(L) Shingeki no Bahamut ~Virgin Soul~ (S2)

[Darthtabby]

I think delivery might also have been a factor. Timing and cuts could perhaps have been a bit better in some cases. Also while this might sound questionable I think the more slapstick parts could have benefited from more yelling and screaming.

[Incest Emblem]

I thought the attack on the capital was deliberately lacking in impact. The series has not been at all shy about the fact that it is all according to plan for Charioce, and the gods are merely walking into a trap. Thus, the attack is an expected momentary advantage. It is supposed to lack meaning.

On a related thought, please keep Gabby safe this episode.

[bakato]

This was 2 cours?

[foxbox360]

Originally Posted by bakato

This was 2 cours?

yes its 24 episode long.

[kuromitsu]

Uwaaaahhh this episode was pretty great! Really nice scenes and shots all around. (Lots of shots of Nina's underwear, though... someone's interests are out in the open now...) Dragon Nina was pretty awesome, and Kaisar's epic rescue was easily one of the best parts of the episode. That shrug and grin was priceless.

Poor Gabriel messed with the wrong little boy. No-one gets between Mugaro and his mom! I'll chalk it up to Azazel's influence on him, you don't spend two years with a guy like that and not pick up some of his bad traits.

Charioce was pretty great too, and I love how the direction continues to pay attention to little things like the way he looked at the unconscious Nina after the explosion, or him stopping to take off his armored glove, or the way he reached for his sword for a split second as Nina jumped at him, or his face as he hugged Nina. (And finally we got to see Nina from his POV, it was pretty nice directing in general.) It really doesn't seem like he's not 100% himself, and honest with himself, in any given moment. Who the hell is this guy, really... Like him or not, he's one interesting character, and right now I'm on the edge of my seat to find out what makes him tick.

And then there's poor Azazel, everyone has forgotten about him. I kind of expected him crawling out from under the ruins like "what happened? where did everyone go?" I assume he's in the castle, and the angels never ended up getting to the castle so he's probably still chained up somewhere? But he has to get out somehow... eventually...

The preview was the best, I can totally imagine this going through baby Charioce's unconscious mind when he first learned of this WMD. "WHOA THIS IS AWESOME IT'S LIKE A HAND, AND LIKE IT SHOOTS BEAMS AND THEY GO BOOM AND STUFF"

[Irenesharda]

Hmm, so the power that Charioce is using is from even before all the gods, demons, and humans. That is definitely one ancient power considering how old some of them are. And it has scared Gabriel so bad she's losing feathers!

El actually wasn't as naive and brainwashed as we thought. He knew what he wanted and he wasn't going to back down. However, the power was just too much for him.

So they want to force this whole Nina and Charioce thing, hmm? Well, that's nice, she can have the mass murderer king. Their "relationship" still feels as blah as ever, and with them all separating in different B story lines doesn't help that any.
Him being nice to Nina does give him more nuance, but losing a single eye doesn't make up for all the atrocities he's done. And being nice to one person doesn't make me automatically like him. He's going to have to do a lot more than that.

Him saving Nina and hugging her, you forget that it's HIS men that she is turning into a dragon to fight, that he could have just ordered off. And it was HIS doomsday weapon that blew her away in the first place.

Anyway, so we now have Nina and Jeanne trying to find a way to heaven, while Favaro was blown away somewhere, Kaiser is captured again, and Rita is going to find them both. We now have two B storylines, and they will probably all meet up eventually.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

So they want to force this whole Nina and Charioce thing, hmm? Well, that's nice, she can have the mass murderer king. Their "relationship" still feels as blah as ever, and with them all separating in different B story lines doesn't help that any.

I don't think they're forcing anything? This was a pretty great way to develop the relationship. It wasn't overly romantic, it wasn't a big love scene. They simply found out that they have a connection, that's s all. He clearly likes her and finds her impressive (even without seeing her as a dragon); for her part the feelings are more muddled for obvious reasons, but they're there. But that hug was almost platonic, really.

