Returning to Japan

If we ignore the CGI centipede monster, The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 12 was good. Okay, and also if we ignore that the power of friendship defeated the CGI centipede monster. But, still, the episode was good because we got a bunch of new lore.

One huge piece of lore that Pandemonium dropped at the start of the episode has to do with the Major Human Errors. As it turns out, these Human Errors didn’t happen to arise on their own. The four of them were actually working together to achieve a common goal.

They believed that by destroying the world, they would be able to return to Japan. At least, that’s what Pandemonium made it sound like. She never explicitly said how returning to Japan is possible. She only said it is possible and that the four of them teamed up to destroy the world.

Was Pandemonium lying about this? I don’t know. And I’m going to say that it doesn’t matter (for now). Akari doesn’t want to go back to Japan. So, whether it’s possible doesn’t matter. But, there have also been hints that Menou somehow has a connection to Akari in Japan. At the end of the series, they may return there together.

Anyway, it’s interesting that the Four Major Human Errors were working together. And what makes it even more interesting is that there seems to have been a fallout of some sort. One of the other Human Errors sealed Pandemonium

We finally got confirmation that the Ivory Hero Pandemonium spoke of is the creator of the Sword of Salt. So, that means the fog that seals Pandemonium is also part of their Pure Concept. And I’m guessing it means that Pandemonium was the one who betrayed the others.

Destroying a Pure Concept

According to Pandemonium, the Ivory Hero’s Sword of Salt can destroy Pure Concepts. But, that doesn’t seem to be 100% true. If it was, Pandemonium’s Pure Concept of Chaos and Akari’s Pure Concept of Time would be gone. They’ve both gone up against the Ivory Hero’s Pure Concept and survived.

Well, to be fair, we don’t know that Pandemonium was on the receiving end of the Sword of Salt. But, since the Sword of Salt belongs to the Ivory Hero, it stands to reason she did. And, since Pandemonium ended up sealed instead, that must mean the Sword of Salt didn’t work on her.

As for Akari, we’ve seen that Flare used the Sword of Salt against her in at least one timeline. Based on what Flare says at the end of this episode, it seems to have happened countless times. I’ll get to Flare in the next section, though.

Earlier in this review, I said that the fog seems to be a part of the Ivory Hero’s Pure Concept. I’m not going to edit that, but I remembered something that may disprove it. In this episode, Flare also said that fragments of both Chaos and the Vessel appeared for the first time.

The Vessel is another one of the Four Major Human Errors. It’s the one connected to the Material Room. And in my review of Episode 11, I mentioned that the Material Room sounds like a Human Error that could seal things.

So, it’s possible that the Ivory Hero didn’t seal Pandemonium on his (or her) own. I’m betting Pandemonium went berserk and the others had to stop her. So, it could be that the Ivory Hero weakened her with the Sword of Salt and the Vessel Human Error sealed her.

Flare and the Four Major Human Errors

There’s a lot to say about Flare. I guess first I should point out that she somehow has her memories from all the previous timelines. I have no idea how. But, that seems like a pretty big deal. It could be from her coming into contact with Human Errors in the past.

Also, when we see her, she’s sitting on a throne in front of a mosaic depicting the Four Major Human Errors. That’s kind of suspicious. Where is this located? Why is Flare there? It makes it seem like she’s on the side of the Human Errors, which would be odd.

On top of all that, we got some (maybe) new information about the Human Errors. In one of the previous episodes, I forget which, we saw this same diagram depicting them. So, I’m going to go ahead and say that this isn’t new information. But, we have some new context for it.

The last time we saw this diagram, I focused on the names and descriptions of the Human Errors. To remind you, they’re the Starhusk, the Material Room, the Pandemonium, and the Sword of Salt. But, what I didn’t pay attention to were the larger kanji associated with each one.

These kanji say Star, Vessel, Chaos, and Dragon respectively. So what? Well, we now know that the Pure Concept that created the Pandemonium is that of Chaos. So, is that same connection true for the others?

Did the Pure Concept of Star create the Starhusk? Did the Pure Concept of Vessel create the Material Room? And did the Pure Concept of Dragon create the Sword of Salt? The first three all make sense. But if this is true, what does Dragon have to do with the Sword of Salt?

Conclusion

What do you think about The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 12? Do you think there’s a way to get back to Japan? Did you expect Pandemonium to be Manon’s older sister? I did, as explained in my Episode 10 review. And, what do you think of the ending scene with Flare? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Who Is the Ivory One?

