Shuumatsu no Izetta – 12 [END]
That’s all she wrote.
Well, it’s over now. Shuumatsu no Izetta has had its ups and its downs, but in the end this has been a mostly underwhelming run.
The Showdown
Sophie ain’t having any of this shit.
To round things off, Izetta and Sophie face off in a climactic battle during this finale. The spectacle of large objects being tossed around effortlessly that we first got in episode 3 makes a return, this time punctuated with occasional magical explosions thanks to the crystallization of mana stored in the respective witches’ magic stones. However, the conclusion of this showdown was rather lacking. We discover that Izetta’s plan is to rid the world of magic by sucking it all up into her stone and releasing it all at once as a gargantuan explosion to take down Sophia. This tactic would eliminate magical warfare entirely, bringing Finé one step closer to the peaceful world that she has promised to create. It’s a nice thought, but I found it hard to swallow that Izetta could actually suck up every last drop of mana from the ley lines. I already knew the magic stone was somewhat of a cheap plot device, but this is just on a completely different level. Additionally, there was no sense of closure between Izetta and Sophie. I figured there’d be some sort of reconciliation between the two, with Izetta convincing Sophie to finally let go of her grudge and pass on in peace this time. But instead they just blow each other up with giant magic bombs while the screen fades to white. Talk about weak.
The Rest
Izetta’s sacrifice.
There isn’t too much else of note for the rest of the episode. Seighart makes the ultimate sacrifice for his country to help get Finé to the conference, with a bit of karma at play when he hesitates at the sight of the young Germanian soldier who reminds him of Jonas. Atlanta is conveniently convinced by Izetta’s noble sacrifice to rid the world of magic and joins the allies in an assault against Germania, with the remainder of the war developing much like the way it did in our version of history. And Berkman escapes to Atlanta after somehow narrowly surviving his encounter with Captain Basler. But since all magic has allegedly been eliminated from the entire world, it’s not like his expertise on the subject will be of much use. So I question the point of this detail; it would have been more meaningful for him to have been gunned down by Basler for his traitorous ways, especially since the loyal Seighart didn’t make it out alive. But I digress. The show ends with a flash forward epilogue, in which we see that Izetta did survive the battle and is being taken care of by Lotte in Finé’s vacation home set in the forest where the two first met.
Extra Magic
So that’s it. Shuumatsu no Izetta started off with a lot of potential, and the first half of the season certainly showed a lot of promise. But during the second half, the show just got bogged down too much with drama about the history of the White Witch, and even went off the deep end by resurrecting said legendary witch. The lack of any real character development for either of the leads was also a glaring flaw that ate away at the show with each passing episode. Really, the only kind of development we got in this department was with Seighart and his dedication to Eylstadt. And that didn’t even last an episode. Not to mention, he’s just a side character. It’s really baffling how a show can create two very strong main characters at the onset, only to flounder so badly by letting them stagnate into flat, one-dimensional caricatures. No amount of yuri baiting can excuse this. But in any case, that’s what we get. So unfortunately I can’t say that I’d recommend prioritizing Shuumatsu no Izetta if you’re looking for something to watch.
6/10
Well ok.
About Sumairii
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
This is where they just met anti-climax head on and plumb gave up, and was the point I think I got most upset. Soophie, for all her build up, was dismissed with a plain, no your wrong! And that was it…well, magic rocks explosion, but that was always the window dressing, not the story.
Agreed. I kept waiting for them both to gain just a bit more depth, but they never quite got more developed than the images in the ED, and the dramatic song that went with it. It had some fun moments, but they didn’t really progress any further than that. One was dedicated, the other was the one dedicated to…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
It would be good if the Izetta Blurays contain any director/writer interviews that explain the plot choices and directions made – see how the creative minds justify themselves.
For example, Cross Ange’s director revealed in the bonus Bluray Interviews that:
– Ange was originally meant to have been the typical kindhearted, loving heroine whose goodness brought everyone else together. Bitchy Ange was opposed by most of the creative team, but the director and producer loved it because they found this personality for a MC so unique and unusual, a chance for true character growth.
– The cavity search in Ep 1’s ending was meant to emphasise how screwed Ange’s situation was. The director wanted to go all out, and refused any beating around the bush scenarios.
https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/5d90or/spoilers_cross_ange_director_interview/
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
That’s interesting about Cross Ange. I love the show, and I think that both of those comments totally get to what I thought was great about the show. If you make her more of a unsinkably good personality, I think the show loses a lot of the interest.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I finally caught up!
Wow, that was a lot of yuribaiting. More shows need to learn from Yuri on Ice when it comes to delivering…
Anyways, I share pretty much all your sentiments about the show. It had promise, but it ultimately ended up stagnating and getting lost in bad drama. I actually found myself more interested in some of the side characters because they actually went through a bit (like, a very small bit lol) of growth.
Not sure how I feel about them having Izetta survive but I’m stoked that the corgi did.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Using up all the prana like that will ensure it ends up like the world of Notes where humanity is slowly dying. 😛