百錬の覇王と聖約の戦乙女

The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar – Full Season QandA Rundown

What’s the important information? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar is a Summer 2018 fantasy/isekai/harem anime that aired 12 episodes from July to September. It is based on a long running light novel series by Seiichi Takayama.

What’s it about? Yuuto is an ordinary high school boy who has been transported to ~another world~, specifically a pre-Christ Norse inspired world with many warring factions. Over the course of two years he rises to the position of ‘Patriarch’ of the Wolf Clan which he does so thanks to “cheating” through various military encounters thanks to his solar powered smart phone which gives him the edge in various situations. He is, of course surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women who are all vying for his attention but despite the temptations abounding he only has eyes for his girlfriend back home in the present day.

Such focus in the face of such adversity!

Why did you watch it? Aside from having a soft spot for isekai anime and obviously a soft spot for cute girls, which a harem is obliged to provide—it’s hard to ignore a title that long. #thatswhatshesaid

Did you enjoy the show? Much like ‘Seven Senses of the Re’Union’ my opinion on the show seemingly changed with each passing episode, while generally positive on it when engaging in harem shenanigans, I was less than impressed with the technical and narrative execution of its various battle-scenes, which felt rushed and heavily truncated. This was all but confirmed by the fact that this one, 12 episode season ~roughly~ adapted seven(!) novels worth of plot, whereas ordinarily an anime of this length would confine itself to 2 or 3 light novels per season. That said, it was still—for the most part—an enjoyable experience.

What was your favourite episode? While I’m sure it might seem ~obvious~ that I’m picking Episode 6 “Valkyrie’s Day Off” because it features the entire female cast of the show at a hot springs (and yes that’s part of the reason) but I also really enjoyed the way the show touched upon the way Yuuto is not only using his ‘otherworldly’ knowledge to gain advantage in battle but also advance society forward by introducing concepts like ‘free education’ to a society that had nothing of the sort beforehand.

What were your most favourite things about the show? Ultimately it was the characters that kept me coming back week after week, rather than the plot and by that measure I was seldom disappointed. Also, despite being a part of a literal patriarchal system there seemed to be a lot more gender equality with regard to the roles women could play within this society which was refreshing—albeit probably expected since so many of the main characters are women.

I can *guess* where these two guys are looking…

What were your least favourite things about the show? The battles never felt high-stakes enough, neither did anyone feel like any of the main cast were in any real peril regardless of their proximity to the enemy. Also, the whole ‘Norse’ aspect of their setting seemed underutilised and more for the sake of making the names of people and places sound ~foreign~.

Who was your favourite character? Easily Sigrune, she was an absolute badass beast of a lady from beginning to end and honestly deserved better than this show gave her to do. Though the action scenes where she were involved were the rare bright spot when it came to ‘action’ on this show.

Trust me, she does more than just ‘jab’ things repeatedly.

Thoughts on the OP (opening) and ED (ending) and the soundtrack in general? The OP—“Bright way” by Aya Uchida was fairly decent and high-energy—though still nothing special. The ED; “Sekaichuu ga Koi wo suru Your” by petit milday on the other hand was excellent not just musically but also showcased the best thing about the show.

What’s something unique about this show? The fact that the show skips forward the first two years that Yuuto spent in this new world is refreshing and allows us to skip a lot of the ~usual~ isekai tropes that come with someone from the ‘modern’ world ending up in a fantasy/pre-industrial time period.

Look at Albertina petting a deer in the background!

What other anime are most like it for the sake of comparison? In my episodic reviews for the show I found—at least initially—comparing it to Game of Thrones (albeit not an anime) but it was a comparison that felt less and less appropriate as time went along and characters remained alive. As for anime, there’s probably plenty of other isekai that I haven’t watched that this show is similar too so sadly I can’t really make a comparison right now!

