Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

The God of High School has officially kicked off the “Nationals Arc”, essentially splitting this episode into two parts. Not like the “exposition” / fight scene” split we were shown in the first two episodes, but rather a “tournament / “battle against Nox” split. Based on what’s been happening this season, I will assume the rest of the season will follow this structure to a certain extent. Well, at least until the two stories clash in the middle at some point.

In the National Tournament, our three main characters—Jin Mori, Yoo Mira, and Han Daewi—are fighting against a team who won their preliminaries in a different Korean region. Jin Mori decides to fight first, applying what he learned from Bongchim—a member of The Six—to increase his power. This resulted in Jin Mori paralyzing himself and getting beat easily, forcing Han Daewi and Yoo Mira to step up.

While learning their opponents’—Jim Pum Kwang and Jang Jang-Mi—backgrounds was incredible, I thought the fights were too short and rushed. Also, Jim Pum Kwang’s background is more tragic in the Webtoon compared to what they showed us in this episode, so I didn’t appreciate that being cut out. I noticed because that tragedy helped me garner sympathy for him. At least they kept Jang Jang-Mi—an actual high schooler—having a crush on Jim Pum Kwang—a 38-year-old man in high school—so there’s that.

The subplot with Commissioner Q and Nox member Drake was more interesting because this was the first instance where we saw Borrowed Power—or Charyeok is the official name—being utilized in a fight scene.

Arguably, the subplot’s God battle was better animated, bloodier and fast paced compared to the short and rushed fights we saw in the Nationals’ first round. Also, the author’s “cutting arms off” fetish is making its way into the narrative. While Jim Pum Kwang and Jang Jang-Mi also used weapon-like Charyeok in their fights against the main protagonists, the Commissioners and Nox’s God Power were vastly more defined and superior. I mean, Commissioner O summoned a huge red dragon, and that’s pretty damn fantastic.

However, the series hadn’t fully explained how Charyeok really works in the anime yet. This might potentially be an issue if the next episode doesn’t give us the classic “let’s explain” follow-up. For some odd reason, the episode utilized the Charyeok concept like it was already explained to the audience. I’ll chalk it up to “show, don’t tell” though if we do get that well-deserved “let’s explain” follow-up like I mentioned earlier.

While concepts from the Webtoon are still being condensed into these twenty-minute episodes, at least the action is picking up on the gore and packing more visual storytelling through said gore. After the episode’s rather effective cliffhanger, Jegal Taek—the main antagonist of the “Nationals Arc”—is the guy you want to keep your eyes on.

Thanks for reading this episode review, everyone! I’ll see you all next week to see what happens next.

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