This was very much an expected return to form for Helck this week. Last week’s episode didn’t stack up to the preceding few, but the near-total absence of Helck and Vermilio explained a lot of that (the exposition dump took care of the rest). But you knew that would change this week, and happily it couldn’t have changed more – I don’t think we got a single scene without at least one of them in it. And at this point it’s pretty clear that Helck is at its best when Helck is a big part of it – and Annie too.
Not only them, though. I really like the goofy weirdo islanders with their outlandish character designs (the “Su!” guy cracks me up every time). We got a lot of them here but sadly it was a seeming farewell performance (well, for most of them). And the big intro was the Great Witch (Yukana), who popped down for her visit while our heroes were frolicking at the beach. By the time Vermilio got back to town she’d already left, thanks to Kabano (Yamaguchi Ryuumnosuke) – that’s the “Su” guy – “pooping out” on the way to tell them. But the village chief fills the witch in on what’s going on, and she agrees to meet with the newcomers.
There’s a lot about this character that demands to be questioned, starting with the fact that she looks eerily like a bigger version of Vermilio (and she has a bigger version of Piwi with her, though this one appears to be female). It’s obvious that she’s not originally from around these parts, and the fact that she knows which continent Vermilio and Helck are trying to get to without being told is highly suspicious (as Vermilio notes). Vermilio also picks up the witch’s intimation that there are more than one continent out there – the world is opening up to Vermilio on this trip. Witch-sama doesn’t really deny it when Vermilio suggests she comes from the same place Vermilio does so I think we can assume that’s true.
Witch also makes some pointed comments about Helck. To wit, that he has a swirl of negative emotions inside him, and he’s on a path to darkness – an extremely dangerous man. The question begged is once more, just how does she know all this? In any event she tells the pair where they need to go (Northwest), what they need for the trip (starting with a much better boat than what Helck built), and even advises them to capture a Corstag to guide them through the local Bermuda Triangle.
Witch-sama does one more thing, too – she facilitates Piwi stowing away on the boat, complete with a letter in which she calls Anne “too uptight” (and she ain’t lyin’). We may not get answers for a while on who she is but there’s more to all this than we’ve been told, for sure. It’s nice not to have to say goodbye to Piwi, who’s very amusing indeed (that “Pii!” had me ROFL). And as unprepared as these two are for the dangers of sea travel, I think we can assume they’ll make it home safely. With two cours to play out I’m sure Helck has many more twists on the horizon, and we may be waiting a while for the big answers to start rolling in.
Kurik
August 30, 2023 at 10:56 pmLoving this show…Its my easy-amusing watch of the week with a bit of mystery to keep me engaged. Curious to see how Helck deals with that sea monster while dealing with a whirlpool…fun times.
Guardian Enzo
August 30, 2023 at 11:38 pmYeah, kind of in the same slot for me. Reminds of a bit of a fantasy anime from 10-15 years ago stylistically.
Jindujun93
August 31, 2023 at 11:38 pmAnother very good episode, though it does make me wonder what the plans for the adaption actually are. We have two confirmed cours, except… the pace is kind of too slow for a complete adaption right now? Don’t get me wrong, I love the pace they are going at so far, because it lets the story breathe – we are basically going at 3 chapters per episode, so this episode leaves exactly at the end of chapter 24. The thing is, though… Helck goes up to chapter 106, so if we keep that pacing, we would need a third cour for the entire story. I’m not exactly sure however if there is a good break point for a split cour down the line though – back when I read it, I only did so up to chapter 54 (real life got in the way after that and I never continued despite absolutely loving the content around that point), so I’m not sure how the story looks like after that. Right now, that’s just about the only thing that potentially worries me.
Guardian Enzo
September 1, 2023 at 7:54 amInteresting. It implies they’re confident they’re getting another cour. Or that they think the later material can be adapted at a much more aggressive pace.
Jindujun93
September 1, 2023 at 12:27 pmFor what it’s worth, I definitely think it’s the former. The content they should cover between episode 13~18 if they keep the current pacing is absolutely crucial, so I cannot ever imagine them speeding up the pace for this (and they really should not, that material was really, really strong), and I cannot imagine them speeding through 50+ chapters within 6 episodes after that. Not even within 8 episodes if it turns out it’s actually 26 episodes after all. So I feel like there HAS to be another cour somehow.
Guardian Enzo
September 1, 2023 at 4:40 pmWe hope!
Jindujun93
September 1, 2023 at 5:12 pmAs a side note, since then I actually continued reading Helck from where I left off way back, and if anything, that confirms my thoughts. The mid 70 chapter range is perfect for a break point before a final split cour, so I fully expect that this is the route the studio wants to take. Otherwise, the pace would be much quicker so far.