Ulysses: Jehanne Darc to Renkin no Kishi

Fighting Fate – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 12 (Finale) Review

Fighting Fate – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 12 (Finale)

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 12 (Finale).

So how’s this episode? Last season I watched a show called ‘Seven Senses Of The Re’Union’ which had me wondering why I even bothered watching it once it was done. It was a show that had enormous promise at the start and squandered it all by the end by not really committing to anything and more or less existing as an unfinished adaptation of ongoing source material. And it was so very frustrating as a result.

Hmm, I take it there’s a point to you mentioning this. Obviously. ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ suffers from a similar problem in that we’re given a hurried ending to a narrative that was already lacking in direction and common sense, a tease of future things (never) to come and a consequence free finale for literally everyone involved.

Weren’t you just last week hoping that Jeanne wouldn’t die? Because I didn’t want to see a 12 year old girl burnt at the stake, that’s hardly the same as wanting consequences in a narrative!

Okay okay, so what happens in the episode? You got a minute, ‘coz this is going to take a while… So the space god Enlil transforms into a Titan and we literally get an action scene that looks like it’s a parody of ‘Attack On Titan’ as Jeanne runs up its arms with her sword drawn and slashes its head off. He gets sucked back into the space abyss from whence he came, the English army retreats because Thomas Mallory said so, Astaroth drops a low-key bombshell that Jesus Christ was a Ulysses (wonder if he was a sexy woman too like most of the historical figures in this show?). Phillipe no longer wants to live on this planet anymore due to her wanting to be with Montmorency and not wanting to be Black Ulysses. Then there’s a comedic bar scene that involves breast groping and La Hire overeating, then there’s a bunch of stuff with characters I’ve mostly forgotten, Richemont comes back (yay?) and we close out with shenanigans about Jeanne wanting to have Montmorency’s baby and a swift epilogue that has Charlotte crowned Queen of France. The End!

…I see. To the episode’s credit… I wasn’t bored. I mean I wasn’t satisfied with the episode on a critical level but it sure was enjoying to see a show throw so much at the screen in so little time and so little of it have any kind of staying power with me, the viewer.

I never thought an anime would have me saying, “Man, Thomas Mallory is adorable!” but here we are.

Uh-huh. So on a critical level, was there anything you liked about the final episode? As usual the music was great, some of the more surreal visuals were noteworthy and there were some very nice boobs to look at.

Turns out *this* is how Jeanne d’Arc died.

Music, some visuals and… boobs. That’s it? Pretty much. I won’t say this was a trainwreck because I wasn’t expecting some grand final episode that tied together everything in a satisfying way. I was expecting more closure at the very least, but then again I should no not to do so when dealing with a light novel adaptation where the novel is ongoing. Also, I think Phillipe as herself, rather than her Black Ulysses version was kind of short-changed, her story was a lot more interesting than the show gave the time for. Ultimately this show, but this episode especially felt like too much going on for its run-time and it’s budget would allow. Double the episode count, triple the budget and calm down on the tonal whiplash and you’ve got yourself a great series. What we have instead is just wasted potential and over confidence in a convoluted and rushed narrative.

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

Full French Alchemist – Episode 1 Review
Blood Is Thicker Than Saliva – Episode 2 Review
A Potent Concoction – Episode 3 Review
Stoned To Death – Episode 4 Review
Purity, Divinity and Power – Episode 5 Review
The Heartlessness of War – Episode 6 Review
The Tower Maiden – Episode 7 Review
Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder – Episode 8 Review
The Sky Is Falling – Episode 9 Review
Possessive Qualities – Episode 10 Review
Raising The Stakes – Episode 11 Review

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Raising The Stakes – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 11 Review

Raising The Stakes – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 11

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 11.

So how’s this episode? I really didn’t want to review this. Like, were this not the second to last episode of its season I would have moved this to the ‘watched but not reviewed’ pile and summed up my thoughts on it in a short paragraph rather than try and come up with enough to justify whatever I consider a ‘full length’ episodic review. (Turns out I had nothing to worry about and had plenty to say!)

That bad huh? No, it’s just that it’s the same nonsense as last episode and I didn’t feel like rehashing my thoughts. “Oh this historical anime suddenly has alien gods, and spaceships firing orbital lasers at France and there’s blood and gore and limb ripping and Jeanne being burnt alive again. Yay.”

