English Dub Review: Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious “This Lady Knight Is Too Doglike”

Overview

An army called the Roseguard Imperial Knights shows up to ask Seiya and the gang for help in defeating one of the Demon Lord’s forces. They follow him toward Olga Fortress where the attacks are taking place, only to run into Beel Bub — the fly demon responsible for massive casualties at the fortress. Beel Bub and his army of demonic flies pluck soldiers from the ground and drop them to their death below. Beel Bub tries to draw out Seiya with no luck, so he leaves. On the bloodied ground, Seiya and the gang meets Rosalie — captain of the Roseguard Imperial Knights. She leads them back to the fortress, where she gathers her top men to discuss battle strategies with Seiya. When Rosalie finds out that Seiya stood by and did nothing while her men were slaughtered, she accuses him of not being a true hero. They get into a physical scuffle, and Seiya leaves to go train in the Divine Realm while Rosalie seethes with hatred.

Back in the Divine Realm, Rista introduces Seiya to the Goddess of Archery, Mitis. Mitis agrees to train Seiya in archery, while Rista, Mash, and Elulu all regroup with Aria — who agrees to help Mash and Elulu bring out their inner power. Rista also discovers that Adenela has been plotting to kill Seiya, so she goes to warn him. Unfortunately, Adenela finds him. However, he purposely manipulates her by using his charm to subdue her anger.

Our Take

Gather ’round, kids! Today we’re going to talk about what is and isn’t feminism!

When Rosalie and Seiya get into their fight about how to go about saving the world, it was a great character moment that was ruined by archaic statements. Rosalie seems to be the first character who has called out Seiya on his very un-heroic attitude and actions, and Seiya counters this notion of what it means to be a hero by claiming that rushing in with no strategy and analysis of a situation is more likely to get people killed. It’s the first time we really see Seiya open up about how he defines heroism, but it’s ruined when he and Rosalie start physically fighting.

Rosalie goes to slap him, so Seiya blocks her and slaps her himself. Rista then goes on to say, “Seiya, in what kind of world is hitting a woman ever okay!?” and, “Is there no shred of feminism in this day and age!?” By stating that Seiya shouldn’t have hit her because she’s a girl, Rista simultaneously implies that women are weak, and that men shouldn’t be able to defend themselves. This is horrible ideology, and it’s exactly what feminism isn’t. The fact that characters can keep mischaracterizing feminism like this needs to stop. Men and women should be treated equally — that’s feminism.

Oh, lest we forget to talk about how disgusting it was that Seiya manipulated Adenela by leading her on instead of apologizing to her and treating her with decency. Adenela was such a cool character concept that they ruined by turning her into a bimbo for Seiya. Case in point, “The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Misogynistic.” Seiya shouldn’t continue to get away with his terrible behaviors just because he’s good at saving people. Overall, it’s getting really hard and unsatisfying to watch.