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Hello, Internet.
After watching the ufotable adaptations of Fate, I've grown quite fond of the franchise, and especially the kinds of stories that can be told through Holy Grail Wars. A really big interest of mine are Tabletop RPGs like D&D, which I've been playing for six years, so I tried to find a way to be able to adapt a playable Holy Grail War within a TTRPG. I am unaware how many people here are familiar with these kinds of games, but I still wanted to share some of my progress to see if the community might think I got the whole "vibes" of Fate right.
So, first off, I'm using the highly-malleable TTRPG "Fate Core". It is completely unrelated to type moon and anything nasuverse, but I couldn't help myself due to the name of the thing, and because it claimed to be able to be so modifiable that it can run any setting. This is what I wanted to put to the test.
What makes it infinitely malleable is its main mechanic: aspects. Adjectives, sentences, catch phrases, and traits that are written into the character and can be called upon for an advantage. There's the High Concept that defines you, a Trouble that can be Compelled to either give you a disadvantage, or to determine your course of action.
For this game, I'd allow for players to choose whether they'd want to be a Servant or a Master, so the next Aspect for servants would be their class. A Saber, for example, would have "Powerful Melee warrior. Adept at swordsmanship". Every class has their static Aspects, and they can be Invoked in any given situation to gain a better result than what the dice offer you. For Masters, I felt fitting that their first other aspect should be their wish. It is both a driving force and a source for conflict.
The next aspect would be the name of the Noble Phantasm for the Servants, or the signature Magical Discipline( those found on the Type Moon wiki), or ability from the Masters. This serves as an extra aid whenever they want to show off, or to determine some things the players could do based on their proficiency with these.
I've mentioned that one can Invoke these Aspects, or be Compelled by them, but that comes at a cost, called Fate Points. Everyone starts a session with 3 minimum, and you pay Fate Points to Invoke aspects to better your situation, or to compel someone else. Should you be compelled by anyone(even yourself), you gain a Fate Point. There is also the option to Pay a Fate Point to reject a compel, or to declare an aspect on the setting. All of these traits apply to aspects, but I found them really useful to apply as a Homebrew rule for Command Spells as well. You can have 3 of them throughout the game, and they work Just like Fate Points, except one's servant can't reject them.
Now, to handle the Noble Phantasms, I've split them into 3 steps, each costing one Fate Point: 1- the signature move 2- an upgrade to whatever roll the move uses by using a variant rule I found called "Strange Fate"(which reminds me of Strange Fake and I love), where one of the 4 fudge dice is replaced with a d6, allowing rolls to go up to +9 without modifiers. And, finally, 3- to give an aspect to the target, whether it's the destruction of a structure, or something like lingering damage, etc.
For Reality marbles, since they change the whole scenario upon activation, It costs two to first use them, and then one can upgrade the rolls using Strange Fate.
Fate Core has no stats, but instead relies on a skill piramid that one can easily modify. I've only added a Mana skill to determine how good of a Mage the Masters are, and how much strain on their mana reserves the Servants are. This skill gives the Servants a static bonus (that can be negative) to their noble phantasms, or their spells should they be a caster, but it also allows for us to add Mana Boosts, or Mana Transfers, affecting one roll of their overall skills
For spells and extra abilities, I'm allowing players to pick trained disciplines equal to their mana score. Again, I've defined these disciplines based on those that show up on the Type Moon wiki. Here, rules get very loose. Anyone can come up with ways they use their magic as a sort of flavour to their skill rolls, but they can also come up with bigger spells with bigger effects. The simple solution is to have them cost Fate Points or "Stress"( Fate's alternative to HP) to use. This is where Fate's trait of prioritizing the fiction and story over the mechanics really shines.
And that's pretty much it! I mean, honestly, there is a lot more, and I will put out there that I've included variants for Rulers, Watchers, Avengers, Pretenders, Pseudo-Servants, Vessels for the Grail and for Masters who aren't mages. However, I wouldn't like to overwhelm y'all with all of it. What one can take away from this is that my Fate TTRPG system basically just works to make a character within the Nasuverse, and what one does with them afterwards is up to the players. I'd be really keen to hear thoughts and opinions, critiques and suggestions, even if you're unfamiliar with TTRPGs in general. I'm sharing it here mostly to see opinions on how well this could be considered to be an adaptation of the Holy Grail Wars into a TTRPG.
Thank you for your time, I'm sorry for the text wall, and I honestly hope you find this interesting or like a neat lil thought excercise maybe idk

