REVIEW: ‘The God of High School,’ Episode 3 – “Wisdom/Kingdom”

Crunchyroll Original anime, The God of High School is the part of Monday nights. 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, the tournament began last episode with fast bouts eliminating the lower levels of the competition and introducing audiences to quick looks at our trio’s fighting styles. This set the foundation for The God of High School episode 3,  “Wisdom/Kingdom,” to raise the bar on both action and surprises.

Episode 2 ended with Mori stepping in to save Go Gambo from a relentlessly brutal Gang Manseok. Picking up where the last left of, The God of High School episode 3 has one main question: will Mori be disqualified from the tournament after his interference? While we get our answer this episode, and we’re given information that builds out the world of the anime even more, the fun in this episode comes from the fight animations.

In the next round of the tournament, Mira faces off against WWD women’s pro wrestler Mah Miseon, but her sword fighting can’t keep up with Miseon’s well-built body and overwhelming strength. Daewi fights Baek Seungchul, the baseball bat wielding opponent with a pension for reading. And finally, Park Mujin, a National Assembly member and God of High School’s sponsor, tells Mori that if he can defeat Commissioner Q in a match, he will be allowed to return to the tournament.

While I’m sure many fans are tuning in for Mori, The God of High School episode 3 does a great job of deepening Daewi and Mira as both characters in the story and fighters. For Mira, we get to see how she handles coming against an opponent that renders her sword useless and for Daewi, we get to she he handles being put against the ropes.

While I’m beginning to question the breakneck speed with which the fights are moving, they do serve as anchor points for each character. In Mira and Miseon’s fight, we get a chance to look at how The God of High School treats its female characters, something I always try to note from anime that sit in the shonen demographic. Thankfully, both characters are well done. In Mira we see the subversion of weakness one would expect given how she’s been shown up until this point.

In Miseon, we see a woman just wants a reverse haram of her own and ultimately takes the typical fan-service character trope and flips it. Miseon’s design and fighting style immediately made her a favorite of mine, just from the opening credits alone. While she has a tube top and short shorts that looks to position here as the fanservice for the series, her attitude and the attention to detailing her muscular physique immediately shows her as capable and more than just her looks.

As for Daewi, we learn more about his fight techniques and his ultimate reason for fighting. He is the emotional core of this episode and rounds out our main cast and their establishment as dynamic characters beyond their fighting and solidly secures him as the adorable tsundere of the group. But, its in his fight sequence where MAPPA’s animation style really shines. Quick movements and impacts are all showcased by puff of air, and while his speed is nearly unmatched, MAPPA details his every moment. This makes the fight dynamic but also immersive.

Overall, The God of High School episode 3 is another solid episode of the series. While the pace of the tournament is moving extremely quickly and I wish we got more time with characters, “Wisdom/Kingdom” has expanded the series’ world so well that it’s easy to let the rest slide. With each episode, this Crunchyroll Original keeps moving up my list of favorite anime.

New episodes of The God of High School streams exclusively on Crunchyroll every Monday.