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Eromanga Sensei
Episode 7

by Christopher Farris,

How would you rate episode 7 of
Eromanga Sensei ?
Community score: 3.6

Eromanga Sensei has always been at its best when focusing on the novel-creating portion of its story, rather than harem romance shenanigans. However, those two elements intersect more than usual in this episode, driving each other and the story in surprising ways. However, they also end up exposing weaknesses that may be less the fault of this series and more a failing of the genre itself.

Episode seven actually begins quite strongly, carrying on from where last episode left off by properly introducing rival author Muramasa Senju and leading into the light-novel tournament. Muramasa's characterization in this opening scene is strong; she carries the confidence you would expect of such a well-respected creator, and her vindictiveness towards Masamune, as well as her ability to shut down even Elf's haughtiness, conveys enough antagonism and threat-level to make her a suitable villain of this storyline. Muramasa is an entertaining obstacle, and when Masamune returns home to give Sagiri the news and get to work honing his weaponized fiction, there's a renewed sense of vigor in his rise to the challenge.

This leads directly into the episode's best portion: a light-novel training montage! The concept of a light-novel tournament arc was already ridiculous, so approaching it this way is an entertaining choice. Seeing Elf beat tropey writing advice into Masamune with the style of a hardline sports movie coach is a clever element, and it's a funny sequence to boot. It's here that Eromanga Sensei continues to show how well it knows its genre conventions, using them in interesting new ways to keep the audience engaged.

That scene wraps up quickly, so the centerpiece of this episode can arrive with Muramasa at Masamune's doorstep. She makes a surprising demand for Masamune to drop out of the contest and ‘become hers’, writing novels exclusively for her consumption, prompting a dive into her backstory and motivations. Elf's orbit around this situation lends it some effective levity, particularly with her warning that Masamune not get too absorbed into Muramasa's tragic backstory, lest his sympathy for her affect his desire to defeat her in authorial combat. It's another knowing gag at the expense of convention, but it only serves to underscore how typical the story keeps sliding as the scene goes on.

The interesting part is that Muramasa's motivations are tied up in the complicated relationship between writers and readers. Her driving goal is to create a novel for herself that she can unequivocally appreciate as a reader. Having standards so astronomical that only her own outstanding abilities can sate them is a clever concept, tied well into the confidence we know she has in her skills. Unfortunately, all this establishment is there to build to an uninteresting reveal: Masamune's writing is the greatest that Muramasa's ever read, the sole motivation for her continuing to write.

At this point in the series, the myriad fantasy wish-fulfillment elements of Eromanga Sensei have become so shameless, they're almost criticism-proof. They're clearly there purely for the benefit of the viewers looking for those elements without artifice. There's no deeper story reason why Masamune is a writer of such astronomical quality that a cute megastar author girl would cite him as the sole driving force in her life. There's no unique concept being explored when the previously cocksure talent breaks down and begs him to become hers, and there's no subversive characterization to mine when Sagiri barges down the stairs, insisting that Masamune is ‘hers’ instead. We all know why this is all here; it's as much direct fanservice as the panty shots.

Once the whole ridiculous premise of this scene is accepted, then the one part of fanservice that can be judged is free to be addressed: the execution. In that respect, Muramasa's confession mostly works. Her turn from cold, calculating antagonist to lovestruck fangirl is timed for maximum impact, and the scene is built up and directed effectively. The scene swells with suitable drama to Sagiri appearing in the confrontation, and her march to overcome the fear of leaving her room is appropriately intense. Finally, the performance of Sagiri's voice actress in this scene must be complimented, she does a phenomenal job with all the emotional shouting and range of complicated feelings. Through it all, Masamune remains mostly silent and taken aback, effectively letting the target audience slip into his emotional shoes to appreciate the feelings of adulation being thrown his way. If there's nothing here for the people that aren't watching for the self-insert value, you at least have to admire the masterful execution of it for those who are. The show knows what it's doing.

The episode wraps up after its audience-gratifying climax with the results of the light-novel tournament. Muramasa appears for one more unrequited love scene with Masamune, including a blatant love confession just for good measure, and the announcement of Masamune's victory comes to pass as expected. At least the technicality of how he wins is amusing.

This is an eventful episode, with a lot happening despite the feeling that the pacing drags occasionally. It's almost surprising that Muramasa's introduction to the tournament, the training scene, the long section of her motivations and confrontation, and subsequent love confession all occur within the same episode. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; if anything, it once again shows the skill of the production staff. Eromanga Sensei has slipped well into its comfort zone at this point. This arc never reached the engaging heights of the preceding one, and there were indeed a lot of dark spots, but it ultimately delivered the series' premise at its most expected. Whether it's the fanservice, the characters' actions, or how the romantic entanglements play out, this is pretty much the show I thought it would be when I saw the first episode.

Rating: B-

Eromanga Sensei is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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