\"But why not do both?\"
This is a follow-up to my last post defending the anime's decision to cut content for the sake of pacing but let me give you the TL;DR so you don't feel the need to have read that one before this as this post covers the same bases (and then some): The anime is first-and foremost the story of Rudeus Greyrat and must therefore prioritize his perspective, even at the cost of other characters' moments, regardless of how beloved those individual scenes are to fans of the Light Novels (myself included).
So let me start by addressing the strongest counter argument made in response to that post: "But the first season, and even Cour 1 of season 2 was able to maintain excellent pacing while having relatively few cuts! Why does the pacing in cour 2 still *FEEL* so rushed in comparison despite cutting so much?" That is an astute observation! And, quite frankly, you are asking the right questions. And for anyone planning to skip straight to the end of this admittedly \daunting* essay, here's a TL;DR for you: Episodes 19 & 20's reduced quality and heightened pace were done deliberately to provide the last 4 episodes of the season the space they need to breathe.* Continue reading if you want to find out how and why this had to be done.
It would be a fool's errand to argue that Cour 2 is NOT cutting less content than prior cours (because it absolutely is, and by quite a lot too), nor will I be arguing that the cour does NOT suffer some level of pacing issues because it absolutely is (see first post), rather I will be arguing in defense of the purpose of limiting the scope of what gets adapted, and why such decisions are necessary in the first place. However, before I delve any further into the specifics of Cour 2's production struggles, first I should elaborate how its production schedule differs from S1.

PART 1: Production Scheduling (aka setting the pace)

In case you were unaware, Season 1 was originally slated to be released in 2020 but was delayed to January of 2021 so it could actually receive all of the extra care and polish it truly deserved. For S2, Studio Bind's production staff, by contrast, had to make due with the time they were initially given. More time (and consequently more budget) usually fixes most production issues, but very few (extraordinarily rare) series ever receive that benefit and doing so twice was likely never even considered a possibility.
Sadly we are not in the alternate timeline where S2 benefitted from the same advantages that gave us gorgeous custom world-building OPs for every episode that freed up even more additional screen time for dialogue and character development (in some cases literally depicting entire chapters such as Paul's POV being shown during Ep 17's STUNNINGLY well executed OP montage). Thanks in part to that decision, S1 had significantly more wiggle room to work with, especially pertaining to the secondary cast, allowing it to more evenly adapt the world building, character development, and main narrative plotline of Mushoku Tensei as a whole utilizing that extra runtime (90 seconds per episode adds up to a LOT over the course of an entire season, plus the 5 EDs, that were integrated as needed on a per-episode basis, for an additional 7 1/2 minutes which adds up to a WHOPPING 43 1/2 MINUTES over the course of that 24 episode run and I should point out that S2 Cour 1 ALSO benefitted from this for the first 5 episodes including the OVA, giving that cour an added 9 minutes to utilize with Cour 2 receiving a paltry 3 minutes as only the 1st episode integrates the OP/ED runtime).
It's simply the reality that polish and quality was prioritized for S1 while scheduling and budget were prioritized for S2. If you want to be especially harsh, one could say S1 was treated as art, while S2 was treated as a commercial product, which is why I've set my expectations accordingly and hope this post helps others do the same. This becomes more apparent when you take into consideration that Studio Bind were also working on Onimai at the same time as S2 given their air dates were only 6 months apart. So not only was S2 not being given the same scheduling priority, it was COMPETING for resources. Given the BD sales numbers for every project they've released, at a minimum we can be assured that Studio Bind has been financially successful at least but the double edged nature of that success also means that certain priorities may have shifted away from MT and towards the new cash-cow. There's a reason I phrased my previous post so specifically: These episodes are a fine adaptation of Rudy's story.... and not much else because it simply doesn't have the screen time or resources to focus on anything besides Rudy's share of the narrative and character development.
Which ties directly into the second reason as to why cour 2 FEELS so rushed, even in comparison to cour 1. The contents of Volumes 10, 11, and 12 are significantly more *LINEAR\* with more individual events being depicted compared to Volumes 1-9. This translates to more content vying for screen time. But how much content are we talking about here? Well, I don't want to go too deeply into raw numbers as that's not really the point but let's set a baseline with some quick-n-dirty math to illustrate:
S1c1 covers 1326 pg / 3 = 442 pg/vol (11 episodes) = 40.2 pg / ep S1c2 covers 1280 pg / 3 = 427 pg/vol (12 episodes + OVA) = 32.8 pg / ep S2c1 covers 1268 pg / 3 = 423 pg/vol (12 episodes + OVA) = 32.5 pg / ep S2c2 covers 1381 pg / 3 = 460 pg/vol (12 episodes) = 38.3 pg / ep
Obviously these are EXTREMELY rough numbers that don't take into account any of the cut content, non-chapter related pages, nor the difference in available runtime afforded to S1 that I previously mentioned, but just by raw page count, that's technically LESS content than what the first 11 episodes of Season 1 had to adapt! Surely they could just tweak a few things to make everything fit! Unfortunately, it's not that simple. You see, there's a distinct lack of a certain type of content that made the lives of the production staff significantly easier by providing plenty of opportunities to pick and choose what made it into the final cut of an episode's runtime to keep the mainline story of Rudeus chugging along at the leisurely clip we're accustomed to.

