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Assassins Pride
Episodes 1-3

by Theron Martin,

How would you rate episode 1 of
Assassins Pride ?
Community score: 3.8

How would you rate episode 2 of
Assassins Pride ?
Community score: 3.9

How would you rate episode 3 of
Assassins Pride ?
Community score: 4.0

Let's dispel one theory about this light novel adaptation which arose during the Preview Guide: this is not an intentional genre parody. Episodes 2 and 3 reinforce both that the series takes itself much too seriously for that and that nothing about the writing shows it being capable of executing a stealth parody. If the series at all gives the impression of being a parody, it is because its attempts to be taken seriously sometimes fall painfully flat.

As I had mentioned in the Preview Guide entry for the series, the setting for the story – with the world being housed in domes within a candelabra, with train tunnels connecting each dome – is an intriguing one. However, the more one thinks about it, the more the impracticality of it stands out. Why build a civilization this way? Is the compartmentalization of the world part of some grand experiment, or perhaps a statement about the subdivision of humanity by social class? Without some more background, this just smacks of “hey, this seems like a cool thing to do” logic, as it does not at all feel like a physical set-up that could develop naturally. The structure where possessing mana distinguishes one as being of noble birth is a more common and realistic one; supernatural and fantasy tales are awash with accounts of nobility possessing powers beyond commoners and/or cases where having innate power makes one a noble. That one noble lacks innate power because she may be illegitimate, rather than just some aberration, is a different and interesting twist on the concept, as is that her life literally depends on that truth (which she isn't even aware of) not being revealed. The perpetual night concept, though not common, is also not unknown. The class system for mana types is suspiciously game-like but there are titles out there every season with far more blatant game mechanics bases.

On the surface the story so far is congenial enough: an assassin is assigned to tutor a girl and kill her off if she does not sufficiently develop mana abilities because of the implications that has about her true bloodline. He's impressed by her resolve and decides to secretly help her, putting both in the situation where their secret has to be maintained or they're both dead (for differing reasons). However, like with the setting, things start to fall apart if the characters and story structure are exposed to any scrutiny. Kufa's motives for helping Melida are thin at best without some support; does he see her resolve as similar to his own. Staking your life on just "I like her resolve" seems indefensibly weak. That he's actually a vampire may be the least surprising reveal of the season, given his last name, but why is a vampire mixed up in all of this, when it seems like he should be more aligned with the lancanthropes? The villain in episode 3 seems intent on doing experiments with mana, but what does he gain from that? Too many motives are too thin here, without applying meta logic to this scenario - in which case things work out just fine. Kufa gets a loli to fawn over, a young girl gets an imposing first love, and hey, we're on the road to romance! (At this point it's actually only clear that Melida is crushing on Kufa, especially based on things that happen in episode 3. He doesn't seem to see her that way yet, but hey, give it time.)

The story will ultimately need to be more compelling because this one isn't shining on the action front. While action scenes are active enough, the animation effort struggles to keep up with how the series stages its battles. Kufa also looks less than thrilling when he manifests his vampire form; despite the musical score's desperate efforts to give that whole scene some sense of gravitas instead more contributes to it being laughable. The uniform designs for the Melida and her classmates are also odd choices; if they're supposed to give the impression of the girls' breasts being monstrous eyes then they have succeeded, though it leaves me wondering what kind of statement is intended there.

On the whole, the first three episodes of this series are not a disaster, but I am also not terribly optimistic about the series' chances to get better.

Rating:

Assassins Pride is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and HIDIVE.


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