English Dub Review: If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord “The Young Girl’s Wish”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Now that everything is back to normal, and Latina is being a big help to Rita who can’t work as much because of her advanced stage of pregnancy, something comes along to upset the applecart. That Elvin woman, Helmine, shows up at Kenneth and Rita’s pub. Latina has a bad feeling about her right away which is only exacerbated when the mage-adventurer teases her for being small.

This brings about a foul mood that Latina wallows in for more than half the episode. Dale wants to help, but the girl keeps her true emotions close to the vest. Also, she’s not too pleased with Dale since the reason for Helmine’s sudden appearance is so she can escort him on his next job. This mission is slated to take upwards of two months which massively depresses Latina.

The fire inside the young girl worsens as Helmine not only books a room at the pub, but also becomes super-familiar and jokey with a lot of the regulars. The Elvin woman knows many of these men from former missions, including Kenneth and the retired Jilvester. Instead of apologizing to Latina—which would likely fix everything immediately—Helmine doubles down on her indifference.

The bad times get worse when Latina learns school is coming to a permanent end and all her friends will soon be going their separate ways. Plus, later at the pub, Latina wants to talk to Kenneth about what’s truly bothering her—having small boobs. Kenneth is embarrassed and in no position to handle Latina’s insecurities, and after the girl calls Rita flat-chested, he sputters and says the secret to a big chest lies in… drinking milk.

The next day, Latina catches up with Rudy on the street. The two friends talk about what their group as a whole will be doing after school. Chloe plans to work a seamstress like her mom, while Sylvia dreams of becoming a traveling priestess. Marcel will join the family bakery, and Anthony is going to a higher-level school. Rudy himself plans to join the town guard because he secretly wants to become an adventurer to impress Latina. Plus, as a guardsman, he’ll have an excuse to visit her at the pub.

Anyway, Dale and Helmine eventually take off and Latina is lonely—for about two seconds. First, Rita and Kenneth have a baby son. Next, Vint, the soaring wolf puppy, comes to visit around the same time that annoying brat, Maya stops by with her father, Joseph. The two dog-like creatures do not get along and fight over the young girl’s affections.

After a few months, Dale returns home. Happy to see him, Latina decides it’s okay for her to stay young, at least for a little while.

 

Our Take

So nobody’s going to mention how Rita’s baby looks eerily similar to Dale Reki? I mean, sure, blonde hair is a recessive gene and Rita is a dark-haired sister, but the baby doesn’t really look like either of its parents. I’m just saying, if I were Kenneth, I’d have a question or two.

Anyway, so this was the finale. Will there be another season? The answer is unclear. However, it’s quite obvious the story is far from over. It feels like we were just getting started here, and now the rug has been pulled out from under us. Seriously, the show is called If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord, but we haven’t even seen Dale fight a demon lord, let alone defeat one.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy character and world building which is precisely what we got from these initial twelve episodes, but such development is usually followed by a rewarding payoff. If this series had received a proper 24-26 episode run, I predict we’d be in store for a lot more battle scenes—mixed in with the heartwarming moments that drive this program. But as is, everything feels unfinished. It’s clear that they are building to a huge revelation for Latina. The other demons likely ousted her out of fear. But why? What is so special about this girl? Now, we may never find out. Unless we read the manga or light novels this story was based on, but who has that kind of damn time?

I like how a somewhat-rare phantasmic beast just rolled into the bar and nobody reacted. These creatures are supposed to be roughly one million times more powerful than their mythical counterparts, and average people have to hire adventurers to deal with mythical beasts. Shouldn’t every adventurer in the club either be scared out of their wits or have big dollar signs in their eyes at the mere sight of this little guy? Plus, creatures like Maya and Joseph don’t show up in Kreuz everyday either.

The most poignant part of this episode by far was Helmine and Dale’s little heart-to-heart drinking session. As an Elfin-like lady, Helmine is doomed to a life where everyone she holds dear will likely die ions before her. That’s why her childhood romance with Dale never panned out, and why she’s a “hit it and quit it” type of girl to this day. Dale doesn’t want that kind of life for Latina, and yet he doesn’t want her to feel the pain of losing all her loved ones either. That’s one of the drawbacks of being a parent, Dale. There are plenty of problems you can’t solve even if you are father of the year