PART 2: Narrative Fluff (aka work smarter, not longer)

Spoiler: It's the sheer density of secondary character POVs. The very ones we often grieved being cut as the episodes were coming out during S1. They add depth and complexity to the characters (and are, imho, singularly the most *profoundly insightful* pieces of writing Rifujin-sensei has ever produced) but 90% of the time are simply repeating the same events from a new perspective. HOWEVER, when adapted to an audio-visual medium, you can SHOW both perspectives simultaneously and let the audience infer what's going on in a secondary character's mind through the use of voice acting, animation, staging, lighting, OST, and sound design thereby allowing the anime-only audience to receive 90% of the same information that was conveyed during those same events in the novels.
The "missing" Eris POV is the primary example of this disconnect between how little LN readers think Anime-onlys are inferring and how much is being successfully communicated to them even if they themselves can't properly articulate what it was they took away from any particular scene. I highly recommend paying close attention to Eris' face in the 3 following episodes after the events of Turning Point 2 RATHER THAN READING THE SUBTITLES (dub watchers have an advantage here but BOTH performances do an incredible job) and you'll see (and hear) what I'm talking about. Sure we don't get every beat of her thought process spelled out for us in quite the same level of detail as in her POV chapter, but you can sense her inner conflict while watching Rudeus practice Disturb Magic as they ride into the outskirts of Fittoa and her heartache at seeing him standing forlornly in the ruins of his destroyed childhood home. The idea that she doesn't feel "worthy" of him is already being communicated by her facial expressions and her body language. Her letter stating how they aren't "well-balanced" in combination with that visual information is already providing context clues to the viewer as to what's going on in her head. In her final scene you can hear the sheer depth of her love give way to a deeply instilled sense of self-loathing, just by the tone of her voice, as she hoists Rudeus up onto that pedestal. Yet as she nears the end of her melancholic monologue more of that brash, passionate nature of hers seeps back into her delivery as pours her heart out.
To quote Harry Plinkett: "It's so subtle, you might not have even noticed... but your brain did."
The only emotion you could argue was nerfed by the adaptation is the depths of her self-loathing for having "taken advantage of him" after their night together but they still get a line in about their age and size difference, which when heard in her self-flagellating tone describing how "awful" she's been to him, you can easily make that inference. But you might also say "AHA even in those 3 episodes they left out how devastated she was when Rudy beat her using the demon eye after she finally gained some confidence in her strength" to which I say: Watch Ep 13: Missed Connections and, again, pay attention to Eris. Every part off the Buffalo was used.
They also never deliberately spell out her ardent belief that Rudeus is so strong and smart and amazing and brave and perfect that regardless of whatever she wrote as she struggled to find the words to leave in her letter, he would just clairvoyantly understand her intentions.... but you don't really NEED that spelled out for you when her final appearance is her shouting to the high heavens about how in love she is directly juxtaposed with Rudeus reverting to his former self-image shut away in his bedroom after very specifically misunderstanding the meaning of her words and actions! "I LOVE THIS MAN she screams as the man she loves thinks to himself "I can't believe she doesn't love me anymore." Seeing that, anyone could conclude "Were you expecting him to just KNOW what you meant??" Yes. Yes she was.
The Eris' POV wasn't "skipped content"... it was integrated. It's broken up and repurposed in bits and pieces over the course of 4, count 'em, FOUR separate episodes but 99% of it is there if you know what to look for (which for anime onlys is considered rewatch value).
By going through this in such agonizing detail I hope I'm properly communicating one of the greatest hang ups LN readers seem to have (or adaptational purists in general) relative to their expectations: You are putting entirely too much value into dialogue, monologue, and the text of a script relative to every other element the medium has to offer. The absence of TEXT does not diminish the SUBTEXT. An individual viewer might not know WHY they believe a character motivation exists as it does, but by and large most will pick up on those details whether it be deliberate (in the case of a certain psychologist youtuber who keeps nailing plot predictions over and over BECAUSE ALL OF THE INFORMATION YOU NEED IS RIGHT, THE F**K, THERE) or subconsciously (in the case of most passive audience members).

PART 1 (COUR 2): THE RESCHEDULENING (aka MATH)

