As The Legend of the Legendary Heroes ends, I guess that I’m still waiting for this series to still show me why it should be called Legendary. Twenty-Four episodes in and I can see that all of the elements for a great sequel/conclusion to this series are in place. Yet, the evidence already presented suggests that even if there is a sequel, it would not be able to adequately combine those elements into a polished final product for a variety of reasons. That said, LOLH does offer a fairly interesting cast of characters and it occasionally delivers interesting action sequences, which  makes it an above average show, if only barely.

Though he was only in like 3 episodes, Tiir was probably the best developed character in the whole series

First, the good. Some of the characters in this show are genuinely interesting, and furthermore, they actually develop over the course of the series. If you’ve been reading my posts on this series, than you probably know how much I love Ferris, and for good reason. Her development, while a little cliché, from a generally cold and sarcastic character who is scared sh*tless of her brother to a person who seemed to genuinely seemed to care for Ryner, as she continually sought to be by his side. Though the series failed to capture on some of the chemistry it generated between the two early on,  the promise they made later on in the series shows  how close they have become, and it also seemed like a pretty interesting plot point.

Both in comedy and drama, these two were top notch characters.

Unfortunately, every good interaction between these two seemed to be followed up by some side character of the week. In general, these weekly guests, if you will, seemed to take time away from the main story. If you’ve watched the show, do you remember who the hell Fiole, Toale, Salawell, or Arua are? While some of these characters, the ones still living at least, may play some sort of role in the future, do I care? No. Even some of the side characters I did care about and who received some development, like Tiir and Noa, seemed like they only showed up for one or two episodes and then disappeared for months at a time. This lack of continuity from week to week is never a good thing in my opinion.

Then there was Sion Astal. If you want to know how not to develop a character, I would suggest looking no further than this guy. Early on, the series made many interesting comparisons between him and Ryner or Riphal, by showing the differences in their moral character. Then, the series does a complete 180 by dropping what it spent 7 or 8 episodes building up to focus on Sion’s personality crisis. Though the show eventually combined the moral fiber thing with the explanation for his dual personality, this shift was far too sudden and poorly introduced for it to have any real basis in reason.

Sion's strange development almost ruined this show for me

However, the sudden jumps from one topic to another were not limited to the characters. I never really got a good idea about what the focus of this series was, or that matter I never really understood the logic behind the magic and the relics the characters used. Episode one gave the impression that the series would focus on Ryner and Ferris collecting relics and fighting monsters. Then the series seemed to shift to Ryner’s Alpha Stigma and Roland’s politics. Then there was that five or six episode stretch in the middle of the series where the show didn’t really do much at all. I will say that the last eight episodes were pretty entertaining, but the transitions from one episode to another were never handled well, and we only really got one cliffhanger.

Plus, the show never really explained to us what exactly the legendary relics were, how many of them there were, or what kind of past they had. Sure, you could infer some things from events after the fact or from the occasional flashback, but the critical information always seemed to be lacking in the moment.  Same thing applies to the magic used in this series, though to a lesser extent.

Though not mentioned anywhere else in this post, Luke is an awesome character

Perhaps the biggest issue I had with Legendary Heroes was with its pacing. From the material that was included in the series, did Legendary Heroes need to be 24 episodes long? The simple answer is no. Too much time was spent rehashing old points and flashbacks seemed like a common occurrence. During the second half of the series it seemed as though every week featured Sion trying to come to terms with his past decisions and Ferris somehow trying to reunite with Ryner. Since I assume this was a result of following the source material, I’m not really going to fault the show for including it, but did I need week after week of Ferris semi confessing to Ryner, or Sion moping for weeks on end? Again, no.

But on the flip side, this series could have easily been longer had they explained some of the unclear parts in more detail. I mean, how was Clough able to get his arm back after Tiir consumed it? How did Ryner and Ferris end back up in Roland at the beginning of episode 15? Who or what is controlling Sion? What exactly can a rule fragment do? To what lengths did Riphal go to when investigating Kiefer? Ok, that last one probably isn’t that important, but I still wanted to see it. The creators could have easily taken some of the time they devoted to the constant flashbacks and superfluous character development to flesh out these issues, but they didn’t. I’m not going to say they are lazy for doing this, but it does leave you wondering if they are crazy.

Knowing more about Gastark, Rule Fragments, etc. would have been appreciated.

One thing the show did do a better job of over the course of the series was improving its animation. Early on it seemed like Legendary Heroes utilized a lot of blank spaces and had difficulty with lighting. Whether this was on purpose or not I don’t know, but I found it pretty annoying. Over time though, it seemed like there were fewer occurrences of this, and the animation as whole looked a lot sharper, especially in the last eight episodes.

There was also just enough comedy to keep me interested in Legendary Heroes when I might have otherwise dropped the show. Obviously Ryner and Ferris were the source of most of this comedic relief, but a few other characters, like Sion, Noa, and Clough occasionally got in on the act. It did seem that the show pushed the Ryner X Sion jokes a bit too far, especially considering that Legendary Heroes doesn’t seem to be on the viewing list of people who like that sort of stuff, but I’ll let it go.

Best screen cap from this show.

As for the fighting scenes, they were a mixed bag in my opinion. Anything with Tiir was awesome, because let’s face it, he is awesome, but every other scene that featured a large number of combatants never really impressed me. It seemed like both Ryner and Ferris were powered down to meet level of their competition in these situations, and there were multiple occurrences in which the show had poor choreography for its fights, in that some characters disappeared for long stretches of time during fight scenes. That said, fights featuring few combatants were almost always interesting and well done.  Episode four’s fight between Ryner and Ferris, Episode 17′s Clough/Tiir fight, and Episode 24′s fight between Ryner and Sion are prime examples of this. Of course, almost any scene in which someone used a legendary relic was an instant win as well.

So even considering the possibility of a second season and that the source material is supposed to be much better, this anime series on its own didn’t really stand out to me. Sure, it is a far better waste of your time than some generic moe show, but when compared to some of the more “involved” shows that are out there, this one just isn’t up to par. To sum it up, this show is just too inconsistent, but it does have a lot of good points. I’ll probably rate this as an 8 on my MAL list, but in reality this show belongs in 7.5/10 territory.

You know I've never actually had Dango, but this show has made me want to try it. That's something.