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

Him being nice to Nina does give him more nuance, but losing a single eye doesn't make up for all the atrocities he's done. And being nice to one person doesn't make me automatically like him. He's going to have to do a lot more than that.

Him saving Nina and hugging her, you forget that it's HIS men that she is turning into a dragon to fight, that he could have just ordered off. And it was HIS doomsday weapon that blew her away in the first place.

I don't think it's supposed to make up for anything. I don't really understand where this idea comes from, that to be a proper love interest he must be a "good guy" or must be reformed or whatever. Since when? Can't he be a bad person in love (to whatever degree) with someone he doesn't entirely understand? Can't she have a conflict over her feelings for him and her rejection of his actions?

And I don't think anyone is forgetting anything - a lot of his scenes in this ep were from his POV, and clearly this is the amount of damn he gives about what happens to his men. Plus he had no reason to order his men off, given that he wanted her to be captured, as he himself said to Rita and Jeanne.

(Also, might I just remind everyone that Azazel has never shown the tiniest bit of remorse for the pretty dark and sadistic things he's done. If he had managed to get to Charioce in that duel you bet that it would be now him torturing Charioce, and I think he'd enjoy it a lot more - Charioce probably doesn't really care what's happening to Azazel as long as he's being punished and chained up instead of roaming freely and attacking people. But somehow it's OK when it's Azazel but not OK when it's Charioce...)

[Wandering Soul]

It was really not Gabriel's day, was it? First her army refuses to retreat (throughout that scene I was going "just explain to your men that the other side has an extremely powerful weapon and we'll get slaughtered if we go up against it) and then El quickly proves that he isn't so easily manipulated. She promised him a reunion with his mom and one way or another he was going to make sure he got it.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

I don't think they're forcing anything? This was a pretty great way to develop the relationship. It wasn't overly romantic, it wasn't a big love scene. They simply found out that they have a connection, that's s all. He clearly likes her and finds her impressive (even without seeing her as a dragon); for her part the feelings are more muddled for obvious reasons, but they're there. But that hug was almost platonic, really.

I don't think it's supposed to make up for anything. I don't really understand where this idea comes from, that to be a proper love interest he must be a "good guy" or must be reformed or whatever. Since when? Can't he be a bad person in love (to whatever degree) with someone he doesn't entirely understand? Can't she have a conflict over her feelings for him and her rejection of his actions?

And I don't think anyone is forgetting anything - a lot of his scenes in this ep were from his POV, and clearly this is the amount of damn he gives about what happens to his men. Plus he had no reason to order his men off, given that he wanted her to be captured, as he himself said to Rita and Jeanne.

(Also, might I just remind everyone that Azazel has never shown the tiniest bit of remorse for the pretty dark and sadistic things he's done. If he had managed to get to Charioce in that duel you bet that it would be now him torturing Charioce, and I think he'd enjoy it a lot more - Charioce probably doesn't really care what's happening to Azazel as long as he's being punished and chained up instead of roaming freely and attacking people. But somehow it's OK when it's Azazel but not OK when it's Charioce...)

I'm a pretty big connoisseur of romantic stories, romance is one of my favorite genres so I've read and watched quite a bit of it, so my palette has been honed to know what makes a romance actually work and what is utter dime-store shlock.

In order for any romance to work storywise, you need to have two people that the audience wants to see together. No, one or both people in the relationship don't have to be "good guys" for the romance to work, but both DO have to be likable enough to the audience that you care about the two being together and seeing a relationship grow between them. For me, I guess, Charioce and Nina just don't have that.

