Rokka no Yuusha

Well, it wasn't activated by a demon. Kyoma. What are we calling them in English?

Demon's what I've always seen in the CR subs, so we can probably consider that canonical?

And yeah I've had that thought too, though I'm not sure how they'll pull the brainwashing card without it feeling like it's totally out of left field.

edited 8th Sep '15 8:09:23 PM by moberemk

I've been seeing them called Fiends for the record.

Who said anything about brainwashing? I'm saying the Demonic Powers That Be stuck a fake seal on somebody who just barely didn't make the cut and then just let things unfold.

Or...

Flamie is the seventh. An enchantment was placed on her without her knowledge that makes the seal appear on her once the others are chosen. The original plan was for her to leverage this into continuing to covertly pick off the strong ones after the selection happened. Her betrayal made them revise the plan a bit, and have some human working for them sneak in and activate the barrier, while passively use Flamie's presence to sow discord among the heroes.

Wouldn't making her the seventh be essentially meaningless then?

Well, kind of, yeah, but if we're working from the idea that there's no traitor- which I think is increasingly likely- the specific choice of who the seventh is becomes a lot less significant.

From a more speculative point of view, since we just proved that Flamie didn't activate the barrier, her turning out to be the seventh would prove that the barrier was activated by somebody who's still hiding.

You mean someone we haven't seen at all? That's a kind of cheat that even bad mysteries try to avoid.

/shrugs

It's not like there's not foreshadowing for it- Adlet starting talking about 'the Eighth' quite a while ago, and his more recent theories hinged on somebody having mist powers that nobody we've seen have.

Or maybe it's just Private Lauren, since Adlet was talking about him being in on it.

Hmm..yeah the fake seal makes sense actually, and would be easy to implement for sure. I'd actually wonder if that maybe DOES make Adlet the (unwitting) seventh then? Though how they planted that on him when he was a relative unknown before getting jailed is a tricky question.

Here's another question: what WAS the point of the transformed fiend Adlet saw before blowing the door exactly? That still seems like an oddly unnecessary charade to me from what I remember...

Oh man, finally got time to watch...

That was sappy. I was kinda glad when Flaime shot him after he confessed but in the end it of course worked.

Maura acting iffy as shit, and Nash going straight up Gilgamesh on their asses. Good times.

At this point I suspect it's Nashetania, but not out of any in universe proof but rather narrative buildup so to speak. In universe Maura looks the most suspicious after this episode, but I get the feeling that this is just a Red Herring and the "big twist" will be that it was the first Brave Adelt met all along, which is pretty much the oldest trick in the book. I also get the feeling that when it's revealed, both her motives and the way she accomplished everything will be convoluted, rely on some kind of element that wasn't introduced before, clash with what we were shown, and in general it will all be rather disappointing.

See, this is why I wanted Flaime to be the Seventh - she's the one with most straightforward and logical motivation, but was still dismissed outright by the majority of viewers so it would create the best kind of twist: shocking but completely logical when viewed in hindsight. Also that the girl who the hero fallen in love in and defended based on what his heart told him was the traitor would add a whole layer of memorability to the whole thing. Alas...

Yeah I don't really have a logical reason to suspect Bunnygirl apart from her suspicious actions at the altar, but everyone else seems basically cleared at this point.

Do remember that in Episode 2, we learned that Nachetanya had been required to flee her country for several years because her father had ordered her death. That's a large window of opportunity for the Fiends to turn an angry, powerful, and influential little girl.

It is pretty much on the Nash-bunny and Mountain Maura here, they are the ones who have acted the overall most suspiciously, Nash more so I think.

I find this show interesting, but I'm not into mysteries. Since I know who is the Seventh, I will share my opinions once the anime reveals it and the twist that comes after it.

About Adlet and Fremy, I know for now it seems the typical case of the hero falling in love at first sight and doing anything for a complete stranger. But later in the light novels it's revealed there was a reason for it.

edited 9th Sep '15 9:37:53 PM by sorako

That's kind of a spoiler right there. I didn't need to know that.