Who would you recommend it to? It’s hard because I think this show has enough going for it to recommend, but at the same time not in any urgent or eager capacity. I was fine enough to have watched it week-to-week but to binge this show seems unnecessary. Basically if you’re bored and love isekai you’ll probably find something to enjoy about this show but it’s by no means essential viewing.

Sum up the season in one sentence: ‘Depending on your preferences you might be like me and wanting a little less action and a lot more shenanigans, otherwise it’s an entertaining—if unremarkable show.’

Final score? 73 out of 100.

There aren’t many gifs on google for this show but most of them feature Felicia, funny that…

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

Game of Boners – Episode 1 Review
The Battle of the Bath-stards – Episode 2 Review
The Twins of Winter – Episode 3 Review
The Wolf And The Horny Maiden – Episode 4 Review
The Opinions of Sheep Matter Sometimes – Episode 5 Review
The Things I Do For Lust – Episode 6 Review
You Win Or You Tried – Episode 7 Review
Across The Jealous Sea – Episode 8 Review
The Old Gods And The Noob – Episode 9 Review
The Toast of Harem-hall – Episode 10 Review
Breaker of Harems – Episode 11 Review
And Now My Watch Has Ended – Episode 12 Review

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And Now My Watch Has Ended – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 12 (Finale) Review

And Now My Watch Has Ended – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 12

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 12.

So the final episode… you’ve spent the last 3 or 4 reviews complaining about this show, how does the finale hold up? In what can only be described as the unexpected result of the season, this show absolutely succeeds in delivering an emotional and satisfying final episode that not only makes its shortcomings seem minor but also legitimises the entire existence of the series—at least in my opinion.

Well hold your horses there buddy, let’s not rush to the last paragraph so quickly. What happens that makes you so praise happy about it? Well Yuuto is back in the real world with his best girl Mitsuki, and not only do they have a lot of chemistry together but it’s obvious—despite his shyness and occasionally being a bit of a dick that he actually loves this girl. Which helps explain why he was so hesitant to connect with any of the girls in his other-world harem. I know he said as much, but as they say actions speak louder than words and I absolutely bought into the connection these two characters have!

That’s good to hear I suppose. So does Yuuto end up staying with Mitsuki? What about his ‘family’ in the other world? Hang on, one question at a time. So Felicia and Sigrune are in a hard spot over what to do as their enemies are taking this opportunity—with Yuuto out of the picture—to make a move on the Wolf Clan. And you know that old story-telling adage ‘show, don’t tell’, well for once I actually disagree with that and think that the way they just had Felicia and the others relay what was happening, rather than bother showing pointless and averagely animated battle scenes worked in the episode’s favour.

Sure sure, maybe next season, whatever your name was.

So wait, you’re saying you liked that the romance aspect prioritised “actions speaking louder than words” but simultaneously preferred when there was no action to do with fighting and it was just spelled out? Don’t you think that’s a bit contradictory? Maybe, but in both instances the show played to its strengths. The romance aspect between Yuuto and Mitsuki was something the show had the ability to pull off with sincerity—yes it actually made me tear up when he proposed to her, and the little animation details leading up to the kiss as she put her hand to his heart and grabbed tight to his shirt—all perfect. Whereas if they’d had some still montage showing the strongholds that the Wolf Clan was losing in Yuuto’s absence I don’t think it’d come off as well as having his other world “family” telling him what’s happening.

Okay, I get it, you’ve made your point. So what ends up happening? Does he go back and rescue them? And wait, what’s this about a proposal?! For a second I was worried Mitsuki was going to do the whole ~honourable~ “you need to go back, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine, you keep having your harem shenanigans and I’ll wait for you” but nope—Mitsuki rightly acts selfishly (I mean she’s been worried and alone for 3 years now) and she tells him that if he’s going back she’s going with him. And there’s nothing Yuuto can say about the hardships of the ‘other world’ that are going to dissuade her, because she loves him! But his one condition for her coming with him, is that she has to marry him because he doesn’t want a girlfriend, he wants a wife. And putting aside whatever sexist connotations you could infer with that comment it’s actually pretty sweet—plus it’s exactly what she wants too so win-win!