With Nina and Charioce it feels forced because it doesn't feel real. I've seen comments on other sites that cite the same problem I am seeing. It's that Nina is a teenage girl and has that naive teen love, I can get that. Charioce, who has had little real characterization thus far, seems to be, in a way, naive in love himself. When you have two naive people in love, you really need more time (with them together) for that love to eventually mature and to grow. Neither Nina or Charioce has that. Also, love can't just be for love's sake. It has to be real. And that has to go outside of looks and dances. Charioce is a major enemy to all Nina has claimed to care about, the two are on two completely different sides here, but neither will acknowledge it. Nina just keeps blushing and Charioce just keeps mentioning dancing. They keep trying to push this spark that the audience really can't feel because one character is so giddy that she can't be serious for 10 whole seconds and the other is so underdeveloped as a character that I can't really get a feel for him, much less any relationship he's supposed to have.

A single night of dancing does not a romance make and they keep going back to that well over and over again. Nina conveniently keeps forgetting who this man really is and only thinks of how handsome and charming he was on that night, but conveniently forgetting all the things he's done on all other nights.

Romances between heroes and villains is nothing new, but it takes characterization on both sides for the individual characters and to give us something to like about both of them, so that we are interested in seeing them come together. But they haven't done enough of that for Nina and especially not Charioce. I have no interest in seeing Charioce happy or romantically involved because they've given me very little to like about his character. That works a bit for past romances (ex. if Beelzebub had had a wife that he loved more than anything and that was why he did all the horrible things he did) you hate what they did but can better understand them, and you think subconsciously, that this horrible villain was a better person when that loved one was around.
It doesn't work as well with budding romances since you just don't want the girl to be involved with someone who borders irredeemablity. It's like seeing a girl falling in love with a man you know beats women, he insists he's in love with her and she's naive and thinks she can change him, he's nice and protective around her right now, but you never really feel the romance seeing them together because you can only think of how this can go wrong.

I think if Charioce had more development already and so did Nina beyond being a naive genki girl, and the two got to spend more meaningful time together than a single day and do more than dance, then it would work better. But their handful of scenes together, plus the fact that they are spending even more time apart now in this second half, doesn't bode well for getting any of that. They want to show you Charioce's good moments so that you'll like him more and root for him and Nina to get together. That's why I mentioned that it felt like they were trying to manipulate you into liking him more with his actions towards Nina. But I can't root for any kind of relationship between the two because of the person Charioce is when he's not with Nina. It's again, like the example of the girl trying to fall in love with a man who has a past as an abuser. I can't really get behind it and they are doing little to help get me on board with it. That's why for me their "relationship" feels rather forced.

As for the whole Charioce/Azazel argument. Well, for me Azazel was never as bad as Charioce, even at his worst in the first season. Also, he has a lot more character development and is a whole heck of a lot more likable than Charioce is. So, all those things work in Azazel's favor of being forgiven for past actions, compared to Charioce, who at this rate, will just get some quick sob story at the end (probably something about his mother dying and being angry at the gods for not being able to save her and being angry at the demons for probably causing the incident in which she died, etc. etc. and that's why he wants prove that he can do everything on his own and that he doesn't need anyone else...) considering that they have now thrown in an ancient evil that's going to have to be stopped and they're probably going to spend most of the screen time with Nina out traveling.

But this is all my opinion and how I feel about the direction the series is going. If you feel different, that's fine.

[drawr]

Dragon Nina was a way better fighter than I expected! That was a great scene. I assumed she had little control in that form before. It's possible by the end of this Charioce will be blind and possibly lose more senses, like his hearing or ability to walk if he continues using that weapon(if he doesn't die). Looking forward to more of Nina and Jeanne's adventures. And it seems Rita has to save Favaro and Kaisar, she's always got so much work. It was funny to see Kaisar with such a "Favaro-like" grin when he was captured.

[cuzsal]

Glad this is 2 cours, a nice surprise was thinking this was 12 or 13 ep.

Would love to see Amira one day still hoping she will be back lol

[SeaDoor]

I still am enjoying this but Nina's persistent naivete is becoming more difficult to accept. It must be a plot-induced character condition.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I'm a pretty big connoisseur of romantic stories, romance is one of my favorite genres so I've read and watched quite a bit of it, so my palette has been honed to know what makes a romance actually work and what is utter dime-store shlock.