You gotta stop picking on Astaroth, anime. I mean I know she’s immortal but that’s no reason to be so mean!

So nothing different happens in this episode? I mean Jeanne ends up “saving” Montmorency from his possession by giving him a kiss which allows her to enter his memories and walk around and view things from his past and also see her own impending death through his future foresight (try wrapping your head around that). These past two episodes this show has done a lot of things and almost none of them well. Like I said last week, I’m fine with weirdness and ~unexpected aliens~ and tonal whiplash… if it’s done well.

Things seemed pretty dire, plot wise, I take it that’s more or less been averted now? Somewhat, I mean the whole ‘space gods’ diversion seems to have been cleared up with the power of love. Okay, it’s not that simplistic, in the episode’s sole ~good~ scene, Jeanne reconciles her future sacrifice as being necessary to bring peace to the world again. I mean she’s wrong of course, her sacrifice is going to be a brutal execution at the hands of monstrous individuals and war will continue for centuries to come, but I admire her resolve in the face of such horrors.

Wait, so do you think the prediction will come true and Jeanne will be burned at the stake like Montmorency’s premonition and in line with real world history? At this point anything could happen on this ridiculous show, so I’m not willing to make predictions. Do I want the show to cop out on the real shit and instead Jeanne lives and the two of them go on to live ‘happily ever after’ together? Yes, that would be preferable than watching a 12 year old girl be burnt alive. But honestly, I’ll take the show it was before all this madness over the show we’ve had the last two episodes. I may be alone in this opinion but I actually thought this show was legitimately good and dramatic and entertaining before Episode 9’s ‘space tentacles’ cliffhanger brought everything crashing to the ground. At this point, we’ll just have to wait and see!

Jeanne witnessing her charred corpse, in the future, inside Montmorency’s head.

Anything else you wanted to add? Actually yes. This episode has one consistent saving grace throughout that makes watching this enjoyable from a certain standpoint. The music is absolutely on-point, with the usual orchestral pieces mixed with Gregorian chanting and screaming death metal. If you took out all the dialogue and edited down to like a 5 minute music video, it would be a legitimately cool thing to behold. But as a penultimate episode of an anime, it’s just simply not good enough.

Watching flat-chested Phillip transform into the buxom Black Ulysses was certainly a sight.

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

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Possessive Qualities – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 10 Review

Possessive Qualities – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 10

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 10.

So how’s this episode? You know how sometimes you watch something and you just wonder how things have gotten to the point in the story, and then you wonder how your life has lead to this point, and then you wonder what life is even all about? Yeah… this anime gave me an existential crisis because of how insane it got.

Are you upset? I’m not upset (Always time for a ‘Pop Team Epic’ reference).

No but seriously, is this a bad thing? I think I had an out of body experience while watching this because I was watching me, watching it and I was like, “ah… glad I’m not that guy, this show is terrible, who’d be stupid enough to watch this!” So I’m kind of detached from the whole experience of watching this episode. And I don’t think this is an example of something inherently ~bad~ it’s just something taken to such a ludicrous level that it becomes oddly fascinating to behold.

I think you’re going to need to explain what you witnessed. So Montmorency has summoned tentacle monsters from space which are actually an ancient alien god that was sealed away by Astaroth thousands of years ago and the tentacle god monster possesses Montmorency and makes him go on a murder rampage. And there’s exploding of heads and ripping of limbs and La Hire stabs herself with a sword that’s actually a philosopher’s stone so she can go ‘Ulysses’ mode to stop evil Montmorency. Nicolas Flamel is there but he fucking dies, lot of good he was. Then in a moment of lucidity for Montmorency he has a vision of Jeanne being burnt at the stake, and it’s probably the most graphic stake burning I’ve seen in an anime what with melted eyeballs and rendered flesh. And it’s at this point I wonder if the people making this show realised what madness they’d gotten into when they started this ~vaguely~ realistic historical fantasy anime.

…Okay then… that’s uh… Ridiculous? Nonsensical? Farcical even? So here’s the thing, I like ~weirdness~ in my pop-culture, always have, always will. Weird for the sake of weird, fine. Weird from beginning to end, I’ll take that. A sprinkle of weird over something mundane, love it! But this felt more like a series of ideas that probably felt like a dramatic escalation of events on paper but were translated into–ALL THE THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR REASONS JUST GO WITH IT DONT ASK QUESTIONS. Which, if handled with a deft hand can work, but this was handled with… well let’s just say a budget that couldn’t accommodate the execution of such ideas, a running time that wasn’t befitting of said ideas and a setting that felt ill-prepared for this kind of leap in logic.