Nice final episode, though I’m even more confused now than when the episode began as to what is wrong with Sion. Obviously, it looks like the plan is for there to be a sequel, and if there is one, it seems like it will have a faster pace than this series. While I’ll give my thoughts about the series as a whole in an upcoming post, there were a few notable things that happened in this episode.

While I’d like to say I knew how the legendary hero back story relates to what is going on in show, I pretty much only get that Lucile is the weaver of all equations and Ryner is the solver of all equations. I had thought at the beginning of the series the Ryner would be the present day legendary hero, but it seems like that role is more befitting of Sion, especially considering his relationship with Lucile and Ryner.

The fight scene from the episode’s opening half was interesting enough, but it was perplexing to see it just end. I mean for floating, possessed Sion just to give up because weird floating woman who came out of Ryner saying that it wasn’t time yet, was as weird as it was disappointing. I guess the point of this fight was so that we could finally know that Sion had finally been taking over by his evil double, but it seemed like that had been the case several times in the past few episodes. I suppose that it is possible that Sion is now cohabitating with his evil double, or whatever, given that Ferris said he was smiling and crying when he told her that he had killed Ryner. I just don’t know, so I’ll let it go for now.

We then got a reunion between Ryner and Ferris (it seems like they have had reunions every two or three episodes in this series), in which we got to see, again, that Ferris really does care for Ryner. However, it seems like there may be a cause for concern for Ferris, because she did look a bit worried when Kiefer helped them escape. Since it seems that Ryner and Ferris are going to be going up against Sion and Roland in the future, I would venture a guess that Ferris and Kiefer will inevitably cross paths again. Now whether Kiefer and Ryner would still have a thing for each other after all of these years is questionable, but it would still make for an interesting encounter.

The rest of the episode was really just one long ending montage scene featuring the various characters the series has introduced thus far, either fighting or standing around ominously. I will give this montage credit, in that I do want to watch more Legendary Heroes after watching it. One of the most interesting things from that montage was that Milk and company still seemed to be fighting on behalf of Roland, even after Milk learned the truth from a couple of episodes ago. Now, given that she would know that Sion’s undead soldiers were a result of human experiments, I wonder what could have possibly kept Milk from conspiring against Sion.

All things considered, this episode did move the series forward, but it seems like the ending montage was far more useful than the actual fight between Ryner and Sion, especially considering that we at least know the show didn’t forget characters like Tiir, Milk, and Miran.

Final Notes:

With this post, I’ve finally completed blogging my first full series, and while LOLH hasn’t been the most exciting series, it was pretty fun to blog. I’ve tried getting away from some of the longer, more analytical posts that I did earlier on, to making shorter, more to the point posts. That said, if you do read my posts with any regularity (I’m also blogging Star Driver), I would appreciate any feedback on my writing and ways that I can make my posts more appealing. Aside from that, I’d like to say thanks to the people who do read my posts, and more specifically foshizzel for commenting on such a regular basis.

That is the one thing I learned from my 10th grade English class. I had written an otherwise excellent (for a 10th grader), well sourced paper about Herbert Hoover’s life and she gives me a B- for no other reason than that the paper had no transitions. Suffice it to say, I’ve never made that mistake again in an academic paper. That’s one of the big issues with Legendary Heroes that has bothered me for some time; there are no transitions. Now, there has been the constant shifting from one story to another, and I’m cool with that. However, putting characters in unexplained situations, like the show did in episode 15, or the weird shift in tone from the last episode to this one are disappointing, to say the least.

Episode recap in four words: Sion goes crazy, finally.

Then there is the problem with the within show transitions. Having comedy intermixed with drama is a fine line to walk, and I pointed this out in my episode one post. LOLH has been doing a fine job with handling this concern of mine, but for some characters to act so out of turn, like Miran did in this episode, is perplexing to say the least. Now you might think that I hated the quick transition from the disconcertingly flirtatious and nice Sion to evil Sion, but that had been hinted at for some time, so while the transition was quick, it was understandable.

Aside from that last revelation, nothing really happened in this episode. It seems like the creators needed some reason to bring all of the characters together before Sion went bonkers, and they went with the birthday idea. Nothing too revolutionary or well imagined with that choice, but hopefully the show’s ending makes up for it. It was nice to see that the show hadn’t forgotten all of its side characters, like Miran and Noa (who was berating Clough for drinking too much in the background of the party scene, which was pretty funny). I really don’t think too much else needs to be said about this episode, so I’ll leave it at that.

I’ll end this post with some pictures of Ferris, but unfortunately there were no good ones of her blushing when it was revealed she was planning on opening her own Dango shop.

Even though it seemed like this episode pulled a whole bunch of things out of thin air, it still added a whole lot of clarity to past events, which is something that the series has done more of the past few weeks. Hopefully, this means we are in for a conclusion that ties up all of the show’s loose ends, though could you blame me if I still have doubts?

To start, I suppose it would be prudent to talk about the parts of this episode that actually made sense, and then gradually shift to the bat sh#t crazy. The flashback featuring Sion meeting Lucile, which expanded a scene from the beginning of the series, gave some insight as to what might have caused Sion to go crazy and lock himself in a poorly lit room for half of the show. It seems to have something to do with a splitting of Sion’s personality, which he had been able to contain up until this episode. But now it seems as though the darker side has now taken over completely, considering Lucile’s smirk and Riphal’s warning to Kiefer.

However, I think it would be a mistake just to assume that Sion just wants Ryner dead, as it would seem that both Sion and Lucile want to use him in some grander scheme. This really depends on how you view the conversation in the previous episode in which Sion made it clear to Miran that Ryner must live. I suppose you could assume that Sion was a different person back then, or you could say that he needs Ryner alive for something bigger (It would also be pretty bad writing if Sion just flip-flopped like that in one episode). Perhaps, those tests on Alpha Stigma users that Milk finally found out about this episode are meant as practice for Ryner. These tests, also lend credence to the theory that Ryner is a part of a larger plan, as Evil Sion must have ordered their continuation some time ago. Also, I know this is probably wrong of me to say, but did anyone else find that monster’s voice hilarious?

On another Roland note, it seems like everyone who used to be a part of Sion’s brain trust is getting tossed aside. I mean even Miran deferred to Sion, Clough doesn’t seem like he is going to be useful anytime soon, and where are the rest of his generals?

