OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)New alliances are forged and the tournament reaches its conclusion.OUR TAKEWell, we finally reached the end of the fighting tournament and…not gonna lie, I’m actually pretty disappointed. Now, let me be clear, I know we’ve been watching Masayuki essentially coast through any conflict he has come across since we first met him a handful of episodes ago, and that this is part of the joke with him. So, it makes sense to subvert that joke a little at the end by having him finally “lose” a battle by giving up to Gobta out of fear that he would have to face a Demon Lord…even though he’d probably just magically win that fight too anyway. At the very least, we could be using this joke to learn more about Masayuki as a character, which might make the joke more funny AND more wholesome! But then again, as I have been reminded time and time again, this show isn’t really about getting to know these characters, it’s a wish fulfillment story about a random normal guy becoming a demon lord with a load of cool and complicated sounding attacks and getting surrounded by a bunch of cool guys and hot ladies. Character development is often fourth or fifth priority at the very most.Also, remember Elmesia, one of the rulers of another nation who we met like ten episodes ago and seemed like she would be a major presence once she showed up at the festival? Well, turns out the payoff for her showing up was just so she could finally talk to Rimiru about forming an alliance with little more than a brief discussion. Yeah, actual conflict and tension is more around eighth or ninth priority. So, hooray, the tournament has finally ended with no real gains other than Gobta getting his own kinda cool technique, Masayuki getting to share a bit of a wholesome moment with Rimiru as fellow Other Worlders, and now Tempest has new allies to help it sustain itself. What’s left to do for the remaining two episodes of the season? Just that big labyrinth I suppose, which I doubt will make for much of a satisfying conclusion or resolution but…that’s what we’re getting. But whatever, at least we’re finally within the end of this whole season and I can finally put it all behind me. I mean really, what could happen in just two more episodes that could have that much of an impact on my feelings and reactions so far?