High! This review on Plunderer Contains spoilers. If you have not seen the chapters, we recommend you do it and then return to read the review.
Chapter 19: Cheating
Chapter 19 of Plunderer It starts just like the last one ended. Jail, Lynn, Pele and Hina have returned to the present, and Nana is waiting for them to offer them a party full of food and alcohol, lots of alcohol. Travelers are still shocked by everything they've experienced on their journey to 300 years in the past, and the warm and frivolous welcome helps overwhelm them all the more. However, Nana knows well how to break the ice.
While everyone is having fun, Hina is sad that she was rejected by Licht before the party. Desperate, she decides to drown her sorrows in liquor, joining the party once and for all, to everyone's surprise. Everyone except Sonohara, who managed to escape Nana at the right time and avoid being forced to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol.
From one moment to the next the party takes on a sentimental nuance, with a drunken Hina claiming Licht her decision, and Jail trying to comfort Nana in her own way. In turn, they show Licht the diary of her friend who owns the bar, so that he realizes the damage he has done to her with his 300-year silence. In this way, intoxicated by alcohol, they take the first steps to heal centuries-old wounds of the heart.
For her part, Licht has been distant from Hina since the return of the temporary traveler, since the "Ace of Scintillating Strikes" hides a secret that may jeopardize the future that Hina has proposed to Rihito. "Your mother's name is Tsukina Farrow, right?"
Chapter 20: Rain
Chapter 20 begins with Licht talking about Hina's mother, Tsukina Farrow. To Hina's surprise, the "Ace" knows her mother's name, and not only that, but also her father's name, Sakai Tokikaze. Both human beings who were alive 300 years in the past, a time when Hina managed to meet her own father as a young man. "I am an enemy you should hate, not your hero."
As they chat, the effects of the drug Licht put on the drink begins to take effect, and his new friends begin to fall into a deep sleep. Hina is no exception, and falls asleep in front of a Licht who declares that he will go against the army on his own. However, Jail is unaffected, and begins to argue with the stubborn Licht, stopping then letting him go and leaving on his own as well.
Meanwhile, the "Special Services Unit", abbreviated as USE begins to attack the Alcia army, assassinated by big shots. The Supreme Commander Alexandrov Grigorovich finds out about this and decides to go to the king to find a solution. Meanwhile, Schmerman continues his plan to get Licht back, and sends Doan to stop him. The "Heavy Hitting Ace" manages to suppress Licht, and while receiving the coup de grace, the "Twinkling Hitting Ace" can only think of Hina.
Opinion of Chapter 19 of Plunderer
After a few episodes packed with important events and lots of information, we can finally relax with Chapter 19 of Plunderer full of Fan Service and lots of comedy. Of course, we also witness the evolution that the relationship between the characters has had, mainly between those born in Alcia with those of the past era. They are no longer the acquaintances who, by chance, have joined forces, but the great companions who trained together and therefore will fight together.
The technical aspect of the episode seemed perfect to me. It may sound a little flexible with respect to other installments of the series, but at this point I appreciate the consistency in the quality of the animation with respect to the last two episodes. Mainly it is nice not to see deformed faces or bodies, which is expected, since in an episode full of Fan Service like this, the work with the characters on a body level has to be very good. Let's dig deeper into Chapter 19 of Plunderer.
I just cheated on you a little
I hope I'm not mistaken in saying that everyone here remembers our first love. But I am not referring to that lived in adolescence, but to that of when we were children. An attraction, perhaps guided by admiration, by a great understanding or by any other emotional phenomenon, but we cannot deny that it was pure and devoid of bad intentions. Perhaps the closest thing we've ever seen in fairy tales.
In this regard, Nana's story was always very sad. She lived her entire life locked up, with little interaction with other people, away from external stimuli that help us mature. Considering this, her infatuation with Rihito was inevitable, as he was the first person to treat her as the girl she was. Unlike most of us, Nana's childhood love survived the decades, always waiting for the opportunity to open up to the person that mattered most to her in the world.
However, he suffered a severe blow when he found a Rihito destroyed by war. Being unable to help the person he cares about most was painful, perhaps thinking that she herself was not enough for him. She wanted to be enough, she wanted to be necessary for that being who did so much good to herself. She saw how with each day, with each decade that passed, the gap between her and Licht grew more and more. I could not do anything.
Perhaps this process is well known to people who are old enough; suffering is part of growing. However, let's remember that Nana still lived with that childhood illusion, with that strong innocent infatuation fueling decades of expectations. I don't think I can fully understand that kind of disappointment the girl experienced, although just imagining it I feel like I wouldn't survive it. But chapter 19 of Plunderer manages to end Nana's suffering.
Nana had to walk this path on her own, but upon meeting Jail and the others, she managed to find someone to lean on. It may not have been part of his plan, but the trip to the past ended up saving her too. It may be too early to say, but soon he will be able to see the future. A young 300-year-old girl can go on a great journey in search of her own happiness. Perhaps alone, with a stubborn young man with glasses, or with Licht, now that he has managed to open up with him, and his future with Hina is hanging by a thread.
