English Dub Review: The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System “Fang of Smoldering Insanity”

Overview

Elymas goes shopping for a skillbook only to discover they’re prohibitively expensive.



Our Take

Picking up from the previous episode, Elymas continues his search for a powerful skillbook, only to discover that they are heavily restricted and prohibitively expensive. His search leads him to a black-market shop where he finds exactly what he needs, but the staggering price forces him to consider another way of earning the money. That opportunity arrives when he encounters Luce, an adventurer who has been mistreated and discarded by her own party. Recognizing the potential of her unusual skills, Elymas quickly realizes that she could be the ally he needs.

Unfortunately, the episode’s biggest problem remains its pacing. While it finally introduces Luce and expands on the skillbook system, much of the runtime is spent repeating scenes, recapping events that happened only moments earlier, and stretching out otherwise simple interactions. This makes what should have been an important turning point feel unnecessarily drawn out, with the excessive repetition overshadowing the actual progression. The story itself remains interesting, but the direction continues to make it harder to appreciate.

Overall, Episode 5 finally introduces a character who could have a major impact on Elymas’s journey, while also setting up some intriguing possibilities for how he can overcome his current obstacles. Despite the painfully slow presentation, the underlying story is still entertaining enough to keep things moving, and Luce’s arrival gives the series some much-needed momentum. Hopefully, the next episode can build on that momentum without taking the long way around.