Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Episode 7) – The Great Reisen Labyrinth
Hajime and Yue head to the next labyrinth with Shea in tow. They’re stuck in a gorge and can’t seem to find the entrance, that is until Shea stumbles upon it. Now, to complete the labyrinth and beat the boss!
What did you watch?
This is episode 7 of Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest. I’m not going to lie, this series isn’t really working for me. It feels rushed and underdeveloped as if they are trying to squeeze twenty-six episodes into thirteen. I’m not about to give up on it just yet, but I would like to see some sort of improvement. Well, let’s do it. There will be spoilers.
What happened?
So, they stumbled upon the Reisen Labyrinth and fairly quickly regretted it. Not because it was hard, but because Reisen is quite the annoying labyrinth boss and Shea seems to be at the bottom of every joke. They make considerable progress racing through the levels only to end up back where they began. Looks like they’re going back in and this time they mean business. Meanwhile, a bunch of unrecognizable students talk about some expedition and Hajime. Seriously, who are they supposed to be?
Back in the labyrinth, they enter the final room where they must defeat an endless army of suits of armour. Luckily, Shea hammers the door down and they jump to the final boss. It too is a suit of armour, only this time it’s massive. They fight and eventually overpower the boss by working together. Reisen, however, isn’t dead and is available to present them with the ancient magic ring, although only Yue is levelled up enough to use it.
What did you think?
This was a far better episode than the last one, but again, it was rushed. They managed to blast through the dungeon and defeat the boss in barely an episode. Sure, Hajime is stronger now and they have Shea with them, but it didn’t really seem like it required any effort whatsoever. On top of that, the series appears to have taken a pretty dramatic shift in tone. It started out dark and hopeless, then Hajime became a jerk, and now, it’s goofy and lewd. I’m all for lewd, but only when it makes sense. This does not.
What was your favourite moment?
I liked the fight with the boss, especially how they actually seemed to use some tactics that utilised all of their abilities. It wasn’t just Hajime repeatedly shooting his gun and expecting it to die. In the end, it made the boss a little too easy, but I liked that it tried something different. Shea’s massive hammer is also a welcome addition.
What was your least favourite moment?
On the whole, I don’t like the way Hajime and Yue treat Shea, but mostly, I find Hajime’s reactions to be so over-the-top and unrealistic. Shea kissed him, which was unexpected, but to grab her by the hair and toss her into the water was probably too far. Then, in the inn when Shea made the revelation that she wanted Hajime to take her virginity, his reaction was to draw his gun and look extra edgy! This all falls into the new goofy feel for the show.
Who was your favourite character?
I’m going to say, Shea, because I can’t stand Hajime and I’m rapidly going off Yue. Shea has a massive hammer which is a nice touch. She’s not received much in the way of development, however, other than to grope and kiss Hajime and then make her announcement. I still can’t for the life of me work out why she wants to hang out with Hajime and Yue, let alone show any interest in Hajime. It’s as puzzling at the pacing of the series.
Who was your least favourite character?
I want to say Hajime, but I’ve already mentioned my main issues with him. Instead, I’m going to mention the students. Seriously, who were they supposed to be? They didn’t look like any of the students we’ve met briefly before. We were just dropped into that weird scene with no context and no idea what was going on. My favourite episode is still the second one where we got a little bit of development of the students and even Hajime was progressing, but this was a far cry from that. It just feels like we’re missing so much information.
Would you like some more?
I just don’t know what to do with this series. It’s not enjoyable and it makes little sense and in this episode, things got even worse as it underwent the tonal shift. I like goofy anime, I like dark anime, and I even like lewd anime, but when it’s all mashed together with little to no consideration for the actual story, I find that I am struggling. I want to enjoy it, I really do. The premise is a good one, but the execution has been rushed and haphazard!
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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It’s definitely confusing as to what Arifureta wants to be. It’s one thing for a new character like Shea to add a little humor / lightheartedness here and there, it’s something else entirely for the anime to seemingly change it’s entire feel based on her.
Yeah, it is puzzling because anyone that’s here for the dark revenge story will probably not be too happy about a comedic shift and those that want the comedic ecchi style content probably won’t have made it this far in the series. Rather than appealing to more people, it ends up only appealing to a very small section that want both at the same time.
And this is what happens when they dump all the set up of the story and don’t bother to develop any of the characters before dropping us into an abyss and going edgy. There’s no context for anything so we have no reason to care.
While it might not be as thrilling a first episode, actually taking the time to introduce the students and go through their reactions to being summoned to another world, we might actually have a clue what the main story line is for them and why it matters.
No context. When we saw those students, I was like are we supposed to know who they are?
No one’s reactions seem realistic or logical. It’s just let’s make them edgy and tough, but it’s coming off as we’re just a bunch of jerks.
I feel like I’m just watching now to see how bad it gets, because there’s no enjoyment anymore.
That’s been me since about episode 3. I kind of gave up thinking it would get better. I thought when they left the first labyrinth maybe they could start turning it around but we’re just repeating the same mistakes of not bothering to develop anything and ploughing through the plot without giving anything context. It is just bad at this point.
The second episode was the highlight for me because it split its time between Hajime and the surface. We kind of got a little more sense from the other students then, but that has all since been forgotten.
[…] is Lynn’s review of Arifureta episode 7. While there seem to be a few reviewers kind of enjoying Arifureta, even actively trying to find […]
[…] This is almost impossible, so I’m going to go with the old favourite of Shea whacking things with her giant hammer. Try to ignore the fact that this is the exact same animation frame from episode 7… I kid you not, see for yourself – click here! […]