Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: In the Land of Leadale
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5876 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Finished marathoning all the episodes to 11. Caught up on the light novels.
They really cut out a lot of the horrific stuff from the light novel. So much so that some anime only viewers might be forgiven for having a more charitable view of the player bandit leader. You don't really see all the death and destruction caused by him. The player bandit leader truly deserves to suffer. Luka living by herself in a dead and ruined village all alone, should never have been an option. I understand it is a feudal society, with no safety nets, but the adults should step up, which they did. Without Cayna, those two adventurers would probably have dropped her off at an orphanage, if they exist. If an orphanage, she would probably be abused in a variety of ways. Despite being a noob at child raising, she has the means and resources to raise Luka. What more could you ask for in this time period. The anime itself is an enjoyable romp, which I had fun watching. I especially loved the ED, it was so cute. Here's hoping for a second season. |
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Cryten
 Posts: 1026 |
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The show kinda stopped being fun for me in its last 3 episodes. As the show stopped being about crazy encounters and adventuring and slowed down to your everyday slice of life without the needed charismatic supporting cast to pull it off. Still I adore her original 3 children and the show was overall quite enjoyable. So I would give it a B+ experience or 6.5 out of 10 where 5/10 is your inoffensive non stand outs.
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Florete
Posts: 364 |
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Out of all the anime that aired this season, this was...one of them.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18252 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I don't think it's that at all. The point you may be missing is that exploring to find the other Skill Master towers and adventuring in general were both "because I have nothing better to do" decisions for Cayna. Becoming a hands-on mother to the orphaned girl gave her an opportunity to do something that she hadn't done before (and, as Cayna's final reflections remind us, wouldn't have been able to do) back in her original life, so she shifted course. The mermaid's explanation of her situation then becomes a sort of parallel to Cayna's own; they're both in the same boat, in a sense. The mermaid didn't feel any need to find her way home anymore since she's happy where she is, and Cayna is of a similar mindset. That makes the very final scene, where Cayna espouses on the joy of experiencing the world as she and the girls are flying around, all the more meaningful, as it addresses the whole point of the series. Now, I will say that noticing all of this required some significant reflection, as the writing isn't strong enough here for any of this to be obvious. The construction of the story absolutely has some glaring holes and weak support, and the review is pretty thorough on shining the light on those problems. I found it just funny and entertaining enough to be appreciable (it was never near the cut line or a low-priority view for me on any given week), but ultimately the only thing which distinguishes it is being one of the rare isekai power fantasies to feature a female protagonist. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3713 |
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Yeah, this series missed the mark for me unfortunately. Hopefully it was just a poor adaptation, but I'm not really inclined to seek out the source material.
I had wondered what Cayna planned to do with her newly adopted daughter (that she basically picked up like someone would an abandoned animal), since she was so active and not very family friendly to her existing... family. I thought it would end up being that it was better for her to leave the child with someone else, so it was nice to see this change to settling down for her. I also thought the throughline of trying to call her "mom" was sweet, but I don't think we had enough time with her for it to be a good payoff. To go back a few episodes... I the giant penguin event boss was neat, but why would this prestigious magic school just toss failed experiments into a small hole in the ground and why was this hole right on school grounds? And not even far from the building! I thought we'd get some more info on what had happened to get people in this world when Cayna and the other players were talking, but she just asks about the server status and then that's basically it. How is at least asking them how they ended up in the game not a normal follow up? |
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DRosencraft
Posts: 666 |
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I forgot there was a weekly review going for this series. Bad on me.
Overall I think I agree with Key and Covnam; this series seemed to have the potential to be more than it was, but never got there. I don't know if that's a fault of the source material or not, which is made worse for the series as I don't even have the requisite interest to try to follow the source material. The "I get to be a mom" refrain rings hollow to me, given that she has three kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, the kids apparently being ones she chose to adopt when it was still just a game, but seems to have zero interest in having any real familial connection with. Even if it's just to mentor the great grandkids, she treats them as nothing more than acquaintances. It's not to say the orphan girl doesn't deserve to get her own happy ending, but that is a story more suited to be told from her perspective. As told from Cayna's perspective it just doesn't seem to work. Every time they'd show her trying to be sweet or caring to the little girl, all I can think is, "watch out, because when you get older she's going to blast you with magic and laugh it off anytime you do something even mildly annoying to her." I am more forgiving of the gapping hole regarding how she and others have been stuck in this game world. She seems to know that she died, and her life before seemed to be primarily laying in a hospital bed and playing this game. In that respect, she not only knows there's no world to go back to, but there isn't even one she'd seemingly want to return to if she could. Judging by the zero mentions of IRL friends or family, she didn't seem to have fond memories of her life. In that regard, it makes sense that she wouldn't really care about anything to do with how she ended up in Leadale or leaving. It's bad from an overall story perspective, and can't explain why none of the other players seemed disinterested in the subject, but for her alone it makes some sense. Overall, it came off as a very forgettable series. If there was much more going on Wednesday nights and I missed an episode, it's one of those series I very well may never have caught up on for months or years. Good enough to not outright drop, bad enough not to care about missing it, let alone any possibility of a new season. |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5876 Location: Virginia, United States |
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I got interested in this show from the early previews, so I read through all the english light novels. So yes, I like the series. After all that reading, I marathoned the anime series and found it enjoyable, especially seeing how they did some of the special effects.
