REVIEW: ‘The Kingdoms of Ruin’ Episode 10 — “The Eyes That Were Lost”

The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 10 is just one big battle. While it does interesting things regarding action animation, as it shows Adonis and even Doroka using new powers, it is still just one big battle. A stark difference to the last two episodes, The Kingdoms of Ruin has turned back up the action, paying off in spades as the audience gets to see magic versus a science-modified body face off against each other.

The last episode ended with Doroka and Adonis setting a group of madoa free, only to come face to face with Shirousagi. A man on a mission from the new queen of Redia and touched by her love spell, we saw him dispatch the two people hunting Adonis and Doroka with ease, and now, in this episode, he put our dynamic duo through hell.

The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 10 shows the limitations of summoning magic, which is just how long it takes Adonis to cast and the necessity of his quill to do anything. With an army of hands fired from and controlled by him, Shirougasi is more than formidable, with a counter for nearly every attack that Adonis can develop. Sporting a body that has been drastically altered by science, he isn’t easily dealt with; in fact, he’s a harder enemy than who they fought on the moon. The limitations of magic are pulled into the spotlight in this episode and exploited by Shirousagi to the max.

This is exacerbated when we see Adonis perform a move that we’ve seen him do before and win with: big bullet. When he does it this time, Shirousagi leans back ala Neo in The Matrix, and he’s untouchable. The damage they deal feels insignificant, and the damage he deals seems to snowball over and over, even when he’s on the ropes.

My only issue as it stands is that it has used the witches, their lives, and, more specifically, Doroka as punching bags. The amount of pain and physical violence that Doroka alone has had to experience across the ten episodes of the series so far is too high. Adonis is nothing without the witches around him. He has no magic without the Ice Witch Chloe, and he is still a prisoner without Doroka’s intervention. And yet, Doroka is consistently thrown away, harmed, and treated as a token to be constantly in danger. At least in The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 10, Adonis looked disturbed and scared for her. I don’t know whether it’s because he cares for Doroka or sees Chloe in her.

The Kingdoms of Ruin has done a good job of levying fan service against the story and even tackled difficult topics that could easily be pushed into the untenable ground well. But with Doroka, it just misuses her in a way I don’t think it can walk back from narratively. An interesting character that is directly loyal and yet “too kind for this world,” is it too much to ask for her to become dynamic?

By the end of the episode and its gut punch, The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 10 is embracing the cliffhanger again, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work as well as it did at the beginning of the season. When your characters are pawns to put through pain, it’s hard to want to keep on their journey.

The Kingdoms of Ruin Season 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.