Then there was the part of this episode that was just plain crazy. I’ll admit, the scene in which Lucile confronted who I can only assume to be Ryner’s father, as I don’t think it was ever explicitly stated, was pretty awesome, and really showed, without really even showing, how powerful these two were. But then, what was up with that whole heaven/dream/revelation world Ryner was sent to. While this part of the episode did help explain (very poorly, I might add) the links Ryner shares with the past (which really hasn’t been mentioned since episode 2, though I guess implied through the title), what was with that emblem taking the form a monster. Even more messed up is that we were probably introduced to Ryner’s mother, only for her to die in a matter of seconds.

Even though there were plenty of crazy things going down in this episode that made no sense, all is forgiven as we got to see Ferris blush. Focusing on the plot though, it will be interesting to see how that tattoo is going to protect Ryner from Sion, as well as how Ryner will react to seeing Kiefer again in upcoming episode(s). Regardless of what happens, it seems to be inevitable that Ryner and Ferris are going to be stuck in the middle of the conflict between Roland and Gastark, no matter where it occurs.

Also, where in the h@ll is Tiir?

This was actually a very good episode, but there were a lot of things that left me scratching my head. The single biggest question mark relating to this episode’s events was how the hell did Sion get so damn strong, because it seems like all he has been doing in the past 10 episodes (aside from letting Ryner help him get rid of Tiir) is sitting in a chair in that room full of glass muttering to himself.

Twenty/Twenty hindsight, I suppose you could have seen this one coming with Ryner calling Sion the devil like 10 times in this episode, not to mention countless times in previous episodes, which was actually a pretty nice touch if it was done on purpose. While there had been more than enough foreshadowing in earlier episodes to show that Sion was going to turn evil, especially after Fiole was killed in episode 5, this shows that the original creators (presumably?) planned ahead well, so I would expect more of those aha moments in the future.

Sexy time

Also, this episode (finally) took the show in a more adult direction. Sure, there had been gory battle scenes and some heavy emotions in previous episodes, but the only adult shot was when Claugh rescued Noa in a previous episode. This episode threw them out so often it was like they were going out of style. Back to Sion though, it is pretty reasonable to assume that he at least has some hand in the use of the forbidden magic infused soldiers that Riphal’s men found in Runa, if not the mastermind.  Then there was his somewhat surprising change in his morals, as for no apparent reason he decided to start killing Roland’s nobles (including Milk’s parents) without even informing Miran. Then there was the phrase I hate hearing any anime, in which Sion said there was more going on in this world than lines being drawn on maps. You can read my thoughts on this type of plot device here, but suffice it to say, it seems we have been down this road before.

One sided sexy time?

That’s not to say that Sion is the only character who seems to be going down a dark path in this episode. First there was Claugh getting his arm back (and a little action on the side), though there was conveniently little explanation as to how this happened. I think it is hard to ignore the symbolism of Claugh having a black arm, though I am having a little difficulty seeing what role that is going to play in the future. And then what would Legendary Heroes be without making you hate both Sion and Riphal, who had resorted to torturing (but in what way?) Kiefer after she had reacted to Ryner’s name in a previous episode. You have to feel for what she may face in the future, as I doubt she knows anything about Sion using forbidden magic, but I guess you never know.

Finally, there was the revelation that Milk’s foster parents had been killed, and that it was likely done on Sion’s orders, though I don’t think she or anyone else in her squad made that connection, but the scene cut off after she asked about what is going on in Roland. I found it pretty weird that she was so broken up about her parents dying even after she found out that the only reason she was adopted was so that her parent’s real  children wouldn’t have to go fight. Then there was that dream sequence she had with Sion before she woke up. There have been hints earlier in the show that she and Sion were connected in some way, but how important the two are to each other is still in question. Then, just to throw more wrenches into the plot, Milk came up with a reason as to why she shouldn’t trust anyone in her squad. Though I guess this isn’t really a surprise, as it seems like nobody trusts anyone in this show, but that will make for a good conclusion.

This was a good scene, with some new, but welcome, eye movements from Ferris.

Then there was that whole back and forth between Sion and Miran about Ryner. Why Sion still considers Ryner so important to his identity is a little weird, but I’d imagine that he will eventually change his mind, like he did with the nobles (because, really, what are the odds that Ryner is dead?).

Oh yeah, Ryner also got stabbed.

Since school kind of took up most of my time the past week and a half, I decided to combine the past two episodes into one somewhat longer post. While it would seem like a lot of things have happened in these two episodes, and a lot has, it also is clear that for many characters, especially the main ones, change is a slow process.

I guess the biggest surprise from episode 19 was that Tiir wasn’t such a bad guy after all. I mean, sure he has probably killed thousands of people and used the logic that he isn’t human to justify his actions (which I am sure he will reassess at some point), but still not a bad guy. It was also interesting to see that he had run in to and basically been defeated by Lir in the past. So when Lir came back in episode 20, you would have thought that Tiir would have been the one to get revenge, but it seems that he can’t really use his powers to his full effect unless he consumes others, and in episode 20 that would have meant consuming all the children which he refused to do. This kind of puts him in a bind in fights that don’t involve large amounts of humans, so it will be interesting to see what kind of role he can actually have in smaller, one on one type fights, as was the case when he initially fought Lir. (Also, did anyone else get Alien type vibes when he mentioned how he consumed his mother from the womb?)

That brings us back to Gastark, and what better place to start than with what looks to be the death of Sui nii-chan. Frankly, I don’t really care whether he lives or dies anymore since most the characters from this show’s first half, Miran Froaude included, just don’t offer the same level of intrigue and mystery of some of the show’s newer focuses, like Riphal and Luke. In reality, it seems that his character’s only purpose was to fight Ryner a few times, and then mention to Riphal how powerful he was, which would then elicit a response from Kiefer. It will certainly be interesting to see what will happen between Kiefer and Riphal in the upcoming episodes. Since Riphal has been trying to put the moves on Kiefer for the past few episodes, and even going so far as to say he would marry her in episode 19, what will he do now that he knows she is from Roland, his current foe? What will Kiefer do? From the preview, and from the little we know about Riphal, it seems like he is going to do whatever it takes in order to accomplish his dream of creating a peaceful world.