In Episode 10, Pandemonium mentioned that the Ivory Hero sealed her within the fog. Now, in The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 11, she referred to them as the Ivory one. And, she commented on how Menou has some similar qualities to the Ivory one.

So, my question is, who is the Ivory Hero/Ivory one? Last week, I mentioned a theory I had in passing. And, much to my surprise, I actually think that theory is even better with the new “information” we got this week. Knowing that Menou and the Ivory one are similar seems important.

In case you missed it, I said that the Ivory one could be one of the other Four Major Human Errors. When you hear “ivory,” you may think of the color white. And of the Four Major Human Errors, two have connections to the color white.

The first of the Major Human Errors we learned about was the Sword of Salt. We don’t know what the name of the Pure Concept that created the Sword of Salt is. But, I’d say this Pure Concept user isn’t likely to be the Ivory one. The fog doesn’t seem connected to the Sword of Salt.

That leaves the Pure Concept user responsible for creating the Starhusk. The Starhusk is strange. First, we learned that it set an entire continent afloat. But, we then learned that it’s also what causes the blanching of the body, soul, and mind.

Menou was partially blanched, and the Starhusk causes blanching. There’s your connection.

But, there’s actually a third option, which is the Major Human Error we know nothing about. The Material Room definitely sounds like a Major Human Error capable of sealing. So, could this be the Ivory one?

A Fraction of Pandemonium

Despite all we’ve seen from Pandemonium, I was a little unimpressed by her. She’s one of the Four Major Human Errors. In my mind, she should be way above anything even the combined might of Menou and Ashuna can handle. She’s the embodiment of Chaos itself — and also has 100 lives, allegedly.

Well, the good news is that what we’ve seen is only a small fraction of Pandemonium. As she explains, she was only able to get her pinky out of the fog. And in case you’re wondering, a single finger makes up about 0.5% of your body.

So, the Pandemonium Menou has been fighting is only 0.5% of Pandemonium’s full strength. Oh, and let’s not forget that Menou and Ashuna haven’t defeated Pandemonium yet. That sounds a lot more accurate for one of the Four Major Human Errors.

Something else that Pandemonium said was that she’s the weakest of the Major Human Errors. And, based on what we know about the Sword of Salt and Starhusk, I can see that being the case. The Sword of Salt and Starhusk are both devastating. They cause large-scale destruction.

But, I’d argue that Pandemonium is stronger in other ways. For example, it seems that Pandemonium is the hardest of the Major Human Errors to stop. Her monsters still roam the wilderness of the world. And while we don’t know the fates of the others, we know Pandemonium wasn’t killed. Sealing her was all the Ivory Hero could do.

So, yes, Pandemonium may be the weakest Major Human Error. But, based on the limited knowledge we have, she’s also the most persistent. I’d be a bit surprised to find that the other three are all still alive. One of them might be.

Defeating the Four Major Human Errors

Okay, so I know I literally just said that it would be surprising if the other Major Human Errors were still alive. But, what if that’s actually the case? Would it mean that Menou and Akari will have to defeat them one by one?

It’s possible. And if this was a battle shounen series, which it almost is, I’d say it’s even probable. But, my prediction is that they’re not going to defeat any of the Major Human Errors. As the story is now, they have no need to do that.

First, as far as we know, defeating the Major Human Errors isn’t a prerequisite to killing Akari. Sure, that could be the case. But, that would be a boring twist. If they’re going to defeat them all, I’d rather it occur naturally — not as part of their official mission.

Second, the Four Major Human Errors haven’t been causing any new issues for decades. So, what would be the trigger? Why would Menou and Akari need to fight them all of a sudden? Well, the answer could be that Akari’s power has reawakened them. It was her power that unsealed Pandemonium, after all.

But, here’s the thing. I’m thinking they won’t even defeat Pandemonium. They’ll defeat the small part of her that escaped from the fog, sure. But Pandemonium’s true body is still sealed away. So there’s no reason for them to interact with her once they kill this 0.5%.

I would rather the Four Major Human Errors stay in the past. I like them more as world-building elements than current story elements. If a new Human Error arises, that’s fine. If we get a flashback to the Major Human Errors, that’s fine too. But, they don’t all need to play an active role.

Conclusion

What do you think about The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 11? Are you thinking the Ivory one is one of the other Major Human Errors? Do you think Pandemonium will ever be completely unsealed? And, do you think any of the other Major Human Errors are still alive? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 12 is available now.