He fucks up a whole army too. Brutal AF.

So what did you like about the episode? Funnily enough, quite a bit. This is a case where the parts are greater than the whole. There’s a logical merit into turning Montmorency into a literal monster considering the historic backstory of his namesake Gilles De Rais. The violence was brutally unflinching in an uncomfortable way that added a ‘realness’ to the situation (yes parts were censored, but that’s more about conforming to the TV standards in Japan than the show copping out, it’ll probably be uncensored on the blu-ray). La Hire got a moment to be a total badass which was appreciated since she’s best girl. It’s just a shame there was also a lot of things it did poorly, but this is far from a trainwreck, I’ll stand to that opinion!

Right. So overall thoughts on the episode? In better hands, with a more judicious editor and with significant rewrites this is 100% salvageable, remove the space alien god bits, dial down on the sky tentacles and play up the possession angle in relation to the historical equivalent and you’ve got yourself a dramatic hell of an episode. I mean, far be it from me to tell this show (and its original writer) how to do things, but I think there was too much ambition and not enough focus in this finished product. That said, there’s no denying that what we got was amazingly entertaining even if it was for a lot of the wrong reasons!

La Hire deserves to be in a better show, or rather a show where *she’s* the focus!

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

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The Sky Is Falling – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 9 Review

The Sky Is Falling – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 9

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 9.

So how’s this episode? In any given anime there can come a time when “the wheels fall off” that’s to say an anime is just driving along (to continue with a vehicle based analogy), maybe not perfectly but adequately, a few bumps along the way maybe, and then the wheels come off and the whole thing falls apart!

If you’re expecting screencaps of this show looking bad though, you won’t find them here. Its the animation that’s average not still images.

Oh dear, this doesn’t sound good… To further this analogy I will say the wheels definitely came off this episode but rather than crash and burn it was more of a controlled braking into a shallow ditch. This is the worst episode of the show (so far), it’s the worst it’s looked, it’s the worst it’s sounded the pacing is atrocious, a lot of it didn’t even make sense and to make matter worse it wasn’t even a fun experience to watch it fall apart, it wasn’t a total catastrophe with the likes of ‘Marchen Madchen’ Episode 9. No, what this was was a series that’s stretched for cinematic action sequences beyond its time or budget and so every available corner was cut. Likewise the story moves in such an odd fashion that it times it felt like I was watching a trailer with events rapidly cut-together without consideration for common sense, while other times it felt like I was watching the equivalent of a first draft of certain scenes with questionable scripting and directing.

Yikes! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this focused critically before, usually your either full glowing review, full ‘I don’t know what to say’ or full rant-mode. Say what you will about this series (before this episode) it at least was an entertaining ride, flaws and all. This, however, was just middle-of-the road mediocrity with the added un-bonus (what’s the opposite of bonus?) of feeling rushed and amateurish. Full apologies if there were production issues behind the scenes that led to this like with ‘My Sister, My Writer’ but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case here because on a technical level its still sound. It’s just that it feels like there was nowhere near enough money in this show’s budget to accommodate the scope they wanted to achieve.

The two best things about this show, by which I mean LaHire’s boobs.

Okay that’s enough about the problems, what’s the episode even about? So Jeanne, fresh from her revival from near-death rallies the French troops and heedlessly flings herself into battle–against the wishes of all her companions. Why? Because there’s no re-revivals, that last ‘get out of death free card’ was the last–if she dies again she’s dead for good! Despite this the cocky ‘Ulysses’ version of Jeanne leaps into a battle against Black Ulysses who has the ultimate death wish. They fight, Black Ulysses gets the upper hand and a volley of arrows comes straight for the helpless Jeanne. Montmorency, not content to watch Jeanne die again swallows his half of the philosopher’s stone and uses his newfound powers to rescue Jeanne in the nick of time! Astaroth is furious because as she told him “bad things” would happen if he swallowed the stone. Right on cue, the sky opens and giant Cthulhu esque tentacle monsters begin to descend–that’s right folks, it’s the end of the world!

Yes, this monstrosity came from the sky. I’m not sure if I’m impressed or depressed.

