Stoned To Death – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 4 Review

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 4.

So how’s this episode? Well the previous episode ended on something of a cliffhanger, what with Jeanne’s life in danger at the hands of bare skin cloaked enemy who had intentions on forcibly removing the philosopher’s stone from her body. And it’s as if the culmination of that plot point and the rest of the episode was only realistically about 10 minutes worth of material and yet for ~reasons~ they stretched it out to 20ish. Which results in a slow and awkwardly paced episode.

This scene felt so absurdly stretched out.

Oh dear. And it’s a shame because the plot that is here, is good! Not ‘shouting from the rooftops’ good but just solid entertainment. Also we learn what happens if someone tries to consume the philosopher’s stone without having an elixir baiser first—they expand and explode into a ball of gore like those shot with dominators in ‘Psycho Pass’. Now there’s an anime I didn’t think would ever get a comparison to this one considering how different the settings of both are!

I don’t like this evil son of a bitch. And that’s probably the point!

So pacing issues aside is it still on par with what’s come before? More or less, it’s dark but still with its sense of humour. Also the harem element of the show is feeling more apparent with the scene towards the end of the episode all but telegraphing the fact that they’re heading in that direction. And as long as they do it well, I’m all for it! Jeanne is a bit annoying as a character, especially when she’s whining about wanting Montmorency all to herself—but her badass ‘Ulysses’ mode more than makes up for it. And she gets a fancy new costume, which is much improved from the unflattering peasant clothes she’d been wearing up to this point.

Anything else to add? Predictably (for an anime) the church is playing the villain here, which I’m fine with obviously—also it seems to tie into the history they’re working with. I don’t know much about this historical time period but it seems like they’re following along closely to a vague historical road map—just with the requisite fantastical anime flourishes like magic, fairies, and ridiculous boobs. And you know what, I’m down for that! I’ve never been a fan of historical anime but if they all have women with ridiculous cleavage like this then sign me up for a history lesson!