After Rex attacks Chris, the Student Council seeks the suspect magically assaulting victims. Vermeil recognizes familiar mana at work.
Episode 5 – “Rampage”
Hmm.
Vermeil in Gold tried to rehabilitate Chris’s character with a flashback. Rex and Chris used to be dragon egg buddies when they were younger. That scene was supposed to make us think Rex still cares about her. But it makes her look worse to the audience. We saw Chris as a cute kid and then doing chores in an apron. But the only evidence in the episode to explain Chris’s sadistic behavior toward Rex was a throwaway line from the smug student council member, Shinouji. He said Chris likes to play rough with her toys. If Shinouji’s interpretation of Chris’s character is uncharitable, that makes him a terrible person. If he’s correct, that makes Chris the awful character! Either way, we’re spending a lot of screen time on people we shouldn’t care about. We’re here to see Vermeil’s boobs and Lilia’s quixotic attempts to separate Alto’s face from those boobs. The creators of Vermeil in Gold need to give us entertaining reasons to watch the scenes between Vermeil smothering Alto and Lilia complaining about it.
The revelation that Obsidian’s familiar was a demon was on a much better creative foundation. Obsidian is an ugly character too, so I don’t like seeing him if I don’t have to. But Vermeil in Gold built him up as a necessary character for plot development and Vermeil’s character development. It started early in the season with Obsidian as the authority on demon history and how much the academy students liked him. We learned relevant connections to Alto’s situation, and there was a foreshadowing of a heel-turn. Watching Obsidian meant that he would eventually confront Vermeil and her demonic nature. Plus, the betrayal of impressionable students’ expectations would need a satisfying catharsis when he met justice. The cliffhanger for this episode leaves doubt about who will administer Obsidian’s punishment. But we know Alto will grow closer to Vermeil by the end of that dramatic scene. Then we can get back to boob smothering!
Heh.
Aw. Look how cute Rex and Chris used to be! Then they formed a dragon biker gang and beat each other up. I don’t like how that story turned out.
Yay! More slice-of-life moments for Vermeil in Gold. Noted. Vermeil hates vegetables but loves sweets. We know where she stores all those calories. Alto can’t say no to that severe pout! Boob smothering! That is a lot of PDA. That’s how Vermeil reacted to Alto buying her one cupcake. Eat your heart out, guys! Draining mana in public is okay while kissing is not. But Vermeil drains mana by kissing! Tasty. Eh? What does that pipsqueak want? Oh, right. Rex went berserk and started stomping Chris!
I don’t get the magical world setting of Vermeil in Gold. How is a petroleum refinery on the grounds of a mage academy? I picked up from all the fights so far that each magic user can only use one form of elemental magic. Chris uses fire, Rex uses earth, Alto uses crystal, and the most recently comatose student uses ice magic. Rex’s blood vessels in his face look like they’re about to pop. Will we see a flashback of Obsidian poking Rex with a needle? But why does overdosing on mana make people violent? Couldn’t they also collapse and look at their hands make dirt for twelve hours? I suppose that’s more boring than growing rock spikes out of a shoulder.
Oh, joy. Perfect timing. Alto arrived right when Chris’s tears would have stopped Rex’s rampage. I don’t want to see Alto beat up Rex again. I like the rocky armor on Rex and Tyranosuke, but there’s no tension in this fight scene. We know Alto and Vermeil will win. I’m only looking for Vermeil in Gold to give clues to Obsidian’s magic doping. Aha! Good! The Student Council President made a splashy entrance! The story wants to make “Judgment Sword” a mystery on how it works. I see your game. Elena Kimberlight, punish me harder with your absolute justice! Vermeil recognizes something from Rex’s mana, but she keeps it to herself.
Ah. The allegedly impressive student council of Vermeil in Gold. The same one that ignored students’ injuries. Yeah, let’s trust their “absolute judgment.” Oh, they just now figured out someone else caused the incidents instead of the students’ mana running amok. I wouldn’t mind looking at characters who think they are competent but aren’t if they did more than sit around and talk. That type of writing makes me impatient. Good! Chris is impatient too! Ugh. Shinouji dismissed Chris’s past friendship with Rex. What a jerk. He needs a hypodermic needle in the neck next.
Lilia keeps Alto grounded on his studies. Stop letting loud dinosaur guys distract you! Hoh? Vermeil wants to investigate things on her own. She must have sensed demonic mana coming from Rex and Tyranosuke. Enough about that hussy! Thirsty Lilia hopes to study “this and that” alone with Alto! Oho. Vermeil in Gold did enough foreshadowing with Obsidian. Vermeil can call him out now! She can “smell” the low-tier demon he summoned as his familiar. This is proper plot development. Obsidian must have thought his demon was powerful, but then Vermeil called it “low-tier.” That piqued his interest! Ack! Bring on the mind break and drugs-themed doujins!
Oh, Lilia. Try your best! Alto doesn’t need tips on studying. He’s the best student in his grade! Good! I like the constant reminders in Vermeil in Gold that Vermeil’s contract with Alto is valid. She could break it at any time but chose to recognize it. I’ve watched too many Fate anime, though. I keep thinking Alto is about to use a Command. Oh, come on. Now the magic academy looks like a generic catholic school. Elena prays in the chapel to Mary the Magic-Insert-Goddess. Ha! Elena is yuri-powered! It’s a generic all-girl catholic school! The other student council members feel the demonic mana.
Aha. Obsidian uses paper doll magic. Shikigami use curses, so Obsidian’s magic doping looks particularly evil. We saw Vermeil in her goat-footed form in Vermeil in Gold’s first episode. How long will she look like that? Eh, the earlier version was much sexier. Ew. Obsidian evoked a black goo in his hand. Black as his obsidian heart! Cliffhanger!
Vermeil in Gold (Kinsou no Vermeil: Gakeppuchi Majutsushi wa Saikyou no Yakusai to Mahou Sekai wo Tsuki Susumu) streams weekly on Hidive in Japanese audio and English subtitles.