So it sounds like you were happy with the final episode of The Master of Ragnarok & The Blesser of Einherjar? As I noted in my first paragraph, it’s kind of impressive how ending on a high can make a series that I was otherwise kind of annoyed about and at times indifferent to seem better than it was. Obviously the issues I had still stand and I’ll cover them in more detail with my QandA Rundown at a later date, but this was about as good of an ending as could have conceivably had given where things were at the end of the previous episode. Yes you could argue that ostensibly nothing has changed and it’s just Yuuto back in the ‘other world’ except with a wife in his harem but as far as ending an anime series that’s based on a still ongoing light novel series there really wasn’t any other option. It’s also probably the most technically impressive episode of the season too so that certainly helps sell the finished product.

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

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Breaker of Harems – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 11 Review

Breaker of Harems – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 11

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 11.

So how are things in this penultimate episode of the series? Well the majority of the action is as flat as we’ve come to expect from this series—with the only exception being the fight between Steinthor and Sigrune, and even then it’s only passable. Unfortunately the majority of the episode is the action—either that or standing around talking about the action, and well, it just doesn’t make for very dynamic viewing.

But you’ve never been a fan of this component of the anime, so it’s unlikely that they’d manage to win you over now. I know that, doesn’t mean they couldn’t have tried something more interesting, like having any of the main named characters die. Even skinny dude whose name I can’t remember who was fighting alongside Sigrune falls off a (small) cliff and doesn’t die—I was kind of like, what’s the purpose of keeping this character alive? At least give some dramatic weight to that moment.

“We’ve still got plenty of books to get through!”

So is that your way of saying this episode was pointless? Well it would have been except for the last few minutes of the episode where something that should have happened a long time ago finally happened!

Oh and what’s that? Well after Yuuto is attacked by Loptr and Yuuto manages to knock him out Sigyn, the witch sings a magic song and sends Yuuto back to his own time and place. And the moment was actually pretty emotionally charged; watching Felicia look on helplessly as he starts to disappear while there’s nothing either can do about it was good dramatic material. And so Yuuto disappears from Yggdrasil and reappears in (presumably) his room in Japan and is reunited with his childhood friend Mitsuki.

Well that’s certainly a big event! But you say it should have happened earlier? I mean I guess it depends where they’re going with this development—if he’s just going to end up back in Yggdrasil and this was just some sort of dramatic diversion then yes it should have happened earlier to break up the monotony of the episodes that were just boring battles (or boring harem shenanigans depending on which reviewer you ask). If, however, this is going to play into the overall end game of the series, then that’s fine. I did have an idea about how the show might end but I think it would be an unpopular one—at least with those wanting a satisfying conclusion.

I guess they were short on quality savior’s. *Man* am I being catty today, or what?!

Oh yeah? And what was your idea for the ending? Well obviously he’s just left his harem behind and they’re going to be sad—so why have the series ending with all the girls from Yggdrasil suddenly appearing in the modern day and then it just becomes a harem school comedy!

Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen… It’s worth a thought!

It’s really not. So anything else you wanted to add? This episode had some good moments like the aforementioned ending, but other than that it just felt like a show that was outstretching its reach. Hardly any the action was compelling and so much of what happened just felt like dumb luck or plot armour—neither of which are the signs of good writing. Maybe they can salvage this show with the final episode but I don’t really foresee any satisfying conclusion on the horizon.

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

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The Toast of Harem-hall – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 10 Review

The Toast of Harem-hall – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 10

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 10.

So what happens in this episode? Is it a good one or a not so good one? Hey, it can be both!

Wait, so good and not so good at the same time? Yes. Such things are possible, believe it or not.

I mean you’d make that face too if you’d never eaten a hamburger before.

