Dog Days – 9

Really?  This was only the ninth episode?  It felt like the eleventh with all the characters gathering together, the dialogue between Millhiore and Leonmichelle regarding their friendship and these increasingly aggressive wars, and the arrival of a common threat for everyone.  Most anime save this to lead into their finale but we have three episodes left to go in Dog Days.

Most other anime that follow this pattern of storytelling wait until the very end to build up to their climax and show the savory part of the story.  They save these developments for the second to final episode where you’d figure, in the finale, that there’d be resolution and an even stronger friendship between the two princesses, the defeat of the new enemy, and that everyone would live happily together (except for Shinku returning home).  But there are three episodes left for Dog Days, not one, meaning we may see actual fighting scenes, character development, and closure instead of speeding through the finale like a student realizing there’s only 5 minutes left on their final exam.

Let’s not forget it is possible for the anime to quickly resolve these issues within one episode and leave the final two to having fun together and shipping Shinku off back to Earth.  However, there are three episodes left meaning Dog Days can take as much time as it wants to do as it sees fit.  Obviously there are many issues to solve between now and the finale but there will be ample time for the anime to spend adequate time on each subject and leave us with a fulfilling and enjoyable ending.

Hopefully you’re in the mood for a friendship-heavy theme for the ending since that’s what I see happening.  I believe that once Millhiore and Leonmichelle revive their friendship that the warriors and citizens of each nation will intermingle with each other for various peaceful, comedic, and let’s not forgot ecchi, scenes involving new friends.

Also, sometime between now and the finale, there will likely be some romantic conclusion between Shinku and Millhiore.  It seemed to be one of the weaker and low-priority aspects of the series until you we saw the rooftop date and morning walks together.  And even then the romance between the two leads felt underdeveloped.  Hopefully there won’t be any strong feelings between the two but you know there will be, even though the feeling never translated from the characters to the audience.  In fact, I picked up on a completely difference romance as the strongest in the series.

I felt more of a real connection between Shinku and Eclair which, in my eyes, seemed like the better relationship.  When Shinku was with Millhiore, he was formal, timid, and felt like a talking puppet.  With Eclair, he was active, alive, and more of the true nature we saw when he lived on Earth.  They seemed like a better match, to me and the ever-awesome Rolan, although they probably never saw it that way themselves.  Shinku saw Eclair as a playmate, one who’d test his strengths while Eclair saw Shinku as some baka rival who just happened to be a lucky fighter.  Personally, I’d like to see those two have some sort of real resolve with their relationship but I figure it will be glossed over as another comedy/ecchi scene for poor Eclair.

The tenth episode will likely be my favorite, due to the impending battles that will take place.  First, you have Bernard and Rolan, the two commanding knights of each nation, jousting and dueling near the marshlands.  We finally get to see Rolan show what he’s made of in a real fight which I have been patiently anticipating for nearly the entire season.  Elsewhere you have Gaul, Godwin, Noir, Jaune, and Vert who are likely to continue fighting near the fortress.  Their role in the story has significantly diminished but their skirmishes with the Biscotti army will still be entertaining.  Lastly, you’ve got the focus of the story on Leonmichelle, Millhiore, Shinku, Eclair, and Rouge, not to mention the approaching Brioche and Yukikaze, who will have their hands full with the emergence of a powerful demon.  I am expecting this fight to have the best choreography and animation of the entire series and be one of the most enjoyable scenes in the anime.  And hopefully with the weakened magic that we’ll see casualties and blood.  Oh, I can’t wait to see what the pinnacle of fighting is like in Dog Days.