REVIEW: ‘The God of High School,’ Episode 4 – “Marriage/bonds”

Crunchyroll Original anime, The God of High School is now a Monday night mainstay for anime fans across subscribers. Adapted from the popular WEBTOONS comic by Yongie Park, the series produced by animation studio MAPPA and follows Jin Mori and his friends Mira and Daewi as the compete in the titular tournament “God of High School.” With the winner promised to receive their deepest desire. Last episode, we saw the introduction of a secret society and saw Mori fight one of the strongest fighters and earn the right to stay in the tournament. Now, in The God of High School episode 4, “Marriage/bonds,” the stage is set for the next round of the tournament with Daewi and Mira fighting against each other and Mori, rather sad that he can’t fight either of them.

In The God of High School episode 4, the top four fighters in the preliminary have been decided. In The God of High School episode 4, the top four fighters in the preliminary have been decided.With her semifinal match against Daewi drawing near, Mira is suddenly approached by Oh Seongjin, a martial artist and successful businessman, with a marriage proposal. She agrees to marry him in exchange for his promise to restore her family’s dojo and spread the Moon Light Sword Style around the world. But the catch? Marrying him means she must withdraw from the tournament. Thankfully, Mori and Daewi are not okay with this.

Nearly the entire episode is focused on developing Mira as a character but more specifically her sense of familial duty and the Moon Light Sword Style as a whole. Having the core of Mira’s development revolve around a marriage seems reductionist and stereotypical, but instead it subverts it. Mira is able to find her own path and showcase her raw power and skill to showcase why she belongs in the tournament and is fit to inherit the Moon Light Sword Style without a man to help.

Sadly, to talk about The God of High School episode 4, we have to talk about spoilers for the ending of the episode and the fact that Daewi and Mira’s fight is not even minutes long. After setting up both characters as leads, the semifinal fight between Daewi and Mira was something I was looking forward to. We have seen his strength when it comes to punching, especially in this episode when we get a glimpse into his motivation for fighting and we just sat through three-fourths of the episode which showcased Mira’s power.

With that said, their fight is over quickly. It’s a blip in the episode and ultimately, Mira’s defeat only serves to push forward Daewi’s character, which leaves me with deep questions as to how the series will continue to handle women in the series. Now that I’ve started reading the WEBTOON comic that The God of High School is adapted from, it’s clear that a lot has been glossed over.

Ultimately, The God of High School episode 4 isn’t a bad episode. but it leaves a lot to be desired. This comes from the way in which it completely reduces Mira’s importance in the tournament after spending a lot of the episode getting her back in the fight. I’m unsure of what the future holds for The God of High School but I can say I’m going to put down the WEBTOON for a little while so I can enjoy it without comparing it to the source material.

The God of High School Episode 4 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.