Back to 0Pharaoh's Profile 0Pharaoh's Profile

7.75/10.

TL;DR: It’s definitely still closer to a true isekai than most these days! Less coherent than previous seasons in terms of plot direction, but is able to take decent advantage of the twists that have been set up by the end of the season. Middle of the season brought the score down. Climax of the season insisted on bringing the score up.

Characters: Markedly less development than previous seasons. In this season, much of the supporting cast are used more so as plot devices rather than human beings, which is a departure from previous seasons. The developmental focus is mostly on new characters, which is not ... always bad but requires more attention from the show to properly develop. The show does a moderate job of introducing these new characters, but few of them are truly fleshed out. Notably, the season’s antagonists are heavily clichéd in appearance and demeanor.

World Building: Standard. New concepts are introduced when necessary for the sake of putting more tools at the show’s disposal to create tension (e.g., this world’s version of a smoke signal, fleshing out the magic system). Doesn’t help or harm the show.

Plot Direction: Stuttering. Proceeds quickly at times and then loses interest in what it has built up towards the middle of the season. Picks back up in the climax of the season, which is executed well. Slightly forced at multiple points, the kind which happens when a show sort of runs out of space to maneuver — e.g. what can a show do when a bomb’s countdown is already at 1 second remaining? However, culminates in an effective season finale which leaves the next season a lot of space to work with. Although, I think I sense a school arc on the horizon…

Themes: Heavily leans on the significance of family bonds, which contributes towards a highly effective ending to the season but on the other hand creates a several-episode-long lull in the middle of the season which ate up quite a lot of screen time which could have been used more efficiently…

Music: Quite effective at reinforcing the atmosphere of impermanence which the show is starting to get at in this season, while remaining mostly innocent as Main is as a child. I will say that the chord progressions in the Op are rising and make me look towards the show’s future, while the simplicity of the Ed’s instrumentation make me reflect on the past. Always a nice contrast to see in good animes. The rest of the soundtrack does what is needed — provides tension when there’s danger, provides emotion in more reflective scenes, etc. Good enough to make an impact on the show.