Now, having detailed how a POV chapter can actually be efficiently absorbed into the runtime of the show without disrupting or sidetracking the main narrative, let's re-examine the topic of how (as well as why) this affects the production schedule. As I previously stated, overall Volume 1-9 have quite a number of POV chapters to work around as buffers to the rest of the content. Don't believe me? Let me break it down a bit more then:
Vol 1 contains ~ 2 1/2 POV chapters out of 10 = 25% Vol 2 contains ~ 2 3/4 POV chapters out of 11 = 25% Vol 3 contains ~ 1 POV chapters out of 15 = 6.5% (one of the longer action heavy volumes, yet only 3 eps) On average ~19% of content is POV. Vol 4 contains ~ 2 1/4 POV chapters out of 12 = 19% Vol 5 contains ~ 4 POV chapters out of 11 = 36% Vol 6 contains ~ 2 1/4 POV chapters out of 15 = 15% On average ~23% of content is POV. Vol 7 contains ~ 1 1/4 POV chapters out of 8 (technically 9, short prologue + epilogue combined) = 15.5% Vol 8 contains ~ 2 POV chapters out of 12 = 17% Vol 9 contains ~ 3.75 POV chapters out of 12.5 (several very short POVs, adjusted for fairness) = 30% On average ~21% of content is POV. Vol 10 contains ~ 2 POV chapters out of 14 = 14% Vol 11 contains ~ 2 POV chapters out of 16 = 12.5% Vol 12 contains ~ 1 1/2 POV chapters out of 16 = 9% On average ~12% of content is POV. ^\Note* Several chapters are not purely dedicated to secondary character POVs but rather "cut aways" between Rudy's own perspective and are occasionally EXTREMELY short (I assigned 1/4 amounts for especially short POVs to give them weight, but to prevent over-representing them). Additionally while chapters vary in length they generally represent individual events which I feel is a more apt form of measurement to relate to the anime adaptation in place of page counts (you're not gonna find the table of contents, copyrights, or the author's afterward being adapted after all). These are VERY rough estimations and should not be taken as "objective" measurements.)
Look at that proportional difference for Volume 10-12 relative to the other cours. While production had the advantage of consistently folding a little more than 1/5 of the content into the current runtime the current cour has almost 10% more content competing for the same amount of screen time as the cour before it. In fact, it's significantly LESS screen time as only the 1st episode bypassed the OP/ED compared to Cour 1's 4 episodes (and if you include the OVA, cour 1 already had a 24 minute head start in addition to the extra 3 per ep for a whopping total of 36 extra minutes of runtime over cour 2), Even if we're exceedingly generous and assume the next 4 episodes skip the OP/ED each, that would still leave it at a 24 minute disadvantage just in comparison to cour 1, not to mention the additional screen time afforded to S1 as I've already covered.

Part 3: Screen Time as a Resource (aka Content / Time = Stress)