Oh I see, so let me guess there’s ‘harem shenanigans’ which you deem as good and then there’s ‘miscellaneous other’ which you deem as not so good? …Damn, you know me too well…

Right. So what kind of harem shenanigans are we in for? Basically, Yuuto invites the new girl Leafa who he found from last episode who looks uncannily like his best friend back home—to the point where multiple people are mistaking her for Mitsuki.

Is she up to no good? Or is this show just inconsistent?

And is she Mitsuki? Apparently not—but then again this show could be trying to play a trick on us—apparently she’s not only one of the most powerful magic users in the kingdom but she’s also the Divine Emperor too.

Okay, and is that important? Apparently, all I know is there’s a welcoming party and suddenly everyone’s drinking and taking off their clothes and rubbing their breasts at Yuuto and I can already imagine so many people who are watching this for the ‘actual’ plot tearing their hair out over these shenanigans.

But not you though, eh? Damn straight! I live for this shit and while I was not-so secretly hoping this kind of nonsense would continue for the rest of the episode alas at the half-way point things get “serious” and I sense my eyes glazing over from boredom.

I very much doubt they’d share a kiss if it *didn’t* end up that this girl was Mitsuki.

Serious how? Well, three damn months pass during the ‘ad-break’ at which point apparently Yuuto and Leafa have become close friends—close enough for Leafa to plant a kiss on Yuuto without nary a word of resistance. Then the battle starts and I’m just left wondering how much important information was left to the Light Novels for those intervening three months and how much I’d rather be watching that than another threat-free series of battles that seemingly amount to nothing. Especially now that we’re fighting antagonist number 1 and 2 simultaneously.

Iron umbrellas, apparently very effective at defeating cross-bow volleys, and it looks as dumb as it sounds.

Oh~ really! And who wins? Oh I’m sorry were we talking about something, I dozed off their for a second…

Really?! You’re doing that now of all times? I told you I didn’t care for the action in this show—it’s gotten weaker and weaker as the show progresses, which in of itself is of wretched villainy—besides, it’s not like we’ll never see them again. Right? For a show that’s so heavy on the casualties of war there’s very little ~actual~ threat levelled against any of our protagonists. Maybe the show will be daring and kill off someone important but somehow I doubt it.

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

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The Old Gods And The Noob – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 9 Review

The Old Gods And The Noob – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 9

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 9.

So what happens in this episode? A lot actually and not much at the same time… you know one of those types of episodes.

I’m not sure I follow… Well a lot of information is imparted but little of it has any forward momentum on the narrative—it’s a start but we’re also at episode 9 out of 12 so the usefulness of said information remains to be seen, I really don’t foresee any kind of conclusion to be brought from what we’ve learned.

Elaborate please. So a fair chunk of this episode takes place in the present day with Yuuto’s childhood friend Mitsuki taking centre stage—of course her introduction in the episode comes while being groped in the chest by her best friend—but other than that there’s very little shenanigans for her scenes. I like Mitsuki—probably a lot more than I expected to, but I guess that’s a given since all her previous scenes were just repetitive telephone conversations between her and Yuuto.

So what information is imparted? Well turns out Mitsuki’s friend’s sister has a doctorate in Archaeology (convenient!) and is returning home for new years so Mitsuki comes over and tells her the whole story about how Yuuto was “summoned” to another world. And it’s all rather straightforward, the Archaeology girl believes what Mitsuki tells her and gives her (and the audience) a history lesson about Norse mythology and where Yuuto fits into it all—turns out he’s (probably) a fearsome historical figure known as ‘The Black Giant’ who was responsible for ‘Ragnarok’ befalling the kingdoms of old and leading to the deaths of pretty much everyone.

I forget archeology ladies name but I like her too!

That’s… something all right. What I like about it is that it seems Yuuto is actively participating in history, in essence becoming a Norse legend by virtue of him existing in this time though it does throw up more questions than it answers, like what of all the technology he’s bringing to this ancient age—isn’t that going to have historical ramifications for the future? Or does the impending ‘Ragnarok’ that he’s to be involved in negate all the advances made. Which then bears the other question—what purpose does Yuuto have if he’s just going to become a part of folklore, what of free will? This show buries its potential constantly by not giving enough time to explore these questions but then again such are the ways of long-running light novel adaptations of which this one is seemingly without conclusion.

