Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul

Episode 19

You know that a show's in a weird place when the main character gets dumped and you're happy about it. That's right, Charioce has finally realized that his dalliance with Nina will probably interfere with his plans—whatever those are. So he's broken things off on prom night the night of the ball, practically crying as he looks at Nina's devastated face. Now it's obvious that this situation isn't going to last, but I'm glad to see one of them grow a brain long enough to keep the plot moving.

So coming off last week, Alessand has been recruited into a plot to sneak into the royal dance party and steal the king's magic bracelet. This turns out to be pretty easy; he and Nina basically just show up. The funny thing about these two is that they've interacted for three minutes and already have way more chemistry than Nina/Charioce. Not that the show seems to be pairing them up at all; they've just accidentally developed more of a rapport than the show's main couple, which is funny. I'm still not sure how super-serious Charioce and goofball Nina would even interact over an extended period of time when she isn't paralyzed by anxiety. Charioce has two personalities (Prince Charming and King Murder), but neither side seems like a real person.

I'd prefer it if these reviews didn't just turn into me lambasting Nina/Charioce over and over, but this particular episode doesn't give me much else to go on. It's mostly teasing and climactic reversals for a relationship that's been narratively dead in the water by me for like six episodes now. I'm not even that annoyed by the pairing, despite how much I complain about it. It's just that I need to talk about something, and it's been the sole main focus of this story for a while now. Fortunately, Favaro comes to the rescue by crashing Nina's breakup and sucker punching the Genocide King, which is awesome. He also would have killed Charioce then and there if not for Nina's intervention. Good job, Nina. The guy just dumped you because emotions were getting in the way of his murder quest. I'll die of old age if I sit around waiting for Nina to grow standards. You just can't count on a YA protagonist to have good taste in men.

Otherwise, the assault on the palace has begun in earnest. Bacchus even has his hammer out, so you know that things are about to get serious. Meanwhile, Jeanne and Azazel have finally run into each other, with Mugaro in between them. Have fun being co-parents, guys! My favorite “stupid thing that only happens to move the plot along” in this episode is how easy it was to infiltrate the palace – not only do Nina and Favaro manage to get Charioce alone, nobody seems to notice Bacchus and friends chilling around at low altitudes. Also, Nina leaves behind a single shoe. Subtle.

Since this episode was mostly about the main romance—aka the worst part of the show—I'll give it a slight penalty grade-wise. Otherwise, it was fine. The main cast is now officially back together, so they can get up to some real action next week.

Rating: B-

Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.