her species’ archenemy’s lingering will. But, because it’s contractually required that the Super Powered Evil Side is an I Win Button, both she and Naofumi end up wailing on the Soul Eater pretty thoroughly, promptly Malty to open her mouth.
{MYNE} and that certainly isn't how a hero is supposed to fight.
Chie: Uh, Your Highness? Maybe save the catty commentary for after the rage demon you’re insulting is out of earshot?
RED MENACE: 71
Leliel: *Motoyasu* “I dunno, maybe the fact he’s a literal wildfire right now and is screaming bloody murder, possibly invectives at Ren? Kinda trying to avoid hurting my team by getting in his way” Not that the show wants to admit that.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 123
{MYNE} Miserable demi-human, how dare you!
Yukiko: That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook either, you racist ditz.
RED MENACE: 72
{RAPHTALIA} Master Naofumi's fighting in our place, doing what we lack the courage to do! [That’s right…]
If only I were stronger… I wouldn't have to put him through this!
Wanderer: Fun fact; believing you have agency over the selfish desires of another is a symptom of being caught in an abusive relationship, and self-blame. One likely provoked by the abuser. Just oughta mention that.
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 543
But, this gets through to them, and they start helping attack the Soul Eater’s minions to stop them from reinforcing it…which doesn’t sit well with Motoyasu, as Designated Wrong Guy:
Iana: Itsuki agrees and points out it’s only because they need to at the moment, and I feel that needs no further elaboration. But also that I would be entirely sympathetic to Motoyasu about helping a slaver and rapist, and at least forcing him to make it worth our time later. Like, for example, a promise to free slaves.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 124
{MYNE} Sir Motoyasu? You can't be serious--you're not going to help the Shield?!
Leliel: [Opens mouth]
[REN] Then why don't you kill that thing?
Leliel: …I hate it when the show sporks itself with her sheer inability to stop being the Menace.
RED MENACE: 73
Yukiko: But, according to this franchise, Naofumi has no desire to act out what the Dragon wants - likely because it will damage his stuff, realistically - so cut back to his mental plane where he’s battling against the undead will…
…in the most boring way possible, just kind of writhing around and telling the voice to shut up…
And being saved through the power of Stockholm Syndrome confirmation - apologies, I mean found family. Seriously, didn’t this just happen with the actual Zombie Dragon and through the nearly same exact way?
PROPERTY OF COP-OUT: 544
Wanderer: Oh no, because now Raphtalia didn’t have to risk herself to snap him out of it. So there’s even less tension when it comes out now!
RISING OF THE CONTRIVANCE LEVELS: 390
Chie: The worst part is, Naofumi’s internal dialogue is actually heroic. He realizes that he’s not actually here for personal revenge, but to ensure the villagers and his new backup are saved. And the resulting spell is appropriately dark for a Deadly Sin-based weapon, summoning an iron maiden to skewer the Soul Eater once it’s caught in one of his shield balls. It’s just the Raphtalia-shaped elephant in the room that ruins it, which is why heroic slavery is such a toxic thing in these shows.
Leliel: We also have an r/selfawarewolves moment here when Ren describes what the Shield is:
Yukiko: Ren sees this in terms of a VRMMO, yes? He clearly recognizes an abusive Game Master buffing a friend when he sees one. Whiny as this, and Motoyasu proclaiming he’ll do better next time (and being mocked by Filo) is supposed to be.
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 126 (One for both.)
Iana: But then, the Wave of Calamity…doesn’t clear. Rather, a new Soul Eater shows up. We get this attempt at showing that no, Ren totally does see this as a game:
…and the text ignoring this is entirely valid, as Aultcray himself said knowledge of the game forms that the ritual call for heroes manifested was supposed to be very informative…
CHOSEN LESS THAN ZEROES: 127
WORLDBUILDING OF CARDBOARD: 343
Wanderer: And that’s when Ominous Foreshadowing Lady makes her debut, with the traditional Totes Strong One Hit Kill To Establish Supposed Threat.
Wanderer: Everyone, meet Glass.
Iana: …excuse me what.
Wanderer: Glass. That’s her name.
Yukiko: …she looks awfully opaque for it…
Wanderer: No, I don’t know why her name is “brutalized sand.” There’s probably a Japanese cultural reason or pun that makes sense, but I have no idea what it is. Feel free to tell me.
Chie: But, she mocks the Cardinal Heroes for being weaklings and losers, and says only Naofumi is worthy of being called a hero (boo!), introduces herself, and says that she’s the true boss of the Wave, or at least heavily implies it.
