This show has never exactly been an animation powerhouse. Truth be told, he’s been limping along since at least episode two, mostly surviving comedic time while the production continually degraded. That wasn’t a deal breaker when it was mostly a comedy with only the semblance of a dramatic plot, but now that The legendary hero is dead! he’s trying to be at least moderately serious with himself, the bad animation and editing are seriously hurting his ability to tell a story.
The central battle of this episode is a good example. On paper, this is a clever battle of wits between Touka and an equally conniving enemy general, using dirty tricks and hidden moves to outmaneuver each other until one party manages to stop their opponent. In practice, it’s a rushed, poorly edited time sink that takes longer to explain than to develop, and there’s never a second of tension. Fights with no sense of urgency or spatial continuity were useful enough when they were just vehicles for jokes, but now they’re at least somewhat serious fights with a watch attached, so “just enough to tell a joke” isn’t enough anymore. .
It also matches the show’s throwback in its humor. You’d think that the latest enemy, Touka’s former mentor who taught him the art of traps and tricks, would add to his character or at least build on his most recent good deed. Instead, we get a lot of exposure to complete her relationship before Touka jumps right in to sexually humiliating her. As the later half of the episode attempts to once again shore up Touka’s heroic traits, it is completely undermined by him sneaking out to stuff Yuna’s body into stockings again because he might care about her enough to fight the armies of hell. , but not enough to respect her. her bodily autonomy. Throw in Ethel’s big badonkeroos feeding off Fieri’s stale jokes, and it’s like we’re back in the unbearable comedy of the first few episodes.
It’s a shame because there are elements here that still work, if only in isolated moments. Touka and Estel being scum peas in a pod are pretty funny, and the two of them picking that lock to get into the magic crafter’s house got me a decent laugh. The gag of the old man pouring tea on everyone’s head is pretty routine, but seeing Airi timidly sitting in her place, waiting for her turn, looking scared and resigned, was worth a laugh. Touka finally facing off against an opponent who’s just as devious as he is is a cool twist that could have easily been the highlight of the show so far if it had been better executed.
That’s not what we got though, and as strange as it is, I’m disappointed to see the series go backwards like this. It would never be a favorite, but the previous episodes held promise. To see so much of that potential gone so quickly is a huge disappointment.
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The legendary hero is dead! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
