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Rating: 9/10

Impressions:

I’m pretty impressive with this second mini filler arc, as I don’t see how it is any worse than the other manga arcs, apart from the lack of character development. I also think that the producers did a nice job of including Kanda in everything, which the manga fails to do very badly. It’s pretty clear that the purpose of these two filler arcs is to give Kanda more on-air time, even though he is absent for a bit. It would look awkward if Kanda took up 100% of the time, so in the end, the involvement of the different characters were done very nicely. I especially like the second mini arc because Linali replaces Lavi as Allen’s partner! Yay for Linali love!

And speaking of Linali-love, the next episode is titled: Linali’s Love, and she is actually dating someone? Now that’s just impossible…or at least I hope it is. It’s a definite filler, meaning such an event does not happen in the manga. Therefore, I strongly believe the notion of Linali dating someone and getting attached to a guy who is not out hero is pure absurdity, and more likely some sort of cover up for some other conspiracy…However, I have a disturbing feeling that Linali simply admires the guy for his prowess or something… Also, Komui returns with his invention! The next episode is probably partly to give Komui some time on air, as opposed to being a complete Linali tribute.

Anyway, back to this episode. Victorio actually has an interesting back-story, which successfully converted me to pity the guy instead of viewing him as just another simple filler enemy. We get to see that when Victoria is still a normal human, he is far from immortal and has trouble defeating his opponents. He is also extremely restless at heart and constantly afraid of death, while at the same time lusts for the princess Sandra. Also, as opposed to what many people seem to think, I really don’t find his character design or outfit strange or humorous at all. It would just be too plain if he looks like any other warrior from his time.

Preview:

Next episode – #18
Linali’s Love!

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