Time for the church side of the story to show up.
What They Say:
Issei meets and befriends a girl named Asia Argento, a Sister who has arrived to serve at the town’s church. Issei learns more about the chess game in which he has become a part, and the roles that he and his fellow devils play within it.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Issei having found out what his true nature is at this point and the people that he’s found himself aligned with, things have to get shaken up a bit. And what better way to do that than to introduce a cute blonde girl who arrives with a nunnish look about her, complete with the little cross along the top of the headwrap she has. Asia definitely provides for the more cute and innocent characters requirement of a show like this since the girls that he’s gotten to know so far are pretty outgoing, strong and confident in a way that doesn’t allow them to have these kinds of charms in such a natural way. It’s not a bad thing, and they can pull it off for a a particular moment, but it’s just something that feels very much like how Asia would be constantly.
Of course, it helps that we learn that Asia is actually a Sister and has come to work in the local church. Issei gets along well with her but he can definitely feel some unusual twinges being in her presence that’s not attributed to being a healthy young male. Rias fills him in on things, making it clear that there are plenty of things and even Sacred Gear within the church that’s used to deal with devils like him. It’s a pretty intense moment on her part to make things clear. Which is why it’s useful that the group as a whole gets to use that for a mission they have to deal with as there’s a demon nearby that is out of control in an abandoned building causing a lot of trouble. It lets us see the group use their powers and to showcase Rias the group leader in effectively putting everyone in the right place to use their skills and abilities. It’s rather well done considering what it is and it makes clear more about their personalities in this form, especially with Akeno.
The show does have to turn back to Asia at some point though, and a seemingly quiet moment with Issei alone turns into a realization that he’s being hunted by a priest named Freed who has come to deal with the piddling and insignificant devil scum that Issei is. It’s good to see the priest’s side of things, though you know Freed is but one personality of many different types, and it’s also obvious when Asia shows up that she’s going to be the one that stands in the way of Issei getting his mandated execution from the church. Freed is pretty rough with Asia as he gets into dealing with her, surprisingly so in fact, but it fits with his crude and guttural personality that comes to surface from almost the first frame we get to see him. It also in turn lets Issei man up well after being told he’s little more than a pawn at this point and that’s pretty effective in showing us a new angle on him.
In Summary:
While Asia’s role isn’t all that surprising, she has the potential to be a fun character and addition to things depending on how she ends up interacting with the others in the “club” as the series goes on. We get a good look early on at just how intense the church side can be with Freed and that Asia may be the odd on out when it comes to its membership, but it’s just too early to tell. There’s a good bit of action to the episode when you get down to it and some potential personal conflict coming into it as well depending on how Asia goes. Issei definitely has some good moments but Freed kind of steal sthe show once he gets involved simply because of his intensity and cruelty, which leaves you wanting to see him get his ass handed to him.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