It was also pretty interesting to see that Gastark has a crap load of crystals, which Gastark presumably gained from killing an untold number of magic eye users (which makes you wonder how many magic eye users there really are, but I digress). While I know one of the main themes of this show is supposed to be that there isn’t no good guy, there isn’t no bad guy, there is just two sides who just disagree, it’s hard not think badly of Riphal for ordering his minions to go around the continent and massacre people, but this is something we kind of all ready knew. What we didn’t know was how Gastark was able to crystallize eye users.

Fortunately, episode 20 cleared that up. It appears that Lir’s legendary relic, in the form of a big green ball that allows him to crystallize the powers of magic eye users, which he can then use in the form of a Rule Fragment. While the plot possibilities this relic provides for are interesting, especially if it could take away powers without killing the user, it is in and of itself a pretty powerful weapon. The ease with which Lir was able to kill both Lafra and the Alpha Stigma chick was pretty remarkable. Unfortunately, Luke and Ryner just let Lir kind of walk away after they had him on the run, which was a bit perplexing, as was the large amounts of talking between Ferris and Ryner during the fight scenes in which no action actually took place. Kind of disappointing that episode 20 didn’t handle these timing issues better, but it’s a minor flaw.

However, the real core of this series has been the relationship between Ryner and Ferris, and the last two episodes seem to have finally moved them to the next level, though what that means isn’t exactly clear. That said, the one thing has surprisingly upset me was the limited amount of time Ryner was able to mope around after he decided to leave Ferris and Sion to go with Tiir. I mean is one episode enough time for Ryner to completely change all of his ideals, and did Ferris say anything to Ryner in episode 20, that she didn’t already make clear in episode 10.

I guess that this speaks to a bigger problem that this series has. I really don’t think it was necessary to spend as much time as the series did in having Ryner decide to leave Ferris and Sion, but I do think it should have spent more time in having Ryner coming to the realization that people still care about him even if he is a monster. Ferris’ promise to kill Ryner should he every go berserk again near the end of this episode seems a bit extreme to me, but if this is what it takes for Ryner to feel comfortable around her then so be it. It would be nice to see a bit more comedy put back into this show by having these two together, even if it the series doesn’t really need it anymore.

Speaking of things that have taken this series too long to get to, we finally got a conclusion to the Miran/Luke fight from a few episodes ago. To see Miran just give up on his plan, whatever exactly it was, and release Milk without incident was a little disappointing, but understandable considering he was up against a legendary relic (everyone on this show has a relic it seems, but Ryner and Ferris). It seems like Miran was able to convince Luke to move against Ryner, but given the events in episode 20, Luke now seems convinced that Ryner must live.

Long term, the biggest thing in this series is that Ryner is the solver of all equations. Lir’s mention of this in episode 20 was only the second time in the series (I think) that this has been alluded to. What this means is anyone’s guess, but with Ryner now seemingly capable of holding back the monster inside of him and with the promise he made with Ferris, a bunch of possible pathways have been opened. If Ryner can only access these potentially earth shattering powers while under the control of the Alpha Stigma, it is possible that a situation may arise where his powers are needed to save a large group of people. I guess the real question is whether he would open himself up to possibly being taken over by the monster inside of him (and thus killed by Ferris), if it meant saving others.

One other interesting note was the conversation Claugh had with Calne in episode 19 after they learned about Sion’s use of Ryner. I got the feeling that Claugh was somehow able to understand what Ryner was going through, as a lot of what he said echoed what Ryner had said in previous episodes. While we haven’t much back-story on Claugh up until this point, except for his past with Tiir, it would be interesting to know what he had to do to get the power he had in his right hand. From the previews, it looks as though he is going to somehow get another arm, but if Full Metal Alchemist as taught us anything, it is that something must be lost, for something to be gained. It will be interesting to see if we find out what sacrifices Claugh made in the past, and may make in the future all for the sake of power.

However, with all of these plotlines, I don’t know if the show can adequately wrap up everything that is going on in six episodes without it feeling rushed. At this point, it seems possible that this show will have a sequel. Whether that is the case or not, I hope we get some sort of conclusion to this series, and not a cliffhanger.

Since I am looking down the barrel of two hellish weeks of school before Thanksgiving break, I am going to combine the two shows I am reviewing into one post this week and next. Unfortunately, that means I am not going to be able to go as in depth as I would like to, which really sucks since Legendary Heroes is really starting to heat up again, and Star Driver continues to meet and exceed expectations.

To begin with, you have no idea how happy I am that Ryner finally decided to do something, instead of constantly complaining/moping about his situation. While his decision to join Tiir, and what looks like a group of outcast magical eye users, made sense when you consider the order Sion gave Luke, you have to wonder what the hell he was thinking in leaving behind Ferris. It seemed as though she thought she had gotten through to Ryner after his last outburst in episode 10, as the flashback reminded us, so it is hard to imagine how hard Ryner’s betrayal must have hit her. Though to empathize with Ryner, having what looks like thousands of people in the army shudder in fear from your presence, right before you decide whether to join Tiir would probably have a big impact on your decision.

It seems like Ryner regrets leaving, but has it in his mind he has no other choice

As for Sion, how freaking lucky is this guy? This guy was anointed a hero after the events in episode 3, in which he needed Ryner to save his ass, and now it was only because of Ryner’s s decision that Tiir disappeared. I mean how much does he have his army wrapped around his finger to declare that he sent away the monster, even though pretty much everyone there saw that wasn’t the case. I guess that also begs the question about how stupid his army is, but that’s a question for another day.

Anyway, it seems Ferris is going to go look for Ryner and try to knock some sense into him which is all well and good, but the really important development is that Ferris looks infinitely hotter in her new pink get up. On a side note, I kind of was disappointed that we didn’t get any resolution to the Miran/Luke encounter from the previous episode.

As for Star Driver, things weren’t quite as crazy as last week, but we finally got to learn a few things about Sugata. Apparently, he is the heir to the strongest Cybuddy there is, and also has the strongest First Phase in the form of the King’s Pillar. The only problem is that if he apprivoises, he will fall into a deep coma. There is also some added drama about how he learned of his abilities on his birthday five years ago, and ever since he needs to do some emo scene on said day. On a side note, the show seems to have made a special note about how both Wako and Sugata learned of their abilities, and in both instances it seems like it has filled them with regret and forced them to restraining themselves, with their inability to leave the island likely symbolizing something else.