The series does have a plot, reviving all those towers, which will perhaps take three season's to complete. But there is another overarching plot point, that has been reflected throughout the anime series I doubt Leadale could have given the anime series a proper "end of season" finale, as it just isn't there in the light novels. I haven't seen the final two episodes, but it seems they did the best they could. If I had any complaints for the anime series, it would be that the editing and cutting department didn't do a better job in managing what they left in, after the cutting for time. Biggest offender is depiction of the player bandit leader. The show excised all the death and destruction his group caused. Nor did it show the response to that villainy. Perhaps not only was it done for time, but perhaps also to perserve a certain wholesomeness for the show. That said, it might present a false depiction of the bandit leader, causing some anime only viewers to be more forgiving to him, but also wonder why Cayna was so into executing him on the spot. This show was a surprise for me, because I have avoided the light novels for some time now, the marketing I think gave me a different impression of the novels. So thanks to the ANN previewers for getting me into the show and the light novels. |
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Cryten
Posts: 1026 |
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This marks the 3rd time you have emphasised the grittyness of the bandit leader stuff (including one time insisting it was in the anime when it wasnt). You must really like that moment Tars.
Personally I am glad it wasnt included as it sounds discordant with the shows generally light hearted approach. Though the show being overly grim in an otherwise whimsical experience does explain the Issues the reviewer was having with the shows early mid contents implications vs what her attitude was like. |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5876 Location: Virginia, United States |
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You are probably right, about the show being a bit whimsical (like that word better than my wholesomeness). It did a disservice to the perception of Cayna's actions. Just the problem of cutting content, you gotta fix all those cut ends properly. But if you truly want the discordant, watch ye ole "Happy Tree Friends". Don't watch if you fear to tread the darkness. The theme song will never ever truly leave me. |
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poltroon
Posts: 105 |
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I guess my summary is "mostly harmless."
It seemed pretty disjointed. Her kids all love her but she's rather abusive to them with very little provocation. Okay, she's a little confused. But it's played for comedy, and it isn't actually funny. That she's super overpowered, that's funny and there are some fun moments around that. There are other players stuck here too and what's that all about? I love her summoned monster guarding the prince in the arena, that was fun. Luka. This is where the series just totally lost me. THIS LITTLE GIRL HAS HAD HER WHOLE VILLAGE DESTROYED AND EVERYONE SHE KNOWS IS DEAD... and there's not any sadness or trauma? She doesn't even have any stuff? Just "Oh yay I have a cool new mom now everything is awesome." That's not how this works. It wasn't funny or heartwarming, just kind of thoughtless and inexplicable. And the thing about the alcohol and parties is also just not funny. She should be able to go to a party and not have any alcohol if that's what she wants. She'd probably actually enjoy the parties then. It's gross to see this series model that even an overpowered person like Cayna can't resist this social pressure. Finally, I cannot even understand why someone would take two little girls flying in a giant chess piece when you can summon a super cool dragon instead. 
I liked the earlier episodes and I wanted to like it. |
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Florete
Posts: 364 |
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Gotta disagree with this one. To her, her "family" in Leadale basically are just acquaintances; while her kids have the perception of being raised by her, she doesn't have the perception of actually having raised them. In her mind they're actually all older than her, so it doesn't surprise me that she doesn't feel a strong connection to them. Luka, though, is an actual child here and now with Cayna, so Cayna has a chance with Luka to actually be a mother in her own mind. I think things would be different with Luka than with her other kids. This doesn't justify how she occasionally treats her other kids at all, but it is, in its own way, logically consistent. Last edited by Florete on Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ThrowMeOut
Posts: 260 |
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Husband and I loved this show. We'd put it on just before bedtime and it'd put us into a coma. It's the perfect insomnia fighter.
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9878 Location: Virginia |
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The anime skims right past this, I think in the episode where Cayna visits her tower, but she did not "adopt" the three foster children in the sense most people are taking. They were NPCs that she created. They were likely created as adults and looked just as they do now bar Kartez's gray hair. Her relationship to them was not mother/child but boss/minion. Their memories of being raised by her, along with their personalities, are artifacts of the change from game to real world. Concerning her grandchildren and great grandchild, even in real life being suddenly introduced to a relative you never met before does not automatically create a strong family relationship.
Also the game world was one of constant quests against strong bosses interspersed with constant wars between the seven countries that previously existed. As such, the trio of "children" would have seen a lot of Cayna's violent powers. This would explain why they think she is more dangerous than she is in this world. |
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TarsTarkas
Posts: 5876 Location: Virginia, United States |
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I didn't think of this, but I agree. You can't have a strong family relationship with someone who is a stranger to you. The kids you actually raise, whether by birth, by adoption, or by marriage, are the ones that you'll have that bond. That's why those stories of kids kidnapped at young ages and later found as teenagers or adults are so sad in some cases, especially the child replacement ones. As to Cayna's foster system children, I'll have to reread that part in the light novels. Don't remember if it mentioned an age at which the kids were formed as part of the game. But I am sure the game system gave the kids a background history and memories. It even gave them a false memory for why she disappeared. Luckily, Cayna is a long lived high elf, wonder what would have happened if she was a human character. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9878 Location: Virginia |
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@TarsTarkas
The novel doesn't mention at what age she created the foster children. How ever, it is unlikely that the game system would change the appearance of an NPC after creation. If she had created them as children in appearance, they would have still looked like that when she was thrown forward two hundred years. She wouldn't have recognized Kartez that easily. If Cayna was human in the game, she would have had to spend a lot of time explaining to her foster children why she hadn't aged since she last saw them. |
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