In a novel characters can engage in chapter length diatribes or strategic planning in their own heads, engage in "talking is a free action" whilst in a fight to the death, and all sorts of ridiculous temporal bending contrivances that simply do not translate to the screen where time is the single most precious commodity (unless you're a shonen protagonist charging up your kamehameha). So let's view this from the scriptwriters' perspective to understand why they are forced to make some very difficult choices. As you are starting work on your assigned episode(s), the show's production committee makes the call that while previously you were afforded as much as ~300 minutes (5 hours) to convey ~1K pages of material, this time you only get ~255 minutes (4 1/4 hours) to convey ~1200 pages of the same density of material. Much more information to convey in much less time and you only JUST BARELY scrapped by to include as much as you could the last 3 times. That's means that at a MINIMUM, 200 of those pages are destined for the cutting room floor.
Though speaking of shounen protagonists, action set pieces are extraordinarily useful for either expanding OR condensing a scene's runtime by exactly as much as you need to fit within an episode's runtime. Need to add time? Go balls-to-the-wall, high-octane, budget-melting sakuga insanity that outshines even the source material (Turning Point 2/Eris vs Assassins) or you can condense high page counts into surprisingly short runtimes while still conveying the impact and information stored in those several pages worth of text. High impact, malleable screen time, same information conveyed. More time to dedicate to world building and secondary character development. As such, S1 (cour 2 especially) had a TREMENDOUS amount of leeway in how much they wished to expand OR condense action scenes at their discretion compared to the (comparatively) action-lite S2 (for Cour 1 at least).
So then you might ask with Cour 2 revving up the action again, why is it instead CUTTING tons of those action scenes rather than merely truncating them to make space for dialogue scenes like the prior cours? The short answer is there's already no time to spare. The longer, more complex answer is action scenes can't exist in a vacuum. In the same way you have to accelerate and decelerate in your car evenly to get from point A to point B safely, you can't simply hit 0-60 mph in under 2 seconds and you certainly can't go from 60 to 0 in a fraction of a second unless you want an episodes' pacing to liquify like your internal organs. Before, during, and sometimes after a fight scene is initiated, several questions need to be answered for the audience like "Who/what is fighting?" "Where are they positioned?" "What is the level of threat?" "What are the stakes?" "What are the win conditions?" with greater or fewer questions depending on the complexity of the scene or it's meaning to the character(s). Failing to provide the audience adequate answers to these questions can easily result in a nonsensical farce.... unless that's literally your intention. Thankfully, the requirement for winding down action is much simpler. After a beat of heightened tension, your protagonist simply lowers their guard/weapon and the message communicated to the audience is "the threat is over" and within seconds you can move to the next scene.
Most major encounters follow this rhythm throughout the series, with individual chapters dedicated solely to these fights, spanning page counts that are generally (but not always) on the higher end. In general, there are only 1-2 major battles per volume. Vol 11 and 12, by contrast, have several chapters that contain a half dozen individual skirmishes apiece that make adapting the material a total NIGHTMARE to pick and choose what makes the cut. So as an example, a weirdly high amount of time is seemingly spent establishing the succubus encounter in ep 19. Why you may ask? So they could ride those same rules of engagement straight into the following montage to inform the audience "these fights possess the same rules of engagement we just established" without having to spend the additional time winding up each one individually (another, more humorous example, is Ruijerd "dueling" the 3 North God students in a row). The montage also pulls double duty by conveying both the passage of time and distance. You'd think truncating roughly 1/5 of the entire volume into a scant 60 seconds would give them plenty of extra time to work with, but sadly, the ability to condense content is still only enough to break even with the established pace.
Another major element that placed Season 2 at a massive disadvantage is that Season 2 had to use it's precious 25th episode OVA to *catch up* on content that was deferred from Season 1 as Sylphy's POV chapters starting all the way back in Vol 4 did not make the cut. So rather than getting a jump start, the OVA was actually just catching up on deferred content that could not be included DESPITE all of the tremendous advantages I've previously discussed. And even then, it still needed to skip all but a few scant details from the intervening chapters that bridge the gap between Sylphy becoming Silent Fitz and Ariel's entire entourage fleeing to Ranoa's University of Magic resulting in all but 5 of them being slaughtered by assassins in hideously gruesome fashion. In a nutshell, Season 2 actually only has 24 episodes to dedicate to itself, and most of the benefits of scheduling seems to have heavily favored Cour 1 over Cour 2.
At this point, assuming like everyone else who joined up with Studio Bind, you are yourself a massive fan of the series and absolutely love these novels, you are effectively being asked to CHOOSE your favorite children chapters to sacrifice in the name of ending the season at a satisfying arc conclusion. Sure you could just adapt at the same rate of chapters-to-screen time as before and conclude the final 12th episode with THAT THING THAT HAPPENS but somehow I feel like doing so would result in death threats being strapped to a brick and hurled through your office windows. You've certainly maintained the integrity of the show's original pacing, but telling fans to sit tight until the next production cycle is ready in another 2-3 years feels like a recipe for disaster.
And frankly, Vol 12 has some INTENSELY heavy dialogue/monologue scenes filing out the back half of the volume that are going to need significantly more screen time to convey the necessary information relative to the first half as it is ENTIRELY Rudy-centric. So the only way to get there with enough time to allow the season to reach a natural and satisfying conclusion and still hit all of the vitally necessary plot threads is to put those proverbial chapter babies containing some of your favorite character interactions and world building on the alter as a ritual sacrifice for more time on the clock. And what did those sacrifices get you? 5 episodes. A range of 105-117 minutes (depending on OP/ED usage) of screen time to cover the single densest volume since vol 3 (see above). Barely one episode ahead of pace (but in terms of available screen time still barely ahead) of prior cours. And if you think it's unfortunate that ACTION was being cut, oh lordy I have some *bad news for you.\*

Part 4: Screenwriting as an Artform (aka how write story gud)

