What They Say
“ —I’ll be back soon, we’ll see each other soon.”
The Demon King must return to the demon realm and will be gone for a while. As she gets her affairs in order such must contend with Knight for Hero’s love.
Content: (please note that the content portion of a review may contain spoilers)
Though the battle for Bright Light Island has been won, the war is far from over. The Demon King must return to the demon realm to reassert her rule by renewing her license and also reigning in some of the more unruly tribes before more wars are started. It is now her turn to leave the Hero behind, having to leave for a few months in order to pull everything together. Though characters mention that this could be dangerous, it’s hard to feel too nervous about what might happen here since they’ve so easily gotten themselves out of scrapes before. But there seems to be another threat that no one is aware of, as the White Night King and the Crusader Commander, both bitter over the success of the Winter King, begin to plot against our heroes, ending the episode with a maniacal laugh.
Now that the new agricultural systems are in place and the Winter Country seems to be benefitting from it, the Demon King moves onto her next big piece of social reform, education. She points out that the problem is you need an education to know that you need an education — simply meaning, some people don’t even realize there’s a better life to reach for because they’ve never learned of it. This is exemplified through Older Sister Maid, who, under the tutelage of the Demon King, is now able to see what her life can be like, and is also able to be a suitable stand in while the Demon King is away. And talk of education also brings the revelation of another secret weapon — the printing press.
In this episode we see the Knight become suddenly more forceful with her own feelings for the Hero as she tries to bring up their relationship in a conversation, then awkwardly tries to sneak into his room at night at the same time as the Demon King. As usual with this show, we wind up with a stupid argument between characters that distracts from some of the more serious aspects of the show, but this is also very disappointing as far as the Knight’s character goes. She is shown to be a smart and strong individual, and even the Hero is in awe of all the things she can do. It is natural for someone she has known as well and as long as the Hero, but by making him her primary concern (she tries to bring up which one of them he loves while he’s trying to talk about the war) diminishes her a little.
In Summary
As usual, there’s a lot going on in this episode, as characters talk about the power of education and the continued problems of war. Then there’s love. There is, of course, the painfully slow relationship between the Demon King and the Hero, but there’s also the Knight’s attention, which seems unnecessarily tacked on due to his obvious preference for the Demon King. Add to that another love interest, the Dragon Princess, I almost want them to throw in more male love interests just to make things fair for the ladies. While the main characters don’t show much growth in this episode (the Knight did some backpedaling, if anything) we get to see the Older Sister Maid make an impact on the story, as an example of how the Demon King’s methods are working but also as someone who will potentially have her own impact on the story. The ending carries a little more apprehension than normal as we actually see some characters who might count as villains, but it’s still a matter of waiting and seeing if the show carries through with its promise.
Grade: B-
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
13″ Apple Macbook set to 720p