A True “Lost One”

The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 10 is my favorite episode so far. And this isn’t a case of me saying that every new episode is the best so far. Before Episode 10, I thought Episode 1 was the best of the series.

A lot of cool stuff happened in this episode. But what’s even better than that is all the neat lore we got. Well, most of the lore from this episode was actually implied. But, I’m going to assume it’s fact until proven otherwise.

So, the first bit of lore we got is fact, not only implied. This fact is that Manon Libelle’s mother is a true “Lost One” in that she’s an Otherworlder who wasn’t summoned. Her soul somehow wandered into this world on its own. And, although she had a Pure Concept, we never got to find out what it was.

In my review of Episode 9, I said that her Pure Concept may have been Chaos. But, that’s actually been disproven in two ways in this episode. It was first disproven when we saw she arrived in this world as an adult. The girl with the Pure Concept of Chaos was a child.

The second way this was disproven should be pretty obvious: We know who has the Pure Concept of Chaos. The girl who refers to herself as Pandemonium is the Otherworlder who controls Chaos. But, that doesn’t mean Manon’s mother is completely disconnected from Chaos.

Right before she died, Manon’s mother said Manon has an older sister. Upon hearing this, I assumed she was talking about a child from her old world. But, what if that child ended up in this world too? And what if she now goes by the name Pandemonium?

Manon Libelle’s Revenge

I was pretty surprised to find out that Manon wasn’t seeking revenge for the death of her mother. She didn’t want to kill Menou because she was the student of Flare. In fact, she didn’t have much of an opinion on Menou at all.

Instead, as Manon tells us, she directed her revenge at the nobles who surrounded her. Manon’s father led them to believe that she would develop her mother’s Pure Concept. And when that didn’t happen, the nobles called her worthless. So, Manon decided to become the taboo the nobles wanted her to be — with them as her victims.

If that’s all there was to Manon’s actions, I’d have thought she was an alright antagonist. I definitely like her reason for wanting revenge over wanting to avenge her mother. Her reason is much more personal. She wants to get revenge on people who hurt her, not her mother.

But, there’s more to Manon’s revenge than that. She never says this, but it seems that part of her revenge has to do with something I said last week. Back then, I said it kind of seemed like Manon wanted to become her mother.

And my evidence from this episode for this being the case is Manon’s conversation with Flare. Manon wanted Flare to kill her because she might develop a Pure Concept from her mother. And when Flare said that was impossible, Manon seemed hurt. Flare told her that she’ll never be like her mother.

So, I’m arguing that part of Manon’s revenge is proving that she can be like her mother. She can become a taboo and use a Pure Concept — even if it’s not a Pure Concept of her own. Manon’s a good character.

Pandemonium & Chaos

Let’s start this section of the review by going over what I’m talking about when I say various things. Pandemonium is the girl. Chaos is her Pure Concept. And The Pandemonium is the area covered in fog off the coast of Libelle. I may also refer to The Pandemonium as a Major Human Error.

With that out of the way, Pandemonium is an interesting character. Despite controlling Chaos, she’s immortal like Akari. And, for now, it’s unclear if her immortality is due to Chaos. It could be due to something unrelated. But, it’s most likely some side effect or specific use case of Chaos.

What’s also unclear is whether Pandemonium has existed since The Pandemonium. Was she killed and only recently resummoned? Has she been living in Libelle this whole time? Was she sealed within The Pandemonium until Akari’s Pure Concept did something? My bet is on the latter. But, I don’t know.

Going back to the end of the first section of this review, I’m convinced Pandemonium is Manon’s sister. They’d be half-sisters since Pandemonium came from another world. But, do you think Manon knows this? Now that she’s dead, we may never get an answer to that question.

Also, do you think Manon’s mother knew of Pandemonium’s existence in this world? She may not have realized her first daughter came to this world with her. Or, she might have known but thought her daughter died or that the seal on her was permanent. The Pandemonium could also be why Manon’s mother never used her Pure Concept.

Oh, and Pandemonium mentioned some Ivory Hero who was the one to seal her. She says that although they saved the world, nobody remembers them. Could this have been the wielder of the Sword of Salt? The creator of the Starhusk?

Conclusion

What do you think of The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 10? Do you think Manon and Pandemonium are half-sisters? Was Manon Libelle a good antagonist? And what are your theories about the Ivory Hero? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 11 is available now.

