I dislike the trope where the hero goes into the guild and everybody learns too much about them because their conversation with the receptionist is overheard by everybody.

I always see that as shorthand for the rumor mill. Sure, it would be more realistic if people gradually put the pieces together:

“Hey, that Level 50 dungeon bounty isn’t available anymore…”

“Wait, those two just got promoted to D-rank…”

“Hold on, they just sold a MASSIVE crystal…”

But actually showing everyone independently connecting those dots would slow the story to a crawl, so I don’t mind the shortcut.

Also, from the end of the last episode, Ruche is already seeing stars when Elymas casually tells her they made 60 million from the dungeon. So when she later hears “10 million,” her reaction is basically: “Oh. Just a little more, I guess? Big numbers go brrrr.”

And speaking of easy and cliched writing, Malice is suddenly obsessed with Elymas?

Yeah, I agree that the anime really drops the ball here. Even the manga doesn’t handle it particularly well, but the anime gives you such a tiny glimpse of Malice’s motivations that she mostly just comes across as completely insane for no reason.

Then again, the head of the family disowning his own son and immediately taking Malice in practically on the spot at the class ceremony wasn’t exactly a decision overflowing with logic to begin with.

My understanding is that Malice came from a branch family and became obsessed with Elymas because he represented everything she wanted to be. Then, even after he gets disowned, she hears that he’s making a name for himself as an adventurer and suddenly develops this overwhelming need to prove she’s better than him… for reasons.

Honestly, it feels a little like the author went: “Okay, he’s been disowned, but now he’s just a newbie adventurer. We need some kind of ongoing consequence for the banishment… How about a weird obsessive rivalry? Yes, perfect!”

But again, this episode had a part that I really enjoyed, which was the negotiation with the shop owner.

Yes! I loved that scene. It really feels like the point where Ruche starts becoming her own character instead of just reacting to whatever Elymas does.

And it’s even better because all three characters actually behave like reasonable people. You don’t have Malice being malicious simply because the author apparently looked at her name and went, “Well, I guess I have to commit to the bit.” And you don’t have Ruche’s old party being absurdly oblivious about basic things like drop rates just so they have an excuse to treat her like garbage.

Everyone has understandable motivations, everyone negotiates, and Ruche gets to demonstrate that she’s learning and growing.

And that’s what makes this series so weird to me. It genuinely has moments where I’m like: “Wow, that’s actually really good writing.”

Immediately followed by: “…What the actual fuck is going on?”