Chivalry of a Failed Knight

Episode 7

As much as I enjoy the sweeter, more romantic parts of Chivalry of a Failed Knight, the show really does seem to be at its best when it's dealing with the larger fighting and emotional entanglements caught up in the selection matches. This week's episode was tense both in terms of the characters' interactions and the more physical showdown, and even the irritation of battle narration couldn't take away from the excitement.

Last week we were introduced to Ayase Ayatsuji, a third year student from a family of swordsmen with a pretty big chip on her shoulder. She and Ikki seemed to be striking up a friendship based on his instructing her in swordsmanship, but then it was announced that they had to fight each other in the next round of selection matches for the Seven Star tournament. While neither of them were happy about it, Ayase seemed to snap. We did know that she wanted to make it to the actual tournament in order to take someone on, but the degree to which she wants that wasn't really revealed until this week, and watching her turn from sort-of shy and slightly awkward into vicious and determined is a highlight. It does happen a bit too abruptly, but the lengths to which she is willing to go, and what she convinces herself to risk to get there, is impressive. Not only does it make for a few surprises and some very tense moments, but it also gets us emotionally invested in the outcome and in Ikki's victory in a way we might not have been had she remained a more static character. As it is, I at least found myself growing increasingly angry with her as the depths to which she was willing to fall became clearer, both because, well, cheating is annoying, but also because of the way she devalued her own skills in a fair fight, to say nothing of tainting her motivations. Interestingly, were the story from her perspective, all of her actions might have seemed legit, with Ikki as the obnoxiously overpowered jerk who is getting in her way, rather than Ayase being the the cheating jerk getting in the way of his personal triumph. It isn't always as simple to see that, in a sense, both characters are in the right depending on who is being presented to the viewer as the hero, and this episode deserves commendation for pulling it off.

Also impressive is Yū Kobayashi as Ayase – she shows a remarkable range of emotions over the course of the episode, with her performance in the very beginning, when Ayase is pulling off arguably her cruelest stunt, achieving “chilling” in a few places. Despite Ikki being the protagonist, Ayase really steals the show this week, and while Ikki's actions reconfirm our assessment of him as basically a nice guy who hasn't let the world beat that kindness out of him, she's the one whose actions and motivations carry the show. Stella, Shizuku, and Alice all have small moments – with Alice getting in a crucial line that lets us know that Ayase is deluding herself as well as confirming audience suspicions – they really are bit players this time around. Stella mostly is used for comedy/fanservice with the way overused sleeptalking gag, although at least she's not muttering about food, which has to count for something. It's not great for fans of these characters (and Alice has managed to become my favorite, and not just for the fact that she isn't treated as a joke by the story), but Ayase and Ikki do make up for it.

If this were a different show, I'd assume that we were going to get Stella's fight next, but Chivalry of a Failed Knight has been consistently defying my expectations. I do enjoy the battles, but I won't be disappointed if instead next week's episode delves into more character interactions as Ikki prepares to fight the Sword Eater for both himself and Ayase. I may not have been enthused about this show to begin with, but despite its adherence to some genre tropes, I find that I am always wondering what will happen next week.

Rating: B+

Chivalry of a Failed Knight is currently streaming on Hulu.