English Dub Review: Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles. “Each of Their Decisions”

Overview

Having once again firmed his resolve to avenge his mother, Rio tells Yuba that he intends to return to the Strahl region. But prior to that journey, he passes peaceful, happy days in the village, keeping his royal heritage a secret from everyone but his cousin Ruri. Spring arrives, and after learning of Rio’s eventual departure, Sayo returns home and collapses in tears. When her older brother Shin sees her like that, he can’t just sit still. He goes to beg Rio to stay in the village, but…


Our Take

Damn, Rio really had feelings of revenge in his head after all. And consequently, he has to leave the village in order to keep everyone out of harm’s way. And given past episodes that displayed his past progression, talent, knowledge, and experience, I think Rio can handle himself in a fight now or any possible scenario.

Sayo being sad about Rio’s leaving is expected. She even trained and practiced a variation of magic called “Spirit Arts” every single day. When you consider that this wasn’t part of her lifestyle prior to meeting Rio. She still showed a level of devotion for doing that. She even had the courage to confess her feelings to him which based on observation, she’s the only girl in the series that even did that making her quite respectable.

Has there been a girl who hasn’t fallen in love with Rio? Given the recent Anime Isekai stories that usually involve borderline harem teams and amalgamated pastiche story/character elements, It leaves you to wonder who is this show even made for? I know you can’t force yourself to want someone, but it seems like a repetitive story structure that’s happened so much in this series. Rio goes somewhere, makes a certain lady fall in love, and then breaks their heart by leaving without saying a word as to why? I know revenge is a legit motivation but that just felt a bit contrived. Hopefully, the last 3 episodes more than makeup for this…