I mean… that sounds ridiculous but that doesn’t sound ~bad~ necessarily. On paper it’s not bad. I mean it’s ~insane~ but that’s hardly a reason to dislike an anime. But it’s just so slap-dash and haphazard that it drains the energy out of the experience. That said if the show just goes full on sci-fi, Lovecraftian crazy next episode I’m almost willing to overlook this derailment here.

Tell you the one thing I have in common with this image: I’m not dropping Jeanne either.

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

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Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 8 Review

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 8

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 8.

So how’s this episode? Probably the most coherent episode of the show so far–also funny and dark and emotional and exciting. Best episode of this show so far? Maybe…

That good, eh? So care to elaborate then? We have Alencon, Astaroth and Batard on a journey to find ‘Escalibor’ (that’s how the French say ‘Excalibur’ FYI) when they run into famous Welsh writer Thomas Mallory–who because this is an anime, is a glasses wearing cute girl–not that I’m complaining! She’s taken Excalibur’s scabbard for the English side and so after some shenanigans it ends up back on the “good guys” side. Alencon decides he’s going to hold off the advancing knights and sacrifice himself so Astaroth and Batard can get the scabbard (which holds the power to healing Jeanne) back to her ASAP. And as much as I hate the whole ‘here’s a bunch of flashbacks to endear you to the person who is about to die’ tactic of storytelling it worked pretty well here.

Only anime could have me saying “Gee that Thomas Malory sure is cute!”

So does he die? Actually no, he’s saved by his older sister Richemont. Which for someone like him who’s always lived in her shadow and been seen as something of a “disappointment” by comparison–is a fate worse than death. But the two reconcile when she acknowledges all that he’s done and the two embrace and it’s a legitimately great scene and one that endeared me to both characters in a way I wouldn’t have expected!

He’s got a bit of smug Jamie Lannister thing going on…

And what about the scabbard? Do they get it to Jeanne? After a tense charge through a raging battle outside the walls of the keep where she’s being kept they bring the sword to her side–but not before we see what hell poor Jeanne is going through in her heart-deprived comatose state. It’s honestly (no pun intended) heart breaking and actually a bit terrifying to see Jeanne all alone in a prison of her own mind with a gaping hole in her chest, screaming for help but with no-one able to hear her. Say what you will about this show but it sells desperation and anxiety pretty damn convincingly!

Uh-huh, but back to the saving of Jeanne, does it work? Well not at first, turns out Montmorency needs to spit in her mouth first.

Do you have to word it like that? No I don’t but that’s more or less what happens, she’s out of his “elixir” so he has to give her some–and kudos to the show it doesn’t actually show it this time, erring on the side of restraint given the seriousness of the moment. And so she comes back alive and Jeanne is alive again and no longer in a comatose hell-world. Yay!

So now that Jeanne’s back the show can move forward. What were your thoughts on this little diversion, what with Jeanne dying and all. While you could make the argument that we’re narratively nowhere further forward than we were pre-death, I’d say that there was ample character development to make the detour worthwhile, not just for the obvious characters who were directly affected such as Jeanne and Montmorency but also Batard and Phillipe and Alencon and Richemont. It was also really satisfyingly dramatic–even though I never once thought she was actually dead it was still richly compelling at times and for that I appreciate it.

*Yoda voice* “begun the clone wars have”

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

Full French Alchemist – Episode 1 Review
Blood Is Thicker Than Salvia – Episode 2 Review
A Potent Concoction – Episode 3 Review
Stoned To Death – Episode 4 Review
Purity, Divinity and Power – Episode 5 Review
The Heartlessness of War – Episode 6 Review
The Tower Maiden – Episode 7 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!

The Tower Maiden – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 7 Review

The Tower Maiden – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 7

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 7.

So how’s this episode? So spoiler time, but you know how Jeanne–one of the title characters straight up died last episode–yeah, not actually dead. “What a surprise!” said no-one ever. But to the show’s credit, they didn’t just remedy over the whole thing with ~random magics~ and make her all better again, no she’s barely hanging in there, in a comatose state and only alive because of the power of the philosopher’s stone inside her.

And how do they plan on fixing her, is she just going to sleep it off? You can’t just “sleep off” having your heart removed, gosh, don’t you know anything?!

Is that like a Spanish version of Excalibor?

