English Dub Review: The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar “A Place to Call Home”

All good comedies end in a wedding!

Unfortunately, I’m laughing at this show, not with it.

Overview (Spoilers!)

Mitsuki hugs Yuuto and cries. Yuuto tries to call Felicia, but his number is apparently out of service. Loptr is furious at Sigyn for sending Yuuto away, because Loptr wanted kill him. The Panther and Lightning Clans both plan to attack the Wolf Clan… again. Felicia breaks the news of Yuuto’s disappearance to a horrified Run; Al bursts in and informs them of the impending war.

Yuuto needs to buy new clothes! Mitsuki picks out an expensive red shirt, but Yuuto favors… the on-sale black button-downs that are identical to the one he has on. Exhausted from shopping for under an hour, Yuuto ends up bickering with Mitsuki, but he offers to buy her a gift. Mitsuki insists that Yuuto pick something out for her and says she’ll treasure whatever he chooses. She admits that she wants a hair accessory, and they hold hands.

Despite her wounds, Run prepares to fight. Leafa agrees to summon Yuuto back to Yggdrasil. Linnea’s men inform her that Yuuto is dead, but she refuses to believe it. In our world, Yuuto and Mitsuki go flower-viewing. Mitsuki has cooked an extravagant lunch, but Yuuto insults her cooking. Offended, Mitsuki won’t let him eat unless she feeds him by hand.

Though he’s glad to be home, Yuuto worries about the Wolf Clan. Ingrid calls Mitsuki’s phone and allows Yuuto to speak to Felicia, who informs Yuuto that the Wolf Clan lost a major fort to the Panther and Lightning Clans. Felicia tells him that she respects whatever decision he makes—whether he decides to stay home or return to Yggdrasil.

Mitsuki realizes that Yuuto wants to go back and announces that she’s going to come with him. He refuses. She confesses her love for him, and Yuuto allows her to come under the condition that she marries him. Mitsuki says yes, and they kiss.

Yuuto parades through the streets of Yggdrasil to thunderous applause. Leafa introduces herself to Mitsuki. Run welcomes Yuuto home.

Our Take

 And so The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar comes to an end. Usually, episodes of this show leave me open-mouthed in horror, but this series finale is refreshingly mediocre. It’s certainly not brilliant, but it’s reasonably enjoyable and only made me cringe a couple times.

I’m glad that this episode turned its focus away from the war with the Lightning and Panther Clans (seriously, how many times can we watch the same fight over and over?) in favor of following Yuuto and Mitsuki as they spend some time together. I actually think this show is most interesting when it explores our world rather than Yggdrasil, mostly because I enjoy Mitsuki’s fiery and aggressive spirit. (I felt so vindicated when she told Yuuto to stop being so dramatic.) And the idea that Yuuto has to readjust to modern life is pretty compelling—there’s a moment where he blinks at the mall around him and sees the markets of the Wolf Clan. Honestly, a whole show about a guy returning from a technologically unadvanced fantasy world and having to remember how to live a modern life sounds more interesting than what this show was.

Unfortunately, this scene also brings up a whole host of plot holes. Yuuto was apparently in Yggdrasil for three years. He mentions that Mitsuki has a family that will miss her if she goes to Yggdrasil, but we never learn what Yuuto’s family situation is, or even see where he lives in Japan. How does he still have money? Was it just lying around his room waiting for him to get back? Is Mitsuki really his only connection in Japan? Didn’t anyone—even his school—wonder where he went? I know I’ve brought this point up before, but I can’t get over it. The whole “teenage boy disappears and then abruptly returns three years later” aspect of this story is brushed over way too casually.

And, while I enjoy watching Yuuto and Mitsuki’s banter, I can’t help but think it’s obvious they’re not right for each other. Yuuto is quick to snap at Mitsuki, berating her for taking too long shopping, insulting her cooking, and calling her an idiot. Why is she in love with him? Their relationship seems to consist of Mitsuki showing him thoughtful attention and Yuuto responding with criticism. I can’t help but think Mitsuki would be better off with a guy who treats her better. I don’t quite believe Yuuto has feelings for her, because his actions don’t show it. When it comes to gender roles, their relationship is so stereotypical that it’s almost comical—Yuuto, who has led an army in battle for days on end, is exhausted after less than an hour of shopping. He doesn’t care what colors he wears, but Mitsuki likes picking out pretty clothes and cooking for her man. This isn’t bad, necessarily—it’s okay for men to hate shopping and women to like it. But it’s just so boring. It’s like the writers picked the first, most generic stock characters they could think of out of a hat. Nothing about Yuuto and Mitsuki makes me feel compelled to scream “OTP!” or “I ship it!” at them.

What’s that, you say? Did he buy her a hair accessory? Well, that would be a nice gesture, if it were true—but we never see the accessory. They have that whole conversation about Yuuto getting her a gift, and it’s genuinely sweet—Mitsuki says she’ll treasure it like a “family heirloom,” even if he gets her nothing more than a “ridiculous comb-over wig for parties.” But then we never actually see what we got her. Did the writers just forget?

On a different note, the animation in this episode is pretty uneven. Moments that should be emotional—like Yuuto and Mitsuki’s hug upon their first reunion—feel lifeless and cold because of rushed animation. But when Run heads out to battle, the twilight lighting on her and Felicia’s faces is actually rendered beautifully. Steinthor’s wound-clutching motions are clumsily animated, but the park that Mitsuki and Yuuto visit—complete with cherry blossoms, swan boats, and cute kids playing badminton—is charming and aesthetically pleasing.

More importantly, this series leaves me with a whole host of unanswered questions. What happened to Effie’s mom? If Felicia needs Leafa to summon Yuuto now, how did she do it the first time? Whatever happened to that other mirror in Yggdrasil everyone was so excited about? And, most importantly, WHAT HAPPENED TO RAGNORAK?! Possibly the most exciting development of this whole show—that Yuuto would turn into some kind of rampaging monster and destroy the very kingdom he worked so hard to improve—stopped mattering after the moment it was first mentioned. The writers never did anything with the connections drawn to Norse mythology, with the connection between Leafa and Mitsuki (why does it matter that they look alike?), with the concept of Ragnarok, which is in the name of the series. Speaking of which, the English name of this show is so long and hard to say and irrelevant to the plot of the show (when did Yuuto bless anyone?), and it has nothing to do with the Japanese title, either (which, according to Wikipedia, translates as The Well-Tempered High King and the Valkyrie of the Covenant, which makes a whole lot more sense).

I’m also really confused as to why Mitsuki is crying while she’s kissing Yuuto. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you cry during your first kiss with someone, that’s probably a bad sign, right? And it’s a little weird to see these teenagers getting married. Aren’t they like 16?

For all its faults, though, I will grudgingly accede that this show has likable characters. By the end, I was rooting for Run and Linnea and Leafa and those ridiculous twins. I just wish they had been created in the hands of a competent writer because this show could have been very compelling. Instead, it’s a badly-written, plot-hole-ridden, booby-obsessed series that’s sometimes boring and sometimes shockingly odd. But I do hope those girls wind up happy in the end.