There's more focus on Eris and what she's up to in Millishion during the events of Episode 16 in her own adventure, and the show does a good job in showing how much she has grown in her journey with Rudeus and Ruijerd from not only a combat standpoint but a maturity standpoint too. Sure she has her bursts that make her feel like the old Eris but she also gives a lot of thought into whatever decision she has to make, and tries to do good deeds on her own too to continue with helping out the Superds in the process while just enjoying her own adventure in the process. She's attached to Rudeus but she also wants time to herself to see how far she has progressed and this OVA showed that off well.
Even had a great character introduction in Cliff, and the episode sets up well for future seasons to deliver upon whether it is with Cliff as a character or the politics teased in the episode with what's happening underneath the heavenly looking country.
Action was stellar as usual, the staff just knows how to make action feel quick yet impactful and brutal without wasting any time on meandering dialogue. Again, shows how much Eris has grown as a fighter too given her amount of training with strong people like Ghislaine and Ruijerd over many years.
This was a super fun episode that actually has some plot relevance for a special episode and not just being a fanservice, waste of time kind of episode. Delivers a lot for Eris' character, and some really good build for future seasons to come, especially with Cliff's character. I loved the opening montage that visualized his life in the past with unique direction choices too for this series rather than having a massive exposition dump of Cliff's life beforehand. Lots to love here, the staff and director definitely put a lot of effort into bringing the most out of this one chapter from both an animation and storytelling perspective.
This kind of episode fits being separated from the main anime due to feeling too different from what Rudeus was doing at the time which the anime was focusing on, but was still great on its own. For some people like me, even refreshing given how the series can explore its quality side characters even more in a free way with this kind of episode. I'm just excited for season 2 to come now, this series really does showcase tons of potential to being an all-time classic and this episode is just a part of that journey while still more than delivering enough to be a damn great episode.
