Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor

Episode 11

We actually got through two full episodes with Rumia remaining un-kidnapped. That's a record for this series!

Snark aside, all is not well, and since Mr. Spectacles is pursuing some goal in a roundabout way, we still can't rule out Rumia eventually being in danger. All indications are that this is Sistine's arc instead though, since she's the one in a bind by the end of the episode, and because of that we may not even see a return to whatever Elanor's up to before the season ends.

But that's okay, because this week's plot is plenty interesting enough. Somewhat surprisingly, the class duel set up at the end of last episode is resolved in a draw before the halfway point, so much to Leos's consternation that he challenges Glenn to a one-on-one duel. Sistine isn't too happy about this, perhaps in part because Glenn isn't acting like her dream image of him, so at Rumia's urging, she confronts Glenn about it rather than letting the issue linger for multiple episodes – a welcome change of pace for this kind of series. Glenn's revelation of the truth probably won't be surprising. Sistine does remind him a lot of Sara, but he also got so upset by Leos trying to shut down Sistine's dream (which he respects, since by implication his own dream has become tarnished) that he reacted without thinking. The conversation they have on the wall is one of the series' best interpersonal scenes, and I was glad to see his reasons come down to more than just “I'm doing it because you're my student” logic, which Sistine doesn't buy when Glenn tries to laugh the whole thing off that way.

As expected, Leos is up to something scummy, though his ambition doesn't seem to be anything as grandiose or overtly illegal as I expected. Wedding Sistine is all part of a family power play for him, so he's not so much a criminal as just a bastard. He's also done his homework, since he knows about Glenn's past, is prepared for his gimmick, and ready to blackmail Sistine into cooperating by threatening to reveal Rumia and Re=L's identities. That leaves things in a grim state of affairs at the end of the episode, a situation promoted very effectively by the ominous musical score.

What all of this has to do with Angel's Dust – which we see come up in another scene – is still yet to be made clear. The cheap angle would be to drop that plot at Leos's doorstep, and I hope they don't because his wickedness of using Sistine as a tool is plenty sufficient to villainize him. Given the way the episode ends, I'm also very curious to see how this story will play out. The most reasonable expectation would be for Glenn to disrupt Sistine's wedding to Leos, but this series has shown at least some capacity to strive higher, so I'm hoping for a more novel angle. Whatever may happen, this has been an unexpectedly enjoyable series so far, and I don't see that changing with the finale.

Rating: B

Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.