More Momo Content

I wasn’t expecting The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 9 to be good. I don’t know why. But, I actually ended up enjoying it. And one reason for that might be the inclusion of more Momo content. If Momo’s on screen, I’m happy.

In this episode, Momo continues her investigation into the source of Monstrine. At first, the lax security at the Monstrine production facility was a bit odd. Momo was able to walk in and beat up all the guards without an issue. But, we have to remember that she’s an executioner priestess.

Most people who tried to enter that facility wouldn’t survive. For someone with no etheric barrier, or a weaker one than Momo has, the armed guards would be enough. Thanks to Momo’s strong etheric barrier, bullets ricochet off her. But, Manon Libelle planned for a priestess of Momo’s caliber showing up.

A deadly trap lies within the dungeon beneath the facility. After making her way down there, Momo comes across the iron maiden used to create Monstrine. Inside the torture device, she finds a young girl who hasn’t yet succumbed to her injuries. And this is the trap.

When Momo attempts to remove the girl from the iron maiden, an explosion spell activates. Not only is the explosion itself powerful, but it sends the poisoned spikes of the iron maiden flying. The blast kills the girl and one of the spikes impales Momo, poisoning her.

Over the past two months, I’ve mentioned many times how Momo is my favorite character of this series. And one of the reasons why has to do with the kind of content we get with Momo. She’s the one doing all the dangerous investigations. That’s the good content. I don’t care about Menou babysitting Akari

Menou vs. Ashuna

For the first time in the series, Menou and Ashuna come face to face. Though, Ashuna doesn’t get to see Menou’s face because Menou is hiding it with magic. Still, after their confrontation, Ashuna knows that Menou is the “senpai” Momo loves so much.

The main takeaway from this fight, for me, is Menou’s strength. We already know Menou is an accomplished executioner. And we’ve seen her take on powerful opponents, such as Orwell. But, it was also established that she either doesn’t have much ether or isn’t very good at manipulating it.

I don’t remember which it was. But, that detail doesn’t matter much right now. My point is that despite what we know Menou has achieved, she’s fighting with a handicap. As you may remember when she was in training, Flare even pointed out how Menou wasn’t suited for the job.

It’s not a stretch to say that Momo is often depicted as being stronger than Menou. Momo beat a dragon to death with her bare hands. She also took down the red automa in angel form that Orwell summoned. And it was never stated that Momo has any issues with her ether capacity or manipulation.

In Episode 9, we finally see that Menou is, in fact, stronger than Momo. Based on their previous encounters, Momo and Ashuna seem to be on par. So since Menou was going easy on Ashuna during their fight and was still winning, she must be stronger than Momo.

Of course, Menou’s fighting style is very different from that of Momo and Ashuna. At the end of the day, Momo and Ashuna rely on brute force. Menou is far more strategic. And so, it may be that Ashuna only perceived Menou as going easy on her.

Child of an Otherworlder

I may not like Akari’s character. But, she does play a part in many of the more interesting developments of the series. As an otherworlder with the Pure Concept of time, there’s a lot we can learn about the world of this series from Akari.

Thanks to Akari’s existence, we learned that Manon Libelle’s mother was an otherworlder. That’s a pretty major revelation. And based on the title of the next episode, I’m sure we’ll get more information. But for now, I’m going to theorize about what this could mean.

First of all, it now makes sense why Flare killed Manon’s mother. In my review of Episode 7, I questioned why Flare would kill Manon’s mother, but only arrest her father. From what we know, Manon’s father was the leader of the Fourth. Now it all makes sense, though. Manon’s mother was the real target.

As an otherworlder, Manon’s mother would have had a Pure Concept. We don’t know what her Pure Concept was. But, I’m sure we’ll find out soon. And, considering how long ago her death was, Manon’s mother may even have had the Pure Concept of Chaos.

The Pure Concept of Chaos is what’s responsible for the Pandemonium off the coast of Libelle. It’s said the user was a child. So, if Manon’s mother caused the Pandemonium as a child, that could be 40 years ago. And she may not have survived into adulthood thanks to the Fourth hiding her.

This could also explain why Manon seems to be attempting to create a Pandemonium of her own. She was close to her mother. So it’s only natural that her revenge would emulate her mother’s Pure Concept. She might even want to “become” her mother in some sense.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Executioner and Her Way of Life Episode 9? Do you want more Momo content? Who do you think is stronger, Menou or Momo? And do you think Manon’s mother is the one responsible for the Pandemonium? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 10 is available now.