Evidently not. So what’s the plan then? Astaroth tells them they need to acquire a powerful magical relic imbued with the same power as the philosopher’s stone, specifically the sword ‘Escalibor’ (pretty sure that’s a typo and meant to be ‘Exacalibor’ but that’s what the subtitles said). If they have that, Jeanne will heal.

A sword to fix a missing heart, right? Eh, whatever… so what else of mention happens? The majority of the episode is spent with Montmorency visiting his native homeland of Brittany to try and sequester some troops from his grandfather Jean the Redbeard. Turns out he’s a massive a-hole who’ll only agree to giving Montmorency his men if he agrees to marry his cousin Catherine. And in true anime style she’s a cute loli.

Poor Catherine (this is a flashback to their first meeting FYI).

Of course she is. So what’s he do? Well turns out his grandfather has been trying to get Montmorency to marry Catherine since they were both kids (I’m not sure on her exact age but she’s a few years younger than him at least). Catherine was treated horribly by Jean the Redbeard–keeping her locked in a high castle in a dingy prison-like room. The only happiness in her childhood was the time she spent with Montmorency, the two of them as close as siblings. So naturally she’s in love with him, but it’s more understandable since he was the only one who ever showed her any kindness. She wants to marry him, heck she straight up says she wants to have his babies but Montmorency has devoted his life to Jeanne. She’s understandably saddened but agrees to help him out by lying to Jean the Redbeard by saying Montmorency took her virginity–thus fulfilling a part of the agreement and allowing him the troops he needs.

That’s all she wants in exchange for her help, too pure!

That’s a lot of words. What do you mean?

I mean you’re not usually this detailed with your episode synopsis’. Well while a lot happens, not a lot happens–if you know what I mean. I didn’t really have much to say, beyond recounting the main details. If I hadn’t said all that this review would have been: it’s a very good episode with some real emotional moments that had me misty eyed, but it’s more of a connecting episode between larger events to come.

Jean the Redbeard. Grade A douche but impressive facial hair.

Yeah I guess that wouldn’t make for the most compelling review– Oh and La Hire, the busty gunslinger has some fun one-liners as she’s popping caps in some English fools. I don’t know that I’ve talked about her much but she’s a character who deserves way more screen time than she gets but oh well, such are the ways with some of these ensemble shows.

“No mercy to men” was one of my favourite lines of hers.

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

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The Heartlessness of War – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 6 Review

The Heartlessness of War – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 6

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 6.

So how’s this episode? It’s… very dramatic and brutal, let’s just say that.

No, let’s not just say ~just~ that, you’ve got a review to write, you know? Spoilers obviously but Jeanne freakin’ dies at the end of the episode. The 12-year-old title character gets her heart ripped out of her chest by a “Ulysses hunter” with a spear that’s made out of the same spearhead that punctured Jesus’ side while he was on the cross. Her impaled heart then explodes while a crowd of English soldiers (a.k.a the bad guys) rush in to try and tear the philosopher’s stone out of her body. She’s whisked away by an ally on horseback before they can, but I tell you what… that’s one ~metal~ way to end an episode!

“Metal”? Huh… I guess that’s one word for it. So you kind of skipped right to the end there as you tend to do in your rush to get the most ~exciting~ part of the episode on paper. What about the rest of the episode? It’s fairly standard stuff for this show, a lot of talking about doing things, then doing things, a lot of rushed scenes as they try and cram as many light novels as they can into the series. But unlike, say, ‘The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar’ from last season the pacing is at least more even here. Also, Philippe, one of their herself into “Black Ulysses” which basically means she’s no longer an androgynous-looking girl and instead has a rocking pair of boobs and a skimpy outfit to match. Also she dies alongside Jeanne at the end of the episode, her heart skewered alongside the little loli’s.

Philippe, there’s something different about you but I can’t quite put my finger on it… maybe I should try a whole hand instead!

For such a gruesome and dramatic ‘end’ you don’t seem all that broken up about it… #justsaying… This is episode six and Jeanne’s one of the title characters, unless this is one of the ballsiest anime out there, there’s no way they killed her off–Jeanne I mean, Philippe might actually be dead, which would be sad. But yeah, I don’t think this death is a permanent one, not to theorise too much but, well… Montmorency is an alchemist after all and (especially in anime) they love dabbling in taboo things like resurrections and what not.

