English Dub Review: The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar “Valkyrie’s Day Off”

“Look, Mr. Monkey, I’m naked!”

The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar has always been immature, but this episode catapults the series into new territory. Instead of a silly fantasy story, I feel like I just watched live footage from a fetish orgy. They say nothing can shock viewers in 2018, but let me tell you, this episode was plenty shocking.

Overview (Spoilers!)

Using more cheat knowledge from his smartphone, Yuuto attempts to blow glass. He’s bad at it. Ingrid is better, but she’s distracted and flustered by her proximity to Yuuto.

A guy named Jorgen—He’s apparently one of Yuuto’s advisors now? But he just kind of appeared out of nowhere? I have never seen him before on this show in my life?—advises the gaggle of female characters to plan a vacation for Yuuto, so that their patriarch can rest after all he’s done for the Wolf Clan.

Sounds nice, right? Except the girls all view this trip as an opportunity to touch Yuuto as much as possible, whether he wants them to or not. Also, remember Yuuto’s slaves? Who knows what happened to the mother, but the young daughter Epheria is told to go to the hot springs too, because Yuuto has apparently “taken a liking to her” and wants her around more. Super creepy.

Anyway, the hot springs trip goes about as well as you’d expect from a skeezy-as-hell anime. Everyone insists on bathing nude with Yuuto, everyone insists on washing his body, and some of them insist on doing it in… unusual ways. Notably, Felicia washes Yuuto’s back with her boobs, and Run sucks on Yuuto’s toes. It’s not exactly the stuff of my fantasies. I guess some foot fetishists out there are watching this show, and they appreciate the representation.

The next morning, Yuuto performs a chalice oath to swear Chris and Al into the Wolf Clan. Back home, Ingrid forges a beautiful new katana for Run, but Run throws a tantrum because Yuuto didn’t make it for her. Fortunately, after her old katana got washed downstream, it turned up in some market, so Yuuto is able to return it to her.

After Epheria accidentally spills water on Yuuto, Yuuto offers her dessert instead of screaming at her, so Epheria praises him for his monumental kindness. Also, the Wolf Clan is making a fortune selling glass. Yuuto proposes that they use the proceeds to set up free compulsory education for the Wolf Clan’s children. Felicia has a brief, confusing flashback.

Our Take

There was some nice animation in the glass blowing segment.

Okay, now onto this episode’s flaws.

Yet again, “Valkyrie’s Day Off” is chock-full of characters praising the perfect Yuuto and giving themselves no credit whatsoever for their own achievements. Ingrid is much better than Yuuto at glass blowing and weaponsmithing—and Run is by far the superior warrior—but it’s Yuuto who gets praise and thanks and a vacation. Of course.

It’s obvious that this show is intended as a fantasy for teenage boys. Imagine if you, too, could go to a world where everyone loves and praises you, where you’re smarter than everyone else, where, even if you’re not as talented as others are, you’re the one who gets the credit for everything! And of course, all the girls are absolutely smitten with you. They’ll even tell you-you’re well-endowed!

But if this is some teenage boy’s fantasy, it certainly isn’t Yuuto’s. Throughout the entire hot springs scene, Yuuto is obviously and vocally uncomfortable with the girls’ actions—and despite his protests, they force themselves on him anyway. They check out his naked body. They touch him in a myriad of ways that could only be interpreted as sexual. I’ve never really enjoyed any anime fanservice, but this is worse than most—it’s fanservice that throws the idea of consent out the window. Yuuto is not having fun here. Yuuto is gritting his teeth and bearing sexual harassment because he feels like he has no other choice. Why am I supposed to find this sexy again?

The best thing that can be said about the fanservice scene is that it’s funny. I’m forced to sit through the objectification of countless girls’ bodies, but I’m so shocked and horrified by Felicia and Run’s actions that I think I’ll remember them for a long time. I might even tell my friends about it.

And at least Epheria isn’t involved in the orgy. At least this show allows a literal child character the dignity of not getting involved in that. But, uh… how old are Chris and Al again? They look and act like young children. Please don’t put them in sexual situations.

Fanservice aside (if such a thing can really be put aside when talking about this episode), the beginning of “Valkyrie’s Day Off” is just boring. Characters chatter and run around. It’s like listening in on real people chilling in a hot spring—there’s no plot, and it isn’t very meaningful or interesting.

The scenes that come afterward have no connection to each other whatsoever. I hate Run’s ingratitude—turning her nose at Ingrid’s master craftsmanship just because she has a crush on Yuuto—and how her obsession with her specific katana comes out of absolutely nowhere. The education scene is okay, I guess—it’s the best idea Yuuto has had in the whole show. I just wish it were more interesting to watch.

Of course, this episode also suffers from the classic TMOR&BOE trope of introducing characters we’ve never seen before and immediately demanding we care about them. Why should I be invested in Ingrid’s feelings for Yuuto when I haven’t seen her since episode one? I’m glad she’s back because her snarky attitude is more tolerable than watching other characters suck up to Yuuto, but where has Ingrid been for five episodes? Also, who the hell is Jorgen? Also, I completely forgot who Epheria was. It wasn’t until almost halfway through the episode when she says she’s a slave, that I finally remembered.

Speaking of slavery—what? I can’t believe that a show made in 2018 is trying to pass off Yuuto as magnanimous and kind because he treats his slaves well. Are we really supposed to think highly of him when he owns slaves in the first place? What’s the point of Epheria’s character? Why do I have to sit through Yuuto basking in praise because he’s a “good slave owner”? I thought we all agreed slavery was a bad idea, but I guess the creators of this show aren’t there yet.

All and all, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar has always been badly-written, but at this point, it’s barely written at all. The plot is sacrificed in the name of breasts, and maybe that’s okay in the bedroom, but it’s certainly not how I like my anime.