English Dub Review: Ulysses-Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight “Return of the Female Saint”

Return of the Saint! (Once again!) Return of the Saint! (Pump up the world!)

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Jeanne is still comatose from her heart being removed, so Alencon, Batard, and Astaroth go searching for the fabled blade of Excalibur…as you do. They end up stumbling upon a group of fairies who lead them to the scabbard, but it’s been stolen by Thomas Mallory, another male historical figure turned cute girl, and being from Wales, making her a British ally. Through some convoluted diversions, they manage to get the scabbard away from Thomas, though her search party soon surrounds them. Alencon sacrifices himself so Batard and Astaroth can escape, but is rescued by a recently returned Richemont, who comforts him by nestling his head right between her chest.

Astaroth informs Montmorency of the news as he returns with his new troops, but they are cut off at the pass by La Tremoille and his own forces. This is also stopped by an arriving Richemont and Alencon, along with their own personal army, allowing Montmorency to pass safely into Orleans to give Jeanne the scabbard to heal her, along with a kiss to wake her up because of course.

Ulysses Noire also recovers and reunites with Glasdale to prepare for the next battle.

OUR TAKE

Well, that takes care of that, I guess. Jeanne’s back to full health and now they have another kinda-sorta Philosopher’s Stone, basically putting us right back at the square one we were at just a few episodes ago. Sure, we also have two thousand new troops that seem to be turning the tide of battle, but it still oddly feels like very little has been accomplished.

We did get some extra time with the supporting cast, but their banter is pretty stale when all of Alencon’s lines are either being a preppy boy or jealous brother, while Batard is the whimpering cross-dresser. Plus, the quest for the scabbard is over pretty quickly, with them running into a new enemy who disappears just like that, followed by the sudden reappearance of Richemont, who I guess is just…over everything she was upset about last time we saw her. This is starting to get a whiff of “sudden left turn into anime original ending”, which I’ve come to notice begins happening around the last third of a twelve episode adaptation anime that is understandably certain it isn’t going to be getting a second season.

What else is there…well, we do kinda get a glimpse of how possibly inhuman Montmorency can get if he’s made angry, which might be what Nicholas Flamel was hinting at in regards to him becoming the one to start the apocalypse. Though if getting a little pissed off was enough to end the world, New York highways would be an open portal to hell by now (hey-yooooo), so there’s probably something else going on in regards to that. Whatever it is, it will likely involve all the Philosopher Stone’s and their wielders, so that may be how Ulysses Noire makes her own grand sacrifice and redemption.

I can’t really put my finger down about why this episode feels so much more uneventful than the last few, but it’s a feeling I just can’t shake. This did feel a lot like a recovery of sorts, and did result in a lot more pluses than minuses for the main group’s armies, so it’s not like NOTHING happened, but most of it just sort of seemed to come in out of nowhere. Hopefully the last batch will give us a steady landing, even if there isn’t much of a show left to land by this point. At least we have a week off to think about that!