I want to start off by saying there might have been some confusion on my part on how Leon’s father’s name is translated.  According to the english version its German whereas in the Japanese its Herman.  Moving forward I will be using German.

The slight recap here works pretty well.  Less than a minute and we jump right into the confrontation between Bernardo and German.  I enjoyed this fight quite a bit because we get used to what a like of shonen series do–  talk during fights.  The sepia-toned flashbacks that pick up after Anna and German run away from the king’s knights we see a young Bernardo fall to defeat.  I’d imagined this would be how he had fallen under Mendoza’s plans.  He sees the truth through the dying village woman and with so much death around him its no wonder he loses himself.  However, I did not expect Mendoza to suddenly show up [too convenient] and purge him of his humanity creating the Horror inside of him.

“We’re fools” is ultimately the line that changes Bernardo but I like what happens here where a grieving German speaks of him as an idiot for succumbing to such evils.  A Makai Knight turned Horror.  Honor is replaced by naivety, hatred and fear.  Bernardo’s Makai form and the battle that ensues had wonderfully drawn angles!  The CG was much better than the previous episodes and I can see why.  This first half has been dedicated to a father training his son with a duty to eliminate evil throughout a kingdom and reaching the climax here with two old friends battling it out to the death.  Awesome.  This series just keeps getting more solid each week and its a shame I haven’t caught up with these episodes until now.

Finally it’s about time Leon and Alfonso confront Mendoza but what’s this?  A giant Horror being summoned with magic.  Whoa.  The sacrifices of humans plays a large role with the pent up hatred Mendoza has had all these years and we finally get to see it unravel!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 8/10

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