Warning: The following contains spoilers for An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride!!
No one should have expected that a Crunchyroll anime by the name of An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride would get as deep or nuanced as it actually does, except for those who read the original light novel or the later manga by writer Fuminori Teshima and by illustrators COMTA and Hako Itagaki, respectively. The problematic nature of the relationship between the eponymous archdemon Zagan and his titular elf bride Nephy also suggested a more enclosed direction whereby they would be the only true focus. And that isn’t inherently conducive to a grand story line such as the one that it would eventually become.
Additionally, this aforementioned problematic relationship understandably turned many viewers away, and although the series did make a more honest and straightforward effort to justify the controversial elements of their arrangement than most anime – even ending it completely – many who find the topic irredeemable would find any such attempts at justification reprehensible and null.
Regardless, An Archdemon’s Dilemma does expand beyond the controversy surrounding Zagan and Nephy and even includes a host of characters whose purposes aren’t there to underscore Zagan and Nephy’s relationship. They aren’t there to help with the archdemon’s dilemma of loving his elf bride or to officially end the unfortunate aspect of what connected them. In fact, Zagan accomplishes these on his own, who, as a sorcerer, should only care about himself and not blink at the prospect of hurting others for his own personal gain.
While there are many moments that catch a glimpse of a much larger war between the church and sorcerers, there is no indication that they will take center stage; and yet, that is what happens in the pivotal, game-changing 11th episode, which proves this series is the season’s sleeper hit.
Archdemon’s Dilemma Has Incredible Characters
Produced by Brain’s Base & TMS Entertainment
One of the season’s many great upsets that brought this aforementioned war between the church and sorcerers into the foreground includes the character Chastille’s amazing development. Her journey may have hinted at greatness, but it quickly got sidetracked. She started off as Zagan’s enemy before falling from grace with the church through her refusal to accept their views of him.
While an extreme development that had the means to paint her as a tragic figure, Chastille’s plight quickly became a caricature of itself, demoting all seriousness of the situation to match with the series’ more light-hearted appeal. However, in episode #11, Chastille is soon positioned as the one hope to bring together the church and sorcerers through a massive clandestine effort.
In another incredibly shocking development, the one propping Chastille up is Raphael, who not only undergoes his own unexpected character development that’s further associated with tragedy, but who’s connected with other critical characters outside Zagan and Nephy. Raphael’s initial claim to fame was being the series’ big bad before becoming Zagan’s greatest ally in the same episode. However, his true redemption comes in the form of his touching relationship with the dragon child For, who is undoubtedly the best proof of Zagan’s goodness, other than Nephy. The character For is the unofficial daughter of Zagan and Nephy, and she has helped prove Zagan’s status as a caring father who puts her needs before his own.
From Dragon Killer to Tragic Dragon Friend
Despite seeming menacing, the character has quite a bit of depth
In this critical episode, For now amplifies Raphael’s character, who reveals that he had cared for For’s true dragon father, Orobas, and that Orobas had died helping Raphael in his own separate battle. But in a true tragic twist, the dying Orabas had told Raphael to drink his own blood so that Raphael could survive. This stunning revelation does more than just showcase how Raphael had to devour his friend who had died helping him in a battle that wasn’t even his own fight.
It also threw For’s entire world upside down. She had believed for the majority of the series that Raphael had killed her father for his blood to become stronger, as per legend. This, of course, turns out to be false. For the viewer, this realization meant that the little girl whom Zagan had adopted now had to contend with the realization that the series’ big bad whom she thought had killed her father for selfish means was actually haunted by her father’s death and that her father had given up his blood to help ensure his friend survived.
Of course, based on episode #11’s ending and episode #12’s teaser, it’s clear that the series will return to its lighthearted tone that showcases the everyday events of Zagan’s growing family and circle of friends. This, after all, is the series’ focus, and it’s the eventual move away from this that made it an unexpected sleeper hit of the season. As per the first nine or so episodes, there have always been major events bubbling in the background. It just wasn’t until episode #10 that everything began to fall into place, culminating in the incredible revelations of episode #11. Viewers can therefore expect that if there is a season 2, this pattern will continue. So, while An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride explores problematic topics that many might find upsetting, the series has proven it’s so much more.
