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[series:4874#628] | ||||||
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(13 episodes watched): This show seemed like an exercise in wishful thinking to me. It seems to go without saying that Yuke will become the leader of Clover (we never even learn who the previous one was), and he never ceases to amaze the three D-rank girls who cannot believe how lucky they are to have him aboard. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could just show off in front of a small harem of hot girls who could only acknowledge how incredible you are? Yuke has all sorts of abilities and items which these girls would never have dreamed of acquiring themselves. We get a prologue about how there's a demon king who will have to be defeated lest the world 'be swallowed up by the reverse dungeon Tenebre'--I think we can guess what group will accomplish that. Otherwise, this show seemed pretty unremarkable to me. The girls' purpose seems to be little more than to carry out Luke's instructions and be potential romantic interests for him. None of them is given much of a personality in episode one. Even in the case of Luke himself, about all we know about him is that he's good at adventuring. At least character designs are nice. It looks like Clover may produce a livestream of its own, which will no doubt take off and make the members of Thunder Pike jealous. But I am not eager to watch somebody else show off, and unless episode two expands on the characters and makes the premise a good deal more complex (which doesn't seem likely) I won't be watching. Actually, I found myself modestly looking forward to another episode for some reason and watched it. 'Livestreaming'--no doubt done via magic rather than computer technology--plays a large part in this show. That is neither a plus nor a minus as far as I am concerned. Clover's first stream proves highly popular, making Luke's old companions jealous. Predictably, they realize that he was more helpful to them than they gave him credit for. Some fat and ugly jerk who feels the three girls ought to be his party confronts Luke with (again) predictable results. Luke's leadership of Clover is made formal when the girls insist that he take the job. There hasn't been any hint of romance between Luke and Marina (who seems the most obvious candidate) or any of the other girls. This show is in no way brilliant but I found myself curious about where the story would go. After another brilliant achievement of theirs is livestreamed, Luke and each of the girls is promoted one rank, him to 'A' and them to 'C'. Luke is concerned that the highly dangerous creature they encountered might be a sign of an 'overflow' of monsters from the dungeon into the world outside--something just like this happened in an Isekai anime last season, I recall. The girls ask Luke what his ultimate goal as an adventurer is, and he says he wants to penetrate into the deepest levels of the 'Achromatic Darkness' (or something like that) dungeon and see a supposed gate to the underworld. The girls vow to help him make that happen, but it probably won't until each of them is A-rank as well. Simon, leader of Thunder Pike, asks Luke to return, but is less than tactful and Luke refuses to abandon the three girls--again, something just like this happened in an Isekai anime last season. I'm not seeing any real surprises in this show. The team is offered a fantastic job in which the girls will wear stylish new female adventurer's garb during a quest as a sort of commercial for the workshop that makes it. And they can keep the outfits afterwards. They encounter another monster that is much tougher than should be and therefore another sign of an impending overflow. A fourth female member of the team, a cat-eared girl, is shown in the OP sequence but hasn't appeared yet. Again, this is looking like a lightweight show which is largely about wishful thinking, but at least it isn't really offensive or have anything positively wrong with it. Luke treats the girls as if he was their father--he's clearly far superior as an adventurer, but has no romantic interest in any of them and will not allow them to be injured. The girls, on the other hand, know their place but make themselves useful. In episode five Simon tries to persuade Luke into returning to Thunder Pike by announcing an expedition to investigate the Achromatic Darkness. Instead, the girls persuade Luke to risk an independent quest to the Darkness by Clover, despite their modest rankings. The head of the adventurers guild supports this since there may be a connection to the looming Overflow (or even worse, a monster 'Stampede'). A guide is provided to Clover, the cat-girl Nene (she has been appearing in the OP and ED sequences as a virtual fifth member of Clover and I had wondered when she would appear). No doubt Clover will get into trouble but Luke will save everyone. The Clover members are shown a previously secret entrance to the Darkness and get their survey underway. "Have fun but be careful" is Luke's motto. You might say that on day one the mission goes so smoothly and the team enjoys such good luck that something must be wrong. On the way home they encounter the Thunder Pike team which is just as arrogant as ever; I wish the members weren't just assholes and instead had a little personality. Simon is infuriated by Luke's refusal to recognize them as the better adventuring