Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 2

Episode 7

I joked about myu's single-shot tearful goodbye to Hajime as he left for the labyrinth a couple episodes ago, but it turns out our favorite edgelord isn't really that heartless. With that adventure and his bout of character-bonding with Kaori complete, Hajime and his crew are back hanging out in the mer-people village, held up not so much by uncertainty about what to do next, but by the guy wanting to avoid an awkward goodbye with his incidental foster daughter. Deadly dungeons and malicious monsters are easy enough to handle, but who among us wouldn't have a primal fear of breaking the heart of a small child? And so most of this episode lists on, Hajime pondering the best way to break the news to myu.

Given that Arifureta is an anime that can struggle to come off as exciting even as it's depicting epic RPG quests and battles with horrific CGI monsters, it would be easy to expect a time-slot devoted almost entirely to interpersonal introspection might make for even less thrilling television. But it actually ends up working better than I might have predicted thanks to how genuinely it presents Hajime's struggles with this choice as a sign of his character development this story is still based on. Becoming strong enough to self-actualize, to the point that he even shrugged off most desire to vengefully show up his former classmates, was a key stepping-stone in Hajime's maturation. But in spite of the ridiculous party of cartoonish haremettes he's inadvertently assembled, there was the possibility that this kid had mostly dismissed the possibility of personal attachment altogether. Sure, he's still absolutely invested in his wife Yue, but as his conversations with Kaori the past couple episodes showed, he has perhaps too much of a tendency to put others at arm's length under the auspices of them being able to depart for their own good, with little consideration for how losing that connection might actually make him feel.

As a character who never once entered into a question of 'party utility' the way Shea or Kaori did, myu has ended up symbolizing a purely sympathetic personal connection for Hajime, and we cleanly see that as the source of his emotional strain through this segment. myu obviously can't tag along for the next leg of their god-slaying journey, but Hajime still doesn't want to disappoint her because, well, he's grown to care for the adorable little mer-moppet. It prompts recollection of one of the only other school-related people Hajime seemed to have any tolerance for, Ai-Chan-Sensei, and her relief at the idea that post-trauma Hajime still had the capacity for personal attachment to people. Turns out fatherhood really does change a man.

The culmination of this is the expectedly somber scene wherein Hajime does come clean with myu about needing to leave, compromising by promising to return once the quest is over to take her (and Remia) back to Japan with him once all is said and done. It's a bold reminder of the point that Arifureta still stands apart from the pack of modern isekai in that Hajime actually wants to return home with all his character development at some point, but it also intersects with a point brought up a little earlier in the episode, that myu is actually more mature and understanding than Hajime might give her credit for. It's perhaps the final lesson he needs to learn through this leg of his arc, on how eye-opening a more communicative exchange can be. Even his party-mates are taken aback by his investment in myu, indicating how far Hajime has come even by their understanding.

The sincerity of this stretch is honestly well and good, but still a bit undercut by Arifureta still being Arifureta. It only leads to some partially-askance looking at Hajime's deep interiority when the rest of the episode is padding out its run-time by having myu ask awkward questions about Hajime's morning wood, or providing the audience the opportunity to self-insert into a scene where all the ladies remove their bikini tops and pile them onto our hero's head. But if part of the functional fantasy Arifureta still exists as now also includes developing some distinct emotional intelligence, I suppose I can let the kids playing along at home have that. It makes for a nicely-paced coda to this arc, anyway, and means myu's inclusion actually felt like a story that arrived at an ending with a purpose. I appreciate that.

However, that means we end up still having like nine minutes left in the episode after Hajime's collected his proverbial "World's Best Dad" mug, meaning it's time for some more long-form focus on the "Classmates and everyone else" side of the story. Poor Sensei's been fully reduced to damsel-in-distress mode at this point (at least kind of understandable in terms of story mechanics, as she's pretty much the only one there I could see Hajime actually wanting to come save), meaning we instead focus on Knight Commander Meld for this bit. Remember him? Don't worry if you don't, as he's summarily taken out by the covert villains in the King's faction by the end of this. It renders a bunch of exposition dropped here about the Demon army making their move or lethargy-inducing magic called 'Void' as mere infodumping alongside one or two moments of telegraphed drama. Part of me can appreciate them dialing up the tension and complexities of the side of the story that was previously pointedly glossed over, but another part thinks all this might be a too-little-too-late situation in it suddenly expecting me to remember and be invested in the maneuverings of a handful of characters previously defined by how few shits Hajime gave about them. Collectively, it all makes for a pretty different episode, by Arifureta standards. But even as I appreciate some of its more emotional branching out, it's still characterized by so much of that odd unevenness that's trademark to the series.

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Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 2 is currently streaming on Funimation.

Chris is a freelance writer who appreciates anime, action figures, and additional ancillary artistry. He can be found staying up way too late posting screencaps on his Twitter.