Anything else of note happen? Well after Yuuto acts like a bit of a dick while on the phone to Mitsuki—worrying that the archeologist Mitsuki talked to was male (because of course she’s not allowed to talk to any other men beside him #patriarchy). He wanders the streets of his city at night, happens upon Al and Chris and then come across some commotion in a bar, inside there’s a young woman making trouble who ~kind~ of looks like Mitsuki but Yuuto immediately jumps to that conclusion, calling her name out. End credits!

I mean I guess she *kinda* looks like Mitsuki?

So, good? Bad? Other? It’s a good episode—I mean, it’s not the best this show has done but then again that depends what you’re expecting from this show. I previously said I was happy with this being a silly Isekai harem series but then it goes and throws a whole bunch of history and Norse mythology at me and suddenly I’m wanting it to be something more which is absolutely a foolish thing to want because it’s never going to be anything other than a series that cherry-picks from various genres but never committing to any with any real gusto. At this point I’m just happy when an episode is entertaining and while light on the fan-service this week I was still reasonably entertained.

Why do these oranges look so realistically drawn compared to the rest of the show? And why did I include this in the review!

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

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Across The Jealous Sea – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 8 Review

Across The Jealous Sea – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 8

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 8.

So, uh… last week I recall you weren’t too fond of the episode, to the point where you bringing down the ALL CAPS to highlight your boredom… what’s this week like? Oh it’s ~all~ good now, this episode is great!

…I’m sorry, what? Yeah! Probably one of my favourite episodes this show has managed to produce so far!—What? Why do you look so perplexed?

Oh I don’t know, the fact you spent nearly a whole review last week complaining about the show’s direction and apparently it’s all fine now? Yeah. And? Such is the nature of reviewing shows week-to-week, every episode exists almost in a bubble, separate to what’s come before and what will come later. It’s not my fault that last week was a smouldering mess that almost sent me to sleep whereas this week played into a bunch of things I love!

Oh god, it’s going to get lewd again, isn’t it? Wow, how one-dimensional do you think I am? I’m at least 2 and a half dimensional…

Uh-huh, so what “buttons” did it push for you this week? This episode finally made me realise what I wanted this show to be but what it had been either barely doing or outright flailing at this whole time. This show does the ‘harem’ genre pretty good, it does the ‘isekai’ genre moderately interesting, it does the ‘action/fantasy’ genre mediocre at best and it does the ‘historical’ genre—well I don’t watch any historical-type anime so I don’t have any basis for comparison but I’m indifferent to how it handles it. But you know what it does pretty great? ‘Slice of Life’ I never knew how much I wanted a SoL isekai series until I watched this episode!

Okay… so what about it is Slice of Life? It’s moreso this episode, basically Effy slave girl is attending a local school that Yuuto instituted but she’s being excluding by the ‘popular kids’ which is making her sad. So Yuuto and the loli twins Al & Chris decide they need to figure out why and how to help her. Which ends up with Chris becoming the ‘Queen’ of the school, dethroning the bitchy Queen who was pulling all the strings and making the other kids ignore Effy. And it’s all so ridiculous and convoluted but strangely authentic and down-to-earth at the same time that I love it. But then again I’m a sucker for those anime school shenanigans. And that’s only half the episode!

I almost don’t care, but what happens in the other half? It’s Christmas time! I mean it would be if Yuuto wasn’t living in a pre-Christ civilisation and with the encouragement of his girl back home (oh yeah, she’s still a thing) Yuuto decides he wants to make gifts for Felicia and Sigrune to show his appreciation for them. So he enlists the help of mega-tsun blacksmith Ingrid to make some “hand-made” presents. And despite Yuuto’s truly obnoxious ideas about what is “feminine” this segment is kind of cute, and absolutely bolsters Ingrid’s standings in the race for best girl. It’s also just a fun little segment! Also, women be jealous amirite?

