Written by: Gabriel Castillo | Published on: January 19, 2021
Sorao and Toriko head back to the Otherside in hopes of finding more clues but things takes a bizarre turn as they discover an old village where something finds them...
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Summary
Sorao and Toriko return to the Otherside in search of an old supply shack previously used by Satsuki. While looking around, they stumble upon an old and seemingly abandoned rural village in a thick fog. As they search the village, Sorao and Toriko notice something strange. Will the two find something useful in the village? What is hiding in the fog?
Exploring the Otherside
A fair amount of exploration goes on in this episode. Sorao and Toriko carefully traverse the foreign land eventually encountering more than they bargained for. Their slower pace gives off an exploratory vibe which allows viewers to appreciate the Otherside and all its horrors a bit more. The large village effectively gives off a creepy and unsettling vibe topped with a thick and heavy fog that should scare normal adventurers off.
Exploring the Feelings
The more obvious focus of this episode are Sorao’s feelings for Toriko. Although Sorao’s crush is quite clear, Toriko is still a bit vague. Right now, the romance feels heavily one-sided as Toriko still longs to find Satsuki (lowkey seems like Toriko’s lover). Despite that, Sorao probably cannot help but fall for such an attractive lady — and she is definitely falling (literally and figuratively). The two have some cute exchanges in this episode and Sorao usually ends up blushing or panicking (and falling).
VERDICT
Author's Rating: 6.1/10
Overall, the third episode felt a bit lackluster compared to the first two. Finding the village was exciting but the encounter as a whole was lacking in weight and intrigue. The resolution of the encounter felt rushed and did not have much of an explanation. Not much happened plot-wise and the episode felt quite filler-ish. Actually, as something original to the anime, this episode was probably intended to fill some gaps.
On a more positive note, seeing more oddities of the Otherside was delightful. The unhurried pace of exploring worked well to reveal a little bit more of the foreign world. Additionally, the mild spookiness throughout the episode was decent. The feelings between Sorao and Toriko took center stage since the plot was not too intense. Actually, the major takeaway from this episode was Sorao’s infatuation with Toriko! Seeing the romance slowly developing was wonderful. Their playful banter was entertaining and Sorao’s panicked reactions were golden. In fact, the exchanges between Sorao and Toriko made this episode a little fun despite lacking in excitement.
Without any clues from the recent trip to the Otherside, where will Sorao and Toriko search next? Will they do more than hold each others' faces soon? What new dangers will they face? Join them again next week for another journey to the Otherside!
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