Giant Beasts of Ars

Episode 9

This week's Giant Beasts of Ars deals with the fallout of last week's explosive ending. This is an opportunity for character interactions and upping the stakes heading into the finale. In some ways it handles these elements well, though it mostly just drags throughout the runtime.

Romona's backstory is explored in more detail in the first half of the episode. We see Romona serving on the front lines of the Empire's war and watch firsthand how cruel it can be. There is no pretense of glory or camaraderie here: it's just unending violence. The paladin and cleric dynamic at the front also seems to be intended as a parallel to Jiro and Kumi's relationship. The soldier who told her to not bother with healing the cleric on death's door was definitely the emotional gut punch of the episode.

There's also the minor reveal of exactly what was going on at the evil laboratory. It's an interesting concept in theory, playing with the established rules of the paladin/cleric pairing to create clerics that don't need paladins at all. Furthermore, they would be unwitting, perfect killing machines for the Empire. Thematically it's all good stuff.

The problem, I think, is that the transformations just don't feel like something we've explored enough to really be invested in. The prior emotional angle has been Kumi's poor treatment at the facility, and that was effective because we've spent a lot of time with Kumi as a character. This just sort of feels… meh, I suppose. I see what they're going for, but the transformations have been rather perfunctory to begin with, so this twist is not all that shocking.

If nothing else, the ending where the whole party gifts Kumi with a new name that is more than a number is a tender moment.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Giant Beasts of Ars is currently streaming on HIDIVE.