Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Episode 21) – A Disturbing Darkness

Arifureta From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 2 Title

Everything is going to hell in the capital, but then the Princess ran into Hajime and told him what was going on. He’s going to rescue Aiko and if whoever is behind everything gets in his way… Well, you know what happens…

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Episode 21) – A Disturbing Darkness

What happened?

The Commander is facing several of his own knights plus his vice-captain. Daisuke isn’t much of a threat, however, other than his ability to control everyone else… if it really is him doing it. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times the Commander knocks them down, they keep getting back up. With no choice left, he leaps out the window and attempts to run. Unfortunately, he runs into a much greater threat – the Apostle Noint and she’s not going to go easy on him.

Meanwhile, Hajime is driving to his next location when he spots a caravan that is being attacked by bandits. Kaori asks him to intervene and he does, but he will use whatever forces he deems necessary… and it’s a lot. After Hajime killed all the bandits, Kaori ran to help the people of the caravan and found the Princess among the group. She tells Kaori and Hajime what’s been happening and sets him on a path to rescue Aiko and deal with anything else that gets in his way. Let’s hope someone gets in his way then!

Arifureta From Commonplace to Worlds Strongest Episode 21 The Commander runs into Noint

What did you think?

Finally! This series has officially woken up. This was another great episode. The balance between events happening with Hajime and at the Capital worked again. The Commander even seemed like a competent character who also deserved more time. Of course, Daisuke was his usual cowardly self and the girl that is with him/driving him on… (checks notes), Eri Nakamura, who was apparently in the first season and I’d almost argue apparently in this season, appear to be somewhat responsible for everything that’s going on. We really needed to see more of them and their scheming.

These last two episodes and episode two from season one have shown us how much better this series could and should have been if it hadn’t rushed through everything and left out half the story. Everything felt more natural, even Hajime’s stance on things and how the girls reacted to him. Sure, the CGI is still pretty bad, but I can put up with that when the story makes sense.

Arifureta From Commonplace to Worlds Strongest Episode 21 The Apostle Noint

What have you learnt?

I can’t help but feel annoyed and a little let down at how good this series could have been. In the last episode, I was asking when was too soon to ask about a reboot and still feel that way. Had this series been given the time it deserved then it would have been something else. As it stands, it will be remembered as a missed opportunity and these episodes actually make it that much more obvious.

I think there were a lot of production issues with the first season where the author wasn’t happy with where it was going and it had to be scrapped and restarted. This must have impacted those working on it and it feels like the team that was working on season one lost interest. So often with these sorts of projects, it’s about finding the right team for the project. You just have to look at shows like Mushoku Tensei where it was obvious that they loved making that series and put everything into it. At least they are hitting their stride now and we may get a big finish that continues the success that these last two episodes have achieved.

Arifureta From Commonplace to Worlds Strongest Episode 21 Hajime rescues Aiko

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What did you think?