"But why are they STILL so stretched for time if they have access to and are utilizing all of these time-saving techniques?" Well I'm hoping the previous 3 parts of this gargantuan multi-tiered super essay have helped establish the constraints Studio Bind are working under compared to the prior cours. Cour 2 is working with significantly LESS screen time, with MORE events to manage and they're already so stretched for time that even multi-chapter spanning story events like the Merchant caravan are being cut entirely, rather than merely abridged, to make up that difference.
The requirement for "essential viewing" grows ever higher as mundane scenes like coming in and out of the teleporter still HAVE to be given priority over fan-beloved moments of character development because as uninteresting as those kinds of expository, utilitarian scenes are, they serve a far more vital purpose in a screenplay for communicating to the audience the "BUT, THEREFORE, BECAUSE" flow of script writing (watch the video it's extremely short and a great explainer, but essentially "But = Complication", "Therefore = Next logical action", "Because = Character motivation for performing said action"). You literally cannot skip these unremarkable, bog standard scenes because doing so would commit one of the deadliest sins of storytelling that I was alluding to when discussing how to establish action scenes: The Discontinuity of the dreaded "AND THEN" statement. If you're watching a movie and it's a series of "and then this happened and then that happened and then this person showed up" it ceases to be less a story so much as watching someone's attention span annihilating slideshow of vacation photographs.
As an example, scenes like the ones that establish how, where, and why Rudy and Elinalise use the teleporter to get from Ranoa to Begaritt are slow, mundane, and heavily time consuming and yet are so absolutely necessary as a scriptwriter to take the time to make sure the audience can follow along the logical thru-line for how these scenes connect to one another. If you skip such seemingly trifling, yet necessary information, the audience is not going to react by saying "oh THAT SCENE I LOVE is coming up" but rather "wait, why are we in a desert?"
As an example I'll use the last 2 episodes to demonstrate. The logical flow of episode 19 into 20 proceeds as follows (some parts are truncated for *relative* brevity):
"Rudy needs to leave for Rapan. THEREFORE he tells everyone goodbye, BUT Nanahoshi knows how to teleport there. THEREFORE he changes his route with Elinalise. THEREFORE they get prepared BECAUSE they want to save Zenith, BUT Cliff proposes to Elinalise BECAUSE he feels his lack of commitment was making her nervous. THEREFORE Elinalise is caught off guard BECAUSE she originally intended to leave without telling him to break off their relationship. THEREFORE she accepts his proposal. THEREFORE they travel to the teleporter, BUT teleporters are considered a source of danger to adventurers. THEREFORE they study it first as a safety precaution. THEREFORE they verify it's safe operation and use it. THEREFORE they arrive in Begaritt, BUT they are attacked by a Succubus. THEREFORE Rudy needs to detox himself BECAUSE they want to keep their promise to Cliff and Sylphy. THEREFORE they continue their sexless journey, BUT they are attacked several more times. THEREFORE they kill the monsters and proceed with caution. THEREFORE they arrive in Rapan in ~6 weeks. THEREFORE Geese is surprised to see them when they arrive, BECAUSE he only sent the letter so recently. THEREFORE he takes them to see Paul. THEREFORE they reunite with Paul, BUT Paul has fallen back into depression BECAUSE they lost Roxy while failing to find Zenith. THEREFORE Rudy tells Paul about his marriage and pregnancy with Sylphy. THEREFORE Paul recovers BECAUSE of the joy and pride he feels for his son BUT still feels worthless BECAUSE of his failures. THEREFORE Paul finally notices Elinalise. THEREFORE he apologizes BECAUSE ....uh y'know that thing that happened. THEREFORE Paul and Elinalise reconcile BUT Paul is confused that she didn't sleep with Rudy BECAUSE of her curse. THEREFORE she explains her husband Cliff's magic tool BUT Paul can't believe she has a husband. THEREFORE they get into another spat BUT the rest of the party returns during their argument THEREFORE Rudy learns that Roxy is lost in the labyrinth. THEREFORE Rudy starts to panic as the party begins to squabble. THEREFORE Elinalise takes Rudy's shoulder to draw his attention BECAUSE she realized he was panicking. THEREFORE Rudy asks to be caught up on the situation. THEREFORE Paul describes the difficulty of the Teleportation Labyrinth. THEREFORE Rudy gives Geese the book detailing it's depths which he borrowed BECAUSE he would be using a teleporter to get to Begaritt, BUT it will take Geese time to read it. THEREFORE Paul calls the meeting to a close to allow Geese to adjust their strategy using the book. THEREFORE Rudy, Paul, and Lilia start talking, BUT Paul is still a crude dude. THEREFORE the topic turns to sex BUT Lilia is in denial about being a total sex freak. THEREFORE Paul teases her BECAUSE he knowns how much she likes it rough. THEREFORE they retire for the night after some locker room talk. THEREFORE they depart for the labyrinth the following day. THEREFORE they reach the labyrinth and begin their descent, BUT Paul is breaking formation to show off in front of Rudeus. THEREFORE Elinalise scolds him, BECAUSE she wants to keep her family safe. THEREFORE Paul flippantly dismisses her claims of thinking of him like a son, BUT he is unaware of their connection through Sylphy. THEREFORE they continue further into the Labyrinth maintaining their formation, BUT they encounter new monsters. THEREFORE Rudy starts to cast a spell, BUT Talhand advises him not to use fire BECAUSE it fills a room with poison BECAUSE the concept of carbon monoxide poisoning exists but isn't fully understood in this universe BUT he also advices not attacking the ceiling BECAUSE it could cause a cave-in. THEREFORE Rudy uses ice magic to kill the remaining monsters. THEREFORE they advance to the second stratum in proper formation. THEREFORE they breeze through the second formation and take a break before entering the third. THEREFORE Geese uses the opportunity to inform Rudy that the next section is where Roxy went missing and may still be near that area BECAUSE teleporter traps only warp victims within the same stratum. THEREFORE as they approach where they lost Roxy, Geese asks Rudy where he'd look for Roxy based on his intuition. AND THEN Using his intuition, Rudy notices condensation on a wall and uses his Roxy Odor Snoof Sense to detect Roxy's location through a damn wall despite being a contrivance BUT it's the same contrivance used in the source material THEREFORE shut up. THEREFORE we cut to Roxy BUT she's being surrounded by monsters. THEREFORE she casts numerous spells to hold them at bay, BUT she runs out of mana. THEREFORE she believes she's about to die BUT Rudy saves her just in the nick of time. THEREFORE Roxy is shaken to her core at the sight of the man who saved her despite not recognizing Rudy, BUT then her POV didn't play out the way it did in the novels THEREFORE LN purists got upset BECAUSE they assumed her POV had been cut BUT they forgot that Roxy's POV has always been shown tremendous favoritism by Studio Bind THEREFORE they jumped to conclusions unaware it would happen the following episode.

