Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Episode 12) – A Looming Shadow
Hajime has come full circle and finds himself back at the entrance to the Orcus Labyrinth. He’s meeting with the local guild master when one of his classmates arrives, begging for help and crying about the appearance of a demon!
What did you watch?
It looks like Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest is building up towards a big finish. I’m not sure if we’re going to get an actual ending to the main story or not, but the last episode was a blast… We’ll also find out this week whether episode 5.5, the recap episode counts towards the total. Episode 12 could be the last one! I guess all will be revealed shortly. Anyhow, ready yourself, the spoilers are coming!
What happened?
Back at the entrance to the Orcus Labyrinth, Hajime headed to the local guild master with his letter from the last one. Their discussion was interrupted as a cloaked man appeared in the room and begged for help. He told them that a demon had appeared in the labyrinth and that all the heroes were doomed if he couldn’t get help. The guild master asked Hajime if he knew the man and it turned out he did. It was Endo from his class. Hajime took on his usual stance of not wanting to help as Endo told the story of what happened, but we all know he’s going to help.
In the Labyrinth, the hero party came face to face with a demon. She told the hero that she wanted him to join her side and without any explanation of who they were, he refused. I guess a hero can spot a villain without the need to talk… The demon summoned some pretty powerful monsters and had them attack. She killed one student and then the knight that had been their guide. It was looking bleak for the party until something came crashing through the cavern ceiling.
What did you think?
I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. So far, it’s been a real up and down series, but for the first time, I feel like they’ve managed to hit a bit of a stride. There are still issues and I’ll get into those, but otherwise, this episode was fun and had some decent action. It’s also frustrating to think what it could have been if they’d only spent more time on it. I get the feeling that this shouldn’t have been a thirteen-episode season or they should have focused more on the beginning of the story and planned on getting more seasons.
What was your favourite moment?
The scenes in the Orcus Labyrinth were my favourite part. It was so cool seeing the hero party come up against a demon and realising that they were hopelessly outmatched. Seeing Shizuku slap the hero was great too. That guy is just a bit too pompous for his own good and it’s nice to see someone with some sense taking the lead. My big qualm with this segment, and I’m not even going to talk about the terrible CGI monsters, was that we once again find ourselves in a position where it’s hard to care about a bunch of characters that we’ve had almost no exposure too. If the series had split its time between Hajime and the hero party, things would be that much more effective.
What was your least favourite moment?
I still don’t understand some of Hajime’s reactions. The guy appears to be outraged by the strangest things such as Shea riding on the bike with her bum in the air! OUTRAGE! Is Hajime some sort of pious prude? For a guy travelling around with a loli vampire, a bunny girl, and a perverted dragon girl, he really should have resolved this weird problem long ago. It’s akin to the time he went all demon eyes and drew his gun when Shea said she wanted to sleep with him. I will never understand Hajime! Never!
Who was your favourite character?
So, I may be biased, but Shizuku is the character that this series really needed more of. Yes, she’s a strong female character with a sword. That does play into my desire to have seen more of the rest of Hajime’s class throughout the series, but I still stand by the statement. Seeing a character die is tragic, seeing a character die that you empathise with or feel some sort of connection with is far worse. Shizuku has probably had more time than the rest of the class as she was the focus of one half of the only split episode so far. Her willingness to fight when others won’t is admirable and in my mind makes her the hero of the hero party and not the loser in the gold armour.
Who was your least favourite character?
That would be the golden armoured hero. I tempted to not even look up his name because I don’t feel like it’s even necessary. There’s not much worse than someone that is told they’re the hero and lets it go to their heads. You don’t become the hero, you have to earn it. I’ve not seen anything that tells me he’s earnt it. He can’t even handle a dire situation, which is usually when the hero is born, reacting out of instinct and doing what must be done, regardless of the consequences. Sorry, Kouki, you are no hero!
Would you like some more?
It turns out there is one more episode and as this episode played out, I’m very happy about that. Sure, it would be better without all the horrendous CGI monsters, seriously, just look at To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts and you’ll see that we are fine with traditional style animated monsters. You can use CGI, just make it flat and normal looking so that it blends in with the rest of the show. I’m curious to see what it was that made Kouki stop himself from stabbing the demon. What was on the photo in the locket? Plus, that was quite the entrance from Hajime. Looking for some serious action in the last episode.
Other posts in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – The Monster of the Abyss
- Episode 2 – Pandora’s Box
- Episode 3 – The Golden Vampire Princess
- Episode 4 – Guardian of the Depths
- Episode 5 – The Maverick’s Lair
- Episode 6 – Worthless Rabbit
- Episode 7 – The Great Reisen Labyrinth
- Episode 8 – Reunion with the Past
- Episode 9 – Dragon Slayer
- Episode 10 – The Goddess’ Sword
- Episode 11 – The Monsters’ Day Off
- Episode 12 – A Looming Shadow
- Episode 13 – The Best at Being the Worst
- Season Two
- Episode 14 – Irregular
- Episode 15 – Burning Light
- Episode 16 – Black and White
- Episode 17 – Reunion
- Episode 18 – Memories from the Bottom of the Sea
- Episode 19 – Someone Important
- Episode 20 – A New Vow
- Episode 21 – A Disturbing Darkness
- Episode 22 – Invasion of the Capital
- Episode 23 – God’s Apostle
- Episode 24 – Betrayal
- Episode 25 – A New Journey
- Bonus Posts
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