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(24 episodes watched): Many fantasy/comedy anime have outlandish premises but they simply aren't all that funny. I don't know if I would call Helck LOL funny, but it was definitely amusing and funnier than everage. We get to know the enigmatic Helck to a certain degree as he responds to Vermilio's attempts to rig the competition against him. His abilities are almost off the scales, and through either them or simple good luck he brushes off all attempts to stop him. Is he a lucky idiot, or something more? It's unclear. But he is likable, and you can't help wondering what his story is as Vermilio's spy, Asta, reports that he has a strange past. He claims to hate his fellow humans and love living in the demon realm, for one thing. Asta also finds a strange situation where several human villages she visited had apparently been hastily abandoned. And some strange force of 'flying knights' is attacking Castle Urum in demon territory. So, I found Helck to be both fairly funny and to have some sort of developing story that left me curious, so I plan to watch more. Indeed, Helck seems to have accomplished both goals--being funny and having an intriguing plot--when many action comedy shows can't even accomplish one. Most sword & sorcery action comedies have humor that is quite dumb, but here it is actually pretty clever. And I genuinely wonder what is going on with these flying knights and why Helck seems to have turned against his fellow humans. In episode two Vermilio's subordinate, Hon, comes up with an ingenious test to see if Helck really is trustworthy. He and three other leading contenders are sent to deal with these troublesome flying knights, and Vermilio--posing as 'Anne' from the Management Division--accompanies them. This show has only gotten better with episode two. In episode three the team reaches Castle Urum and clashes with the knights. The episode ends with a startling cliffhanger that I must have an explanation for. We also learn of a toxic miasma that plagues the demon realm; for some reason, Helck is familiar with it. Again, the main difference between Helck and most sword & sorcery action-comedy series is that Helck has an intriguing plot. In episode four, however, a lot happens very quickly and I became confused. This 'Eril' guy (IIRC) wants to lead a crusade to annihilate the demonkind, who aren't really all that bad. Helck knows him, somehow. Something about 'awakening', whatever that is. Everyone is hurled into some sort of interdimensional gateway and Vermilio winds up alone on what seems to be a tropical island. I have little idea of what exactly happened or why it matters. This is disconcerting, because previously I had felt that I had a pretty good grip on what was going on, but not anymore. Fortunately, each episode begins with a little summary of where things stand. Apparently 'awakening' is the process of evolving into being a 'hero', and humans sprout wings when they do this. Better a late explanation than none at all. Vermilio finds Helck is on the same island, as is a strange local population. Back in demonland, Lord Azusa magically devines Vermilio's location but is shocked at how far away she has been hurled. I thought this was a clever and humorous bit. Azusa shakes off the bandages that he has worn and goes to rescue Hyura, Dorsche and Kenros(?) who are still at Castle Urum facing off with the winged knights. This bit sort of re-confused me as I tried to keep track olf who was the strongest and whatnot. Sometimes the winged knights seem formidable, and sometimes they seem like helpless children. Meanwhile, Helck and Vermilio learn of a witch who might be able to send them home in an express manner. Tellingly, Helck mentions that he feels that humans who have 'awakened' are not really humans at all anymore (I think I know why those villages were deserted!). It seems that the Demonkind are the true heroes of this show, not the humans, which is odd but not unheard of. I really wanted to know what this 'witch' business was about, but episode seven was almost entirely about the folks still at Castle Urum. Azudra and the others learn that the greatest threat that these winged knights pose is that they can resurrect indefinitely if killed and supposedly only get stronger as they do. The only possibility of avoiding utter defeat is to go after the person whose spell allows this, namely the Human King. In episode eight the witch finally appears. She offers Helck and Vermilio (and a stowaway) a route back to the continent, but warns Vermilio that there is something very dangerous about Helck that she had better be prepared for. She won't say exactly what; she seems to know a lot but shares very little. The show continues the usual silly-with-a-plot format. Helck and Vermilio set off to return to the continent and have a run-in with an octopus-like monster. I seriously laughed at the scene where Vermilio finally wades ashore. Why aren't there