[DreamSword]

Episode 13: God's Will

This episode reminded me alot of Golden Sun at first.

But then I got to the end with the reveal that the King of El Dorado has an ring that corrupts people and it turned out that the whole show is actually The Lord of the Rings in disguise.

The setup is that Gina takes Sword and Sophie to Ferre Sal? Dessimo, an ancient village where Makai Alchemists gather and live.

And it's at this village that they not only seek further intel on El Dorado, but where I now wonder if Vanishing Line was dubbed by a different group from The Animation and Crimson Moon. In the first two anime the term was pronounced "maa-doe" whereas here they pronounce it "muh-dow."

That aside, the atmosphere is overall really great with this episode. From all of the mystical going-ons with the Land of Guidance, to the montage with the villagers, and then of course that exposition dump at the end, it's all pulled off fairly well especially with the hook about how Sophie is going to be just as major of a player in all of this as Sword and Gina are.

Speaking of Gina, the action climax totally belongs to her in this one, and I think that, had it not been for just how utterly bombastic the Sword vs Knight battle was, this would absolutely be the best action sequence in the show so far. The choreography was on point and really showed just how cool archery and magic can really be when done well(take notes, PirateTrain). Her declaration of dedication to her life as a Makai Alchemist was just the cherry on top.

This episode is also where we get out second opening and ending of the show, and as much as I love JAM Project, I think I actually like these slightly more than the first set, both in terms of music and visuals. It's not by much, but it they're a little more akin to my tastes while also still having that stylistic flair that I've grown to love from the OPs and EDs of the various GARO anime.

This was just a really nice episode all around. But we're not exactly off to El Dorado itself just yet, seeing as the Ancient Makai Spirit directed the group to yet another town. Makes me wonder how many more stops until we finally reach the intended destination.