I don’t normally go for tsun but Ingrid really does it for me.

Excuse me? Oh there’s just this vaguely sexist undercurrent that pervades this episode that every problem faced by women is because they’re jealous of other women/things that other women have… thought I’d put a pin in that in case it becomes important in a future episode or it was just this show ‘mansplaining’ its way through a plot point or two…

Wait, I thought you liked this episode? I can like it and be critical of the gender politics, it’s 2018!

—Right, so in summation what you want more of, is the stuff that people otherwise refer to as ‘padding’? But at the same time you’re critical of the same things that were issues previously? Apparently so, I like to be complicated and shit. Also at least in this show I can’t help but be distracted by the bevvy of beauties before me… I am a man of simple pleasures, also Ingrid has ridiculously ~nice oppai~.

*sigh* Uh-huh… anything else you want to add before I shut this review down? The episode is bookended by an interesting(?) scene with Loptr and Sigyn who are plotting Yuuto’s downfall in bed (post coital!) and I mean we at least learn that apparently it was Felicia who summoned him to this ‘world’ but other than that these scenes just further add to the frustrating feeling I got from the previous episode, but whatever. I’m sure this show will find a way to be a completely different show next week, as it seems to so schizophrenically change genres week-to-week. Ah well, guess I’ll enjoy what I can while I can!

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

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You Win or You Tried – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 7 Review

You Win or You Tried – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 7

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 7.

So what happens in thi— OH MY GOD I AM SO BORED…

Sorry, what? We’re reviewing a show now, you need to at least ~pretend~ to be a professional… Ugh, sorry, it’s just this episode… man, talk about opening up a big ol’ can of ‘I Don’t Care’ and pouring it all over the proceedings. I mean Episode 5 was bad enough what with that seemingly endless battle against Steinthor that and the battle against the anime’s budget. Episode 6 at least had the decency to give us some quality fan-service but Episode 7, my god… it’s like they took what little was interesting (plot wise) about the show, condensed it into a concentrated exposition dump and expected me to care when it whizzed past me at the speed of light.

Sounds like you’re just mad there’s not more fan service… Oh it can be both, rest assured—How Not To Summon A Demon Lord has show that you can have your cake and grope it too. But this… this show decides to have an all-important flash back to the pre-series pre-patriarch days when Yuuto was just a follower of the Wolf Clan, introduces us to a new character who we’re expected to both like and then the next minute hate (?!) and then decides we need to go to war with this character, oh and by the way he can copy a bunch of technology that Yuuto has because magic runes, also he’s Felicia’s sister, also he tries to kill her also there’s magic zombie soldiers also fuck this show now.

Wow. Quite the stance you’ve taken against this show—and quickly too. Early on I didn’t mind that (according to the internet) it was rollicking through the source material at a blistering pace, decimating light novels by the episode. But now it’s become abundantly apparent that any pretence for creating a well-paced show has been tossed aside in favour of adapting as much source material as possible—presumably to get to some sort of arbitrary end goal that makes this whole endeavour worth adapting, you know as opposed to giving a well-paced and faithful adaption.

Apparently horses are afraid of the smell of camels, they use this to win a battle… so exciting…

Seems like you’re awfully hung up on the ‘adaptation’ side of this despite not having read word one of the actual source material. I hate to say this because it sounds kinda smug and arrogant, but I think I could have done a better job of it—and I don’t even mean writing or adapting I just mean editing for starters! Imagine, instead of Episode 6 spending so much time setting up the Hot Springs shenanigans we had the ‘flashback’ scene from Episode 7 start that episode instead. So that means we’re establishing a new character (Loptr, Felicia’s sister and the rightful patriarch—let’s be honest) well ahead of his appearance, while still focusing on the current plotline. Then the episode ends as it did already with Felicia getting the letter from her brother, except instead of making out like she’s illiterate (which I assumed was the purpose of the scene when I first watched it) have her whisper “nii-san” as she’s looking over the note therefore bookending episode six and teasing a confrontation to come rather than having it all front-loaded into the seventh episode where it ends up feeling rushed!

