So, with regards to pacing (segue, because, see, my pacing and transition was also messed up), at the very least, the Episode 2 revenge should have been at Episode 4. This leaves us enough time for build up and allows his revenge plan to progress as a thriller, not a sloppy shitty voice over done in what, less than 10 minutes of Episode 2. Imagine if they at least had dedicated a full episode to his escape, how he outwits the guards, navigated the castle, etc, all while the spectre of discovery and punishment hangs over him, ready to punish a mistake. But it’s a voice over. His final escape of the castle is also a voiceover; not one scene is dedicated to the escape. So let’s just go to his initial revenge as this anime was wont to go; and just as a disclaimer, I watched the uncensored version just to not be accused of missing something that might shed new light on how I view this show.
How is it framed? Outside of maybe the music, it is not framed as horrifying or tragic that this kid has been abused to the point where he can see no recourse but to experience the abuse again on the way to getting revenge on her, instead of just stabbing her dead the first chance he gets. The way colors are used to highlight her naked body and the flagrant shot of her ass with careful contouring and angle while she was begging leads me to believe this is meant to titillate; not helping with that impression are the boob shots and cheesy hentai lines being spouted while she is being violated. This is at odds with how we are supposed to feel at this situation, pitying the MC for the mostly uncontrollable circumstances that led to this point of his life. And also questioning the decisions I have made during the day I wrote this draft that led me to analyzing what is supposedly a torture scene, pausing every bit in between the scenes to write my thoughts down. After that, I went 50/50 on the music because it could be that that piece meant to highlight her desperation -not his descent into darkness- and then frame that desperation as titillating.
So, this has the pacing of a hentai, the framing of a hentai, and if they had wanted to, they could have just made this straight up a hentai. If you want a revenge story, I’m not really sure this will hold up. It rushes towards payoffs, not realizing that build ups are equally important. That is the same way it handles its harem: rushing towards payoff. And yes, this is going to be a harem. The context points towards that outcome. Would it leave its audience feeling like the show pulled the old switcharoo trap of baiting them with edge and then pulling a harem and staying a harem away from the edge where they are now trapped in watching a harem show waiting for the edge to show up again? Let’s find out. I for one think he could use some pleasant stroll through the countryside after what happened to him but that was before Episode 2 happened and the also before the second girl joined him. Because this harem he is building is messed up as well and I would love to talk about it but I already spoiled something that happened in Episode 2. I will not do you the disservice of spoiling further. This prelim is just for the people on the fence about this show, to give them an impression of what they can expect.