Leliel: See, this I like. It implies that, at minimum, some monsters are intelligent and fully on board with the Waves - it’s hard to see in this photo, but Glass’ pupils are vertical like a cat’s, implying she’s not a baseline human. However, it also implies she could be a demihuman or similar, which raises even more mysteries! Quite simply, Glass is genuinely intriguing. And it pains me that her primary role in the next episode is largely to be Naofumi’s hype woman on some level.
Wanderer: And speaking of, join us next time, when Naofumi outdoes the sheer force of subreddit irony in terms of r/thathappened, and Malty makes her move to secure inheritance! Till next time!
Spitefic: Civilian Details
“So,” Suspire began, looking at the chaos in the red skies above them. “That be the Wave of Calamity. A shame that something so fetching and spectacular be of such an ill nature…I would enjoy getting me quartermaster to paint this.”
Romuli gave him a weird look. “...there’s painting on a pirate ship?”
“Lieutenant Kaelin be proof dead men tell tales for longer than he numbered among the quick, and he died partly of old age. Man neither needs sleep nor food, and when he runs out of duties to manage, he needs something to do lest he become ever-more anal-retentive and me other crew see if a ghost may yet be strangled,” Suspire deadpanned. “Painting and cards be his fallbacks, since Underworld dyes not be especially vulnerable to salt in the air when drying. But, I digress.”
Romuli shrugged. “Fair enough. Though, now that I’m seeing a Wave up front…I can’t help but wonder if it’s like the Blight that your golem friend mentioned. He did say it often manifests in a breakdown of space.”
“It would not be completely unlikely. Since Autochthon defined a lot of physical laws and several formulas in math, the Blight mutated itself to be not unlike the Wyld, the fae proto-world the Primordials forged creation from. Including a breakdown of space…and hate of conventional society, as he invented doctrine too,” he said, noticing a bunch of Dire Centipedes started charging from the forest lines.
“I’m on it,” Romuli said, before leaping at the great bugs.
Three slices later, the woefully underleveled myriapods lay in a pile at the feet of the beastman ex-gladiator, with him having little more than a very bored expression.
“I don’t understand,” a guard from the village they had occupied muttered. “Aren’t there supposed to be guardians here? Like the Shield Hero?”
“The Shield Hero,” Luz said with the kind of distaste that one associated with extreme profanity, “is already contracted to a bunch of guards.”
“Then…” The guard didn’t look especially pleased by that explanation, her brow furrowing. “Why isn’t he sending some here, if he has reinforcements?”
“Because then he wouldn’t be seen doing good by said allies, and so not building a reputation,” Anne said, sourly. “Because he needs people to appreciate him for ‘logistics’. Please ignore that he needs to stop the leader of the wave somehow.”
“Now, I can’t say I be all that down on the idea of helping villagers over just a decapitation that not be very swift,” Suspire said, a black bolt sniping an Ogre before it had fully lumbered out of the trees. “But I do also be the sort who arrives here first to coordinate defenses ahead of time, if everyone knows where the Wave is. Rather than get stuff for me personal power - I have the power of Death within me, so I have the privilege, but that Shield be hardly lacking in potential either.”
“...which is why I find it interesting…” Romuli, sniffing the air, trailed off. “Hold on, there’s a unit heading towards Horizon’s garrison. Smells like Curse Dolls.”
Luz craned her neck in that direction, saw the living sackcloth, nodded, and let loose a glowing light from a bottle. Pretty soon, there was a loud bang and a flash of magical artillery, and a bit of the forest exploded, sending diseased-looking straw everywhere.
“As I was saying, it’s interesting that, suddenly, Beloukas knows all about breaking level caps. And how eager he is to suddenly care about sewer monsters when giving out artifacts - it’s not his concern who leaves what in the aqueducts, he’s moved on.”
Anne thought. “...not unless it’s the monsters themselves. Say, Captain? You and Iana said Dragon Kings are often mindless-seeming lizard monsters before their memories come back, right? Are there any that look like crocodiles?”
“Aye, the Mosok, but-” Suspire blinked. “Oh!”
“Yeah…” Luz nodded along. “You’ve been seeing a lot of symbols of a four-armed guy that looks like your Unconquered Sun and is associated with being a smith. Given how long Exalted live, maybe if he’s killing Dragon Kings before they have a chance to get their ancestral memories back, is that they might remember him, or at least something similar?”
“...and if he is some kind of divinely empowered hero-king,” Romulus finished, grimly. “Then pushing Naofumi into areas where it’s shown rebellion is inherently suspect no matter how bad the king is, and always show it as a disaster…seems like a good way to make the Shield Hero think some other Hero is the only thing fit to rule anything he wants…”
