(Hi) Helck

[Alchemist007]

That curse or whatever is insanely strong. At least its weakness being a song is equally ridiculous.

[Kanon]

The show is back on track with this week's episode. And we're finally getting Helck's past next episode!

[Twi]

Episode review is done.

They basically explained what that sword was Augis noticed, and I have to agree that carrying around a weapon like that is a bit suspicious. But nice to see that everyone else is doing fine. And we basically confirmed that Azudra indeed had a friendship with at least one Human in the past.

[grecefar]

I understand cutting the chapter before telling the tale but that was kind of cheap to stop in like half of the chapter. Well, seeing vermillion dancing was worth it, so I'll forgive it.

I usually really hate flashbacks but this is necessary since I have so many questions.

[Guardian Enzo]

Just give me 22 minutes of Piwi and I’m not bothered about the details.

[FlareKnight]

Really says a lot that Helck was ready pass over a Hero Killer blade to Anne like that. How much was just him understanding her fears and how much was recognizing the danger that he'd pose if he lost control I'm not sure. I lean a good amount to the latter conclusion, but probably is a mixture of the two. Anyways, having a serious chat and being willing to give her that blade had meaning.

I do like how she didn't want to take it and opened up about the doubts she's had. I'm sure in a sense that made it even easier for him to trust Anne and to want to pass that weapon to her. Because who better than a friend to trust that kind of task to? Obviously she really doesn't want to kill Helck, but I'm sure he believes it's necessary that someone is there that can kill him.

Glad we're getting into the flashback. Lot of questions that this can answer for us.

[Guardian Enzo]

I read that 100% as Helck knowing how much of a threat he poses, and wanting to put in an insurance policy against the worst happening (which would include his taking out Vermillio and Piwi). Making Anne feel better about the situation is strictly a fringe benefit.

[Anh_Minh]

Agreed. We "know" that Helck killed his brother who was also a hero, so he's got to know exactly what he's asking Anne.

[magnuskn]

Very much looking forward the the second cour. The mix of humor and serious story and of course seeing the younger years of the Man Emperor of Demonkind was pretty cool. 8/10.

[Twi]

Episode review done. You could see Helck was just one moment away from becoming a villain if nobody was willing to help save his brother. Thank goodness for small purple-haired children.

But honestly, not all Humans need to be saved and it gives context to why Helck sounded so disappointed when he ran across evil non-humans for the first time.

[Kanon]

Helck's childhood was rough to say the least. And seeing how close he was to his brother, watching him kill him is going to be heart-wrenching.

[magnuskn]

And I thought we'd get a split cour. Doesn't seem that way. Ah, well. Yeah, the backstory is going to be pretty tragic, I can already see it coming.

[FlareKnight]

Just unbelievable when you think about it. Those people literally stomping all over two of the heroes of that age. The tragedy that befall humanity wasn't earned by everyone. But those jerks definitely deserved it... Cless wouldn't have made it to any future tragedy if he'd died of malnutrition.

This episode was just pure setup for the real gut punches. The childhood friend that quite literally saved Cless by getting her father to step in is one character that I'm sure will also have a sad ending.

Helck was born with all sorts of powers, but he didn't have the environment and desire to tap into it. At least not outside of his super healing powers . Sadly had to tap into those pretty early in life.

One ran off to become a hero purely because he had a desire to do so. Cless felt for the terrible situation and mistreatment of the people of the slums and tried to make the world better to turn things around. Sadly...we know things aren't going to go well here.

At least this showed that humanity did have some things going against it. While it was living on good lands, it wasn't exactly purely peaceful. Even though what they had to face wasn't on the level of the demons, they were at least dealing with difficulties as well.

[grecefar]

I like the new opening and ending.

A really hard and sad childhood and it would've made anyone to turn against humanity but luckly there still good people in the world.

Now the real thing is what is going to happen?, the real reason why helck turn against humanity?, looking foward to it.

[serenade_beta]

Ohh, the female character that sang worse than the bird is the one singing the new OP?
...Well, that makes sense.
...And I'm skipping it from now on. It wasn't good.

The episode itself was good though. Cless's love interest's voice is so weird I thought she was a monster in disguise or something suspicious, but she appears in the ED and her voice actor is Yumiri so the voice has to be on purpose, so I guess not. I wouldn't be surprised if the flashback takes a couple more episodes, since they seem to still be introducing new characters in the next episode PV

And, uh, what's a "Retake Sakuga Director"? You guys okay?

[Anh_Minh]

Why were noble children even allowed to go to the slums? And why weren't they kidnapped and ransomed or something?

[~Yami~]

I caught up
They actually really adapt the cooking competition episode lmao
I can't stop praising the pacing of this show. They reached the flashback arc right at the beginning of second cour
Now, this is the defining moment. I think this is when the manga started to get very intense and interesting

Spoiler for next ep:

also best girl is in next episode.. can't wait

[Twi]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Why were noble children even allowed to go to the slums? And why weren't they kidnapped and ransomed or something?

Considering the kids mentioned raising a hand against them would end up with everyone in the slums being punished and the sheer ambivalence towards what happens to the poor, it's likely that any attempt to do so would be met with lethal consequences.

Where would they go even if they got the ransom? They'd just be hunted down and killed afterwards if they stayed in the city, and that's if not a worse scenario. Going outside of the Capital means having to deal with monsters, which was why Helck and Cless had to put up with living there despite the abuse.

The poor people we saw likely just accepted their lot in life and tried not to make things worse for themselves or others. The old-timer even sheltered Helck and Cless from the cold and they never stole food from them when they were clearly just as hungry and poor. They're probably more tight-knit than the nobles are to be honest.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

Now, this is the defining moment. I think this is when the manga started to get very intense and interesting

It's about time too. From the start, the parts that actually focused on the main plot has been interesting enough (except the concept of levels)
But we've just been sidetracking by getting sucked to an island of mascots, then some city of mascots, and cooking with mascots

[FlareKnight]

So the story continues.

It's just sad that Cless got so severely injured for what appears to be a totally pointless battle. It was a battle born of panic and ignorance. A shame on every level. There was no need for Cless and Thor to battle and there was nothing really gained. Thor died and Cless was left seriously injured. It left both sides weakened as a result. Though obviously the demons suffered far less since replacing a Demon Lord isn't as big a deal for them.

Honestly the situation was just a lot more dire than I could have expected. Humanity was constantly being pushed to the brink here. Attacks were constant and they simply weren't strong enough on the base level to handle all of this. Despite being gifted two heroes at the same time things weren't getting much better.

Were the demons spread too thin and couldn't keep the monster spawning under control? Obviously they didn't send monsters to attack, but it seems like they couldn't clean things up as well as they could in the past and that left humanity feeling like it was under siege.

Rough times.