The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Episode 8

”Monstrine” is one of those anime episodes that you can immediately clock as being adapted from a light novel. It's heavy on exposition, which is primarily communicated via lengthy dialogue scenes, and the majority of the episode's plot is devoted to getting all of the characters in a place where they can get started with the actual mission that will presumably take up the next episode or three. In a text-based medium, this kind of material is inevitable and necessary to keep the story going; in more visual modes, though, all of that reliance on dialogue and stodgy table-setting can stand out when the action on-screen isn't doing something extra to pick up the pace.

Suffice it to say, this isn't a bad episode of The Executioner and Her Way of Life; it just isn't terribly exciting. We get a lot of useful information here about the titular drug, Monstrine, and the nefarious plans that Manon has for it, and both pairs of ladies have their missions to accomplish by the end of the story. Momo has found herself teamed up with Ashuna again (big shock there) to investigate the underbelly of the Monstrine trade, while Menou has to don her fanciest dress and play a little game of espionage at Manon's fancy soiree, with Akari in tow to do her usual ditzy routine. Combine all of that with the backstory we get on the origins of “sin” magecraft, and there is a good deal going on in “Monstrine” for us to unpack.

It's just a shame that the show couldn't have tossed a little more spice into the mix before it set about delivering all of this information. The one action beat we get this week comes right at the top, when Menou has to fend off the pair of Fourth assassins who rudely interrupt her and Akari's fruit stand sampling session. It's a decent sequence, and it reveals the way that Manon slipped the Monstrine into the food of all the Fourth Council members last week, but it's far from a showstopper. Other than that, there's the decently effective scene where Manon forces another testy council member to strangle herself with her own mutated monster arms. The rest of the episode, though, is just girls sharing exposition with each other (and Akari doing, erm, whatever it is she does when she isn't True!Akari).

Like I said, none of this information feels useless or anything; it's generally good to know. I also liked that, at the very least, some of the infodumping got to be handled in a cute impromptu “date” between Momo and Ashuna. Sure, Momo probably doesn't think it's a date herself, but c'mon, these two are so obviously being paired together at this point, and Ashuna is clearly relishing every opportunity she gets to tease the little pink weapon of mass destruction. Plus, we also learn that Ashuna has just decided to randomly recruit a group of Newsies-looking hoodlums as her new crew in Libelle? That's just awesome.

All in all, this is a serviceable episode of The Executioner and Her Way of Life, no more no less. Hopefully, with the season entering its final quarter, all of the table-setting is finally out of the way, and the show will be able to properly cut loose with this arc next time.

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The Executioner and Her Way of Life is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.