How to stop a coup, already in progress.
What They Say:
Episode #19: “Ladylake”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The village’s name is Sithole? Lol.
Sorry. Okay, on to the review.
This is another Alisha centered episode, rejoining her struggles back in the vicinity of Ladylake. Still hunted by the usurping councilor, Alisha continues to attempt to stop a great tragedy from befalling her city and kingdom. Her father, the king, is only an elderly figurehead. Alisha, it turns out, is the product of a relationship with a commoner. That explains the strife within the upper-class council. The king is kept from the truth about what the council is up to, but he might not be totally oblivious to what’s really going on, just powerless.
Alisha has to hold out and hold on until Sorey can arrive and purify the malevolence. It’s not easy. Her small troop of loyal soldiers are beleaguered. They spend most of their time trying to help towns destroyed by tornados of doom and fleeing the soldiers sent to seize or kill them. Like when they head for Sithole to find it leveled to the ground.
Heh.
Back at the beginning of the series, Alisha couldn’t seem to escape the destruction following her. It’s like she was cursed. She almost doesn’t escape the soldiers sent to apprehend (or kill) her, until they are overtaken by a hellion swarm. She only escapes because Zaveid is nearby and has his magic gun. The wind seraph happily steps in to save her, and since she can see him now he introduces himself and both of them seem to get along quite well.
Did I mention that this anime adaptation has gone so far afield from the game I no longer know if any of the rest of the series will play out in a similar way? There are hints the ending might be drastically different, but since I never made it to the end of the game I’m really unsure of how this series will end, or if they will even reach an end this season.
Zaveid doesn’t stick around to lend his aid for long. Alisha is once again on her own and forced to make a difficult decision. Her mentor Maltran has been captured and is being used as very obvious bait to lure Alisha out. In fact, the minister plans to crucify her if Alisha doesn’t show.
While Alisha sits alone contemplating the right course of action that would prevent the largest amount of deaths, the demon who plagued her returns. Whispering sweet dooms in her face he tries to shake her resolve, scare her, get some sort of reaction from her. Alisha calmly deflects his passive-aggressive behavior. It’s a fun scene, the animators love drawing the twisted face of this guy.
Alisha finally heads out with her team to rescue her mentor and take back the city before dawn. Sorey is on the way, but can he make it in time to help?
In Summary:
Alisha is in a now or never situation. She can’t waste any more time. It’s not just that her allies are being whittled away, the malevolence is growing so quickly it threatens to destroy the city unless the civil war can be stopped. However, that malevolence can’t be cleared without the assistance of Sorey, who is rushing to the scene but won’t get there in time to help with the clandestine mission to rescue Maltran. Its make or break time for Alisha, and the rest of the kingdom.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Funimation and Daisuki