Glasses, bunny ears, maid outfits, what's next?

With that said, you know Sugata was planning for the long run when he did apprivoise to save Wako. I mean he pretty much sacrificed himself to save her, so you know that when he inevitably wakes up (he is a main character) that Wako is going to want to get into his pants. More seriously, this episode made it more clear that Takuto wasn’t necessarily going to be the one to break Wako’s seal and that there will likely be some sort of love triangle between the three. I’d really like to see Sugata become an enemy to Takuto as that would be a pretty interesting story line.

A little uninteresting, but that may be due to the lack of fan service when compared to other characters

As for the show’s stand alone story, I wasn’t really that impressed with Undine’s character as she seemed to be a little bit too paranoid about Takuto and Wako being together. On the flip side, her first phase was pretty awesome, and was the catalyst for some pretty sweet fights between her Mermiadolls and the maids with the ever growing list of moe elements. Just as interesting was the increasing screen time that was devoted to the mentioning of the First Phases. The scene with Kanako, in which she said she was lucky to have a first phase that didn’t cause that much stress was really interesting, especially in comparison to the trouble Undine seemed to have with hers. If we were going to somehow try and relate this to adolescence, which this show seems to be about, it seems that some characters have a lot easier time adapting to their newfound first phase powers than others. This, in addition, to some other characters who have trouble dealing with finding out about their powers, certainly goes to show that while people may go through the same things in life, more or less, not everyone can handle them as well or as easily as others.

Do they really need to wear their costumes outside?

On a side note, this was the first time I could easily understand the nonsense coming from fish girl’s mouth, as it seemed to predict the events that would occur later in the show, and was the basis for my theory that Sugata and Takuto might become enemies.

After weeks of essentially having no plot movement, this week’s episode threw many things at us and in quick succession. While beggars (and I am) really can’t be choosers when it comes to timely plot development, this episode moved forward in a variety of different ways. Some of these choices were good, while others could have used the “dead air” from previous episodes to be better.

Awesome character. Why he was introduced so late is beyond me.

Though Ryner’s choice to leave Ferris behind was by no means the highlight of the episode, it was the one event in the episode that triggered its characters to act in a way that didn’t feel cheap. Ferris’ reaction to Ryner’s disappearance made sense and was able to elicit some reaction from me; because it seemed like past episodes had led up to this point. Seeing that even Sion’s comment about dango didn’t even register with Ferris, and we all know how much she loves dango, made this moment even more potent. Then you had Sion calling out to Lucile in vain to determine what he said to Ryner, suggesting that Sion might be losing some of Lucile’s favor.

I feel for Ferris

Unfortunately, the rest of the episode was unable to match that level of depth. The revelation that the black-haired, black clothed character had in the past killed Clough’s friends seemed like it was designed for us to care about that fight. Though the fight between the two was the most interesting since episode 3, I couldn’t get over how Clough’s past seemed like it was tacked on at the last-minute. Seventeen episodes are more than enough time for us to learn about some of these character’s pasts, but it seems like all we are getting is Alpha Stigma back story. Perhaps it’s a moot point given that it would seem the black-haired bad ass might be looking to find and defeat Ryner, just like it seems that every other major character in this show is destined to do, rendering Clough useless.

Then there was the scene with Kiefer and Riphal. While I love that Riphal is so direct about his intentions with Kiefer, I can’t help but think where he has been the past four episodes. For someone who seems like he will turn out to be a major character by the show’s end, he gets very little characterization. I have this bad feeling that we will only get his back story right before or after some pivotal event or death, which seems way too much like Bleach’s modus operandi.

Despite my complaints with the backdrop to some of these scenes, there were a lot of interesting things that suggest that the show is getting on the right track. The way the Roland and Estabul forces intermixed over the course of the fight shows that tensions between the two may be dying down, if only to defeat a common enemy. Kiefer learning about the different types of eyes and their respective powers suggests that there may be even more characters that have powers on par with the Alpha Stigma and the Iino Doue (so even if the plot goes to hell, we will at least have some good action scenes), and that Ryner is really unique, though I guess the viewer kind of already knew that. Plus, Miran Froaude finally looks like he has finally met his maker.

Luke finally showing his skills

Three fourths of the way through this episode, I was about ready to give up on this series and drop it. It has been some time since the perversion jokes between Ryner and Ferris were new and interesting, Sion’s inability to do anything of interest had been getting on my nerves, and the revelations regarding Ferris and Lucile’s past, though interesting, were not shocking and did little to move the plot forward. But thankfully, almost as if he had heard my pleas for some sort of plot movement, Luke made one decisive and somewhat risky move, that may have finally made this series interesting again.

I don’t know what it is about characters who keep their eyes closed in this series, but Luke and Lucile finally opened their eyes to the fact that this show wasn’t going anywhere. First, that was one risky move by Luke to pass off Sion’s order as a birthday party invitation when he gave it to Milk. I mean what would have went down if Milk had inadvertently opened the letter and seen that Sion had given the order to eliminate Ryner, should the worst come to pass (though I suppose it’s possible that Luke forged the letter). Obviously, he thought that he had no choice given the apparent importance of Milk and the information found in the book he was given earlier in the episode. Of course, Luke’s actions may prove to be all for naught, given that Miran looks to have his own agenda when it comes to Milk.

As old as the comedy bit is getting, this shot was pretty funny.

What does all this mean for Ryner? Obviously, Sion’s order has drawn the memories from his past that no one can truly get close to him, and that those who do will get hurt, but will this impact whether or not he accompanies Sion to Estabul. Perhaps more importantly is what will Ryner take away from his run in with Lucile? Honestly, there are a lot of things you could take from that conversation in regards to Ryner being a monster and that he shouldn’t lay a hand on Ferris, but at the very least we know Lucile is cut from the same cloth as Ryner. That said, it almost seemed as if Lucile was ordering Ryner to look after Ferris for the time being, so maybe she also holds some unseen importance in the grand scheme of things.

As for Lucile, I get it, he is creepy. However, I do give the guy some props for taking out his even creepier parents.