Oh, come on! Having read a lot of anything won't make anyone an authority on something that is so utterly, completely subjective as this. Chances are you have your preferences when it comes to romance - would you say that works that don't conform to those preferences are "utter dime-store shlock"? Is there a template romances should follow to be "good"?

Me, I'm not into romance as such. However, I do like to watch/read about interesting characters having interesting relationships, and this is one such case as far as I'm concerned. I think Charioce is an interesting, well-written character so far (and I think I can say this because this episode went a long way to show another side of him, one that we haven't seen before) and while I like him as a character I wouldn't call him "likeable" - and that's fine. I don't need a character to be "likeable" to find them or their relationships interesting. For me a romance is not necessarily about two likeable people having a healthy, likeable relationship.

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

And that has to go outside of looks and dances. Charioce is a major enemy to all Nina has claimed to care about, the two are on two completely different sides here, but neither will acknowledge it. Nina just keeps blushing and Charioce just keeps mentioning dancing. They keep trying to push this spark that the audience really can't feel because one character is so giddy that she can't be serious for 10 whole seconds and the other is so underdeveloped as a character that I can't really get a feel for him, much less any relationship he's supposed to have.

But this entire episode was about the two of them acknowledging it, especially Charioce. He doesn't keep mentioning dancing because the writers can't think of giving him other lines. It's because this is his way of saying that he really enjoyed the time he spent with her, and in a teasing way he genuinely wants to know if it was the same for her. (And he assumes it was because she's the one who keeps bringing it up!) In this episode, finally, he realizes the extent of his feelings for her (ie. he likes her a lot) but also that he's absolutely not willing to compromise on what he's achieved so far and is trying to achieve down the road. But he's also not willing to lie to himself, so even as he wants to keep her in prison and out of his way, he's gentle with her and he freely expresses his fondness for her. (Twisted? Sure. He's not a good person, and he probably doesn't really know what to do with his feelings for her.) And as for Nina, this was in fact the episode where it all completely sank in. That yes, she likes him, too, and yes, he's the person who has been doing those horrible things she's seen and heard about, and who would just stand by and watch her friends be perhaps killed. Her dragon rampage was as much desperation as rage. But like Charioce she doesn't really know what to do with her feelings, given how they're technically enemies.

(Btw I really suggest to watch this episode without subs so you don't concentrate on the exact lines they're saying, and can focus on Charioce's expressions, body language, etc. His "acting" ie. character animation is generally very good, but it was absolutely on point in this episode, aided by really good visual directing, ending up with very expressive scenes.)

And about the "one night a romance does not make" - maybe, but I think it's obvious at this point that it wasn't just any night. Charioce being "Chris" and allowing himself things he wouldn't normally do, and Nina finding someone special because sometimes that's just how things happen. On both ends this was something special that was strong enough for them to form a sort of connection.

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

It doesn't work as well with budding romances since you just don't want the girl to be involved with someone who borders irredeemablity. It's like seeing a girl falling in love with a man you know beats women, he insists he's in love with her and she's naive and thinks she can change him, he's nice and protective around her right now, but you never really feel the romance seeing them together because you can only think of how this can go wrong.

You said above that you don't need him to be a good guy, but then you keep saying how he's irredeemable and not likeable and whatnot... Basically you simply don't like Charioce. Which is fair enough. I'd probably hate him if he existed, but he doesn't exist so that gives me the freedom to explore his character instead of stopping at kneejerk reactions. (And you're drawing a false parallel with the abuse...)

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

As for the whole Charioce/Azazel argument. Well, for me Azazel was never as bad as Charioce, even at his worst in the first season. Also, he has a lot more character development and is a whole heck of a lot more likable than Charioce is.

