Ragna Crimson

Episode 12

Ragna Crimson episode 12 deftly sets the table for the consequential battle to come.

This is not the end of the season. If you were thinking this was a bit of an underwhelming note to end on for a big finale, don't fret because the series will return in January. After a short break for a few weeks, we'll get back to our regularly scheduled dragon-slaying. I'll also say that it makes sense for the season to go on a short hiatus here at least in my mind because this is the same point at which one of the manga volumes ended and that was a nice cliffhanger before the big fight coming up.

In terms of what we get in the episode, I think it's all very strong stuff. The early portion has a brief moment with Crimson and Ragna talking with one another and some slime shenanigans. Poor slime, just getting clobbered for the hard reset. Their conversation is good and I'm glad for the scene to have happened but it does feel a bit short for some reason. Perhaps I was just looking for a bit more interaction between our leads before the giant fight, but that's more on me than the scene being poorly done.

The majority of the runtime is spent in the conversation between Starlia and Ragna. This setup is really good on every level. We get more insight into both of their motivations and at the same time they both end up hyping each other to achieve even greater feats to meet the other's expectations. Furthermore, there's a clear romantic undercurrent that isn't totally unrequited nor completely full-frontal. Their interactions are mired in awkward discomfort in the way flirtations between inexperienced puppy-love types tend to be. The scene ends with misunderstanding and frustration and - most importantly - floating magic swords.

The elder dragon bit at the end works for me as well. I don't care much for the dragon drama but here they just cut loose and go full evil to fulfill twisted ideals. Let's be honest about what's going on and show them being who they are. It shows that the dragons are taking the threat seriously, as they should.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Ragna Crimson is currently streaming on HIDIVE.