Rating: B
If there was any doubt after last episode that Shadow and his underlings would perfectly blend in with the established oddball crew, this episode should allay those concerns, at least in the case of Cid/Shadow. (The Seven Shadows don’t appear at all, nor does anyone else from Class 1.) And like last episode, Kazuma seems to be the one most in tune with what Shadow is actually doing.
That’s the big irony which forms the backbone of this episode. In his original isekai, Cid/Shadow acted with no more thought than what would seem cool and fitting for his very chunibyo aesthetic and self-narration, but his actions were always interpreted by others as being much more multilayered and mysterious. The grand joke here is that the exact same thing is happening in class 2. The most rational and brainy members of the whole class (Tanya and Demiurge) are convinced that there’s depth to Shadow and pooh-pooh Kazuma when Kazuma tries to insist otherwise, but Kazuma understands better than probably anyone what chunibyo looks like; sadly for all involved, people are so used to his ideas not being helpful that they can’t recognize that they should listen to him this time. (Especially after he spotted an individual last episode that no one else noticed!) Ainz also genuinely picks up on this (he showed in the movie that he clearly understands chunibyo behavior, and his immediate reaction to Shadow addressing him could be interpreted as disbelief that Shadow is obviously posing); he just doesn’t openly admit it because he – unlike Kazuma – has an image to maintain. Also not too surprising the Subaru also seems to be picking up on that, though it’s a bit odder that he doesn’t more openly back up Kazuma, since he does some posing himself.
The other irony here is that at least a few people people in this setting are recognizing Shadow’s behavior for what it is, when no one in his own setting does. Would not be surprised if this spins into a whole series of jokes going forward.
Compared to this, what’s advertised as the episode’s main focus – teaming students up to grow morning glories – is almost an afterthought. It does at least allow for the inter-series character interactions on which this series thrives, like Aura and Garfiel’s entirely differing philosophies bouncing off each other or Aura getting teamed up with possibly the worst possible group of the lot when it comes to growing things. Ram’s exchange with Tanya here about how to shirk doing anything is also amusing, and it’s interesting that Ram is the first one to pick up on Shadow’s presence this time. Also keep an eye on what Puck is doing in the background, as he seems to be hanging out with different individuals or groups at different times. (This trend actually started much earlier in the franchise, but since he doesn’t pop up every episode, we have to take what we can get on his appearances.)
In all, this makes for a solid but unspectacular episode.
USA Anime 