I don't really get this. It all comes down to personal, subjective feelings. Azazel was pretty damn bad in Genesis, he was a sadistic dick who kept playing games with innocent people for his own enjoyment. Kaisar might have forgiven him because he's an idealistic sap like that, but what Azazel did to him (and Favaro, but Kaisar in particular) was downright vile and irredeemable. And given how old he is, chances are this wasn't the first time he'd done something like that. And we haven't seen proof that he'd changed in this aspect. He's simply gotten knocked down a peg, and is now on the other side of the oppressor/oppressed table, and gained a morality pet (Mugaro). Again, he's one of my favorite characters, has been since Genesis, because he's fun and cute and charming, and Morita Masakazu is awesome. But objectively speaking, he was a villain much as Charioce is now, except without the potential tragic aspect. And personally I find Charioce fun and interesting and charismatic as well, not the same way as Azazel, but on a similar principle.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Oh, come on! Having read a lot of anything won't make anyone an authority on something that is so utterly, completely subjective as this. Chances are you have your preferences when it comes to romance - would you say that works that don't conform to those preferences are "utter dime-store shlock"? Is there a template romances should follow to be "good"?

Me, I'm not into romance as such. However, I do like to watch/read about interesting characters having interesting relationships, and this is one such case as far as I'm concerned. I think Charioce is an interesting, well-written character so far (and I think I can say this because this episode went a long way to show another side of him, one that we haven't seen before) and while I like him as a character I wouldn't call him "likeable" - and that's fine. I don't need a character to be "likeable" to find them or their relationships interesting. For me a romance is not necessarily about two likeable people having a healthy, likeable relationship.

Sure, some parts are subjective, but a person who has more experience and expertise in some thing will know something that is badly done from something that is superbly done. I know when something is written well and when it's not. I know what a romance is written well and when its not.

Charioce is not well written in my opinion. You've keep saying yourself that you keep wanting to know more about him. If he was well written, we would have been given a few pieces gradually, and definitely more than we have by now at this point. But again, that's my opinion.

And it doesn't have to be a healthy relationship. Like Joker and Harley for example. It's not healthy, but people love to see it because people like both characters (and both are crazy killers!) and they are interested in seeing them together. That's what I mean by likable. You are interested in what happens next for them. You have that for Charioce. I do not.

But this entire episode was about the two of them acknowledging it, especially Charioce. He doesn't keep mentioning dancing because the writers can't think of giving him other lines. It's because this is his way of saying that he really enjoyed the time he spent with her, and in a teasing way he genuinely wants to know if it was the same for her. (And he assumes it was because she's the one who keeps bringing it up!) In this episode, finally, he realizes the extent of his feelings for her (ie. he likes her a lot) but also that he's absolutely not willing to compromise on what he's achieved so far and is trying to achieve down the road. But he's also not willing to lie to himself, so even as he wants to keep her in prison and out of his way, he's gentle with her and he freely expresses his fondness for her. (Twisted? Sure. He's not a good person, and he probably doesn't really know what to do with his feelings for her.) And as for Nina, this was in fact the episode where it all completely sank in. That yes, she likes him, too, and yes, he's the person who has been doing those horrible things she's seen and heard about, and who would just stand by and watch her friends be perhaps killed. Her dragon rampage was as much desperation as rage. But like Charioce she doesn't really know what to do with her feelings, given how they're technically enemies.

(Btw I really suggest to watch this episode without subs so you don't concentrate on the exact lines they're saying, and can focus on Charioce's expressions, body language, etc. His "acting" ie. character animation is generally very good, but it was absolutely on point in this episode, aided by really good visual directing, ending up with very expressive scenes.)

And about the "one night a romance does not make" - maybe, but I think it's obvious at this point that it wasn't just any night. Charioce being "Chris" and allowing himself things he wouldn't normally do, and Nina finding someone special because sometimes that's just how things happen. On both ends this was something special that was strong enough for them to form a sort of connection.

To me, it feels like you're reading into it a lot of things that aren't there. You yourself are giving Charioce the character he is missing by your own interpretation of his movement and expressions.