Man this flashback was super lame and corny.

That’s all well and good to speculate but that’s not what we have here, is it? We have to review the show’s that’s been given not the show you presume to know better. Fine. You want a review; here it is short and sweet just for you. This show is mediocrity masquerading as more, compared to the likes of How Not To Summon A Demon Lord (yep, I mentioned it again) it doesn’t hold a candle, heck, it doesn’t hold a spark. Sure the female characters are quirky and charismatic and sexy as heck but everything else feels unfortunately generic and worst of all rushed to the point of incomprehensibility. I defended this show week after week, presuming it was capable nay on the verge of something bigger and better but the truth is this show doesn’t offer much and doesn’t deserve much. At this point I kind of don’t care if Yuuto gets back to the 21^st Century and his childhood friend Mitsuki—in fact I don’t care what happens to anyone! All I want is a show that affords its plot and its characters the time to breathe without being beset upon by deadlines and budgetary restraints and a heavy handed adaptive pen that seeks to reach a conclusion without realising the importance of the journey. Maybe next week will give us an episode worthy of this show at its best…

I liked this new character though, no particular reason…

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

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The Things I Do For Lust – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 6 Review

The Things I Do For Lust – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 6

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 6.

So, last week you were hoping for something different from this show other than hastily put-together battle sequences, does this episode deliver? Oh it delivers something all right…

Oh? Oh… it’s going to be something perverted isn’t it? Ding! Ding! Ding! It’s a hot springs episode!

*face palm* I should’ve known… wait, so Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs a literal hot springs set anime didn’t have a hot springs scene this week but the fantasy series set in an almost medieval setting does?! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills… It is what it is. And it is very good!

I’d be more surprised if there was fan-service that you didn’t like so yeah— Don’t be so hasty, there’s plenty of ecchi series where I’ve not liked the fan-service—it’s just I don’t tend to talk about them. But that’s a topic for another day. So the girls and Yuuto go on a break to reward him for being just a really good leader and advancing civilization along more than anyone could have expected given the short period of time and it’s just a lot of light-hearted fun and harem shenanigans, what’s there to complain about?

Oh but there will be complaints, you know that to be true. Of course, but whatever, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions—no matter how wrong they are…

How did laying on her back make her go up a cup-size?!

Excuse me?! You can’t say that about your fellow bloggers! Listen, they knew what they were getting into when they signed up for a harem Isekai series with a cast that’s 90% high-school aged anime girls, why complain about something you’re not the target audience for, hmm?

Have you been drinking again? Is this another trademark “drunk review”? First of all don’t trademark that, I don’t own that. Secondly, so what if I have? It’s been a tough week—so many fan service-y episodes, so many people complaining, so many missing the point of it all.

Oh yeah? Well care to enlighten me—no us to the nascent “point” of it all you belligerently obnoxious pervert? I think if you watch a show and solely hone in on whatever fan service is presented and thus equate it to something negative not only does it entertain a negative notion that sexuality is something to be shunned or demeaned but it also minimises authorial autonomy and suggests that catering to your ideals is important in a work of art than freedom of expression.

People are allowed to like and dislike what they want you know… I’m not disputing that, I just think it’s a bit narrow-minded to expect a show to curtail to your specific expectations when it’s a show not targeted to your proclivities. I don’t watch Free! or Idolish7 or whatever other show is flicking beans across the world and expect them to tone down the man-service and gratuitous hot boys. Why should ‘Silly Isekai Harem #426’ be expected to do the same!

It wouldn’t be a hot springs episode with a boob on back wash!