I want to be sure
Licht has had a long life. Saying 300 years of life is not a small thing, although the vast majority of these lived in a deep depression, right? When Hina traveled to the past she did not waste a second of time to be next to Rihito. While the golden rule of any time traveler is not to stand out or interact too much, Hina was worth a cucumber and showed Rihito how much she valued him. This would obviously look totally out of context from the young pervert's point of view.
Still, Hina's pure personality always manages to have some effect on people. The girl was always good to him, and concerned about his well-being, as well as being a great training partner. In this way, after years and centuries, a Licht destroyed by war would still have the memories of a pretty blue-haired girl who was his light during his training as a soldier. A memory that kept a part of his cold heart still warm. Can you imagine where I want to go?
Honestly, the anime by now has already surpassed what I know about the manga, so I don't know if it's following the original story, or they want to give the anime a unique ending. Who knows, confirm it in the comments without too many spoilers. With that said, I think the end of Chapter 19 of Plunderer it introduces a twist in a very predictable way, which has to do with the relationship between Licht and Hina.
Just imagine this situation. An imperative Licht makes his classic escapes from Nana to avoid being reprimanded for mischief. In this adventure, he finds a beautiful young woman with blue hair in trouble and saves her with his powers. This young woman brings him great nostalgia since it reminds him of someone who was very kind to him. Instantly he falls in love with the woman, and together they experience an intense but short romance.
Licht still struggles with his demons, and his young lover offers to help him with such a heavy burden. The "Ace" does not want, he must be the one who carries everything so that no one has to suffer. That is their job. Eventually, he breaks off the relationship with the blue-haired woman, thinking that she will be better off without him. However, she is not alone: a small seed grows inside her, the product of such ephemeral love, and the only thing that can save the stubborn Rihito from darkness.
The health is first
We cannot deny that the anime industry largely survives on the Fan Service that various authors include in their works. For his part, Plunderer He is a great exponent of the subgenus called ecchi, which is characterized by showing half-naked female bodies and sometimes in suggestive positions, to the delight of his viewers. A peculiarity that is not without controversy, especially when this genre is played by minors; sometimes very minor.
Chapter 19 of Plunderer picks up Lynn's recurring joke accusing her of being overweight; a sequence that could be considered purely ecchi. I am going to take the opportunity to do a social service, and incidentally defend my beloved Lynn from so much mistreatment suffered by her peers: Lynn is right, all women have a little "extra meat" in their abdomen. It is in fact the ideal if we talk about health.
This reminds me of the controversy that starred in the anime of Boku no Hero Academiawhere they did not respect the feminine designs of Horikoshi Kōhei. In the author's words, he wanted to reproduce real female bodies, where having a little extra fat is the norm. On the contrary, the bodies of the UA girls in the anime are represented with an extremely slim figure.
The idealization of the body figure has always been for commercial reasons, and is not an exclusive resource of anime. Be that as it may, it is an element that does more harm than good to the masses, since many people have put their health at risk to achieve an ideal that is virtually impossible. It is a pity that this message Horikoshi Kōhei He wanted to transmit that he would only stay in manga, whose medium is still niche.
Take care of your health, do not put yourself at risk just to achieve an ideal. Be like Lynn, don't be like Nana. Also, how do you manage to maintain such a figure if you consume so much alcohol? It is unreal. Consequence of being an "Ace"? Sonohara is also an "Ace", and Hina is perhaps ...
Opinion of Chapter 20 of Plunderer
The grace period for our protagonists has ended, and now chapter 20 of Plunderer has begun to develop what appears to be the last arc. The efforts of Jail, Lynn, Pele and Hina do not seem to have any effect on the stubborn Licht, who as always has decided to leave them behind to fight alone. However, these will not sit idly by so easily, so they will follow you wherever you go.
They also show us that Alcia's own army has other enemies besides the swift Licht, as Schmerman has begun preparations to obtain the “Original Ballot” that the army controls. Alcia needs the votes that allow its existence to be re-approved, however both factions want to be the ones to carry out the process. Could it be that Schmerman has other different plans with the “Original Ballot”?
I only know how to peel alone
All the work that Jail, Lynn, Pele and Hina have done has seemed insufficient to save Licht's heart. What's more, narrowing their relationship further has made the desire to protect from the “Ace” even more, as mentioned by Schmerman in chapter 20 of Plunderer. Licht has been like this since the attack on the school, and an idea embodied for 300 years will not be easy to eradicate. However, the "Ace" only does what it has done for so many years, it knows no other method.
Rihito has always fought alone. During the war he struggled in solo battles to protect his companions from the killing experience. He has no idea about fighting side by side with a partner. It is natural for him to let go of his loved ones and risk his life on his own. However, now no one will sit around waiting for him like class A. He is not as alone as he thinks.
Jail and the rest must show him that the burden he bears becomes less overwhelming when shared. They must make him understand that the pain he caused his companions was not less than the pain they would suffer if he had allowed them to fight at his side. That he didn't hurt them, that he didn't kill Tokikaze for getting close to him, but for walking away, as he always has. They must clarify that it has been wrong for 300 years, but that it is not too late to make amends.
