What the hell is going on here, exactly? Read more The post Helck � 24 (End) and Series Review appeared first on Lost in Anime.
Well, that was a thing.� This was kind of a classic good news, bad news scenario.� We got easily the best episode of Helck� since before the flashback arc started.� But we got nothing at the end of it except credits and a retrospective outro.� Manga readers have made it very clear that the anime couldn�t possibly finish in two cours � that was no news.� But I expected something at the end.� An announcement, an anime-original ending, anything � some attempt to provide a bit of closure to the finale.� Instead, in almost Gangsta fashion (and that had an excuse, the studio ceased to exist) it just stopped.
I have no idea where we go from here.� I think it�s pretty likely that there will be no third cour unless it was greenlit in advance � and if so, why not announce it here?� The weird thing is, what was the plan exactly?� I can�t say I expected Helck to be a big commercial success.� And this adaptation was certainly in no hurry � it took its time like it knew it had time to spare.� But maybe the decision was made that there was no way to reasonably adapt the whole story in two cours anyway, so they might as well fully adapt a smaller chunk of it.� That�s an odd approach to adapting a long-finished manga though, that�s for sure.
I guess it�s better to go out on a high, though that just makes the way this ended that much more frustrating.� This was a very good episode indeed, especially if you�re a Vermilio fan.� It�s a showdown between Anne and Helck and Rafeed, and the latter has a very specific plan in mind.� He�s going to sic Alicia on Helck � not with any illusions that she can defeat him, but so that he�ll forced to kill her and finally succumb to despair.� And in the process give himself over to rage and turn into a berserker, more or less neutralizing himself as a threat.
It�s kind of funny to head Rafeed selling himself to Vermilio as looking out for Helck and trying to give him peace.� What a crock � this guy is as full of shit as any anime character this season.� He claims to know Helck better than Vermilio (certainly longer), but he�s underselling the �gentle giant�.� Among Helck�s many remarkable qualities is a seemingly limitless capacity for suffering � he can handle despair with the best of them without losing himself.� And he�s prepared to do what it takes, even if Alicia is (as Rafeed suggests) �the woman he loves�.
Ironically Rafeed�s diatribe gives Vermilio a long-overdue flash of insight.� She�s been rather selfish with Helck, really � though his eternal selflessness makes that easy.� Helck may be on the demon side now, but he�s a human being.� It�s not really fair to rely on him to save her kingdom by destroying everyone he ever loved.� The alternative seems hopeless � to try and save people pretty much everyone is in agreement can�t be saved.� But if Anne really is Helck�s friend � and I think we can say at this point she is � doesn�t he deserve her help in trying?
And there it ends, pretty much.� A plan is hatched to head to Castle Shin and possibly reunite with Azudora, and the war continues, but for Helck it carries a new sense of purpose.� There�s also an intriguing little nugget about Piwi not being a bird, which surely leads somewhere (and oddly, that green-haired messenger was very Piwi-like).� I guess at this point we have to call� this a read the manga ending (from Chapter 71, for the record) � more anime can�t be ruled out, but I certainly wouldn�t wait around for it.� A shame, really � Helck is no masterpiece and the pacing has been pretty wonky, but the core premise and characters are very engaging.� However unlikely it seems, I�d sure like to see the adaptation get the chance to finish telling its story.
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