Ragna Crimson begins with two very close friends: Ragna and Leo. Both of them are hunters, although Leo is an actually accomplished fighter, and Ragna is something of a caretaker for her. They still go into battle together, and they seem to love each other very much.
From now on beware spoilers! You can watch the first two episodes, which are already out, and then come back to compare the twists you expected from the anime.
Most people watching the first episode know that Leo shows all the signs of potentially being murdered a few episodes in. For one, she is very dear to the main character, Ragna, and it is very common for a character's background to include a person they love that has been killed. For another, she is shown to be killed in Ragna's visions. You see, Ragna from the future tries to fuse with Ragna from the past to pass on his strength and give Ragna a better chance at saving Leo. However, that also means that the memories of the future Ragna plague Ragna, making him constantly "remember" how Leo dies.
When the Superior Dragon appears, who Ragna sees in his memories killing Leo, Ragna finally manages to merge with his future self, and he destroys the Superior Dragon with his silver aura. Even when the Superior Dragon falls, the anime teases the possibility of Leo dying anyway by showing how the shockwave from the Dragon might harm her. But it does not. Leo does not die, and it is a great twist. It shows that a character does not need their female companion dead to become stronger. That trope is called "fridging," and it involves killing a woman (or in this case, a girl) to give the male character motivation.
To be clear, Ragna Crimson is not free of stereotypes.
Later on, Ragna sends Leo away with the refugees, breaking her heart completely by saying that she was too weak to travel with him. The whole scene is good; it even has Leo more or less admitting that she expected Ragna to always do as she says. But then Ragna has to use the old trope of breaking someone's heart to save them, which really did not have to happen.
The fact that Leo is still alive too episodes in is a great achievement of Ragna Crimson. Besides, tropes are not always bad; it is how you use them that is important. Ragna actually succeeding to keep Leo alive is a very welcome trope aversion.
A surprise survival in Ragna Crimson!
Ragna Crimson begins with two very close friends: Ragna and Leo. Both of them are hunters, although Leo is an actually accomplished fighter, and Ragna is something of a caretaker for her. They still go into battle together, and they seem to love each other very much.
From now on beware spoilers! You can watch the first two episodes, which are already out, and then come back to compare the twists you expected from the anime.
Most people watching the first episode know that Leo shows all the signs of potentially being murdered a few episodes in. For one, she is very dear to the main character, Ragna, and it is very common for a character's background to include a person they love that has been killed. For another, she is shown to be killed in Ragna's visions. You see, Ragna from the future tries to fuse with Ragna from the past to pass on his strength and give Ragna a better chance at saving Leo. However, that also means that the memories of the future Ragna plague Ragna, making him constantly "remember" how Leo dies.
When the Superior Dragon appears, who Ragna sees in his memories killing Leo, Ragna finally manages to merge with his future self, and he destroys the Superior Dragon with his silver aura. Even when the Superior Dragon falls, the anime teases the possibility of Leo dying anyway by showing how the shockwave from the Dragon might harm her. But it does not. Leo does not die, and it is a great twist. It shows that a character does not need their female companion dead to become stronger. That trope is called "fridging," and it involves killing a woman (or in this case, a girl) to give the male character motivation.
To be clear, Ragna Crimson is not free of stereotypes.
Later on, Ragna sends Leo away with the refugees, breaking her heart completely by saying that she was too weak to travel with him. The whole scene is good; it even has Leo more or less admitting that she expected Ragna to always do as she says. But then Ragna has to use the old trope of breaking someone's heart to save them, which really did not have to happen.
The fact that Leo is still alive too episodes in is a great achievement of Ragna Crimson. Besides, tropes are not always bad; it is how you use them that is important. Ragna actually succeeding to keep Leo alive is a very welcome trope aversion.