With only ten episodes left, I hope that this series can take these elements and create a sustainably exciting conclusion, because at this point I am almost past the point of no return in terms of dropping this series. But even if LOLH turns out to be a tour de force from this point on, there was no reason to have the lead up last as long as it did. For example, it was pretty obvious from about episode six that Ferris’ character was changing and that she was fortunate to have found someone to call her friend, even if she didn’t admit it to herself. But we didn’t need another 10 episodes to clarify this point, and then have it beaten over our heads in this episode, when it would have only taken five episodes to do. I suppose there is no crying over spilt milk, so let’s just hope the introduction and development of the main characters ends here…

or not.

You know a show is running on fumes when it employs a nonsensical time skip and uses the old strand our main characters on an island to force character interaction with the hope of moving the story forward routine. Unfortunately, that is where Legend of the Legendary Heroes has found itself after 15 episodes. Despite some new revelations about some characters and few minor plot twists, this episode highlights the glacial pace this series has taken on. To the creator’s credit, I think they know this, and they have tried their best to insert more humor into the series. However, when the best jokes they can muster involve stale Ryner sex fiend quips by Ferris, that increasingly question his sexuality, something needs to happen soon, especially considering the large amount of promising new shows.

This plot line would make the show far more interesting than it currently is.

The one big revelation from this episode is that it appears Milk is destined to marry Sion at some point in the future. There were some hints about her importance in Episode 11, in which I speculated the taboo breakers served no real purpose and that their true objective was to guard Milk, but this revelation seems like it has come a bit out of the blue, and had no real lead up. It also seems like Luke also is quite skilled. While there hasn’t been any hard battle evidence to prove this, he did go toe to toe with Ryner near the beginning of this episode and the first OP did feature him somewhat prominently.

Ferris' facial expressions this episode were a bright spot.

The most confusing aspect of this episode was the relationship between Ryner and Milk’s groups. From what I’ve gathered, it seems like Ryner and Luke are the only ones in the know, given that they didn’t continue fighting each other after they figured out who the other was. Regardless, it seems like all of that doesn’t even matter anymore, since Milk has now seen Ryner and Sion together and now must realize that Ryner isn’t trying to kill Sion, but is instead his (special) friend. While it is nice to see that these misunderstandings are now all cleared up, I have to question what their point was in the first place. For the show to just change this dynamic, without anything of note coming from the old status quo, I really question the need of having Milk in this series at all. Hopefully, the show will eventually prove me wrong.

All those somewhat interesting points aside, this episode also reiterated things we’ve known for weeks, or even months, now. We got more brooding from Sion about how hard leading a nation is and that Gastark poses a real threat, and also confirmation that Miran is going to try and kill Ryner. We were also reminded that consolidating power in Estabul is going to be necessary if Roland is going to have any chance of standing up to Gastark. My episode 13 post was basically about what the ramifications would be for Sion and Roland if he were to invade Estabul again so I won’t get into that again, but they keep delaying this seemingly inevitable conflict.

Ryner, think of Ferris.

Although most of the Sion centric portions of this episode just seemed to rehash old points, it was interesting to note, from Sion’s now weekly musings, that Roland was already collecting Legendary Relics. I say this is interesting because it is my understanding that Miran has not let it be known his ring is a legendary relic, and that he only left the Swordscale on Sion’s desk after reading Ryner’s report. So perhaps some other characters have secretly been gathering legendary relics, because the last time I checked Ryner and Ferris’ grand total is zilch.

For whatever reason, this series seems incapable of putting together two good episodes in a row. Unlike the last episode, which introduced a new character and moved the plot forward significantly, this episode focused on what we already knew and why they are doing what they are doing. With that said, this episode did open a few new interesting doors as Miran finally learned of Ryner’s connection to Sion, and it seems like the Rule Fragment will play some sort of pivotal role in the series.

It seems like everyone in this series loves to hear themselves talk, except for Kuu and that's what I love about her.

One interesting tidbit we got from both the opening scene and the lead up to this fight is that the power of the Alpha Stigma can be harnessed, perhaps in the form of a Rule Fragment. While I suppose you could have inferred this from a previous episode, I believe that this was the first time it was explicitly stated. This information opens the door to a lot of interesting plot twists in the future. While Ryner states that he would like to spare Arua from the life of an Alpha Stigma bearer if he could, there are other possible applications. The most notable possibility is some sort of FMA Brotherhood type of ending where Ryner gives up his powers at the end of the series for some higher purpose, but that would be pretty cheap in my opinion. Another possible scenario is that Miran, who has also witnessed the Rule Fragment’s power, will try to acquire the knowledge needed to use it, should he need to defeat Ryner. These are only guesses, but it is something to keep an eye on given the amount of screen time the concept has received.

One on One training with Ferris. One lucky kid.

As for the fight itself, this episode continued the long running trend of blank spaces, but I suppose this is just something I will have to learn to live with. Perhaps as a result, this “fight’s” focus was not on the action, but an unnecessarily long conversation between Sui and Ryner about their respective kings that didn’t offer anything new. For whatever reason, this series has to make absolutely clear we understand what the moral center/theme of this show is. But honestly, how could you not get it by now?  The actual 5 seconds of the fight with action was pretty good. Ferris using the ice wall as an elevator was actually pretty cool.

Miran interrupting the battle wasn’t that big of a surprise given he was already in Runa, but they way he did so was a bit of a surprise. Perhaps the devil actually has a heart, as I can’t think of any other reason for him to wait until Sui almost killed Kuku to attack, especially considering there were ample chances to catch the pink haired siblings off guard. Looking at the bigger picture though, Miran now knows that Roland and Ferris are working for Sion and vice versa. His reaction to this was a bit perplexing, as I don’t think he understands why Sion has up his sleeve, but to be honest I don’t think Sion actually had any big plan for the legendary relics as he was surprised they actually existed.

One confusing thing for me at least was the timeframe between the beginning of the episode and the fight at the manor. Perhaps the novel draws things out a bit more, but I thought it would take Ferris longer than a millisecond to train Arua to the point he would be able to help them in their fight, even if he was only used as a part of a specially conceived plan. Now that the dynamic duo have saved Kuku, it seems like they want to drop these two kids off ASAP, and I can only saw thank god. Since their introduction, nothing of interest has happened to Ferris and Ryner, which has really hurt the show given that they are its core. Hopefully, they two kids get placed in the care of Milk and her comrades as I can only see hilarity ensuing from that situation.

