The Kingdoms of Ruin

Episodes 7-8

First, sorry for the late reviews! I am recovering from ANYC -- which was great, but caught a cold. This is a change of pace for The Kingdoms of Ruin. The last two episodes have, thankfully, pulled back on the brutality. Adonis and Doroka find themselves in a desert out of the grasp of the human military, but then some Mad Maxesque, post-apocalyptic bandits discover them! Fortunately, the ruffians are super kind, take care of Adonis, and give Doroka some motorcycle lessons. It's been nice to get a couple of laughs in, but Adonis is still blinded by revenge. I was impressed with his trying to leave Doroka behind with the biker village because he didn't want her to endure any more pain or the hardship of his journey. I was surprised he was able to show some compassion and caring -- he just seems so dead set on decimating humanity.

He shows compassion again when they stumble across the imprisoned couple in Sand Land! The old man singing the song and seeing the dead skeletal wife was super sad, but I don't feel any connection to these characters (a recurring problem with this anime). Doroka wants to at least free them, but Adonis says to leave them. Seems cruel but the cell door isn't locked. This couple was jailed, persecuted, and abused since Sasha was a witch -- leaving them be is at least somewhat peaceful compared to the hell they probably suffered for so long. Touche. Touche. Maybe there's some heart in this anime yet. This show certainly hasn't passed the three-episode rule. I think many would be long gone by now, but these last two episodes have been more enjoyable.

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The Kingdoms of Ruin is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.