Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7 – Quick Summary
In The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7, “A Fencing Tournament of Intrigue & Bloodshed,” Cid had every intention of sitting out the fencing tournament. Unfortunately, his friends thought it might be a way for them meet girls through his participation. He still wanted to get out of it until Nu gave him an update about Named Characters within The Cult of Diablos. Cid, of course, thought they meant main characters within his game, so he decided maybe he should check out the tournament. Who did Cid meet in the tournament? What are the Named Characters really up to? And are we sure Alexia really as over Cid as she thinks she is – or pretends to be?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7
The more screen time for characters like Nu, the better! Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
I think I’ve seen through a trick the show has been using to make me want to watch it more. It’s a simple thing, and it’s super effective. It boils down to this: present some stunningly attractive, strong female characters like (any of the women from Shadow Garden). Then allow them the bare minimum amount of screen time but hint at fascinating back stories.
Bingo! The show glued me to the screen for the duration.
We got one of those “bare minimum” moments in this episode. Cid had just let Nu alone. She looked longingly around the school and reflected how this would have been her life. In the space of a few seconds, we saw her her flashback: how she had been infected with that demon curse, then healed so she could join the Shadow Garden family. It was so fast, yet so affecting, that I really wanted to know more about her.
She did give me a little to go on. Reflecting on her life to that point, she thought (06:07), “I’d rather have it this way, than live my life never knowing the truth.”
That’s really wise for someone her age! And it’s yet another reason I want to know more about her.
Favorite Moment from The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7
I was sitting there feeling sorry for Sherry – and it hit me! Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
Setup: Rapid Investment, or Thanks Sherry!
This danged show made me self-reflect! I didn’t know it was allowed to do that.
So there I was, innocently watching Sherry Barnett as she swung her feel in sheer delight of having made friends with Cid. Gazing at a piece of chocolate from the box Cid off-handedly gave her in the previous episode, she said (14:37), “What has gotten into me?”
She’s falling in love with Cid, that’s what’s getting into her! As I watched her trying to justify visiting Cid at the doctor’s office, I suddenly felt very sad for her. Here’s this highly intelligent, emotionally sweet young woman falling innocently in love. Falling innocently in love with Cid, the emotional cinder block.
Alexia becomes acquainted with an important aspect of Sherry’s personality. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
Please understand: as an emotional cinder block myself, I am not casting stones. However, Cid has no idea what he’s set into motion. Sherry might spend a lot of time alone with her work, but she still understands social cues. She knows that, generally speaking, when a young man offers her the gift of fine chocolates, it’s a statement of intent. She’s responding to that. As things stand, I think this relationship shows every sign as succeeding just as well as Cid’s relationship with Alexia.
Which is to say, there will be blood.
Delivery: The Right Way to Use Tropes
But think about what this train of thought represents. I don’t know Sherry very well at all. Certainly no better than most of the Shadow Garden women. Okay, we know she had a thriving and active ahoge, which is important. Yet, despite that lack of knowledge, the show has used tropes in the best possible way – to evoke a feeling or response in as short a time as possible.
Alexia was as aghast as I was at the amount of sugar Sherry heaped into her coffee. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
I was sitting there, feeling sorry for Sherry, because of how her relationship with Cid was likely doomed from the start, and it hit me. The show has pulled me in. I care about the characters. I want to see Sherry happy. Not only that, but I want to see Nu happy. I want to see Alpha, well, I want to see more of Alpha in general, but before I get off track, I’ll wrap up and say that we’re only seven episodes in, and I’m completely invested.
Doesn’t that rock – out loud?