Leaving two kids with these fools. I smell a spin off.

While I would love to do a mid series review for this show, my focus on my midterms is going to limit this post to just the normal episode review, but this was by no means a normal episode. I would venture to say that more happened in this episode in the past two or three episodes. Though there were many things in this episode that caught my attention, the introduction of the Gastark King, Riphal Edea, and the similarities/differences between him and Sion will be the focus of this post.

You're in the wrong show.

Riphal’s appearance in the introduction demands that I compare him with Sion. In said introduction, it gives the appearance that the two are sending their forces into action via the same hand signal. Also, I’m sure some you likely noticed that Riphal stated that he always tried to reduce casualties, if only be a little. This is, more or less, the same thing Sion said way back in episode 8 and in regards to putting down the Estabul rebellion and episode 11 in regards to the anti king movement. This was right after Fiole was murdered and Sion was probably still reeling from the emotional aftermath of that event.

Now, it is difficult given the nature of the show to know how much time has passed since that point, but the next few episodes may shed light on to how much Sion has changed since that point. After sending Clough back to the Estabul region with Noa, he and Miran had a private discussion regarding Estabul. To be honest, I couldn’t quite make out what that conversation was about, but the picture below is a screen cap from the end of that discussion.  Putting on my Eric Finch hat, I would imagine that Sion is likely to order something that will force Estabul to immediately integrate with Roland, much like Riphal used his sword to force Stohl to surrender.

Regardless of whether my prediction turns out to be right or not, I’m sure many might want to compare Sion to Riphal. Unfortunately, I think Sion is going to have a much tougher time of integrating Estabul than Riphal will with Stohl. Going back to a comment made by Miran several episodes ago, in which he muttered to himself something to the effect of letting people off to easy now, will only make it harder in the future. Now that Sion, via Clough, is going back into Estabul after failing to fully integrate them in the first place might cause some sort of uprising. Now it is hard to blame Sion for acting like he did in the past, as he can’t solve all his problems with a some super awesome sword, but that might be his problem. Sion is, more or less, bringing a knife to gun fight in that many characters have a legendary relic, but Sion has nothing of note that has been shown so far, save a little magic. Since diplomacy has seemingly only gotten him so far, he may be forced to take draconian like measures in future episodes.

On another note entirely, does anyone else think Kiefer is kind of a sl*t. Stohl was the third nation she was fighting for in this series, and it seems like she has agreed to a booty call with Gastark in the future. All jokes aside, the flashbacks in this episode, while gruesome, seemed a bit too drawn out for what it revealed. I would have much rather seen some longer fight scenes, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Giving it up to the most powerful nation.

A few final notes: Ryner and Ferris are still dragging that kid, who has slept for three episodes, along and will likely fight Sui and Kuu, and perhaps Miran, seeing as how he is also heading towards Runa,  in the next episode.

I have to give Riphal credit for sacrificing a leg, an eye, and his sense of smell in his quest for peace. He has some hard ones. With that said, he doesn’t have limitless power, so I’d imagine that will probably bite him in the @ss.

I’m a fan of the new opening and ending, even though the first OP’s music was finally getting stuck in my head.

For several episodes now, we were led along thinking that the elimination of the nobles was going to be some big event. This episode made it perfectly clear that this show’s heroes have far bigger fish to fry by basically glossing over the execution of some two hundred people in seconds. Instead, events made it perfectly clear that the plot has already moved on to the upcoming conflict between Roland and Gastark. Unfortunately, this upcoming conflict doesn’t seem any more interesting than the last.

Setting aside their differences for now.

As disappointing as the whole slaughter scene was, we at least confirmed one thing. Miran Froaude is one hell of a calculating bad ass. For him to plan the assassination of his family members, from the age of 5, shows that he has ice running through his veins. However, as soon we were led to believe that Miran was all but invincible, the show completely pulls a 180. With the introduction of yet another pink haired character (who we later learn is from Gastark, along with the pink haired siblings), we see that Miran isn’t really all that powerful, and that there is another legendary relic with basically the same type of power as Miran’s ring.

Reaching for second base.

Having Clough save Miran seemed like it came a little out the blue, but it did underscore how the situation in Roland has changed. Up until this point Miran and Clough have had nothing but disdain for each other. But now, it seems as though their proverbial “shit is on hold”, until they deal with a greater foe. While I am still hoping that we will eventually get to see Miran and Clough duke it out mano y mano, seeing Miran having to thank Clough for rescuing him was fairly gratifying. On another note, I got the feeling that there was some strange vibes between the two, but I decided to bite my tongue in this case and not make any yaoi jokes.

Yet another pink haired character.

With the revelation that Gastark is the nation causing all the trouble up north, and that all these pink haired characters hail from said nation, it feels as though we are watching the wrong show. Kuu and Sui seem like they are infinitely more competent than Ryner and Ferris, and with nothing of note ever happening in Roland it feels as though we are focusing on the wrong characters.

Lucile is still around.

Of particular note, this episode also featured the return of two characters who have been MIA for some time now. While Lucile’s presence is a constant, it was nice to see that he still keeps tabs on Sion. However, the more important character introduction, in my opinion, was that of Kiefer Knolles. From episode 4, we know she has been traveling the continent for some time now. Her knowledge could prove useful, given that much of the main cast seems to have little to no knowledge of the events in the northern part of the continent. Her reemergence may be what this show needs to wake up from a rather dull couple of episodes, as her character was one of the most interesting thus far, despite her limited screen time.

After six or seven episodes of Sion contemplating his next move, we finally get to see him address the anti-king movement. And what does he do? He gives everybody allied with him promotions. Now while there may be some grand master plan at work here, I was expecting something a bit more exciting to happen. In fact, it seems all this episode did was remind us of the various plot lines introduced in the past few episodes, but tried to make it seem like something new.

I will shake my fist, but not actually do anything. Just like every other politician.