Okay but forgetting what might happen for a second, how was the actual episode and that final scene in particular? As I said at the start of the review, it was “dramatic”, it didn’t feel cheap or unearned and I genuinely felt ~upset~ by the death. I mean who wouldn’t, she’s a 12 year old girl bleeding out and terrified of dying, the scene is effective and once again proves that this show can pull off some serious material when it needs to.

Anything else you wanted to add? There’s an interesting moment when Jeanne and Montorency are in bed together (just sleeping) when Montmorency confides in Astaroth (the fairy Queen) that he’s worried about a sense of attraction forming between Jeanne and himself. Worried because she’s 12 and that’s–well probably not illegal in this time period but something he still feels concerned about. And this is interesting because in the previous episode Astaroth gave him the name ‘Gilles de Rais’ tying his character to a real life historical figure from the same period (much like most of the other characters in this anime are) and if you know anything about the ~alleged~ crimes the real life Gilles de Rais was executed for it makes you wonder just how dark this show might end up going. If you don’t know who Gilles de Rais is–and I admit I only knew who he was from a Cradle of Filth song–it makes for a fascinating, if disturbing read. Other than that we were re-introduced to Batard, a legendary tier ‘trap’ character as well as some awkward looking CGI throughout. Overall, a really great episode!

Batard really is one of the cutest trap character’s I’ve seen!

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

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Purity, Divinity and Power – ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 5 Review

Purity, Divinity and Power – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight’ Episode 5

What’s the show? Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight, Episode 5.

So how’s this episode? I’ve made mention in the past reviews that this show can be tonally uneven, going from dark and violent subject matter, to light-hearted comedic shenanigans within the space of a scene. This is not one of those episodes, this particular episode has serious subject matter and carries it through with the required ~tone~ until the end–and I appreciate the show’s restraint in that regard.

Okay then, sounds serious, what’s it about? So the fairy taxidermiding jackass La Tremoille has sided with the inquisition (a.k.a. The church) and has convinced them that our loli protagonist Jeanne has slept with the devil to acquire her superhuman powers, so the church orders Jeanne to submit to a ‘test of purity’–which basically means the bastards want to rape her to see if she’s a virgin or not. Never throughout the episode is this joked about or spoken lightly of, it’s treated as something horrible that shouldn’t ever happen to anyone.

Wait, it doesn’t actually happen does it? It almost does, the townspeople are rallying outside Princess Charlotte’s castle demanding that Jeanne undertakes “the test”. Montmorency tries to calm the crowd down but fails and so it’s Jeanne who comes to her own rescue, threatening to kill every last one of them but not going through with it because she can’t stand for pointless deaths after her own sister was killed during wartime. And you know what, I appreciate this show for keeping Jeanne’s chastity in-tact, not just for her own sake and not having to endure such a violation but because it would have been so easy to inject unnecessary drama by adding a gratuitous “rape” scene for the hell of it.

I’ll talk about Richemont’s ‘arc’ next episode. It was… confusing.

Easy now. I know where you’re going with that and now’s not the time or place to bring up that other show. I don’t even mean to draw those parallels I’m just saying too often a rape scene is used without justification and just added for the sake of making something edgy and dramatic but the restraint this show had not only by finding a way around it, but also treating the mere notion of the ‘purity test’ as something so abhorrent and criminal.

Fair enough. Anything else you wanted to add about the episode? Aside from the aforementioned, which pretty much takes up the whole episode. The pacing is all over the place here, events move forward very quickly, important plot threads being summed up in mere sentences–it’s very clearly a heavily abridged version of what happens in the light novels–which for some things is fine but other things feel like they lack the dramatic weight that a more faithful adaptation would give. I’m only assuming that’s the case of course, I haven’t read the source light novels so maybe they were just as uneven paced as the show is! Regardless this is still an enjoyable and in the case of this episode, narratively dramatic series that’s showing itself more than capable of standing alongside the more traditionally well-received anime this season.

The episode ended with a weird scene of Philip putting on a Skyrim helmet and going super saiyan, but I’m sure they’ll explain that next episode.

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

Full French Alchemist – Episode 1 Review
Blood Is Thicker Than Salvia – Episode 2 Review
A Potent Concoction – Episode 3 Review
Stoned To Death – Episode 4 Review

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

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

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!

Not sure ~exactly~ what was going on in this scene but at least it looked cool!

Previous Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight Reviews:

Full French Alchemist – Episode 1 Review
Blood Is Thicker Than Salvia – Episode 2 Review
A Potent Concoction – Episode 3 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!