Rage of Bahamut Genesis

Episode 12

Man, what a finale for Rage of Bahamut Genesis. So much happens this episode, you almost forget where we started: thinking Beelzebub and his demon army were the main antagonists, and Favaro still presumably in demon-form or dead from Kaisar's wounds. By this episode's halfway point, all of that is completely turned around. In fact, the former is reversed within the first few minutes: Bahamut is revived, and turns his fire-breath on Beelzebub. As the demon king disintegrates and mutters "Why?", it's revealed that Captain Lavalley, the "friend of Amira's mother," is the real villain and the one controlling Bahamut. He's been pulling the strings the whole time. The episode only gets more ridiculous and epic from there. Just about every main character gets drawn into the conflict to stop Bahamut, close the gate and, if possible, rescue Amira. It's a reminder of how superfluous a lot of Bahamut's cast feels at this point (like Azazel and Jeanne), but it's a good swan song for the show. The wild, plot-point-by-plot-point ride of this episode almost a microcosm of the series' entire story.

Rage of Bahamut Genesis is a powerful testament to the ability of plot alone to drive a fantasy story. (Well, plot and sterling production values.) The characters were mostly archetypes—still fleshed out enough to be engaging, but their character development bits were only molded to fit the story's twists and turns. More importantly, it really contrasts the increasingly popular idea that world-building is the key ingredient for compelling fantasy-adventure. Bahamut only reveals as much about its world as it needs for its story and characters to make sense. It could spend more time fleshing out its world—and probably will if the series gets another cour—but it didn't, choosing to spend that time on spectacle and simple storytelling instead. Bahamut has a lot of potential for non-otaku appeal, and not wasting its time on irrelevant fantasy minutia helped.

Still, some of that plot feels stillborn in this episode. Captain Lavalley's reveal as the REAL VILLAIN feels pulled out of nowhere and like a missed opportunity. "Warring angels and demons who are actually just two morally-ambiguous sides of the same coin" has been done to death, but that's because it works. It's built off the complicated ways that real-world groups clash against each other. We only got shades of that though, when the two groups started working together to bind Bahamut at the end. Meanwhile, was Captain Lavalley ever given a real motive for messing everything up, other than "it'll be fun to watch the world come crashing down"? If you're going to give us a shallow Big Bad like that, at least give him more time to ham it up and chew the scenery. That's the reason people like these sorts of characters. It's really the only plot point that sticks out so sorely, but it's such a big one that it's hard not to nitpick it.

Overall, the frantic momentum of this episode's reveals was immensely satisfying. I didn't see the way Favaro was cured coming, but it was built to and established well. (I knew there was no way that antidote wouldn't come back in some form.) This episode managed to weave a large breadth of different tones together well. Rita and Bacchus's wisecracking never felt out of place next to Favaro and Kaisar slowly coming undone in battle. Favaro stabbing Bahamut, but still getting to see (and kiss!) Amira one last time was an excellent end to their adventure together, and wrapped up his character arc well. He had to accept the harsh truths he'd escaped all his life, but not in a way that was needlessly cruel. The visuals and music made all this even better. There was a stunning variety of color schemes to fit the episode's many moods; I particularly liked the grainy rain during Kaisar's battle against Lavalley. The score was in overdrive for this episode, bringing out all its best selections and recycling characters' familiar leitmotifs as they popped up, for maximum dramatic effectiveness.

This episode barely feels like the ending to a one-cour show, because Studio MAPPA managed to pack so much into these 12 episodes that they felt like twice the length. At times I thought it rushed, but in retrospect, it's more that they made every moment count in a way we aren't used to seeing in anime. For all their episodic adventures early on, there wasn't much meandering in Rage of Bahamut Genesis. Everything was a means to an end. That can be really claustrophobic in other series, but when the plot carries the whole thing this well, it works. Rage of Bahamut Genesis wasn't doing anything new, but it presented its story in such a way that it feels very fresh. Here's to hoping that "I'll be back!" ending card means another season down the line, and we get to see more of Favaro and Kaisar riding off into the sunset and into our hearts. I have confidence that no matter where the characters' adventures take them, MAPPA will more than deliver.

Rating: A

Rage of Bahamut Genesis is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a graduate student in musicology, who has written about anime and many other topics for Autostraddle.com and her own blog. She tweets at @composerose.