Beast Tamer (Episode 2) – Comrades
Rein completed the assessment to become an official adventure with ease and was instantly accepted. However, another guild member set their eyes on Kanade and challenged Rein for her. Will he be able to defend her?
Beast Tamer (Episode 2) – Comrades
What did you watch?
It looks like it’s time to hang out with Rein and Kanade again. The first episode left me dealing with several emotions. Firstly, there was anger at how the Hero’s party treated Rein and then, there was this strange warm feeling whenever Rein and Kanade were on the screen. For a series that opened with a massive betrayal, it ended up being surprisingly wholesome. Now, Rein is quite a vanilla character, but that seems to work in this instance. It’s definitely one of those shows where you can just sit back and enjoy it.
What happened?
Rein was accepted into the guild after completing the entrance test in a remarkably quick time. The receptionist was excited about his future and looked forward to seeing him climb the ranks. Kanade waited for him in the guild hall and was pleased to see him return. However, another adventurer spotted Kanade and decided he wanted her for himself. He challenged Rein to an arm wrestle where the winner got Kanade. Rein didn’t want to allow her to be used as a prize but felt he needed to defend her, even if he had no chance of winning. Well, it would appear that Rein benefitted from the contract he made with Kanade, gaining strength like hers.
The thug had no idea what hit him. Moments later, the receptionist arrived to see what the commotion was and then dropped a table on his head too. She apologised to Rein, but she was also curious how Rein managed to come back from his entrance test with an Ultimate Species… Anyhow, Rein jumped on another quest so that he could earn enough for them to have somewhere to stay. Kanade wanted to help, but she was no match for the group of rabbits that Rein formed a temporary contract with. Then, they heard some screaming and ran to help. A merchant had been surrounded by a group of bandits known as the Ebon Fangs. They have more than one hundred members and are known to hold grudges. What will Rein do?
What did you think?
It’s nice to see that the Hero’s Party are already realising that they might have made a huge mistake. Leane and Mina took on a quest which was to protect the merchant. They even hired another beast tamer to assist, however, neither of them actually understood what a beast tamer did or their limitations. A normal beast tamer can barely contract with two beasts at once, which makes Rein quite remarkable. They just didn’t realise it and that’s because Rein didn’t realise it was something special. I like that about him. I think that’s why he’s so considerate despite being overpowered. Basically, he never knew he was. He just assumed that all beast tamers were like that because they were where he grew up.
What was your favourite moment?
Seeing Leane and Mina trying to get their heads around the idea that Rein was special was particularly rewarding although they don’t seem to want to accept the idea just yet. Other than that, I love how the receptionists in guilds are always these average-looking girls who are actually incredibly strong and more than a little terrifying. Rein had just beaten the guy in an arm wrestle, smashing his hand through the table. He was rolling around on the floor and then the receptionist arrived and dropped a table on his head. I feel like the average guild receptionist could beat most of the guild members.
Who was the most impactful character?
Rein really took this episode by the scruff of the neck and said “I’m taking over, now.” One of the things that I like about him is that he’s not phased by things. He’d just defeated a bunch of bandits from a notorious and dangerous group, however, when warned that they would come after him, he simply decided to go and catch them all. Now, I don’t think this is arrogance as he stated later that if they ran, the people of the town would likely become the targets of their vengeance. He wasn’t going to sit back and let innocent people get hurt. He’s sounding more and more like an actual hero while the heroes are quickly dropping in my opinion, and after the first episode, they weren’t very high to begin with.
What have you learned?
I love the idea of a hero who is overpowered and doesn’t realise it. What do you mean you can’t lift an elephant? I thought everyone could do that. It certainly changes the way they behave and how they treat others, as we are seeing with Rein. The Hero, Arios meanwhile believes that he is special and as such thinks that he’s entitled to whatever he wants and can dump party members if he thinks they aren’t useful. Of course, Rein didn’t know that his powers were special so he naturally assumed that he was weak because he couldn’t fight like the hero or cast spells like the mages.
It reminds me of the idea that if we test everyone by how well they can climb a tree then the monkey will be king and a fish would be useless. Put them in the sea and the fish will become the king. You need to be able to assess a strength by what it actually does, not what you want it to do. The fact that the hero’s party had no idea how to assess Rein’s strengths compared to other beast tamers shows how self-centred they are. Not what I would call a hero by any stretch of the imagination.
Other posts in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – Meeting of Fate
- Episode 2 – Comrades
- Episode 3 – Another Ultimate Species
- Episode 4 – Dragonoid Power
- Episode 5 – Beast Tamer VS Hero
- Episode 6 – The Lost Woods
- Episode 7 – The Captive Fairy
- Episode 8 – Let’s Make Weapons
- Episode 9 – Beast Tamer VS Beast Tamer
- Episode 10 – Darkness in Horizon
- Episode 11 – Black Waves
- Episode 12 – Champion
- Episode 13 – A Home for All
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Interesting post
Our views of what is normal and what is exceptional depend very much on our experiences. There are all sorts of stories about characters who thought themselves and their domains to be great only to learn otherwise, like a big fish suddenly discovering the ocean after spending their life in a pond. But it works the other way, too, where people take things about themselves for granted, without realizing how special or unusual it is, until they encounter something which illuminates their understanding. Rich kids take food and money for granted, girls often underestimate how beautiful they are (and may even think themselves ugly), and so on. Mind you, once one gains new experience, one really ought to look at themselves differently than they used to. That’s what it means to grow.
Very true. You only know what you know and until something challenges that knowledge you’ve no reason to believe anything other than that. I do like the trope where someone thinks they’re average but are in fact massively overpowered because they tend not to be arrogant about it, since it’s normal to them.