Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town

Episode 5

After the conclusion of a riveting, if ultimately irreverent and anticlimactic introductory story arc, LasDan settles in for its next stretch this week. It probably should have been expected, but with a major villain vanquished and our characters specifically settled into the titular starting town, things adopt the extremely breezy format of sitcom stylings. Granted, there is still an ongoing story or two brewing here, complete with some moments of drama establishing where those plot points will be going, but mostly they complement the tonal arc of the kind of show LasDan is being for now. There's nothing wrong with that, as the premise of this whole series is predicated on a knowing riff on worn-out RPG conventions. But without those absurd high-fantasy adventure beats to keep its energy levels up, the various bits LasDan is doing this week feel much more pedestrian and thus less funny.

It's hardly grueling to watch or even pointedly un-funny, it's just that the various jokes in this episode come across as merely chuckle-worthy rather than the uproarious highs the previous episodes reached in some moments. A lot of what we're getting this go-around is physical comedy, which can work in some occasions (it's maybe a bit mean-spirited, but dang if everyone mercilessly volunteering Allan to be abused as a healing-magic practice dummy isn't a funny idea) but fall just as flat for others. Lloyd's superpowers, the foundation of the series' central gimmick, don't even feel like they're as overtly exercised as they were previously, relying on his own underreactions and aside mentions of Wolverine-style healing abilities. I know some folks in the audience take issue with the anime-standard wild takes as comedy, but I honestly thought it worked for this show and its energy. Toning it down just makes the whole thing feel too vanilla and low-key, with even Marie's charms spent almost entirely on basic sitcommery here.

Low-key can work as delivery in some cases, however. This episode strongly subsists on introducing a bunch of new characters and their relations and interactions with our established cast. One of them, a mercenary named Phyllo, finds herself afflicted with the same immediate attraction to Lloyd as befell Selen, except expressing it in the complete opposite demeanor. It makes for a funny contrast and, honestly, a necessary relief from Selen's antics, which better sells the bits that both girls are doing! The other new characters affect more narratively necessary angles, specifically in regards to a magic battle competition between schools, as well as Riho's previously alluded-to backstory.

I'm here for this, because I like Riho, and the revelations between her and rival-school headmistress Rol mine about as much pathos as I would expect from a series that has all the dramatic ambitions of Wizards of Waverly Place at this point. But said revelations don't really do much to propel Riho forward in a way that feels meaningful beyond “She's inspired by Lloyd's incredible empathy”, to say nothing of the way it casually erases the honestly compelling idea of her previous life of crimes. In fact, the most interesting aspects of this plot are the elements that don't do anything for Riho herself, like the seeming one-off gag of a stuck sword from the episode's cold-open coming back around it in several surprising ways, or how it provides a vector for Selen to show she's developed just a little more empathy of her own. I appreciate the idea that Lloyd's rubbing off on people in his own way, even if he doesn't feel like he's contributing yet.

Indeed, amongst all the jokes, I feel there are some ideas that may be worth exploring more deeply. I find myself increasingly compelled by the question of Lloyd's inferiority complex. Yes, it's a funny ha-ha joke about him not knowing his own strength, but beyond that lies a kid whose self-esteem continues to take hits not for lack of trying on the part of him or those who care about him. There's a clear demonstration here of the difference between succeeding at something and feeling validation for doing something. The latter isn't something that can be communicated simply via back-pats by your peers; the ridiculous standards Lloyd was raised in that led him to his characteristic power-level have also left him unable to discern the positive marks he's already having on people's lives by simply being there.

Granted, the show also trots out a potentially darker side of the effects of Lloyd's critical lack of self-awareness with another character introduction for this episode. The structure of Micona Zol's drop-in only enhances the pure sketch-comedy feel of this entry, which does at least sell the joke of the unknown rival when even the audience is asking “Wait, who is this girl?”. But then it leads to the last major story beat of the episode, detailing to us the tale of this girl who's grown infatuated with Marie only to despair at her being seemingly devoted to this impossibly-powerful hero who just moved in with her. It's a neat new detail to introduce – I'll honestly take any additional romantic angle that isn't centered on Lloyd in this show – but it's also kind of a downer as a detour to end the episode on, especially as it seems primed to head further down into itself in the forthcoming episode. Granted, this is LasDan, the show that always seems to eventually aim for an irreverent upswing, but the moods of how it structures some of these story beats can seem uneven at times. With that in mind, this is an episode I can still clock as ‘fine’, but not pitching as extreme as the previous episodes got me used to means that's the most it can do this week.

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Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town is currently streaming on FUNimation Entertainment.