Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra

Episode 8

While I still wouldn't allow myself to get too hasty and call this a great episode, this was still, without a doubt, the strongest episode of Mynoghra we've had yet. I've been saying since the beginning that I think a lot of the potential strength to be had with this series could be found in the politics of establishing a new civilization, and this episode proved me right, albeit not entirely for the reasons I expected.

There was an element of that in this episode with the girls, accompanied by the medics, going to Dragontan to scope the place out. And there's definitely a sense that if Mynoghra were to fortify itself just a little more, it would probably be a relatively easy conquest for them—earning them not just the town itself, but more importantly, the mine and the much-needed mana that comes with it. So it's both strategic and, from their perspective, practical as well. I have little doubt that by the end of the series—if not in the next episode—we're going to see Mynoghra start making some moves to absorb Dragontan, whether by force or deal-cutting.

The series speedran Dragontan learning about the existence of Mynoghra, which is a shame because we haven't seen that aspect—the rest of the world, even those who haven't been there—yet, even though we're approaching that point where they're not exactly a hidden civilization in the forest any longer. It could've been something really cool to watch unfold. But instead, we saw the mayor melting down about the dark elves visiting Dragontan, and then being relieved that, as far as she knows, they're glorified tourists, and that's still something, I guess.

But of course, the main attraction of this episode is, obviously, the medics, Ichiro, Jiro, and Saburo. Beyond just being hilarious, they've finally given me in this episode something that I think this series has been in desperate need of, and that's blood! Guts! The forced removal of human flesh from bone! For a series that's trying so hard to be dark and brutal, it's really been severely lacking in this department until now—and we've had opportunities for it to have plenty of gore, too. So while it's overdue, hey, better late than never.

I only wish the visuals in this anime were better, because it could've sold the carnage much better if the series didn't feel so… blobby, if that makes sense. Visuals have never been this series's strong suit, but every week, I find myself wondering if they're getting just ever so slightly worse each week. It hasn't reached an overtly awful level yet, but it wouldn't exactly be a plot twist if it did. The high volume of extreme close-ups on people's faces can't mask it forever—because we've reached a point where even those are starting to look a bit questionable, too (as you can see demonstrated in the thumbnail image I used this week).

At this point, the series is more done than not, and we've only recently turned a corner where it has even some momentum behind it. On one hand, I hope to see it continue to build on that, and I'd love to see it get better and better every week, even if there aren't many weeks left. On the other hand, I can't help but worry if that ever-approaching ending is going to do anything to trip things up, or whether or not it's going to be able to conclude satisfyingly—even if it doesn't necessarily tie up every loose end (which it inevitably won't).

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Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.