Arthur Leywin

Arthur Teaches Arrogant Mage his Place

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Beginning After the End Ep 10 Review

So far, The Beginning After the End has changed up several things from the original webcomic. It’s moved things around, added new context to Arthur’s past life, and altered certain moments in the story. However, this episode marks the biggest departure from the source canon to date. And it all has to do with Arthur putting an arrogant little nobody in his place.

The Auction House Changed a Bit

For those who don’t remember, the reason the Helstea family is so rich is because they run the Helstea Auction House. Every year, they host a massive auction where adventurers, nobles, and even royals show up to bid for rare artifacts, weapons, and even monsters. And since they let them stay in exchange for Reynolds heading security, the Leywins get an invitation to the auction…with the other people.

Even before the episode starts, the anime is already making some changes to events, and not always for the better. In the webcomic, Arthur approaches Mr. Helstea beforehand and asks him to try and get him some gear he wants. In addition, the Leywins get to stay in a private box with the Helsteas, which will eventually lead to them meeting the Sapin Royal Family. Not only does the conversation not take place here, but for some reason, the anime sees fit to have the Leywins sit below, with everyone else. It might be so that what happens next makes more sense, but it’s going to aggravate plenty of fans.

What happens next, though, is the biggest change from the webcomic, and it revolves around poor little Sylvie.

Arthur Almost Crashes Out

So, as the Leywins are busy watching the auction, Sylvie gets bored like most little kids would, and wanders off. Arthur goes to look for her, because he’s a good dad, and that’s when he finds her being bothered by this shady-looking man in a robe who works for the Royal Family. This mage takes one look at Sylvie and decides “I want her,” and starts running his mouth, demanding Arthur give her to him. Arthur’s response: “Not for sale!” And then the man has the audacity to say “Kid, I work for the royal family! I could you and your entire family out on the streets if I say the word to the king!”

Arthur’s response? Unleashes the Conqueror’s Haki.

While similar events did happen in the webcomic, they took place in the private box. And Arthur got a lucky break by passing the blame off on some random intruder. In the anime, though, he gets no such luck, and his Dad gets in trouble for it! It’s not a major story change and doesn’t do much in the grand scheme of things, but longtime fans are gonna be frustrated with it. The comments on YouTube seem to say so.

Arthur Unleashes Za Warudo

At any rate, the King’s attempts to get Sylvie from Arthur are largely the same here, and Arthur’s retort of “how much would you ask for your kids” is still cool. He rightfully sees Sylvie as his adoptive daughter, and like any good parent, he ain’t giving up his kid.

And when the dumb court mage escalates by trying to kill him, Arthur pulls off the “Za Warudo” technique and lays down the law.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The aura of Sylvia being added was a nice touch.

In any event, the mage gets fired from his job, and the King covers everything up and bribes Arthur to keep quiet, just as what happens in the webcomic. However, the ending to the episode differs thanks to certain parts of the story being moved around. It may not make sense right now, but hopefully, the next episode will clear some things up.

I Give “The King’s Defiance” a 3/5

Arthur Become a Teacher for a New Friend

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Beginning After the End Ep 9 Review

When you’re a kid, there are few things as scary as the expectations of your parents. The pressure can make some kids crack from trying to meet it. Other kids choose to rebel against their parents expectations, especially if said parent happens to be of the abusive kind. Fortunately, Mr. And Mrs. Helstea are not bad parents. Unfortunately, as Arthur Leywin sees for himself, just because they’re good parents doesn’t mean they don’t saddle their daughter, Lilia, with the stress of expectations.

It’s time for the King to have an intervention.

Poor Lilia’s Insecurities

The episode starts off with Arthur in the middle of an intense training session as he’s trying to master Sylvia’s powers. However, using what is essentially “Za Warudo” is not something that a kid can fully master, much to his frustration. His concerns, though, take a backseat as his family (and Mrs. Helstea and Lilia) take him out to get a makeover. The entire experience serves as a means for Arthur to bond with his family while also revealing just how valuable the beast core Sylvia gave him really is. If people knew he had the beast core of a dragon…let’s just say that he would be the most wanted person alive.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Besides the trip serving as a way to introduce Arthur to the value of what he has gotten, it also serves as a means for him to get to learn Lilia better. And thanks to his past-life xp, he’s able to realize just how much pressure the girl has put upon herself. Her parents, being good parents, want the best for her and hope that she does great things in life. And attending the Xyrus Academy could be the key to doing that. Unfortunately, there’s a mathematical formula at work that is not helping things:

Lilia’s insecurity over not having a mana core+envy at Arthur already having one+parental expectations and unintentional pressures+chance they could pay her way into enrollment=DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN.

Wait…why does Lilia sound a lot like Norn Greyrat?

I Got Norn Flashbacks

When it comes to this episode, the anime changes several things from the story in the webcomic to focus more on the plight of Lilia. Whether intentional or not, this makes what Lilia is going through feel similar to the issues that Norn Greyrat from Mushoku Tensei would undergo. Both are unintentionally overshadowed by someone better than them; both don’t like having to meet others’ expectations or what they think are other’s expectations. And both initially have negative feelings towards the main protagonist. Lilia is just more subdued about it.

Arthur, having grown to understand people better, realizes how bad things could get if they aren’t resolved now. So, he does something about them. It’s just that it is…morally questionable.

