The Loli that killed Outbreak Company

There used to be a group of people who called themselves Outbreak Company.

Like any respectable group of adventurers, they would go on adventures, slay dragons, help poor villagers and do other things adventurers do.

Like all adventurers, they had their fair share of close calls. Over time they realized that most if not all of their troubles could be attributed to one group member.

Among the group, there was a loli Empress. This loli empress did nothing but cause trouble for the rest. Unfortunately, the fans who funded the party loved her so the group could not muster the resolve to get rid of this troublesome member. This lack of conviction eventually lead to their demise.

The End.

This is the group member in question but she may as well be the monster that destroyed them.

If that introductory paragraph did not make it clear, I am not a big fan of Petralka Anne Eldant III.

Doesn’t it suck when you have an otherwise decent or even good anime but the existence of one important character drags everything down? It totally sucks and I have already talked about this once this season.

My grievances with Petralka are similar to my problems with Kuriyama. Both characters drag the anime down and both are unnecessary. The grievances differ in that Kuriyama is simply boring and uninteresting while Petralka is downright terrible.

And here is why I feel that way.

She is 100% Loli

I am not sure if I have ever explicitly mentioned this on here before but me and animated lolis have traditionally not seen eye to eye. They do things I don’t really like and I am sure if they were sentient beings capable of observing me, they wouldn’t really like my day to day activities either.

That said, I have come to realize that not all lolis are bad. Take Log Horizon’s Akatsuki for example. Akatsuki is wonderful. She is interesting, funny at times, strong and all in all, is a great character. She is also super adorable.

Comparing Petralka to Akatsuki is like comparing toothbrush bristles to porcupine quills. The former helps you clean your teeth, while the latter gets stuck in your skin and causes much suffering. The comparison also makes no sense since they are nothing alike.

Petrulka not only looks like a loli but she has all of the stereotypical, cliché mannerisms of one. She is prone to jealousy, quick to anger and for some unfathomable reason, enjoys sitting on the lap of our MC-kun. To top it off, she hates cute half-elf maids.

Read that last sentence again. SHE HATES CUTE HALF-ELF MAIDS. WHO ON EARTH DOES THAT?

MYUCEL IS MY WAIFU. NO ONE SHOULD INSULT HER.

She is a racist jerk

Continuing on from that previous point, Petralka has somewhat of a racist (or well speciest) streak to her.

Yes, discrimination is a main theme for this anime so it is to be expected that important characters like her will behave that way. But you know, I prefer it when Outbreak is a tad bit more subtle with this.

For example, I liked how the gardener dude offered MC-kun a bat to be beaten with. Or how Myucel so casually admitted that servants get beaten. Things like that do a good job of portraying this backward (by our standards, mind you) society.

Petralka’s outbursts are just a bit too jarring, loud and distracting. I am sure she is going to become a more tolerant person by the end, heck episode 3 already hinted as much but well, the transition will probably be a bit annoying to.

Way too much jealousy

Screw you Petralka. Screw you and your attempts at ship sinking. I HATE YOU.

I am just expanding on the 100% loli point here but she gets way, way too jealous. I mean, she gets mad whenever Myucel’s name is mentioned even if it is not mentioned in a particularly romantic context.

Like, really? I have never liked characters who are prone to outbreaks of jealousy inspired anger but Petralka is especially annoying. It is even worse because she has no reason whatsoever to fall in love with MC-kun.

Yeah, love doesn’t always make sense but her “feelings” for MC-kun make even less sense here. I am sorry Outbreak Company, you have totally and utterly failed at making a Love Triangle. Go take a page out of White Album 2’s book, why don’t you.

Lame Character Design

She looks like a twelve year old with the face of a 6 year old. I know cute things tend to be subjective, but yeah….

Anyway, I am done with this short rant about Petralka.

Possible Retorts

I don’t think any of my readers like Petralka enough to object to the above points, but just in case someone does, here are some retorts to possible retorts.

But, she is a parody!

No.

You just don’t understand the appeal of a loli.

Yeah, I don’t but like I said earlier, I don’t dislike all lolis just annoying ones like Petralka.

You are exaggerating!

Yeah, I probably am.

I will admit that while Petralka’s role in the first half of episode 3 (and every episode prior) made her insufferable, she began to look much better when she:

1. Started acting like an Empress
2. Came to understand Myucel a bit better at the end.

That said, you always need to exaggerate your like or dislike for something here in the blogosphere. Blog posts just wouldn’t be fun otherwise. 🙂

Well, there you have it. I was strongly considering dropping this show during the first half of episode 3 because I just could not stand Petralka but fortunately, the second half hinted at a better future. I hope she gets better and the show improves (it would be a large improvement if she just disappeared or died but well, you can’t be too greedy).

Thanks for reading.

Quality Screen-cap to close the post.