What They Say:
Akari Tokito is a “Lost One,” humans from everyday Japan who end up in another world, and with special powers. Menou is a “Faust,” a priestess tasked by the Church in the other world of assassinating Lost Ones who pose a threat to the other world. Menou pretends to be friendly with naive Akari in order to lure her into a trap that will end her life but it will take a few days to make it happen. Will Menou be able to follow through, or will something more develop between the two girls from different worlds?
The Review:
Content (Please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’ll admit there’s one major reason “The Executioner and Her Way of Life” interested me. It’s being billed to me as an action yuri show. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a great yuri. “Otherside Picnic” from winter 2021, the adaptation of the Russian novel “Roadside Picnic,” was also advertised as a yuri but no explicit romance had blossomed by the end. I have similar thoughts about “Adachi and Shimamura” from the fall 2020 season before it. The pacing simply moved too slowly for any substantial romance drama to exist between the two leads. Part of me is wondering if this will end up the same way and if the yuri tag is just for show or if there’s something more here. If there’s something to it, that would be a huge boon for my enjoyment.
The story in these three episodes isn’t anything extraordinary but there are some spots of opportunity in them. The story starts off with a typical Japanese boy being summoned into another world. In a humorously self-aware way, the boy proudly exclaims that this is “that thing where you get summoned to another world” and make a new name for yourself as a hero. His ambitions are shut down when he’s told his power is “null” and thrown out of the castle he appeared in. It is this moment when Menou makes her debut and introduces herself as a member of the Church who helps the “Lost Ones,” beings summoned from Japan who have special abilities and powers. Because many Lost Ones have been summoned to this other world, Menou explains that the people here have adopted Japanese language and culture from the modern era with some adjustments to account for the “ether” (magic energy) that exists. I think this is a clever spin and does offer a nice subversion on the isekai tropes we’ve seen in recent years. There’s nothing this Japanese teen can teach them from his modern world because they already know it from several others before him, so much so that they have adopted the language and culture. Although I do also find it funny how the Lost Ones are Japanese specifically. I’m not sure if that’s a narrative convenience given that this is an adaptation of a Japanese light novel series or if there is some significance to it but either way the restriction of summoning from a specific country to the other world is (perhaps unintentionally) comical.
However, when the two arrive at Menou’s church, the boy discovers that his power isn’t null, but rather “Null,” a “Pure Concept” (the name of abilities Lost Ones possess) that allows him to destroy any object he wants. It seems overpowering until Menou immediately kills him while the boy muses about using his power to fulfil his personal ends. Menou is not just some priestess. She’s a “Faust,” the highest rank of people in the other world. The Faust are Church members who rank even above the nobility, and they employ executioners to dispose of Lost Ones to keep balance in the world and to prevent abilities from going out of control (something that has happened before multiple times collectively referred to as “Human Errors”).
Her next target is a girl named Akari Tokito, whose Pure Concept is Time. She’s impossible for Menou to kill because she can rewind her body to right before she gets attacked (she apparently does this unconsciously). The Church supposedly has a method to kill her and other Lost Ones in such an emergency. But it will take a few days to prepare and the two need to spend some time together and travel to the other world’s capital with Menou pretending it’s a journey to send Akari home. Their trip starts on a train that is also boarded by a famous noble warrior princess Ashuna. There’s also one other crucial detail. The more Akari uses her Pure Concept, the stronger she will get with it so Menou must keep her from using it at all costs and avoid confrontation.
The train has terrorists on board after Ashuna and it’s up to Menou and Ashuna to stop them. One of the developments I’ll be watching is how good the action choreography. This is a story that calls for action. There are multiple fights in episode three involving Menou. So far the action set pieces are nothing spectacular but they do have room to grow. The character Momo, a Faust novice training under Menou who has a crush on her, uses an interesting chain weapon while Menou uses a knife. With unique weapons, there should be interesting combat and fighting techniques. It hasn’t impressed me so far but with all the moving around, magic, and variety of weapons and fighters, it can.
Another factor is Akari’s Pure Concept and how it can be used to aid in fighting or helping people. Toward the end of episode three, the train goes berserk and nearly crashes. Menou can stop it by borrowing some of Akari’s ether to cast a spell. But Menou wonders if the train actually did crash and Akari rewound time to just before the crash to prevent it. The characters do not seem to notice along with Akari that time has been reset even though they can feel something has changed. I like the ambiguity of Akari’s power, and whether or not it has actually been cast or if it was Menou’s imagination is a nice touch.
Speaking of Menou, her past is also a mystery. The Church supposedly found her after a major Human Error event and she was taken in and trained by Flare, a legendary Faust priestess and Menou has adopted many of her techniques and skills. Her past after that is a question mark and I hope we get more of that. With that in mind, we don’t know how she’ll handle this case and change throughout. Momo says before the journey she never had to spend so much time with a target before, and the indication is that Menou will at some point have second thoughts about her objectives. There’s a ripe opportunity there for character growth and a budding relationship between our two female leads.
Of course, the strongest element in the story is going to be the developing relationship between Menou and Akari. Will there be a more explicit yuri romance or will it be buried in subtext as a lot of alleged yuri anime often are? Momo has an obvious crush on Menou and expresses jealousy over Menou and Akari being together but Menou obviously doesn’t get the hint. Akari has hinted before that a journey together has the possibility for romance and drama. But there is a little bit of fanservice sprinkled in this series and the line between genuine yuri and fanservice can get blurry. Does Momo fawn over Menou because it’s a genuine crush, or is it a fanservice crush that the writers intend to use as an excuse for comedy and sexy pan shots? Menou continuously mentions a dream she has mentioning “her very best friend” (implicitly Akari) and I’m wondering if it’ll stay that way throughout the entire run with the girls being “very good friends.” The line between these “very good friends” and an actual relationship is where a fair chunk of these anime tend to fall. See “Flip Flappers” as an example of this. Although I was surprised at the overall lack of fanservice. There weren’t as many panty shots and pans as I expected. An interesting factor to consider.
The animation from J.C. Staff is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s typical of an anime studio of their caliber. Although the music and sound design are both top-notch. The music courtesy of Michiru is noticeable and fits the mood whenever it plays. I was surprised to hear a fitting soundtrack for an anime like this and will be looking forward to seeing how this ends up being a dark horse production value.
In Summary:
There’s a lot to take in with “The Executioner and Her Way of Life.” It hasn’t stood out that much yet, but there is ample opportunity for the story to pick up, particularly with the action and potential romance between the two leads and whether it will become serious or remain more of a fanservice ploy to slap the yuri genre tag on it. The series has some nice subversions and unique touches to the isekai genre and this leads to interesting elements littered throughout an otherwise ordinary and average set of episodes. I look forward to the future of this journey with Menou and Akari to see how all the elements work together and how much of this is for show and how much is actual ambition by the series creators. What I’ll keep an eye on most is if this truly is a series worthy of the coveted yuri label.
Grade: B
Streamed by: HIDIVE