Now Licht is in a big bind. Doan has surprised him and pinned him down. I hope this fight shows Licht that he will have to rely on the strength of others if he wants to have a happy ending for everyone. Perhaps the stray Sonohara will make an appearance saving Licht's life, and forcing Licht to accept his assistance to fight Doan. Or, it is Doan himself who rebukes him and gets him out of his big mistake.
Alcia's most powerful human
Alcia is a kingdom, and as such has a King. On Jail and co's journey into the past, the details of Alcia's creation were given using the Althing and the “Original Ballot,” but little importance was given to the Ray's position. How is the King of Alcia chosen? To be honest, I always believed that the King was Schmerman, since he was the highest ranking military man who participated in the Alcia project. But apparently it is not so.
Alcia hold “Legendary Aces” in positions of great importance, such as Alexandrov Grigorovich in the position of Supreme Commander, in addition to Schmerman as leader of the USE. Being over 300 years old must have endowed them with a lot of experience and wisdom, so why does Grigorovich want to go to the King to solve the faction war problem? Why are you so loyal to him?
He was able to think of two possible scenarios. First, it is that the King in turn of the Alcia enjoys special powers, products of votes made by the “Original Ballot”, so his criteria would be much more valuable than that of a three-hundredth anniversary like Grigorovich. Second, that the king is another "Legendary Ace", or a human who also lived through the events of 300 years ago. Be that as it may, he seems to be an important character.
There could well be a third option, that the King simply be an ordinary person, descended from the person chosen to be the first King of Alcia, to whom Grigorovich swore allegiance. However, it doesn't quite convince me, since I can't imagine the previous captain Alan having a blind loyalty to a person. Personally I opt for the second option, which is perhaps related to the origin of Hina.
The strange case of the childhood friend
As you may have noticed, I epically erred in my predictions in the opinion of the previous chapter. Normally I don't like to write double reviews, because things like this can happen, but it is not always possible for me to publish weekly. An apology for that. In previous paragraphs he had suggested the possibility that Hina was Licht's daughter, but she turned out to be Tokikaze's daughter. However if you think about it, it doesn't make much sense.
According to chapter 20 of PlundererHina's "Original Ballot" was stolen five years ago from USE. It is very implicitly said that the perpetrator of the robbery was Hina's mother, Tsukina Farrow. It is here where many doubts arise. How is it that Tsukima managed to live so long? Did you undergo an intervention similar to that carried out to create "Aces"? According to Hina, she and her mother traveled together before being taken to the "Abyss" five years ago, so she had to infiltrate the USE to steal the "Original Ballot". How did she do it?
On the other hand, Hina is 16 years old, five years before she was 11, but her father allegedly died 300 years ago, how is it possible that she is his father then? Frozen sperm? Embryos? This possibility never occurred to me because, because of all these questions, I never considered it possible. However, perhaps there are more secrets than Plunderer He did not want to tell us. Next I will relate my theory.
Hina's blood
The first thing we have to consider is that Tokikaze's death was never confirmed. If this were so, explaining Hina's birth would be complicated, so I propose that Tokikaze managed to save himself from Rihito's attack. How? With the help of the Althing. The wound he suffered clearly was fatal, so saving his life would be impossible for a human being. So I think a unanimous vote was used to save Tokikaze, and make him the King of Alcia.
This process should have given him even more power than he had, but it also chained him. Recall that he did not agree with the creation of Alcia. This would explain how Grigorovich is so confident in the King's judgment, or because the situation warrants seeing him. Tokikaze then, has been ruling Alcia for these 300 years, perhaps alongside Tsukina. But he couldn't be still for long.
Together with his wife, and perhaps Grigorovich, they devised a plan to change Alcia's fate. Maybe destroy it, or change it. Tsukina had to flee along with a little Hina to steal an “USE Original Ballot” and prevent or delay the renewal of Althing's vows. The woman was also on a mission to find her old friend Rihito to support them in the plan, but perhaps she exhausted all her "Count" in the process of stealing the artifact.
Well, I think it is a good hypothesis attempt, however, it is very tricky. The problem with the theory lies in the circumstances of Hina's birth. Would his birth have a goal for the plan? Will he have brothers? 300 years in marriage, and having a single child 284 years later doesn't sound very logical. Fertility problems perhaps? This turn of events that chapter 20 of Plunderer leaves more questions than answers.
Conclusions
The end of Plunderer is coming, and chapters 19 and 20 introduce us to what will be the last battle for the future of humanity. As good introductory episodes gave rise to several theories, so I included a couple of them (one completely shot down immediately). On the other hand, this pair of episodes have been very to my liking, mainly chapter 19 which was very emotional. I look forward to Licht's long-awaited fight against Doan, also awaiting the participation of Sonohara.
As I mentioned before, at this point I don't know how much is adapting from the original manga to anime, or even if they continue to have the same course of events. I'll have to do my homework and hurry up with the manga. It is not very pleasant to suffer so many spoilers with the anime, especially when it makes significant changes. Anyway, what did you think about chapters 19 and 20 of Plunderer?