For me, him constantly asking about dancing showed me that while he has an interest in Nina, he doesn't want those two worlds to meet. The one where he is "Chris" and the one where he is king. And so when she's about the bring up the reality of the situation, he brings up dancing and it distracts her. It does thankfully show an interesting vulnerability about him in that he denies his reality at times, but I want to see these two talking about something other than that.

But it's not all on him either. I really want to see Nina do something other than simply blush and become tongue tied every time she's around him. Face him down with reality, girl! Tell him that as nice as that night was, it doesn't help the fact that I have been toiling in prison and that you have been a bully. Tell him that to his face even now that you know he is "Chris".

Movements and facial expressions are very important in interperting a scene. You are right. On the other hand, we can always place whatever interpertation we want there if we don't get some meaningful dialogue that can put things in perspective and I feel we are missing that.

You said above that you don't need him to be a good guy, but then you keep saying how he's irredeemable and not likeable and whatnot... Basically you simply don't like Charioce. Which is fair enough. I'd probably hate him if he existed, but he doesn't exist so that gives me the freedom to explore his character instead of stopping at kneejerk reactions. (And you're drawing a false parallel with the abuse...)

I was making two separate points. One, is that you can have a villainous guy and be interested in his relationship. Two, was that the relationship still has to be one that you have an interest in seeing happen. Back to my Joker example, he is a very villainous guy, but I actually had an interest in watching him together with Harley Quinn. But if you were for example trying to give Beelzebub a love interest, I would have no interest in their romance because I have no interest in a relationship between anyone with him and I could never think that he has a genuine interest in someone.

I don't really get this. It all comes down to personal, subjective feelings. Azazel was pretty damn bad in Genesis, he was a sadistic dick who kept playing games with innocent people for his own enjoyment. Kaisar might have forgiven him because he's an idealistic sap like that, but what Azazel did to him (and Favaro, but Kaisar in particular) was downright vile and irredeemable. And given how old he is, chances are this wasn't the first time he'd done something like that. And we haven't seen proof that he'd changed in this aspect. He's simply gotten knocked down a peg, and is now on the other side of the oppressor/oppressed table, and gained a morality pet (Mugaro). Again, he's one of my favorite characters, has been since Genesis, because he's fun and cute and charming, and Morita Masakazu is awesome. But objectively speaking, he was a villain much as Charioce is now, except without the potential tragic aspect. And personally I find Charioce fun and interesting and charismatic as well, not the same way as Azazel, but on a similar principle.

That mostly just has to do with my opinion. To me, the scale of what Charioce has done and continues to do and his attitude, all make him a little worse than Azazel was. but also I just like Azazel better as a character. Also, despite his evil, he always has had his redeeming qualities that shown through from time to time. I just don't get that with Charioce.

[scififan]

Originally Posted by drawr

Dragon Nina was a way better fighter than I expected! That was a great scene. I assumed she had little control in that form before. It's possible by the end of this Charioce will be blind and possibly lose more senses, like his hearing or ability to walk if he continues using that weapon(if he doesn't die).

Nina, in the red dragon form, almost lost due to strangling. Even she cannot be harmed by fire and blade, she is still vulnerable.

Her wild dance with Chrioce is plainly shameless.

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Charioce's willingness to lose his eye seems to be he has nothing to lose.

Gabriel is the biggest loser in this episode, but she has a cute reaction. Her soldiers have mutiny, and El stopped her from retreating. She is forced to see her soldiers got slaughtered. Who is this Charioce? How did he get his super soldiers?

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[foxbox360]

Girls road trip, it will be just like the first season.

[Irenesharda]

I have two thoughts that came to me watching a review of the episode.

1) El is powerful enough that he can cancel out and over come Gabriel's magic. She's an ancient archangel and he's still a young pup, so I do wonder what class of god being is he actually? Is he over the archangels in someway? Is he even more powerful than his father?

