Review EP 6: Earth Gets Excited Over a New Dragon

The episode opens from Taichi’s perspective as he sits in front of his computer, completing the Second Round of Player Registrations. A subtle reminder that this is not another reincarnation into another world story. This is video game escapism. Earth, Taichi’s game character, meets with fellow players and shyly wishes for more anonymity after defeating the fairy queen. One More Free Life Online announces a new randomized dungeon crawl event. Earth begins preparing for the new dungeon.

To prepare for the new dungeon, Earth creates a small arm shield to increase his close combat capabilities. Thus, the video game grind begins again for Earth. He builds the shield, practices with the shield, upgrades the shield in the blacksmith’s shop, and practices with the shield again. The audience, for the second time in this episode, is pulled from the VRMO world as we wait patiently with Taichi for the new content download to be completed.

Earth is greeted at the entrance of the new dungeon by the Sentai Rangers. The Gang of Six Rangers is currently down to five members because the black ranger is sick with a stomach bug. These players are committed to the cheesy ranger stick, fighting in formation, calling out the name of special attacks, and posing for every line of dialogue. Earth sees the value of teamwork and accepts the offer. Of course, Earth’s wisdom and higher stats protect the team from ultimate ruin.

At the end of the dungeon, like clockwork, the show switches to the happy married couple routine as the fairy queen pops back into Earth’s life. The Fairy Queen has decided on her husband, and everyone accepts this as fact except Earth. She complains about work and seeks comfort in the arms of Earth.

This slice-of-life anime continues to engage the audience. Like any online video game, online events give the characters new goals, friends, and enemies to progress the story. However, the best bait for continued viewership is the mystery of the Fairy Queen. She doesn’t sound like an NPC, which is not jarring considering how the Sentai Rangers remained in character throughout the episode. The Queen, however, doesn’t always sound like a natural person either, and the sinister boardroom scene at the end of the fairy tournament looms over the whole series. This gives the impression of a larger story at play with the Fairy Queen and the creators of this game. This is an excellent time to mention this is an anime-only review. I hope they flesh this mystery out before the end of the series. 4/5.