team (and submit to Pike's virtual extorsion). Later, outside the Darkness he meets the fat man who wants the three original Clover girls as his own harem/team, and the man proposes some sort of scheme. Luke is fantastically lucky to have these girls working loyally for him, but we are reminded that he doesn't treat them the way this guy undoubtably would. In episode seven Luke and the girls have a strange encounter with a strange 'pale' goddess, Persephone. They escape, but some sort of curse has been placed on Luke, possibly the cost of him using some sort of spell to enable their escape. I found this to be rather confusing, what with references to everything being 'reversed' yet it didn't seem all that bizarre once you accept that a level of a dungeon can look like you are outdoors under a brilliant blue sky. Also confusing was the run-in with Simon and Thunder Pike in the second half of the episode. At first I thought it would all turn out to be a dream Luke had while asleep in the dungeon, due to the curse, but apparently it was real. One of Simon's girls, Jamie, cannot bring herself to take part in his dastardly scheme, and allows Clover to make a second escape. Simon seems to take some drastic move to keep himself from being killed by orcs, probably making himself much stronger but with some major price to be paid. I recall something like this happening in at least one previous isekai series. It all seemed rather scattershot to me--as if the care that had been put into composing the plot up to this point had been dropped and a hasty, disjointed event had been thrown together. In episode eight Clover returns to the Darkness in hopes of rescuing Jamie, and encounters a revived Simon. But Luke has undergone an upgrade as well. Things do not end well for Simon, and I was left wondering where the plot would go from here; dealing with a Stampede, probably. Episode nine is a laid-back look at what occurs during the month long ban from adventuring that Clover is subject to as a result of breaking some rules. I liked it; it's a sign that the characters have enough personality that they don't have to be constantly fighting to hold our attention. Nene ('Ne-ne') is recognized as a permanent member of Clover and it seems that Jamie might become one as well once her year long suspension is complete. There are some hints of romance between Luke and the girls, especially Rain. Luke is presented with a major opportunity for their first quest once back in business. Episode 9.5 is a sort of summary of events up to this point presented as a livestream hosted by the superdeformed cat and bat as an in-depth look at Clover. Conspicuously absent was any mention of the now defunct Thunder Pike team; wouldn't people be wondering what had become of what was once the most famous and popular adventuring group? But no questions on the matter are asked to any of the Clover members and it is not even mentioned that Luke once belonged to it. The OP and ED sequences of episode ten suggest a second season getting underway (I had sort of assumed that this show would be wrapping up after just one). Jamie is shown several times, and so are one or two new girls who will presumably join Clover at some point. Clover travels to the city of Duna to perform a preliminary investigation of a new dungeon that has been found there. The fact that there are a lot of men in Duna from the neighboring country of Salmutaria where women are little more than slaves suggests trouble as they will surely resent the headstrong girls of Clover; indeed, a fight almost breaks out in this episode. In episode 11 the team venture into the new dungeon and finds it is both weird and dangerous. They encounter some sort of creature that is composed of animated chains then find an entire city exists within this dungeon. A lot happens; Luke experiences a strange panic-attack like episode, and they later learn that funny things have been happening to another party investigating the dungeon as well. They also meet a very strange man, Loge, and find an unconscious girl (a future Clover member?) and return her to Duna. Afterwards Rain gets a letter that leaves her distraught--it turns out she is from Salmutaria and has been summoned for a forced marriage. Luke agrees to marry her on paper to prevent this; no doubt Rain would prefer the marriage be completely real, but whatever. As usual I found this to be modestly interesting fare; stuff worth watching once, but not twice. Weird stuff happens in the dungeon, leading Yuke and government experts to theorize that this might be a conflict between two alternate realities—one of which will have to be 'culled' (destroyed) to make room for the other. Yuke might even be a prophesied legendary hero who will save this world from destruction. In episode 13 Yuke reluctantly accepts the responsibility that has been placed on his shoulders and all of the adventuring parties attempt to enter the castle in order to figure out just what is going on. Clover and one other succeeds (the magician from the other party was helpful). In the former ruler's library they attempt to decipher what led to this clash between alternate realities (will somebody else's world have to be destroyed to save Yuke's one?). There's a risk of a major 'overflow' of monsters taking place. The girls of Clover are a good deal smarter than most harem members. Last updated Friday, April 18 2025. Created Monday, February 03 2025. | ||||||||
