Sword Oratoria Episode 9 Review: Training and Jealousy

Hello everyone and welcome back to our weekly anime review of Sword Oratoria! Things are getting more and more interesting, and after a couple of episodes filled with so much action and new information it was a given we would get an episode that would be more or less a bit lacking in action. This episode was basically a revamp of the first season. I did hope that the Gaiden series would move up a bit forward in the matter of chronology, but from how things look, I highly doubt it. With the remaining episodes, they can at best end the Gaiden right where they finished the first season. And I’ll be honest, this is a bit of disappointing. I am still looking forward to learning some more information, and maybe, hopefully getting some answers to my questions. But there is a high possibility that the series might go downhill from now on.

Japanese Title: 訓練と嫉妬

Plot

Plot-wise… well, if you have seen the first season you already know what’s going to happen in half of the episode. I usually skip recap episodes, because I find it really boring to watch something I’ve already seen. However, I didn’t get that feeling throughout this particular episode, because they added some interesting aspects, some things that you didn’t see the last time around. These things would make a lot of sense to those who have seen the first season.

Seeing Bell and Hestia for the first time got me all excited. This is still the times when Bell is not very strong and is trying his best to get stronger. He is sort of in love with Aiz, or rather he is really looking up to her because she saved his life not once but a couple of times, and being offered to be trained by his favourite Aiz is just a dream come true. But then we get to see the same kind of reaction from Lefiya. The elf is thinking of Aiz in the same manner that Bell does, except maybe a bit stronger. After seeing Aiz and Bell together she pretty much loses her self-control and even her appearance seems to bother everyone in the dining hall. It is quite funny that she starts seeing Bell as an opponent, and even though she can’t keep up with Aiz she keeps demanding Aiz to give it her all. She has a strong sense of wanting to get stronger, and is afraid to be left behind.

Episode Highlights

Let’s talk about Aria. What is an Aria? We don’t know too much, but you can say that an Aria is practically a magician, at least that’s what I gathered from the vague explanations of the previous episode. However, we did find out a bit more about Aiz. For example that she was taken care of by the Loki Familia since she was still a kid. Then we were shown a scene where something happens to her parents. I don’t think they died, but maybe they were taken hostage by some power? It’s hard to tell. But it is a fact that something terrible happened to Aiz when she was still very young and she ended up in the care of Loki Familia. Makes you wonder what happened to make the cute and sweet Aiz into the airhead she is.

Themes & Trivia

This episode was about personal growth. Everybody is trying to improve themselves in any way they can. Bell is always in the dungeon and is now training with Aiz without even taking a break. Lefiya is also training with Aiz, and even with Filvis to a point when she’s passing out. And more importantly, Aiz, who is trying to find a way of getting stronger faster by observing Bell. It might not be the purest reason out there from offering him her help, but she realizes this and wants to help him with whatever she can. Aiz is just so sweet isn’t she? ♥

Filvis is also changing thanks to Lefiya. She starts opening up her heart and is getting closer to Lefiya little by little.

Comments

I have seen a lot of people saying that Sword Oratoria is a fail, and since I haven’t read the light novels I can’t really say compare the two. But I indeed agree that the season as a whole is pretty disappointing because of the lack of information. It would have probably also been a good idea to concentrate on Aiz only, rather than try to show things from Lefiya’s point of view. But I don’t want to judge the season and give it any ratings before all of the episodes have aired.

Till Next Time

The review is over! And so is the episode! But let’s get back to the last few moments of this episode. Aiz, Bell, and Hestia getting surrounded by unknown people. Smells like a fight, doesn’t it? Can’t really wait for the next episode to see what’s gonna happen next!

But anyway, I do hope that you enjoyed the review, and I hope you won’t start hating the franchise just because a season or two are not as good as you might have expected them to be. Danmachi is still an interesting story, and has a good potential (despite the fan service and the hints of harem).

Did you like Episode 9 of Sword Oratoria? Let us know in the comments below by using either the forum or the Facebook tab! Join us in our new forum and let’s talk about our favorite series! Also, don’t forget to check the rest of our episodic anime reviews for Spring 2017.

Also, don’t forget to check our list for the series we are going to cover in Summer 2017!

NEXT TIME: The boy and the Hero (少年と英雄)