English Dub Review: The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash “To Travel Beyond Imagination”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Ivy adjusts to life in the village, but is attacked by associates of the thugs who tried to hassle her before, though she’s saved by Ciel. It also turns out there was a bounty on the thugs, so Ivy gets a big payment she puts in a bank. Ivy also learns that things in her old village have only gotten worse, as well as revealing that the reason the kind fortuneteller died is because the village head didn’t want to share attention and then blamed Ivy because she had zero stars. Ivy decides to leave this village, with the guards chatting about how they know she’s the girl that’s on the run, but trust her to figure things out.

OUR TAKE

I guess that wraps up the Latome Village arc, for whatever that’s worth, and brings us to the halfway point of the show, which also doesn’t seem like it has accomplished much. Like with last episode, there is most definitely some tangible progression, though to what end is unclear. Ivy make several friends during her stay in Latome, she finds out more details about what happened in her village and why, her helping and taming Ciel pays off in a later encounter like I thought it would, she made a lot of money and opened a bank account (which apparently exist in this world), and she moved onto the next leg of her journey. And yet the way these seemingly major developments are essentially tossed around rather lethargically, like they’re just checking stuff off a list. Several of these probably could’ve been combined or executed in more interesting ways. Doesn’t the village head have people looking for Ivy? Why not have the thugs be bounty hunters that cause a big scene or spring a trap in order to capture her, forcing not only Ciel, but the guards Ivy befriended to save her, showing that her genuine connections with both man and beasts have paid off?

Likewise, why are we learning that things have gone to hell in her old village through a random shopkeep? Why not have her run into someone from her village that she recognizes but has to keep her disguise from, because she doesn’t know who to trust from there? Then there’s tension as she tries to hold her cover, which is then made harder when she learns both the disarray her old home is in, as well as how her only ally died because of such petty reasons. Then, with the bounty hunter attack, that gives her reason enough to move on, fearing she may put more people in danger. Again, this show is clearly going for more a calm and peaceful vibe, so I’m not trying to ask it to be something it doesn’t want to be, but what it wants to be so far seems to be inefficient and bland. And keep in mind, we’re halfway through the series and we still have no idea where this is all heading. Whether it’s picking up more strange beasts, fighting more bad guys, or eventually confronting the village head and her old family, it’s all up in the air. Oh, and did you forget this was also an Isekai? I sure do until they randomly bring it up. Oh well, next time.