more jokes of this sort in anime as a whole? They have a run-in with a bandit gang, then, needing money to buy an expensive map of the way home, they enter a cooking contest, of all things (episode ten). They are warned not to take the shortest route, but are in a hurry, which leads to an encounter with a fearsome 'Dark Warrior' (episode 11), which reveals something about the Witches' warning about Helck. It was becoming increasingly obvious that this would be a two season show, which was OK with me even if the pace was not quite a taught as it had once been. The OP sequence is especially neat I think, what with the way it ends with a close up of Helck's face. In episode twelve we see how the war between demons and humans is going. Helck and Vermilio plod onwards. She now largely trusts him but fears he might go berzerk at some point, like he almost did while fighting the Dark Warrior. Episode 13 is the first of the second season, and while I didn't like the new OP sequence as much as the old one, we finally learn Helck's background--how he grew up as an orphan with his younger brother, Cless (I bet we can all guess what part Cless has already played in the plot). I liked the joke about 'Super Recovery Mode'. In episode 14 Helck continues on with his backstory, including how the whole war with the Demonkind was based on a lie or a mistake, and indeed it was Cless who defeated Demon Lord Thor. In episode 15 we learn how Helck first met Azudra and discovered that a major preconception about Demons and monsters was wrong. Helck begins to become disillusioned with ordinary humans who are all too eager to believe falsehoods and demand violence in response. I wish some additional effort had been made to depict average people as more three dimensional. The general tone is getting less humorous and more serious as we learn how the various problems got started and things near a climax. I don't know if that is a good idea; the humor was the best thing about Helck early on. In episode 16 Helck learns of a terrifying conspiracy among the upper classes of human society. It was a little hard to take seriously that the rich and powerful would be so two-dimensionally evil. This show would have definitely been better if some extra effort had been made to depict the various minor characters in a more interesting and believable manner. The fight Between Helck and Cless (and others) was not particularly exciting. It sort of feels as if all sorts of 'padding' was added to expand a one season show into a two season one. But I still like Helck and wonder how things will work out for him. How did Helck manage to be so cheerful in episode one after all the horror which we learn he had already witnessed? We get a semi-believable answer in episode 18 and the tone verges on tragedy. Humor has pretty much gone out the window by this point. But in episode 19 Helck's long retelling of his past finally comes to an end and we return to the present day, and a hint of humor re-emerges. His story had lasted so long that I had forgotten that he was unaware of Vermilio's true identity. The whole 'awakening' business is so far-fetched, and the telling of it has been so much less than optimal, and humor has been so hobbled by Helck's tragic story, that I wonder how this show can wrap up in an entertaining manner in six or so remaining episodes. We get a hint of just what will be required of Helck and Vermilio at the end of this episode. Episode 20 was curious because Helck barely appears at all. It is mainly about the operations of the Demonkin spy, Asta (who we met way back in episode one). Asta meets Shalamy, who I think we briefly met earlier in the story of Helck and Cless' younger days, and it looks like she will play a part in the plan to have Helck and Vermilio go after the King himself. Why does the King wear a mask? Why does one of the best Awakened Knights do so? In this case, I suspect I know... Episode 21 struck me as weak and unconvincing. I wish Helck had concentrated on the humor from the early episodes and been just one season long. All the differnet transformations that humans undergo in order to awaken and the loopholes within them are confusing. I just want to see how Helck himself fixes everything. ...and I don't want to have to watch a third season for that to happen, but it looks like I will. What I had hoped would be the climax--an encounter between Helck and an old friend who has been transformed into a Knight--turns out to leave all sorts of issues unresolved. How can Vermilio be so confident that transformed humans can still be saved? Isn't Cless going to show up yet again? What about the human King and the girl Astra has befriended? What about the miasma? It doesn't feel like the story is anywhere near complete. For now, however, there are no additional episodes so we can just wait and see. Maybe a break of a season or two is just what is needed. Last updated Friday, January 26 2024. Created Thursday, August 10 2023. | ||||||||
