REVIEW: ‘The Tale of Outcasts,’ Episode 10 – “The London Demonic Battlefront”

Strained by recent battles, Wisteria’s sleep is plagued by nightmares as the continuing conflict that threatens to consume London grows relentlessly. Despite all the danger surrounding them, Marbas is determined to see Wisteria get to smile again. But the smiles will not last long as the next stage in Dantalion’s war begins to unfold in The Tale of Outcasts Episode 10.

The highlight of this episode comes from how complex it allows its characters to be. While it can be helpful to a narrative for a character to simply be what he is from time to time, the vast majority of characters are greatly improved with a healthy dose of nuance and complexity. After all, people are complicated. Ergo, the characters that represent them need to be equally complex if the story is to convince the viewer of the weight and meaning of its tale.

The first example of this character complexity comes from Marbas. Knowing that he has to give Wisteria some bad news about her beloved brother, the demon sets out with his contractor to see the sights of London. He is determined to see her smile before he has to break her heart. This kindness is not surprising at this point, though how he flails in his attempts to cheer her is pleasantly humorous. Marbas’s weaknesses and strengths come through throughout the episode, showing how different he is here with Wisteria than he is later on with those not on his good side.

But while Marbas opens The Tale of Outcasts Episode 10 with a bit of character complexity, it is with the Commander of the Sword-Crossed Knights that the theme truly shines. While past appearances from the character have never shown him in anything but an antagonistic light, his appearance in this episode shows he is not without redeeming qualities. His concern for both his troops and the people of London establish some sense of honor and duty to him that often felt absent in earlier confrontations. While nothing that happens here makes him feel like a good character, his time throughout the tale allows some of his earlier claims towards his intentions to bare merit, even if he means still often leaves a bit to be desired.

This episode also features a sizeable physical confrontation. This small-scale battle in the streets of London does a good job of escalating the worsening situation in the show. That things have progressed to open warfare in such an urban area drives home how desperate some of the participants have become. The action itself is visually fine. It manages to drive home the danger well enough, even as the moment-to-moment presentation continues to be a bit short of noteworthy.

The Tale of Outcasts Episode 10 delivers a solid episode that has a healthy dose of everything fans of the series have come to expect. Combining engaging character development with solid danger, this episode helps build up the narrative’s threat as the season nears its ending.

The Tale of Outcasts Episode 10 is streaming on Crunchyroll.