Let’s be clear, if I have to hear Miran Froaude talk about sweet honey one more time, without actually doing anything, I will drop this series. I really don’t know what else to say about the opening third of the episode. Aside from a short description about increasing warfare on the continent, caused by the aggression of Gastark, we have heard all of this before. In recent weeks I have tried to guess the origins of the pink haired siblings, and while Gastark would be my number one guess at this point, I’m not going to bother as this show will probably just introduce a new nation next week. Fortunately, the rest of this episode was fairly interesting, though each of the subsequent scenes offered something different.

It seems like every episode has the exact same shot of this guy.

The last half of the episode focused on Ryner and Ferris trying to save a young Alpha Stigma user from nameless villains inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on the boy. While the dynamic duo eventually rescues the kid, there was nothing in this episode that we haven’t seen before. Ryner used his Alpha Stigma to acquire a new magic ability, Ferris’ skills varied as the situation called for it, Ryner moped over being an outcast, the magic knights died, etc.

Even the episode’s most important point, in which Ryner came to the conclusion that he is more complete with Ferris by his side, seemed rehashed. It didn’t help that this development had absolutely no build up to it. While it seems like the kid they rescued may play some sort of part further down the road, his introduction may herald in a new era of Ryner being too emo for his own good. On a positive note though, I thought the fight scene in this episode was the best yet in this series.

There was absolutely no build up to this moment, which lasted all of two seconds.

Perhaps the only intriguing development from this episode involved the only guy with a normal name in this series. After getting a brief recap of a previous episode from Milk, in which she explained she was completely outmatched by Ryner, only to immediately reverse her position we got to the real purpose of the scene. In a short discussion between Miller and Luke, who from the preview looks like he might actually have some real power, we learn that Milk can’t stay in Roland as she could end up a victim of the upcoming political upheaval.

Thankfully, this scene seems like it clears up a lot of things in this series. Now, I’m not trying to be sexist, but it doesn’t seem like Milk has that much ability, and furthermore it seems like the whole taboo breaker squadron is a farce. Instead, it now seems like Milk’s crew’s real purpose is to act as her babysitting unit and to protect her from any real harm. This is all speculation, but it’s just too hard to believe that Milk has any real power.

Apparently, she is somewhat important.

From the preview for next week, it looks like the much talked about purge in Roland may finally happen, but to be honest I’m not holding my breath. This show seems like it is doing whatever it takes to drag out its story, so I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing of note happened in the next episode either.

While the resolution to Ryner’s Alpha Stigma outburst certainly wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, this episode certainly delivered on a few other fronts. Though we really didn’t find out anything new plot wise, as this was more of a transitional episode, the continuing development of three key relationships is what made this episode worth watching. Perhaps the most interesting was the how this episode handled Ferris and Ryner’s relationship in the aftermath their battle.

Don't you just hate uncomfortable silences?

As I mentioned earlier, I thought that the fight scene at the beginning of the episode would be a lot more exciting. While the conclusion was certainly satisfying enough, with Ferris being able to stop Ryner by appealing to his human side and then closing his eyes like Kiefer did in episode 3, I was just expecting more. That aside, I guess the real question is why Ryner didn’t kill Ferris, as she made it pretty clear that it would have been pretty easy for him to do. Though Ryner said that he didn’t want to kill anyone else that he knew, it is reasonable to assume that he has some sort of feelings for Ferris, and vice versa. This is really just speculation, but given the way the two interact later in the episode (which I’ll get to), it does seem like there is something between them.

On another note, this fight scene highlights a noticeable problem with this series. Though I have said in the past I thought the animation in this series was sub par, there isn’t really anything wrong with it. Instead, I suppose that the basis for my complaints is that a lot of scenes feature too much shading and blank space, with the first half of episode 4 exemplifying this point. While I understand that these scenes are designed to add more character, it is something I could definitely do without.

Ferris saying that Ryner isn't a monster...

Though the whole fight scene was certainly well done, I thought the real interesting meat of Ryner and Ferris’ part of the story occurred later in the episode. When the show eventually cut back to the two it seemed like Ferris was having a one-sided conversation before there was a pause in the conversation between her and Ryner. It seemed like she tried to cut the tension with her traditional fallback of threatening bodily harm to him, which seemed to solve the situation. However, when they ran into the little girl whose friend also seems to be an Alpha Stigma bearer, it seems as though Ryner took exception to Ferris’ remarks suggesting that Alpha Stigma bearers really are monsters.

... and then here she pretty much contradicts herself.

As much as I love how Ferris and Ryner’s relationship has grown over the course of this series, one of the weaknesses of the show has been its inability to get me to care about some of its other characters. However, the introduction/continuation of Clough and Noa’s relationship signals that the banter between Ryner and Ferris was not just lightning in a bottle, but something we should come to expect between other characters as well. Mixing Clough’s embarrassment with, from my vantage point, Noa’s feigned ignorance to the situation was just good as any scene between Ryner and Ferris. That said, this has increased my expectations going forward, so I hope this show can keep it up.

I almost like these two more than Ryner and Ferris.

It was somewhat unfortunate then that the show had to complicate matters for Clough and Noa almost immediately. With the dynamic between Ryner and Ferris having seemingly passed the Rubicon, I was hoping that these two could have at least provided a few episodes worth of laughs before things inevitably became complicated. Clough’s Jedi like mind abilities aside, the whole prince rescuing the princess from a bunch of backed up ninjas seemed lazy and cliché, despite the scene’s overall ramifications.

Yes Clough, they're real and they're spectacular.

The final pair of characters, who seem to have a changing relationship, though it is decidedly more professional, is Sion and Miran Froaude. After receiving Miran’s report regarding Imperial Stohl and the after events surrounding Noa Ehn, Sion finally seems ready to make his move against the anti-king faction and unite his kingdom. I say finally, because it seems like we have been fooled in the past into thinking Sion was going to do something, especially after Fiole was murdered back in Episode 5, but Sion doing anything would be welcome news. As for Miran, his motivations continue to remain suspect, but I wonder what it is he wants that only Sion can offer?

Anyway, I get the feeling that shit is about to start hitting the fan as we are almost at the halfway point of this series. I would imagine the next few episodes will focus on Sion eliminating the anti king forces and that Imperial Stohl may become more important down the road. Also, it seems likely that the pink haired siblings, Sui and Kuu, may also be from Stohl. I’m not expecting any answers on this front for a while, but the next episode preview didn’t really offer enough for me to make any other predictions.