This is Not what happened in the Comic

In a major departure from the webcomic, Arthur has Lilia pretend to run away to stay with the Elves like he did, even having a note written. He only did this so that Lilia could see how much her parents cared about her, and to his credit, it does help them work things out. However, it’s still a little messed up to emotionally manipulate people like that.

In any event, Arthur says that he’s going to help Lilia gain her mana core, and he follows through on it. Using the same methods he perfected as a baby, he’s able to teach Lilia (and Ellie) how to start assembling their cores…and it works. It will take a few years, but Lilia will eventually be able to use Magic!

This was a really sweet episode of TBATE, as it shows just how far Arthur has come since being reborn. He’s better able to understand other people and relate to them, and thanks to that, he’s got a loving home, family, and now another friend in the form of Lilia. There’s just one problem: when Tessia finds out, things could get…ugly. But that’s not for a few years!

I Give “The King Teaches” a 3.5/5

Arthur…Becomes a Daddy?!?

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Beginning After the End Ep 7 Review

Three years have passed since Arthur Leywin got separated from his parents and wound up in the Kingdom of Elves. Three years since he was taken in by the former King of the Elves, Virion, as his student. And three years since he started training his Mana Core and trying to master the Beast Will that Sylvia left him. As much as Arthur wanted to see his mom and dad again, those three years were worth it, as he’s gotten stronger in that time! All that strength, though, isn’t going to matter much if he can’t handle his toughest challenge yet: trying to get Tessia to let him leave.

That, and he now has a kid.

Arthur is Pretty Much a Jinchuuriki Now

Thanks to the kindness of former King Virion, Arthur was able to live in the safety of the Elves of Elenoir. He’s still only eight years old in his current life, but thanks to his training, he’s stronger than any eight-year-old would normally be. Just as important, though, is the fact that Tessia’s been able to train alongside Arthur, allowing the two’s friendship to continue to remain strong. To his dismay, though, Arthur has gotten to the point in his life where she’s showing her haughty side more often. I.E. she’s constantly waking him up in the morning and making him food, all while saying he should be grateful a beautiful girl is doing these things for him. Yet, as the anime notes, her ego isn’t unjustified, as she’s proven to be as much of a prodigy with magic as Arthur, gaining her own mana core at age nine.

This episode primarily serves as the stage upon which the story can provide more details about how magic works in the world of TBATE, and it’s here where the anime starts to show off more of what helped to inspire the world it exists in. Virion’s explanation of how magic is broken into four basic elements takes a page from Avatar: the Last Airbender. That series is set in a world where certain people can bend the four classical elements, and while it’s possible for anyone in TBATE to use all four, it’s so rare it might as well be unique. In addition, the explanation about what a Beast Will draws a lot from Naruto. Like Naruto, TBATE includes people who can gain the powers of a powerful monster and use them for themselves, though in this case, they’re called Beast Tamers. And since Arthur got his Beast Will from Sylvia, a dragon, his is extremely powerful. The good news is that all the training he’s done means he’s no longer in any danger of dying.

The bad news? He’s…now a parent.

No, Really. Arthur has a Child Now

In case people forgot, Sylvia gave Arthur two other things besides her Beast Will before she died. One was one of her feathers, and the other was a stone. Fast forward three years, and Arthur discovers that that “stone” was actually an egg…and it just hatched.

While some viewers might share Arthur and Tessia’s sentiment that Sylvia’s newborn daughter, Sylvie, is adorable, the anime ultimately does her, and Sylvia, a little dirty. After biting and leaving that mark on him in the webcomic, Sylvia gains the ability to mentally communicate with Arthur. Yet, for whatever reason, the anime either neglected or forgot to show what Sylvie was thinking, forcing viewers to guess what she’s thinking. As a result, this deprives the show of some of the humor that this moment had in the webcomic. I.E. Sylvie first calling Arthur mama, and then papa, and how freaked out she gets when Tessia insists of cuddling her.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

There are many characters in fiction whose verbal communication is deliberately rendered unintelligible to the audience. Two major examples would be Chewbacca and R2-D2 from Star Wars. The cast can usually understand them, but it’s up to viewers to guess for themselves what they’re saying. In Artoo and Chewie’s case, it’s fun. In Sylvie’s case, though, it’s an issue that’s keeping us from getting to know her better. Hopefully, this was a one-time thing and we’ll soon get to hear what Sylvie’s thinking in future episodes.

By the end of the episode, the Elves have finished the preparations to send Arthur to the human kingdom, so it’s finally time for Arthur to reunite with his family. Thus, he and Sylvie get a big send-off from everyone they’ve met and known in Elenoir, with one initial, and notable, absence: Tessia.

So, Who Ships Arthur and Tessia?

The Beginning After the End makes it no secret that it takes a lot of inspiration from Mushoku Tensei, with Tessia being a combination of the three women who fall in love with Rudeus. And just like Sylphie, Tessia’s reduced to tears at the prospect of her first and only friend going away. That being said, Tessia handles it rather well for an eight-year-old, understanding that Arthur has his own family that misses him. More importantly, while the two go their separate ways for now, it’s all but stated that they will see each other again when they’re older, meaning Tessia has another chance of seeing Arthur.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Beginning After the End is now seven episodes in, and while it’s no Mushoku Tensei, it feels like the anime is slowly improving. The animation could be better, with one person on TikTok even proving they could do better in under an hour. But it feels like the series is at its best when it’s not focused on the big action scenes, with the slower moments of this episode proving to be just as good.

I Give “The King Says Goodbye” a 3.5/5