I see your point. Can we just move on now please? Your rants give me heartburn… Fine…

So what happens in the rest of the episode? Not all hot springs shenanigans I assume? Indeed. Though we aren’t afforded much in the way of forward plot momentum—at least toward an end-goal for Yuuto returning home we get some ~interesting~ developments in regard to the society Yuuto is cultivating for when he eventually leaves. Wealth through superior advancements (in this case, glass is the main money-maker) and using that wealth to educate the young masses for free so everyone can speak the language and thus make a better world! He’s like the Elon Musk of anime, except you know, not a loud-mouthed c**t with too much time on his hands.

Blowing glass has never been so much fun.

Apologies to Mr. Musk, please don’t launch us into the sun. So, uh, good episode then? Yeah, I mean it was a lot of fun, even excluding the hot springs part—I like that they developed the character of ‘slave girl’—Yuuto’s honestly a nice guy and I think that’s something that’s kind of endearing in our current political climate, a leader that’s an actual human being. Not like the clown they’ve got running the—

End of review! Jeez, we’ve already made enough enemies with your drunken madness. Apologies to everyone who suffered through this review!

This image is far lewder than the scene *actually* was! Trust me!

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

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The Opinions of Sheep Matter Sometimes – ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 5 Review

The Opinions of Sheep Matter Sometimes – An Anime QandA Review of ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ Episode 5

What’s the show? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar, Episode 5.

So last week promised a big battle did it not? Are we rewarded? Well~ more or less, amidst some obvious budgetary restraints there are some good action bits… but that’s just it, it’s a lot of good “bits” interspersed with some otherwise mediocre staging and grand posturing.

Don’t get too attached to the guy in the middle, he dies. Off-screen of course because… reasons?

It’s never a good sign when you’re invoking an anime’s budget, is it? And I hate to do it, I really do—it’s such a lazy complaint especially coming from a place of privilege as I do as a reviewer of things, but things could have been so much better if this had been given the room to breathe. I’ve not (nor will I ever) read the light novels this show is based on nor do I care enough to research it—so take this assumption as just that but to my mind it feels like this episode could have been based on an entire novel volume. A lot happens—that is to say it probably should have been better fleshed out, instead we’re given a sort of ‘highlight reel’ of a long battle—and subsequent military pursuit, as well as ~sort of~ defeat of our main antagonist Steinþór.

Me; when thinking about myself when I didn’t watch anime.

Sounds… unsatisfying. Yeah, it kinda is. I know it will come as no surprise, and I know some will disagree, but bring back the harem shenanigans; at the very least they were well animated, well paced and visually interesting to watch.

Yeah… I think you’re going to be alone with that opinion. So do you have any compliments to give this episode? The ending—specifically to do with the ‘dam strategy’ that they use to defeat their enemies and the fact that it’s implemented by Linnea—who in the last episode was feeling particularly useless at her allotment in life was a nice touch. As was bringing the whole story of how Yuuto had once been arrogant like Steinþór too back to the forefront and extolling the virtues of utilising the best qualities of your allies rather than fighting alone.

One of the few moments of levity in a pretty unemotional episode.

Anything else to add? In some ways this episode felt like a climax, an anti-climax but a climax all the same—probably true of the source material too, I would imagine this being the end of a volume of the light novel series too. What’s bad is that this episode doesn’t engender any kind of enthusiasm to return to the show, despite their still being 7 more episodes to go. At the very least there might be some forward progression with regard to Yuuto’s situation of being stuck in this ~other~ world and/or his relationships with his daughters/sisters. But at the same time it might just end up being more of the same, which would not only be a waste of a potential but would be grounds to drop this show. Believe it or not, I don’t want to do that though as I do genuinely like the idea of this setting and of course I like the female characters. Time will tell whether sticking with this series is the right idea or not, until then let’s see what else this show can do!

Previous The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar Reviews:

Game of Boners – Episode 1 Review
The Battle of the Bath-stards – Episode 2 Review
The Twins of Winter – Episode 3 Review
The Wolf And The Horny Maiden – Episode 4 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!