Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan

[KLSymph]

(Crosspost from Baka-Tsuki)

KLSymph's review of the Rakudai Kishi anime (episode 12 - finale)

And as we come to final episode of the anime, we've come full circle all the way back to the first problem of the first episode: speeding up the pacing so much that the dramatic portions suffered. The scene of Ikki stumbling toward the match while lost in his suffering is compressed to around one minute's length. One minute! At least the novel wove the conversation with Akaza through the narrative to provide the illusion that Ikki was suffering longer. What the anime shows is just not enough to get that feeling of despair--to the point that Ikki couldn't even think straight anymore--to set in properly, which makes weaker the climactic moment in which he realizes he shouldn't be in despair.

The imagery of Ikki grasping the flame of his relationship with Stella is also poorly used. Ikki's stumbling along all grayed out in despair, and then deep inside of him he finds hope in his promise with Stella, which appears as a burning light before him that he reaches for. When he grabs onto it, the heat radiates through his hand and into him, restoring his color, and then he falls down and Shizuku catches him. That certainly matches the superficial sequence of events. The problem is this representation doesn't properly, explicitly show the core meaning of this scene. It's easy to see Ikki regaining color as a sign that even if he falls, he has already regained enough of himself to get back up and push onwards. That's something we know Ikki can do. But the reason in the novel that Ikki was falling despite having clutched that remembrance is his feelings for Stella aren't enough to carry him on in this case. That's why Shizuku and all the people she brought to cheer him were necessary. If Ikki could just think of Stella and keep going, then this arc's climax would be a complete retread of the first arc against Shizuya. In the novel, Ikki hits the climactic realization that he's not as alone as he thought from seeing all of his friends and supporters, and is ready to go on to the fight against Touka. Then Stella comes with her medal and gives him an extra little boost. The anime stills shows Ikki still stunned and confused even after seeing all of his supporters, and only gets the energy to keep moving after Stella arrives, phrasing it as remembering he had made a promise with her. For the third time, the anime manages to so perfectly slice out the fundamental meaning of a volume's dramatic climax that I suspect the anime staff are wizards in making things pointless and lame.


Can you put the crowd any farther away!?

On the fight with Touka, I've seen here and there on the internet that people were afraid such a one-slash fight would be anticlimactic for the anime. This was never a real worry for me because the climax of the arc was the emotional reversal described above, and the fight afterward with Touka is part of wrapping up the story. As far as plot goes, it isn't supposed to be any more climactic than the fight with Shizuya after Stella gets Ikki back up in volume one. So I watched that part of the anime hoping to see some novel visual representation of the match, and--you'll want to sit down for this--I was really disappointed. What an impressive wind-up, with all the color work and the blood flying, and then... nothing. The moment of impact isn't animated. Everyone stares in silence, and then Touka's Narukami slowly shatters.

Let's try to picture what this sequence of images implies happened: Ikki and Touka swing their swords at each other... and then their edges meet... and then the edges bounce off each other because neither edge actually cut into the other... and then Ikki and Touka stare at each other for a long moment because they're standing face to face and there's nothing else to do... and then Narukami breaks and Touka falls down.

Thanks, Rakudai anime, for that ridiculous image. I didn't put that much importance in the Raikiri match, but you still managed to make it a little more awful, as is your way.

Looking back on the anime, there were some high points, and overall the anime is of an average competence (which is a compliment!), but speaking as one who's invested a great deal into the Rakudai Kishi story, I'm not very happy with how the anime turned out. Don't take it too seriously, though. It's just my opinion, and the purpose of the anime is to entertain, so if you enjoyed the anime then it's a success regardless of what anyone else thinks, myself included. The only thing I can comment on with some authority is the merit of the anime as an adaptation to the light novel I've had a part in translating, and I'm only giving these comments because my perspective as a translator might be worth some thought or discussion. Writing up these thoughts was fun, and that counts.

[KLSymph]

Years and years later, I've finished translating the manga adaptation of Rakudai Kishi, which can be found at Fallen Angels (with the defunct Underdog Scans's first six chapters on MangaDex). The light novel has been officially licensed, with the first volumes coming out in two days, so I've closed the Baka-Tsuki project as well. And thus ends this project that's taken up five years of my life, huzzah.

[Anastasia]

Congratulations! Glad you were able to finish it.