Hello everyone and welcome to the Otaku Mind. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the manga/novel is better. It’s a common statement you hear when people compare an anime to the manga/novel it’s based on. It’s no secret that 95% of anime are based on a manga/novel, so comparing them to the source material is inevitable. Anime has had a long-running history of omitting small or important events from the source material. Sometimes it’s due to time, money, not knowing how to animate this particular scene, don’t think it’s important, or just laziness and not giving a damn. It’s very rare when an anime does a scene better than the source material, but last month they managed to do it in the anime The Eminence in Shadow.
If you’ve read my top 11 animes of 2022 list then you would know this was one of my favorite animes from this past year. In truth, it was my favorite isekai anime last year. The story of a guy getting reincarnated in another world and choosing to become a hero who works from the shadows not seeking glory or fame really resonated with me. It was a nice breath of fresh air in the isekai genre and was told well from beginning to end. And no, I didn’t use this series as a basis for Shadow Eye. I didn’t even know this series existed until last fall when I was writing volume 2 of Shadow Eye. This was just one of those rare occasions of two writers thinking along the same line but taking their stories in different directions. Anyway, in the final episode of the season, the animators decided to end on a bang with a big fight that sees three of the strongest characters so far face each other. Shadow vs the war hero Beatrix and the first princess of the kingdom Iris. Now, here’s what happened in the manga. After Shadow removes his disguise he gets attacked by Beatrix who wants to fight him. The two land in the arena and Iris joins the fight as well. The three of them fight in the arena in front of everyone where Shadow manages to beat them both and takes his leave in a glorious flash stunning everyone. I couldn’t find the novel so I’m just going to assume this fight plays out the same. In the end, this is a throwaway fight. Nothing major and really has no impact on the story currently going on the arc.
However, the anime decided to take this fight up a notch. The production team knew this was the final episode of the season, so they decided to go all-out on this fight and elevate it. In the anime, the fight begins in the arena but spills out into the streets of the kingdom. The three warriors fight all over the kingdom. They fight in the streets, on carriages, trains, and buildings, and are moving so fast that nobody notices them. Buildings are getting destroyed and a few people die in the crossfire. Once again, it’s a throwaway fight, but the anime adds more story to it. This is a battle of pride, to see who is the strongest. For Shadow, this is entertainment. He’s got that Goku mentality. He enjoys fighting and taking on strong opponents. The same can be said about Beatrix. In a time of peace it’s hard to find others on your level, so for Beatrix, this is a chance for her to finally cut loose and go all out. For Iris, she needs to prove to herself and to everyone that she is strong. Up until this point Iris has always thought of herself as the strongest and everyone around her has said that as well. Iris uses this title to protect her kingdom from the ongoing threat of the Cult of Diablos and Shadow Garden but has found herself unable to do anything to stop them. As if that wasn’t bad, it’s hinted that the king is fully aware of the cult’s influence but chooses to do nothing in order to protect himself and the kingdom. In Iris’s eyes, he’s nothing but a coward for doing nothing and she refuses to go down the same path as him. For Iris, this battle means the most to her. This is her chance to show the people and herself that as long as she is here they have nothing to fear because she is the strongest.
The fight itself is by far the best fight in the series up to this point. While it’s pretty one-sided as Shadow is obviously stronger than them he’s holding back to enjoy the fight to its fullest. Even trading in his sword for crowbars in order to fight Beatrix and Iris better. Throughout the fight, Shadow is in complete control. It never becomes a two-on-one situation. Shadow always manages to keep it to a one-on-one match-up and even when it becomes a two-on-one situation Shadow is quick to knock one of them away and keep the fight to one-on-one. If I had to compare this fight to another fight it would be Darth Maul’s fight in the Phantom Menace (easily the best part of the entire movie). When Maul is fighting against both Qui Gon and Obi-wan he struggles, but when it becomes a one-on-one fight he excels and almost succeeds in killing both jedis. In the end, Shadow manages to defeat them both and leaves with the two ladies having different reactions. For Beatrix, she takes her defeat with dignity. She recognizes Shadow’s strength and I can’t help but feel that she’s secretly happy to know there’s someone out there stronger than her and wants to face him again. Iris on the other hand screams out in anger with tears in her eyes. She could do nothing to defeat him and the fact that she had to rely on a magical weapon to barely keep up with Shadow shows how weak she is compared to him. For the first time ever she’s forced to realize just how weak she is. This fight confirmed that if Shadow were to launch a full assault on the kingdom there would be nothing she could do to stop him. He could kill her and bring the kingdom to its knees with nobody able to stop him.
It would have been so easy to make the fight simple and keep everyone in the arena, but the animators knew that if they wanted to leave a lasting impression on the audience and get them cheering for a second season they had to elevate this fight and in doing so created a scene that was way better than the manga/novel that came before it. And for that, I applaud and thank them for going above and beyond the call of duty to make this scene worthwhile. It’s always rare for anime to do something better than the source material it’s based on, but when it does it’s worth talking about and praising. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.