THEREFORE Calm down and let Studio Bind cook

Effectively the point I hope I have demonstrated is that there IS a logical and consistent thru-line from scene to scene to scene that an audience can follow (and if you want to improve as a screenwriter, this is a GREAT exercise to figure out what makes your favorite shows tick. It's basically the screenwriter's equivalent to tracing someone else' art as practice). Even these unfairly maligned episodes have a viewing experience that provides a consistent sense of pacing. But if you want to know WHAT precisely feels different about them? Well if I had chosen to break down episodes from any of the prior 3 cours (or the best episodes of this cour), you'd be seeing the word BECAUSE significantly more to fill out every action, reaction, and complication along the way. If "THEREFORE" and "BUT" are the easel and canvas, which are necessary to even begin the process of creating art, then "BECAUSE" is the screenwriter's paintbrush that allows them to breathe life and detail into the characters on screen. The prior 3 cours were awash with "BECAUSE" statements detailing why characters are behaving the way they are in every individual scene so if there's one crime that can legitimately be pinned against several episodes in the latest cour, it's "JUST 'CUZ."

PART FINAL: The TL;DR (aka the... tl;dr)

So having laid all this out in such verbose, granular detail, what exactly does all of this mean?
To put it bluntly, Season 1 being such a near-perfect masterwork of adaptation spoiled the ever loving hell out of us. Having gorged ourselves on that expectation, we've ruined our appetites because now such perks are simply anticipated as standard with a vocal minority now irked by the use of a standard OP simply because it follows the conventions of the medium or (stay with me here) committing the sin of appealing to shonen fans. I know, truly a crime worthy of sudoku because of 14 seconds depicting one of the single most important events in the series. I truly don't understand (seriously, explain it to me please).
The current cour is merely receiving the same treatment most adaptations are given while still outperforming its peers if weekly rankings are anything to go by. Episodes range from pretty good to excellent (Norn and Nanahoshi's spotlight eps being the highlights thus far despite some grumbling) with even the extremely barebones Ep 19 squeezing in what sparse worldbuilding nuggets it can despite the plot literally necessitating that Rudy book it from one side of the planet to the other within a 21 minute period (a production level pacing decision you are still free to criticize). As I said earlier (but it bears repeating) these episodes are a good adaptation of Rudy's story rather than the whole that makes up MT because it simply doesn't have the screen time to focus on anything that falls outside the scope of his perspective given the sheer breadth of competing narrative essential content. As a show, these episodes are still delivering a cohesive and engaging thru-line by being glued to Rudy's perspective. So as long as Rudy remains interesting to watch the audience will be more than satisfied.
Expecting the same anomalous level of dedication AND leniency from the production committee to happen for every season was unfortunately nothing but a pipe dream. Cour 2 is now being forced to make due with what it has and while they are doing a commendable job given the heavy restrictions, it is completely unreasonable to expect them to fit so much into such tight confines. It is the adaptation equivalent of being asked to fit everything into one grocery bag, but not wanting the bag to be heavy.
Could this cour have been scheduled better? Absolutely. Was it possible certain changes to the script or episode direction could have provided more opportunities to explore the cut content? Of course. Is it still a total bummer that the realities of production that have compromised the artistic integrity of our beloved peak fiction? Without a doubt.
We are simply going to have to get used to the fact that S1 may never be topped with our only hope being the return of the waifu-wars for S3 rekindles the beefs between animators vying for shot assignments (which may hopefully still be in the cards god willing).
Of course, I'm not a future seer, so maybe, just maybe, Studio Bind bursts into flames and all of the footage is lost resulting in the quality of the last 3 episodes to be the worst drop off of a television show since the final season of Game of Thrones. If that is the case then I'll be eating more crow than I ever have in my life. But if Studio Bind sticks the landing and delivers on the emotional climax to one of the most beloved arcs among the fanbase that we've anticipated for years, then please calm it down with these exaggerated "cutting content is ruining the show" claims.
Thank you from coming to my Ted Talk and enjoy the rest of the season everyone.