2) Some are beginning to suspect that there maybe someone backing the king and giving him all this ancient tech from before the modern world began, considering Gabriel's words. I'm wondering. Could this possible, new antagonist, have preyed on a young angry Charioce, fed his ego, his anger, and his desires and supplied him with all this new power in order to manipulate him into doing his bidding unknowingly? Perhaps this secret ally is a being from before the time of gods, demons, and humans, and he wants to return the world to his kind. He is manipulating Charioce into going after and severely weakening the demons and gods, he has him foolishly use this doomsday weapon that he might just weaken his own human side with, and the gods and demons are already against him. Is this being basically an "emperor palpatine" and he's basically biding his time and letting all three races kill each other to the point that by the time this ancient race returns, they will be too weak to defend themselves from extinction?
It's an idea to think about.

[James Rye]

Man, when the Gods ship went down I went totally "Hell yeah! Humanity rules, biatches!!!". The Gods thought to have easy game with the puny humans and got crushed just like the demons. Guess Gabriele will have to look for support now that she lost most of her holy army, like the demon rebells which surely exist somewhere or even humans who don't like Charioce.

That said, now that King Charioce won against both demons and gods, I believe more humans than ever will support him and his human nationalist path. After all he had proven twice now that humans, with the right technology, don't have to fear neither the mighty demons or the powerful gods. And after watching so many gods die by human hands the faithful believers will either lose their belief as the gods were proven to not be omnipotent or they will become radical and try to murder the ones who killed the gods.

All in all interesting times are ahead.

Nina being able to turn into a dragon and battling a huge War Golem and dozens of Orion soldiers or whatever their order's name was,w as pretty awesome to watch. And Charioce grabbing her by the boob while catching her was quite funny, good that Nina wasn't awake then, she would have died of embarrassment. XD

[Fairy Water]

^ nah she won't die, she'll just turn into dragon again. I like how despite Charioce is the reason she turns into dragon, he is also capable of turning her back into human. This is like a small ray of possibility for their relationship.

The more I watch the more I like Charioce, I hope he won't end up completely blind or that's the only way for him to stop being a King and live with Nina.

The God team and Jeanne r getting on my nerves... I have been neutral since the start of this new season but kinda lean on Charioce's side now. But humans are foolish, we know they will screw up by sth like civil wars or revolutions

While the girls have their trip, we can go back to Favaro and Kaiser, they certainly need more sceen time and it's already half of the ss.

[Kanon]

That was a fantastic episode. Liked everything Rita did as usual, Charioce and Nina's little scene was pretty nice, and Nina's fight against the giant golem was amazingly animated.

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

2) Some are beginning to suspect that there maybe someone backing the king and giving him all this ancient tech from before the modern world began, considering Gabriel's words. I'm wondering. Could this possible, new antagonist, have preyed on a young angry Charioce, fed his ego, his anger, and his desires and supplied him with all this new power in order to manipulate him into doing his bidding unknowingly? Perhaps this secret ally is a being from before the time of gods, demons, and humans, and he wants to return the world to his kind. He is manipulating Charioce into going after and severely weakening the demons and gods, he has him foolishly use this doomsday weapon that he might just weaken his own human side with, and the gods and demons are already against him. Is this being basically an "emperor palpatine" and he's basically biding his time and letting all three races kill each other to the point that by the time this ancient race returns, they will be too weak to defend themselves from extinction?
It's an idea to think about.

I fully subscribe to this theory. We haven't gotten his backstory yet but I'm pretty sure Charioce is fully human (his superstrength comes from his bracelet IMO) especially after we've seen this episode what using the ancient weapon just once cost him. Given that Gabriel seemed positive it would impossible for humans to build such a weapon on their own, this strongly implies there is someone backing Charioce. Or rather manipulating him into paving the road for the ancient race's return.

In any case, it's obvious this ancient race is going to be relevant to the plot. You can't mention something like that and do nothing with it afterwards. I'm very curious about their backstory and whether Bahamut is linked to them.