Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Episode 3) – The Golden Vampire Princess
Hajime has just freed Yue from her prison when they were attacked by an unseen assailant. Luckily, Hajime took the hit and was able to recover, but that’s not going to be the end of it!
What did you watch?
So, I was reasonably happy with the improvements made in episode 2 of Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, which to be honest wasn’t hard given how badly the first episode went down. Well, this is episode 3 and we’re picking up right where we left off with Hajime shielding the vampire girl from a barrage of projectiles. Let’s get on with the review and don’t forget, there will be spoilers.
What happened?
Hajime took the projectiles in the back, shielding Yue. He popped open one of his bullets and quickly recovered from the attack. When they turned to see what was there, a giant scorpion with four claws and two tails dropped from the ceiling and continued its attack. With an exoskeleton tougher than anything Hajime had come across before, he had to coordinate his attack with Yue’s attack in order to bring down the monster. After eating part of the monster, Hajime crafted a new gun from its shell. A bigger and better gun!
They continued to descend into the labyrinth. Hajime told Yue how he was betrayed by a classmate and that he was over it now. All he wanted to do was go home and Yue was free to come with him. Yue told Hajime about the Mavericks that opposed the gods and then hid inside their giant labyrinths. She believed that if they could find the Maverick, they could get out. On the way, they ran into another powerful monster with the ability to take over its prey like a parasitic plant.
What did you think?
If last week’s episode took a step in the right direction, then this episode just kind of plodding along at the same speed. It was good, but not spectacular. There is, of course, the appalling CGI scorpion to discuss and I’ll get to that shortly, but most of this episode was spent with exposition in the form of Hajime and Yue talking. Obviously, this makes sense as they have just met and no doubt have lots of questions, but we didn’t need to hear the whole recap. Also, so far, the monsters have been a little unimpressive ever since Hajime levelled up.
What was your favourite moment?
That said, the scene with the parasite plant monster was pretty cool. The first time you see her, she’s walking towards Hajime, hips swinging and breasts jiggling, but then once she’s close her face is the stuff of nightmares. I like how that kind of mimics the way several of the more sedentary predators work. They entice their prey in and then… argggggh! The one thing that kind of bugged me was the explanation behind how Hajime was able to resist the parasite. It was because he’d eaten all those monsters, but then the plant parasite was able to control monsters on that level which should be tougher.
What was your least favourite moment?
Without a doubt, it was the CGI scorpion. So far, the CGI is not fairing well in this series. I think the big problem is how it integrates with the 2D animation. Long story short, it doesn’t. It stands out like a sore thumb. I’m really starting to wonder who gives these things the green light. If I was involved in a project and someone gave me this as the finished product, I would send it back and have it redrawn in the 2D style. It’s the same as in Fairy Gone. If anything, it detracts from the enjoyment of the series.
Who was your favourite character?
There was only really Hajime and Yue in this episode. We did get to see a brief glimpse of Hajime’s classmate preparing to re-enter the labyrinth, but that was only a matter of seconds. I think for this episode, I’m going to give it to Yue just because she looked so dawn cute sliding over the top of Hajime’s backpack and biting into his neck. His reaction says it all. It’s kind of “What’s that? Oh, it’s just Yue drinking my blood. Anyhow, what was I doing?” sort of reaction.
Who was your least favourite character?
As I said, there wasn’t anyone in this episode but Hajime and Yue, so I’m going to give it to the CGI scorpion because of how it looked. Honestly, I laughed out loud when I saw it. Just stop it already. After the dragon and skeleton soldiers in episode one, I just can’t take any more of these blemishes.
Would you like some more?
This episode ended with Hajime and Yue arriving on the floor, one-hundred levels down from where Hajime fell to and he was already further than anyone had gone before when he fell. They’ve reached another large ornate door in a strange maze of a level so this should be interesting. Could it be the Maverick or another outcast from society that has been imprisoned like Yue? Who knows, but I will definitely be back to find out. I’d like to see a little more of the class as they enter the labyrinth too and what is Hajime’s level now, because his classmate, the Hero was at level fifty!
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
You might also like…
This has kind of settled at this level. They can’t undo the lack of introduction they gave the characters or the fact that we still don’t have a reason to care what they are doing, so this episode kind of did the best it could at progressing from where the first two episodes left off. I’m still disappointed with this as a whole, but this episode just kind of does what it needs to. However, I totally agree about the visuals. What was that supposed to be? I think just showing us outside the room and hearing the noises inside and a few flashing lights from gun shots and spells would have been better than watching that fight against the scorpion thing.
Yeah, they can’t undo the beginning so we’re kind of stuck here now. I guess they’re just going to focus on action and terrible CGI monsters…
I feel like it can still be fun, but it definitely lacks any real connection between the characters and the viewers.