Episode 08 – “Path”

With our eyes now set on the ever mysterious Altar of Abyss, Comet Lucifer‘s plot delves into JRPG story trope territory, which I’d have normally have absolutely no problem with. In fact, I welcome such additions to the anime medium, but the issue at hand is that the tropes here just that, tropes. An ancient power, evil organization, anti-heroes, and mythic ruins can really only be used so often has plot elements, and to have them all in the story is practically tropic overload.

The only thing that could save Comet Lucifer‘s story from collapsing upon its stale tropes is an interesting cast. I’ll be honest. I love JRPGs, but the majority of their stories tend to be cut from the same cloth. It’s always about an unlikely and sometimes unwilling group of heroes against some all-powerful force of evil. Again, I’m fine with tropes, but for me, what makes these types of stories in engaging are the characters involved. Take the Tales series for example. With some of the most generic stories come some of the most well-developed characters, largely thanks to the series’s great skit system where characters interact with each through brief dialogue-driven cutscenes.

There’s none of that to be found in Comet Lucifer. In a ironic twist of fate, this episode is named “Path,” when the series clearly lacks any sense of one. Perhaps I’m being too hard on the series, and maybe I’m still feeling burnt on how difficult it was to sit through Charlotte last season, but surely I’m not the only who feels like this series is in need of some ambition or some likable characters. I miss the days when we walked around town with Felia, buying cat pigeon pajamas. That’s the kind of Tales skit-esque personality we need to inject back into Comet Lucifer because while things seemed to be taking a turn for the better with last week’s episode, it’s not quite enough to grab hold of my ever-dwindling attention span.

“How could they not sympathize with your desire to bring this planet greater glory?”

B.W.