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[series:4812#628] | ||||||
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(Nine episodes watched): I do not understand the premise of this show. To 'parry' is to deflect blows, isn't it? Maybe not; there seems to be more to it than that. There would have to be, in order for this to be anything more than one more silly, vapid isekai comedy, wouldn't there? I don't see how getting countless wooden swords hanging from ropes to move counts as 'parrying'; they were not coming at him in any way that I could discern. This seems like a member of the isekai sub-genre in which the protagonist has nothing but what seems like a purely defensive skill (like The Rising of the Shield Hero) and as a result is looked down upon. But one thing they all have in common is that the protagonist always finds a way to use his defensive skill offensively—the best offense is a good defense, apparently. Sure enough, Noor parries the Minotaur to death (the fight got fairly violent and realistic before Noor stepped in, which was good). Has he gotten so good at parrying that he can not just defend himself but direct his opponent's blows back against themselves? That was what seemed to happen with the Minotaur. Being as good at parrying as he is, couldn't he act as a 'tank' within some adventuring party, whether he is an official adventurer or not, drawing the attention of monsters and canceling out their attacks while his companions look for opportunities to strike? What role Lady Linneburg will play also remains unclear at the end of the first episode. I felt a little sorry for Noor early on, but I don't see this plot going much of anywhere. Neither Noor's personality nor his problem seem all that interesting to me. “I still have more training to do!” he declares, though he has already done a ton, since more training fixes anything in typical isekai series. The reviewers at ANN unanimously declared this to be a three-star show, OK but not remarkable, so maybe I should watch a second episode. It is suspected that the minotaur was sent by the evil magical Kingdom of Deridas to provoke a war. It is also mentioned that the Clays Kingdom's main 'resource' is relics from the 'Dungeon of the Lost'. And a widespread search is launched for the man who saved Princess Linneburg. I thought at first that surely Noor was just pretending to be ignorant about what really happened, but with time he seemed so clueless that I began to wonder if he really had suffered some sort of amnesia about the event—that would be about the only explanation for his behavior. He seems to think that other people are talking about some event completely different from the little run-in with a 'cow' that he had. Did he not notice that the (gigantic) minotaur wound up with it's head chopped off? Maybe this was all meant as a joke, but the effect was to confuse me. Noor refuses any sort of reward for his actions—the thought occurred to me that he could request a special waver of the rule that demands that you have at least two skills to be an adventurer. That is a goal he has been striving for since who knows when, after all. The King insists he accept some sort of physical reward, and he is given a strange and tremendous sword. And he makes a couple of friends/enemies/rivals among Linneburg's bodyguards. In general kind of frustrating, by I remained interested in this story. Dodging must be another skill that Noor has taken to amazing levels, because during a 'mock battle' with a knight he dodges countless blows and never once tries to actually parry (deflect them from their intended direction with his own weapon) them. He remains incredibly naive and ignorant of just how good he is at parrying and dodging; you would almost think this must be intended as a joke, except it isn't funny at all. Princess Linne begs to be made his page (apprentice) even though her abilities as a whole are infinitely greater than his. Part of the old 'make sure at least one cute girl accepts a subservient role to the male protagonist' rule of isekai anime. At least Linne doesn't seem to want to leap into bed with Noor. Why she wants this role made little sense; something about everyone has certain basic abilities regardless of their skills, and she sees his as extraordinarily pure and noble, but that is largely a guess. I still have little idea what the basic conflict of this show will be. But I continued watching, perhaps because I want to see how this whole 'all I can do is parry and I am extremely naive' business could possibly end well for Noor. In episode four he and Linne go on a goblin hunting quest and again encounter a gigantic monster. Noor comes up with a wild idea for how to beat this thing, and it works like a charm. And of course he concludes that all goblins are as big as this 'emperor' one(!). In episode five a major plot to overthrow the Clays Kingdom comes to light, without much foreshadowing I thought. Noor is recruited to act as a second bodyguard (along with Ines) for Princess Linne and to escort her to a safe spot just in case the plot succeeds. They encounter a poison spewing frog-dragon (and a 'demi-human'), and it looks like Noor is finished, but we all know that in isekai fantasy even death is sometimes reversible. I was confused about where this was all going and why. It turns out that Noor has developed yet another remarkable ability which saves his skin. We learn the story behind Rolo, the 'demon-kin' who was escorting this creature. This former slave is pretty messed-up and desperately wants to find a way to make himself 'useful' to society in some way. Noor again draws absurdly naive conclusions about him. This was looking like a 'Watch' quality show. I wish things like the prejudice against demon-kin folk and the grudge the Deridas Kingdom holds against Clay were made clear in advance rather than being tossed to us almost as an afterthought. An expert adventurer/assassin, known as 'Deadman', is sent to retrieve Rolo, dead or alive. He fights Noor, but the fight ends inconclusively. I thought the story behind this guy was kind of weak (he isn't some sort of zombie, as I first assumed based on his name). He didn't really horrify me in any way. Why is he apparently blindfolded? And why is such an expensive fixer sent after a relatively minor monster handler like Rolo? Did Noor just shrug off numerous dagger wounds he suffered during their fight? The animation of the duel was unexciting, too. And afterwards the party decides to just return to the capital city they fled from (though Noor is too dense to realize that was what happened). And it turns out that rather than be overrun and annihilated, the forces of the Clay Kingdom (led by the Princess' brother) have in fact managed to keep things under control, at least for now. There has been minimal carnage, in fact I did not see a single body or hear any mention of anyone getting killed. It all felt like a story a schoolchild might compose. Arriving back at the capital, Noor and the others see a 'Dragon of Calamity' hovering over the city. This dreaded creature seems like Game Over to everyone else, but Noor really can parry anything, even a dragon attack that would otherwise level a good chunk of the city. The way he was magically rushed to the scene seemed hard to take seriously to me; and the frustrated dragon's response to Noor blocking every attack it makes even more so. In episode nine the army of Deridas arrives to mop up, but is single-handedly frustrated by Noor. I thought this was completely absurd; when the magical weapons that look an awful lot like steam locomotives appeared, I almost turned the show off. It all seemed about as plausible as something elementary school children would dream up. The way Noor knocks countless swords and shields out of the hands of the bad guys, and they then rain down and wound almost everyone, was totally ridiculous. Last updated Monday, September 23 2024. Created Wednesday, July 17 2024. | ||||||||
