Silver Mask and the main team finally cross swords.
What They Say:
Daryun and Narsus sneak into Ecbatana to gather more information. Meanwhile, Arslan has an interesting encounter with someone from his past.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Kharlan out of the way (actually sooner than they wanted him, as they only got the bare minimum of information that any villain on the verge of death would feel obligated to express), Daryun and Narsus are moving on Ecbatana in secret, hoping to get more answers and have enough information to formulate a plan. But who should they cross paths with? It’s the main antagonist himself, Silver Mask. After revealing a generous amount of information on his identity last time, this confrontation also takes his mask off, revealing a face that doesn’t really mean any more to us than it did with the mask on. The practical reason for his mask is burn scars, but that could be guessed from how the skin around that side of the mask has looked even while he wearing it. Silver Mask has always bulldozed through anyone he might be fighting, but so have these guys, especially Daryun, so we get something of a real fight. It seemed to get some of the most attention in recent memory, because it has some very nice angles with highly detailed, stylized, and motion-ready artwork along with some of the best animation for a CG-free battle in the series. For what it was, it’s one of the best we’ve had and hopefully bodes well for the future.
Even with this unexpectedly formidable foe (on the other thing, Silver Mask was surely thinking the same thing), Daryun and Narsus do at least manage to get some pieces of what they were looking for: information. They don’t learn much about the king, but they get the important update on the status of the queen and what she might become if nobody stops her prospective new husband soon. At least that gives them some more solid direction for the time being, and when they regroup with Arslan he’s unlikely to be happy with the idea of his mother marrying that disgusting slob who controls Lusitania.
Speaking of Lusitania, Arslan has a reunion with someone he hasn’t seen for several years, since the first episode of the series (which was effectively a prologue). Since then it has dealt a lot with slavery and the like, but as we’ve been learning over the past few episodes, Lusitania is by no means a “good” nation, and while it wasn’t clear in that first episode when it was just one very opinionated kid’s bias speaking up, this couldn’t be a more solid confirmation that Lusitania is quite awful in its own right. As proof they treat all people from Pars as less than human, this time using a religion as their justification. On that note, their top religious man goes particularly insane, laughing maniacally as he burns all of the recorded history, culture, medicine, etc. from Pars with the claim that it doesn’t deserve to stick around because it was written by heathens and those who fall ill ask for it. He’s certainly a character asking to have a very horrible fate befall him before too long, but even Arslan’s brief friend from years back, Etoile, is properly brainwashed and speaks the same of the people of Pars and refusing to accept Arslan’s words informing him of his extreme hypocrisy considering how much he’s been against slavery all along.
In Summary:
The messages are being put forward more blatantly than ever, although in the end there aren’t many characters – certainly not full nations – who have a good perspective on what’s wrong and what’s right as far as human rights go. Hopefully some of the more intelligent characters will be able to realize what’s wrong with their thinking without too much overwhelming preaching.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
HP Envy 14.
