Rage of Bahamut Genesis

Episode 9

Rage of Bahamut Genesis has languished a bit over the past few weeks. Ever since the show's week off, it's been a little lost, unsure of what it wants to be. It might turn in a week full of action with its characters showing off their fighting prowess and its creators their amazing animation skills, and not much else. Other times, it lets the characters explain what's going in its world, satisfying readers' desire for all the plot puzzle pieces to fit with each other while not really delivering the punch of flashy battles that got us watching in the first place. That was the case for the past two weeks, but like a pendulum swinging back and forth, Rage of Bahamut finally managed to meet its fans in the middle. This episode featured neither too little nor too much of either talky exposition or fight scenes, and the show is stronger for that moderation.

In fact, this week managed to pull off something I haven't often seen from Rage of Bahamut period: thematic unity through multiple story arcs. As exciting as it can be, Bahamut is usually light on subtext, more about fun than it is about any kind of depth. However, this week was all about temptation. The king is tempted to believe that Jeanne wants to hurt him, against her nature. Jeanne is tempted to join the dark side, to abandon her noble cause because it seems like it's abandoned her. Favaro, Kaisar and Amira are tempted by the CGI dragon to stay in its paradise realm instead of going out to realize their destiny. And finally, at the very end, Favaro is tempted to do the unthinkable in service of avoiding a horrible destiny.

In Jeanne's arc, we finally see the real reason why she was given her name. The historical Joan of Arc was another young woman who was a powerful military leader and claimed to talk to the divine. She was also betrayed and imprisoned (albeit by the English and their allies, not by her own side), and denounced by her captors as a witch. That's what happens to Jeanne this week, and the demons take advantage of this to lure her to their side. Sure, she would be confirming suspicions that she is a witch, but if they're not going to take her seriously anyway, why not just protect herself? Jeanne, however, holds fast to her path, even as her situation becomes more desperate. She's the only one who never seems to consider turning toward their temptation this week, and I have a feeling this Jeanne will find herself on the same path as our four main heroes, not burning at the stake like her namesake or joining the demons.

If this week was a step up in writing and concept, it was a slight step down in the visual department. There were some cool things, like the magical mushroom forest where Favaro, Kaisar and Amira spend the bulk of the episode. You don't see something that whimsical and intricate in anime not created by Studio Ghibli, and it's more evidence of how much Rage of Bahamut is indebted to Western fantasy epics. Overall, though, MAPPA appeared to have some serious budget problems this week. The animation suffered in a way I've never seen with this show, with frequent off-model character designs, and Kaisar faring the worst of anyone. Not that Rage of Bahamut, like most anime, hasn't gone off-model before, but it's usually in quick moving frames or with background characters in a shot—places where you'd barely notice. This week, I saw a lot of facial oddities in focal point characters the audience is meant to pay attention to throughout the scene. One of the best things about this show is its sterling animation quality and direction, so let's hope this is just a temporary fluke—MAPPA settling back into things after a couple of talky episodes.

The CGI dragon was a bit odd, too. Rage of Bahamut Genesis has done CGI before, but this is the first time they've taken it this far, and certainly the first time it's stood out so much. The dragon looked like he belonged in a completely different show, and this was enhanced by him usually being in his own frame, alternating with shots of Favaro, Kaisar and Amira responding to him. His actions were slow and sluggish, and the whole thing made it hard to take him seriously even when warning Favaro about the bleak future should Bahamut be released again. This big lumbering thing out of a bad kids' feature film from the '90s can't really be issuing such messages of doom!

So while Rage of Bahamut Genesis took an enormous step this week in a weaker area, the dips in its standout feature are equally disappointing. Enjoyment of this episode largely relies on what side of that swinging pendulum you prefer.

Rating: B+

Rage of Bahamut Genesis is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a graduate student in musicology, who has written about anime and many other topics for Autostraddle.com and her own blog. She tweets at @composerose.