A pretty conventional episode of Helck this week, certainly not among the series’ best.  It serves to introduce an arc which has the air of a placeholder – or at least a transition – to it.  Still, the main trio (I consider Piyo part of that group now) is a winning bunch, and any ep which heavily features them has a pretty high floor.  And they couldn’t really just waltz back to the main stage and start dancing – some sort of rough re-introduction to the continent was bound to be part of the equation.

Helck remains the biggest badass of the series so far (though I sense we’ve skimmed the surface of what Azudora is capable of).  So that giant octopod was never really going to be a threat to him, though that didn’t stop Anne from worrying when his Helck punch seemed ineffective and he got dragged under water.  One intriguing thing is that it’s never 100% clear just how much Helck is relying on his insane power levels and how much he’s analyzing a situation (generally, it’s more of the latter than he lets on).  He gave the appearance of literally just diving in here, but there had to be a thought process behind it.

Helck’s little “goal” gag was rather amusing – Vermilio being so easy to wind up is basically this series’ comic cheat code.  Soon after arriving back on the continent the trio are taken “prisoner” by about the sorriest band you could imagine (Piyo still politely says “Konnichiwa!”).  These are members of the Erille tribe, whose entire country was laud low by the Tothman clan, despite the latter supposedly numbering only 50 soldiers.  The idea is that the destitute Erille sell strangers to thee Tothman as slaves to try and stave off their wrath.

If I’m honest I didn’t feel too vested in this subplot.  It was interesting to see Helck get visibly pissed off (maybe for the first time?) but the dynamic here wasn’t super interesting.  That’s not to say there’s nothing of lasting import here.  Helck getting a look at the darker side of demonkind seems like it might be a moment, and if it wasn’t obvious from their rise to power, the ending of the ep confirms that Tothman have clearly signed some sort of deal with the devil to gain their power (especially the king).  Just who the devil is seems pretty important, and will be telling as to whether this story is connected to the larger plot.