The part of Adlet and Fremy? Don't worry that doesn't become an issue until around Volume 5 in the light novels, and I don't think the anime reaches there. This season merely covers Volume 1. Still, sorry if I spoiler too much.

edited 9th Sep '15 9:21:50 PM by sorako

Its still a spoiler that its plot important dude :P That is part of the plot twist chain this show has going for it. I mean, it would also be spoiler if I would without spoiler tag point out that characters are just assuming the seventh works for the fiends.

edited 9th Sep '15 9:22:33 PM by SpookyMask

Checking out the novels. It seems like they give more details about the setup there, even though I'm only at the part where they've realized there are seven of them. The two points worth noting (And I'll spoil it just to be safe, even though we're past this in the anime) are that the impostor is definitely an impostor, not just someone who was tricked or whatever and that they actually are targeting Adlet.

Hm. The novel's narration gives more hints. Like as soon as Adlet kidnapped Flamie it was made clear that she was not the seventh. But I'm going to leave it at that, anyone that wants to hear bonus hints from the novel would probably just read it themselves.

Yeah, the seventh is much more obvious in the novel.

edited 12th Sep '15 2:28:56 PM by Arha

I'm annoyed that it took us this long to get to this point, but I do like that all the clues to the mystery where there. Now to see if the same is true for the identity of the seventh

Mhm. It's sort of surprisingly that it took us an entire cour to get through an single Volume. Not certain if the pacing was really slow or if the LN is really long though- What's the verdict on that, Arha/other LN readers?

I'm also annoyed at where the chose to end the episode- I understand that kind of cliffhanger, but they've drawn things out long enough; I feel like making the revelation into the cliffhanger would've been stronger.

To give what will almost certainly be my last prediction: Goldov seems the most likely, but I'm hoping for Naschy. Everyone else is cleared of suspicion in my eyes, barring some nonsense like unforeshadowed magic powers or multiple personalities.

edited 12th Sep '15 5:12:11 PM by Gilphon

I think the pacing was just slower than it really had to be. The anime spent more time on the battles than the novel did, which tended to be very quick. Like Hans kicked Adlet's ass in about five lines. Adlet chasing down Flamie also took a lot more time in the anime and there was a bit of stuff added in as well. I don't remember reading about him keeping an eye on her with the mirror, for example, though that's completely in character. The flashback with the three winged guy (Tgurneu or something) was also much shorter.

I think the problem might be that the novels are just a bit too long to fit two volumes into one season so they just added some reasonable filler scenes like the mirror and then padded scenes out. Individually, I don't think either one is a problem but each time they did it they dragged out the story bit by bit to the point where an entire season was spent adapting a single novel.

Edit: And I guess I don't get to do any more predictions now.

edited 12th Sep '15 5:24:39 PM by Arha

Maybe the anime wanted to expand it so the season would cover only the first volume. If this gets a season 2, it probably will only adapt volume 2. Although I don't know if this will get more seasons since it's hard for light novels to get long anime adaptions.

edited 12th Sep '15 6:43:36 PM by sorako

I thought pacing here fine what genre is Rokka a mystery/action show and not action adventure one. You don't need to do the standard 2-3 vols for that here.

edited 12th Sep '15 6:52:04 PM by IronMaw

I think they are aiming to get more seasons because the story itself demands it. It is pretty obvious the source material just wouldn't do well shortened. Unfortunately it would seem this work does not have the weight of, say, Log Horizon or Spice & Wolf, which similarly, blatantly far too long for just the time they are given, at least so far.

Finally watched this last episode. The plan makes sense tho of course I wouldn't have thought of it. I do think that ending the episode with the 7th's name would have been a much better cliff hanger. My money is fully on Nash now, she activated the barrier when she threw her tantrum earlier.

Also I really want to know why Goldov has a stone arm, or really anything about him at all.