Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to hop back into the ongoing theatrics of Thunderbolt Fantasy, as our heroes find themselves drifting far and wide in their variable adventures. From an initial cleanup job tracking down the Seven Blasphemous Deaths, Shang and his companions’ quest has evolved and splintered in all sorts of nasty directions, incorporating both old nemeses and onetime friends in a conflict of national and multiplanar scale.

While Shang is finding all these new complications a bit much to bear, Lin is unsurprisingly in his element, delighting in both the general chaos and the delectable righteousness of Wan Jun Po. Lin delights in either toying with the earnest or toppling the arrogant, and Wan is actually both – a man driven by earnest love of country into a dangerous certainty regarding the Sword Index’s proper use, and one who promises to lead Lin towards an even more tantalizing prize: the leader of the Divine Swarm. With evil cyborg monks, cursed sword-bearing demonesses, and murder princesses also in the mix, the ultimate clash of these forces promises to be spectacular indeed. Let’s get to it!

Episode 5

“Legend of the Demon Princess”

We open on Shang still out in the woods, hiding from Lou Zhen behind a large rock

“The way he fled so desperately… it belies his need to protect something. Perhaps I should assume he has stolen away my princess.” Lou Zhen emerged from his initial nihilism by finding something to believe in with his whole being, making him a true fanatic. He can’t really think of others as independent actors; all of their actions are positioned in relation to the Seven Blasphemous Deaths, the center of his world

“Seems like he’s almost crazier than he was when he had Seven Blasphemous Deaths”

Oh my god, Lin left Shang with a Lin nendoroid. “What the hell is this cursed-looking thing!?”

Of course, it’s also a communicator device. Now this is some ingenious marketing

Having the camera hone in on this tiny unmoving nendoroid face while Lin speaks is a deeply surreal experience

“It talked!?” And I love that Shang is even more uncomfortable with this situation than I am

Oh my god, the way they are moving this doll around is too much. Just constantly sweeping his head and making little hopping motions, much more in the manner a kid would actually play with a doll than this show’s usual “character acting”

“I tried to make it look as endearing as possible.” “What you actually did was make it seem even nastier.”

Now he’s stuffed it back in the bag, so they’re just holding the camera on the bag as it shakes in protest. 10/10

Juan finally arrives at Tian Gong’s hideaway, and runs into Lang’s old flame Mu Tian Ming, who seems to have lost her sight in the time since Bewitching Melody

Nice elaborate new interior set as we enter the house. Seems he’s done some remodeling since Bewitching Melody, as the house actually has an interior now

“Those boys are as much of a pain as ever.” Tian Ming seems to regard Shang and Lang as particularly rowdy nephews

“What is it about men that makes them deceive women when they do something dangerous? They must think it’s an act of kindness. But it’s more like children trying to hide the trouble they cause from their parents.” Ayep. Traditional male bravado is about as juvenile an ethos as one could imagine, and Urobuchi rarely lets his heroes get away with such a philosophy unscathed. I think the closest he’s come to venerating a traditionally masculine “great man” was Fate/Zero’s Rider, and even there, what was ultimately framed as noble about Rider was his thoughtful presence as a father figure to Waver, while his over-the-top masculinity was more a source of humor than moral lessons

Meanwhile, Xing Hai is infusing the Seven Blasphemous Deaths with demonic energy, as you do

The two clearly have a lot of catching up to do, explaining why Xing Hai is still in the mortal realm, and why her sister is now a sword

The conclusion to the War of Fading Dusk is conveyed through an extended painted tapestry. A welcome addition to this show’s usual visual vocabulary, and also just an efficient way to convey a large-scale conflict in a production that can only add a handful of new character models each season

In spite of this season adding cyborgs and interdimensional travel to the mix, it still feels like we’re at last establishing an overall field and scale of conflict for the franchise at large. The first two seasons were more or less self-contained adventures, but season three has dug deeper into the history informing this region’s political structure, providing greater context for both the demon realm’s intentions and the two principle countries of the mortal realm. As a result, this season also possesses a greater sense of urgency, as it feels like we’re genuinely building to a reshaping of this world’s political climate, rather than simply defeating the villain of the season

The Seven Blasphemous Deaths reveals how she took the form of a human after the War of Fading Dusk, ingratiating herself among those who sang of peace and victory. “Even the most shrewd man seems to reveal his idiocy in the presence of a beautiful woman”

Given her humanoid form’s presence in the OP, it seems like the Seven Blasphemous Deaths’ revived form will be the final antagonist of this season

“I convinced him that virgin livers were an ingredient in the elixir for immortality, and had his people singing demonic curses to their children as lullabies.” Nothing makes you weaker than assuming you are strong. The Seven Blasphemous Deaths’ boasting serves as an echo of Mu Tian Ming’s words, demonstrating the perilous far reaches of arrogance, and how easily a masculine assumption of superiority can be abused by those who know how to flatter it. I imagine this lady and Lin could trade tales of dismantling such fools for ages

Apparently it was her establishing of the palace’s bloody spectacles that cursed the Emperor’s line, resulting in such delightful monsters as our murder princess Chao Feng

“Ultimately, it was my own overconfidence that led to my downfall.” Even she could not escape arrogance’s grasp. An abiding theme here; you could even frame Shang’s duty as essentially shielding the Sorcerous Sword Index against mankind’s arrogance, ensuring it can never be used by people like Wan Jun Po, who believe their needs are uniquely urgent, and their ability to resist the corruption of power is uniquely implacable. Only humility can keep the swords safe, and Shang is about as humble of a hero as they come

With her ruse discovered, she was stabbed and thrown off a cliff. As always, I can’t help smiling when these puppets are just rudely chucked across fields and off ledges

She then transferred to the sword that killed her, lying in wait for her crimes to be forgotten, and then reemerging to destroy the descendants of the man who stabbed her. Even when we are chastened for our arrogance, the lessons die with us unless they are taught and retaught

Her sword form still performs the same function as her human form: feeding on mankind’s lust for power and assumption of control, and thereby driving her partners to self-destruction

It was a particular pleasure to see swordsmen of renowned skill be reduced to lustful slaves.” Yeah, she and Lin would absolutely hit it off immediately

Our story at last loops back around to Shang, aligning our demonic sisters in mutual hate

“He was able to banish a demon god?” Yeah, Shang’s pretty great

And back with the heroes, Shang reveals he cannot bear to face Tian Ming, at least not until the Index is complete. Even our most humble hero apparently has his pride, and his shame

And Done

Thus our heroes nurse their wounds while their enemies conspire, concocting fresh evils to set upon our dear Shang! This episode was certainly heavy on the exposition, but that seemed like a necessary concession in order to both tie up this world’s historical loose ends and integrate the Seven Blasphemous Deaths into its ongoing narrative. And frankly, it’s always a good time listening to Aoi Yuki cackle as she describes the horrors she’s eager to unleash on mankind, here egged on by her equally abominable sister. Beyond that, this episode’s paralleling of Tian Ming and the Seven Blasphemous Deaths’ words served as a fine thematic binding agent, emphasizing how arrogance can present itself in a variety of self-destructive forms even among those with the best of intentions. With even Shang unable to live up to his past failures, what hope do any of the rest of us have?

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