What did you think of Cid’s demonstration of “The Background Character Secret Technique: Spinning Drill Fall: Bloody Tornado?” What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! | The Eminence in Shadow – Episode 7 discussion
- RABUJOI: The Eminence in Shadow – 07 – Making Friends
- OTAKU SINH: The Shadow Garden Gets Framed! The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7 [Review]
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 1: The Hated Classmate
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 2: Shadow Garden is Born
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 3: Fencer Ordinaire
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 4: Sadism’s Rewards
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 5: I Am
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 6: Pretenders
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7: A Fencing Tournament of Intrigue & Bloodshed
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 8: Dark Knight Academy Under Attack
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9: The End of a Lie
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 10: The Sacred Land, City of Deception
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 11: The Goddess’ Trial
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 12: The Truth Within the Memories
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 13: A Bloody Showdown as an Offering to Annihilation
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 14: Your Life, Your Wish
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 15: The Strongest Weakest Man
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 16: Unseen Intentions
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 17: The Moonlight That Pierces the Darkness
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 18: Betting on a Moment
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 19: Dancing Puppet
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 20: Advent of the Demon
After watching this episode, it hit me that Cid… is an idiot! He is a blooming idiot and a sociopath!
The sociopath part being, “I don’t mind if people die.” That’s sociopathy. He doesn’t take pleasure like a psychopath. He just doesn’t care.
As for being an idiot… well, yes, there’s the part where he’s completely oblivious about the women around him… AND about the Cult, let’s not forget, he is the single most clueless mastermind in history. But most of all, is this desire to stay in the background, to be as unnoticed and unremarkable as possible in other people’s minds, and then he pulls that stunt in the fencing tournament! If he didn’t want to be seen as anything more than someone in the background, then he should have just gone down with the first hit and left it at that! No one would have batted an eye! Instead he was so caught up in his delusion that he not only stood out, such that people are treating him a bit more respectfully now, but he has caught the eye of yet another girl, and another warrior princess to boot! Topped off with apparently taking a nigh lethal hit for her when crap hit the fan at the end of the episode! He had ONE JOB, to maintain a low profile, and he is FAILING GLORIOUSLY AT IT!
It’s one of those things that is mind-numbingly shocking and tragically hilarious in turns.
As for the girls, I am in hearty agreement about that little trick they’re using to keep us coming back for more. Simple, but effective.
Alexia clearly still wants Cid, and since we know she can turn lethally crazy on a dime – was she not surprised that Cid is still alive? – I was personally just glad that she didn’t kill Sherry! Whew!
Sherry is doomed, yep. And did you notice how they animated the scene with Sherry eating a chocolate? That was, like, suddenly dialing things up to eleven!
And then there’s Rose. …oh boy.
This is not going to be pretty!
At first, I wondered if Cid was so willing to justify Alexia just killing people because he thought he was in a game. But that’s not how he sees things, is it? He sees himself in the “real” world, but Shadow Garden, the cult, and in fact most of his public life is just a game. So you’re right. He exhibits sociopathic tendencies, doesn’t he?
I find myself trying to diagnose him. I know there’s a chuuni thing going on, but his symptoms go well beyond that. For example, just what you pointed out about him wanting to stay in the background, but doing something like demonstrating a lot of different background character techniques that, taken together, make him appear invincible. Which is not a background trait!
Like you said. He failed gloriously at it!
I, too, was afraid for Sherry’s safety. I’m convinced Alexia held her temper because she has a streak of fairness. But if Rose gets involved? She’s clearly not some weak academic. Alexia would react very differently with her!
And all of this because Cid can’t maintain a low profile. And after tonight’s episode? I have no idea how Rose is going to react to learning reports of his death were exaggerated.
“Cid, the emotional cinder block.”
Yup. And this IS a harem. It doesn’t have the usual incompetent and oblivious protag. He’s like an aromantic and asexual James Bond in his single minded pursuit of the Cult. Women want him but he’s just not interested.
I think that’s part of the show’s appeal to me. Remember the scene where Alpha reports to him just after he got roughed up for “questioning?” Like you described, he showed no interested whatsoever — but Alpha made it plain that she was interested. Without the nose-bleeds and other tropes, that scene had real energy.
I like your comparison to Bond, too. Apt!