What They Say:
After Naofumi survives thanks to Mirelia’s help, she comes to visit him and tells him the truth behind the summoning of the heroes and the discrimination against the Shield Hero. She also promises to clear his name, and holds a trial for Aultcray and Myne’s crimes.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With some humor and awkwardness mixed into the previous episode, the bulk of what we got was a solid action piece as the Heroes realized what they’re up against and just what a big deal it is. At the same time, we got to see just how firm Naofumi is in that he’s not going to easily forgive and forget everything. There was quite a price paid and we see at the start here that he collapsed and was taken for some medical attention and rest as he was unconscious for three days. Scheduled for a month of bedrest because of what happened to him, he’s paying the price and handling it well, though he’s not exactly thrilled with the situation as a whole as he doesn’t like being taken care of. But he’s also getting interesting attention in other ways, such as the Queen coming to visit him. And Mirela is certainly an interesting character.
This early part is useful in getting some of the basics out there in how Melmorac didn’t abide by the plan of each of the four nations summoning a Hero and summoning all of them themselves, making for a lot of angry neighbors and challenges to face. Mirela is doing her best to atone here with Naofumi for all that he’s suffered and for all that he’s accomplished, which is pretty significant when you consider what was trying to rise. He knows there’s a catch though and is just waiting for that, especially since he knows it’s a desire for him to stay in Melmorac. But that’s not who he is as he intends to travel and meet the Waves head-on as they appear – and it provides him with a way of hopefully getting home quicker by being proactive in going after the Waves. The wrapup and epilogue aspect of this fight is definitely interesting and especially so in seeing how Mirela is being as deferential to Naofumi as she can.
It’s definitely a shock to the other Heroes when they’re with Naofumi in the audience chamber later and they find out that the King and Myne are in chains with a trial being prepared to deal with their actions. Naofumi knew ahead of time so it wasn’t a surprise but the rest are shocked and it still feels like Motoyasu is falling for what Myne is selling. Mirela takes it all a step further by having a slave branding put on Myne as she’s untrustworthy otherwise, which is pretty brutal but makes the point very clear. There’s a lot of trial stuff going on here in a limited way with Mirela running the show and everything largely predetermined as she doles out justice over those that abused their power.
Subjecting the King to death is interesting but she presents a compelling enough case and why there’s so much emotion behind it all. And setting up for such a powerful execution scene, you can see why it would drive emotions on the viewers side but it left me wanting it to really follow through and do what’s needed and right for the time and place. But, hey, Naofumi gonna Naofumi and he can’t bring himself to allow it, hence pressing for release from a position that only he can do. It’s not exactly a great solution, getting them to take on names such as Trash and Bitch in order to be humiliated for years is certainly painful and it allows Mirela a way to not kill her daughter but still get out a layer of justice. Still, I wish it had gone the distance the other way instead even if this does work in the big picture aspect of how the property connects.
In Summary:
The series works through some difficult story elements here depending on how you want to see things unfold. It didn’t go how I wanted it to go but it works with what it’s doing and it was not a surprise in the slightest. I like seeing that Naofumi is still standing by who he’s been for most of this season and holding true to that since he’s always had a layer of humanity to him that he kept under wraps but didn’t avoid using. The trial is pretty much standard fantasy-era stuff but it works well enough and wraps up some of the bigger problems that they’ve had to deal with for the most part. There’s still more ahead – and a lot more manga – but what we get here serves as a solid bit of closure to the opening act.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
