Infinite Dendrogram (Episode 10) - The Movement on the Board

Marie Adler faces another master who uses sound as a weapon, while Ray and Rook race towards the East entrance to the city and find Hugo guarded it. Only Ray, however, is allowed to pass…

What happened?

We learn of Marie Adler’s opponent’s life outside of Infinite Dendrogam. He is a composer that has found the times too easy and lacking in chivalry and adventure. Ironically, this leads him to play the game and use his experiences to master his art. In a twist of fate, that is similar to Marie Adler’s life. She is a managaka but her debut manga was pulled when the publisher went under. After that, she managed to find a new publisher but had lost the drive. That’s why she became Marie Adler in the game. Eventually, she defeats the composer, but was forced to use her maiden embryo.

Meanwhile, Rook and Ray arrive at the East Gate to find Hugo stopping all Masters from passing. His does, however, have orders from Franklin to let Ray pass. Rook tells Ray to go on and find Franklin while he takes care of Hugo and joins up with him later. This is where we discover that Hugo is actually a French upper-class girl who feels betrayed by her real life. She became Hugo to live the honourable life she believes in, although this just comes off as uppity to Rook.

Infinite Dendrogram Episode 10 Marie Adler and her Maiden Embryo

What was your favourite element?

I still absolutely love that Rook’s class is Pimp and that he has no idea what a pimp is. It’s even better when he announces himself as Pimp Rook Holmes. Such a great idea. I feel like it hinted at there being some sort of connection between Rook and Hugo and while I’ve seen it mentioned online that maybe Rook is also a girl and possibly Hugo’s older sister, however, I don’t believe that she wouldn’t know what a pimp was. She seemed to be old enough to know that. All that said, I really don’t think we need any more flashbacks in the middle of action scenes. It seems to be a regular thorn in anime’s side. I liked finding out about the characters, but there are definitely better times to do that.

Infinite Dendrogram Episode 10 Rook and Babylon

What have you learnt?

I’ve also seen complaints about Franklin being evil for evil’s sake, but that’s only really from the perspective of Ray’s nation. It has been mentioned in earlier episodes that some Masters can turn into complete monsters and abuse the Tians, so it’s not unheard of, but that doesn’t seem to be Franklin’s goal. I feel like there’s much more to his interest in Ray, especially as I don’t think he would want to fight him. Franklin may be a Superior, but he’s not a one on one fighter. It’s going to be interesting to see exactly what his angle is.