Overview: Kelvin (Van Barr Jr.) takes on General Clive (Bryson Baugus) of Trycen in a big, final battle to decide the fate of the elves.
Our Take: Kelvin takes on another S-rank reincarnated, General Clive. He is very much the distorted mirror version of him that is a representation of what Kelvin’s future could have been. The entire battle mostly leaves you unphased in how pedestrian Clive is of an antagonist in being a run-of-the-mill creepo when it comes to the belittling treatment of women and people of the fantasy world. The bright side of all this is that it pushes Kelvin slightly closer to revealing his feelings for Efil, and with any luck the other girls, in a timely manner, and not over the course of a thousand years.
Kelvin’s sky high duel with Clive is the first one that feels like a proper challenge with various henchmen and blazing blasts to match one another. It is also well animated in the CG being a surprising, kinetically-charged catalyst for their high speed aerial combat. The only difference being the General’s deplorable practice of using hypnotized women in skimpy armor, further emphasizing how scummy he is. Kelvin’s friendship with all of the comrades he has gained throughout his journey acts as a shot in the arm for him, making for an uninspired yet serviceable enough motivation for what they have all been through together. Unfortunately, the plodding story structure makes all the excitement go out with a whiff rather than a bang through an uneventful, all-out attack ending their bout.
However, Clive’s savior in the form of another Trycen general, Tristan, does make for an intriguing new adversary in his unique magical techniques and abilities. Also, Clive’s role is an interesting and dark change-up from Kelvin’s story as a reincarnated hero being subjected to cruel torture. The depths of that cruelty and how it extends to other reincarnated heroes, potentially, is a tantalizing prospect for future story material in the fleshing out of countries and kingdoms within the world.
The aftermath is a fun little romp in a race for Kelvin’s praises. The dotting can be hit-or-miss based on how it is done, but their sheer brazenness makes it amusing enough. Unfortunately, it is followed up by more sterile banter that has been known to arise throughout the series. An elven celebration is kicked off, allowing for a brief tender moment with Efil and Kelvin that does not move the needle of their relationship, sadly, but is sweet enough in their commitment to each other. They are interrupted and informed by King Leonhart Gaun that Kelvin passed his S-rank exam and will have to fight more similarly high level opponents in a ceremony. Of course, that gets the testosterone levels all fired up in Kelvin, evoking more poor, strained dialogue about his combat hungry nature from his companions.
Criticisms of the last couple episodes aside, it was a predictably enjoyable romp overall. It is generic in its story structure, the pacing is on steroids and the writing can suffer from being too exposition heavy and contrived. Despite all that, the characters, while not wholly original, have an entertaining party dynamic amongst each other and, hopefully, each can get deeper, more dedicated solo arcs to better develop everyone. A fun cast of characters along with intriguing lore kept me engaged enough that I would not mind more adventures with Kelvin and the gang in the future.