“A Black Deep-Sea Story”
What They Say:
In a world where magic is everything, Asta and Yuno are both found abandoned at a church on the same day. While Yuno is gifted with exceptional magical powers, Asta is the only one in this world without any. At the age of fifteen, both receive grimoires, magic books that amplify their holder’s magic. Asta’s is a rare Grimoire of Anti-Magic that negates and repels his opponent’s spells. Being opposite but good rivals, Yuno and Asta are ready for the hardest of challenges to achieve their common dream: to be the Wizard King. Giving up is never an option!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Who’s ready for a beach episode!? The Black Bulls are in the town of Raquey to train. Well, some of them are. Noelle is definitely getting some training in as this is the perfect place for improving her water magic. While she’s training, she hears a beautiful song and an image of her mother flashes in her mind. What was that? Asta, Magna, Luck, and Finral are running around. Look at all of those abs! Zora is placing traps all around the beach. Sadly, a few of the members fall victim to one. Grey and Vanessa are desperately trying to lose weight. Gordon and Gauche are having an intense discussion about muscles. Henry is serving drinks. All Yami is doing is drinking. That doesn’t surprise me. And just like the last episode, Nero is a waitress again. She’s not in a maid outfit this time around though. I know some people must be disappointed. Charmy is done cooking and everyone helps themselves to some delicious food!
Noelle hears that beautiful song again and runs outside in search of it. Asta chases after her. Suddenly, Kahono and Kiato pop out of the water. Hey, it’s these two. We haven’t seen them in a while, huh? The Underwater Temple is in trouble and they need their help! They were attacked by monsters who they believe to be servants of the sea guardian. Why would they do that? The Black Bulls head to the Underwater Temple where Gifso explains that to them that the underwater mana has been disturbed as of late. This has caused the sea creatures to turn violent. In the Void of No Return, which is an ominous name if I ever saw one, the guardian of the sea is going berserk. The shrine mages tried to quell its anger but they were defeated. Thus, they’re hoping that the Black Bulls will lend them some assistance. Yami doesn’t quite understand why they’re asking for his help. He’s got other things to do. That’s a bit harsh. But Noelle wants to help Kahono and Kiato! Yami agrees to let her go but not alone. Asta volunteers to go with her but he gets shot down immediately. He can’t even swim, haha. Finral is instructed to go because his spatial magic can get everyone out if things go south. That’s actually very true.
Noelle places everyone in their own individual bubble using her Sea Dragon’s Cradle. As they’re heading towards the Void of No Return, a group of monster fish attacks them. Kahono manages to fend them off but even more show up! This isn’t looking good. Kahono and Kiato decide to leave their bubbles and fight the monster fish. They’re eventually overwhelmed. To make matters worse, Noelle can’t keep her concentration and the bubbles start leaking. Finral opens up a portal and tells Noelle to get to safety. What about him? He’ll stay behind and find a way to bring back the other two, even if it costs him his life. What a bro. Sadly, the bubble bursts before they can decide on anything. As Noelle is sinking towards the abyss, she wonders if this is the end for her. No, it can’t be! She can’t be defeated here. If she lets something like this defeat her, how is she supposed to defeat a devil? That’s when she decides to try and use the natural underwater mana around her. She successfully does so and creates an even stronger bubble around everyone. No monster fish is breaking those! Now they can head to the Void of No Return.
They’re intercepted by a Kraken at the entrance. Well, that sucks. Fortunately, a combination attack of Finral’s spatial magic and Noelle’s Valkyrie Armor puts it out of commission. With the Kraken out of the way, they finally reach the bottom. That’s where they come face to face with the guardian of the sea. I was expecting a huge battle to ensue but instead, Kahono starts singing. Her beautiful voice calms the guardian of the sea down and it’s revealed that it has a baby! D’awww. All of the sea creatures turn back to normal, too. Hey, everything turned out okay! That’s good. The guardian of the sea touches Noelle’s forehead and she once again sees a vision of her mom. What does this mean? Perhaps her mother came here once? Who knows? All I know is that Noelle is crying. D’awww! But she’s proud of what she has accomplished so far and she definitely deserves to be.
They return to Raquey where Kahono and Kiato give everyone their thanks. They also give them some seafood which Charmy is very excited about! Kahono invites Noelle and Asta to another double date which Asta agrees to, haha. You’ve got to love how bold she is. Elsewhere, Yami pokes fun at Finral about the first time he willingly decided to join a fight. In fact, that happened right here in Raquey. He sure was a good-for-nothing back then. But now, he’s got a goal in mind and is working towards it. While everyone gets ready for a seafood barbecue, Noelle looks to the sky and asks her mother to watch her. She’s going to keep getting stronger!
In Summary:
This wasn’t such a bad episode. It’s always nice when Noelle gets her time to shine. The battle with the Spade devil is going to be tough and it’s nearing closer every day. You better believe that everyone needs to get in as much training as possible! Noelle definitely isn’t slacking. Well, she did spend a night spying on Asta at the mixer in the last episode but we’ll let that slide. Noelle being able to use the natural underwater mana is a good sign that she’s getting stronger. And you know what? She’s only going to keep on getting stronger! I’m sure her mother would be proud of her.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, VRV
