In the Land of Leadale

Episode 9

I've been pretty harsh on In the Land of Leadale for the majority of its run, and a lot of that comes down to the show's identity crisis. Leadale can't seem to decide if it wants to be a compelling mystery or just a really basic escapist power fantasy; it's hard to tell whether the plot is hinting at darker implications or just having everything sort of be up in the air, and Cayna is a protagonist that comes across as stubbornly unlikable in one moment and compassionate and understanding in the next. When Leadale tries to juggle more than one of these elements, everything clashes in a way that I don't think the show necessarily means them to. However, I would argue that this episode is one of the few that handles the transition from light to heavy rather well.

While it probably could've been condensed, the first half of the episode where Cayna revisits the town that she originally woke up in and follows up on her promise to the little girl at the inn is undeniably heartwarming. When she meets up with one of the player characters from the last episode, I actually laughed at their somewhat awkward exchanges and the rest of the guard confusing them for a couple, and I liked how Cayna didn't have an over-the-top reaction to that implication for once. It was simple and cute, which is probably the best way that I can describe this entire episode. Then when we get to the end, the show manages to effectively set up a more somber, malicious tone with a cliffhanger that I would argue is better than the previous one where a literal giant event monster was summoned out of nowhere. Similar to how Cayna is portrayed in this episode, I like the more organic and gradual progression we're seeing here, and I hope that gets maintained throughout the show's final couple of episodes.

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In the Land of Leadale is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.