\"But why not do both?\"
This is a follow-up to my last post defending the anime's decision to cut content for the sake of pacing but let me give you the TL;DR so you don't feel the need to have read that one before this as this post covers the same bases (and then some): The anime is first-and foremost the story of Rudeus Greyrat and must therefore prioritize his perspective, even at the cost of other characters' moments, regardless of how beloved those individual scenes are to fans of the Light Novels (myself included).
So let me start by addressing the strongest counter argument made in response to that post: "But the first season, and even Cour 1 of season 2 was able to maintain excellent pacing while having relatively few cuts! Why does the pacing in cour 2 still *FEEL* so rushed in comparison despite cutting so much?" That is an astute observation! And, quite frankly, you are asking the right questions. And for anyone planning to skip straight to the end of this admittedly \daunting* essay, here's a TL;DR for you: Episodes 19 & 20's reduced quality and heightened pace were done deliberately to provide the last 4 episodes of the season the space they need to breathe.* Continue reading if you want to find out how and why this had to be done.
It would be a fool's errand to argue that Cour 2 is NOT cutting less content than prior cours (because it absolutely is, and by quite a lot too), nor will I be arguing that the cour does NOT suffer some level of pacing issues because it absolutely is (see first post), rather I will be arguing in defense of the purpose of limiting the scope of what gets adapted, and why such decisions are necessary in the first place. However, before I delve any further into the specifics of Cour 2's production struggles, first I should elaborate how its production schedule differs from S1.

PART 1: Production Scheduling (aka setting the pace)

In case you were unaware, Season 1 was originally slated to be released in 2020 but was delayed to January of 2021 so it could actually receive all of the extra care and polish it truly deserved. For S2, Studio Bind's production staff, by contrast, had to make due with the time they were initially given. More time (and consequently more budget) usually fixes most production issues, but very few (extraordinarily rare) series ever receive that benefit and doing so twice was likely never even considered a possibility.
Sadly we are not in the alternate timeline where S2 benefitted from the same advantages that gave us gorgeous custom world-building OPs for every episode that freed up even more additional screen time for dialogue and character development (in some cases literally depicting entire chapters such as Paul's POV being shown during Ep 17's STUNNINGLY well executed OP montage). Thanks in part to that decision, S1 had significantly more wiggle room to work with, especially pertaining to the secondary cast, allowing it to more evenly adapt the world building, character development, and main narrative plotline of Mushoku Tensei as a whole utilizing that extra runtime (90 seconds per episode adds up to a LOT over the course of an entire season, plus the 5 EDs, that were integrated as needed on a per-episode basis, for an additional 7 1/2 minutes which adds up to a WHOPPING 43 1/2 MINUTES over the course of that 24 episode run and I should point out that S2 Cour 1 ALSO benefitted from this for the first 5 episodes including the OVA, giving that cour an added 9 minutes to utilize with Cour 2 receiving a paltry 3 minutes as only the 1st episode integrates the OP/ED runtime).
It's simply the reality that polish and quality was prioritized for S1 while scheduling and budget were prioritized for S2. If you want to be especially harsh, one could say S1 was treated as art, while S2 was treated as a commercial product, which is why I've set my expectations accordingly and hope this post helps others do the same. This becomes more apparent when you take into consideration that Studio Bind were also working on Onimai at the same time as S2 given their air dates were only 6 months apart. So not only was S2 not being given the same scheduling priority, it was COMPETING for resources. Given the BD sales numbers for every project they've released, at a minimum we can be assured that Studio Bind has been financially successful at least but the double edged nature of that success also means that certain priorities may have shifted away from MT and towards the new cash-cow. There's a reason I phrased my previous post so specifically: These episodes are a fine adaptation of Rudy's story.... and not much else because it simply doesn't have the screen time or resources to focus on anything besides Rudy's share of the narrative and character development.
Which ties directly into the second reason as to why cour 2 FEELS so rushed, even in comparison to cour 1. The contents of Volumes 10, 11, and 12 are significantly more *LINEAR\* with more individual events being depicted compared to Volumes 1-9. This translates to more content vying for screen time. But how much content are we talking about here? Well, I don't want to go too deeply into raw numbers as that's not really the point but let's set a baseline with some quick-n-dirty math to illustrate:
S1c1 covers 1326 pg / 3 = 442 pg/vol (11 episodes) = 40.2 pg / ep S1c2 covers 1280 pg / 3 = 427 pg/vol (12 episodes + OVA) = 32.8 pg / ep S2c1 covers 1268 pg / 3 = 423 pg/vol (12 episodes + OVA) = 32.5 pg / ep S2c2 covers 1381 pg / 3 = 460 pg/vol (12 episodes) = 38.3 pg / ep
Obviously these are EXTREMELY rough numbers that don't take into account any of the cut content, non-chapter related pages, nor the difference in available runtime afforded to S1 that I previously mentioned, but just by raw page count, that's technically LESS content than what the first 11 episodes of Season 1 had to adapt! Surely they could just tweak a few things to make everything fit! Unfortunately, it's not that simple. You see, there's a distinct lack of a certain type of content that made the lives of the production staff significantly easier by providing plenty of opportunities to pick and choose what made it into the final cut of an episode's runtime to keep the mainline story of Rudeus chugging along at the leisurely clip we're accustomed to.

PART 2: Narrative Fluff (aka work smarter, not longer)

Spoiler: It's the sheer density of secondary character POVs. The very ones we often grieved being cut as the episodes were coming out during S1. They add depth and complexity to the characters (and are, imho, singularly the most *profoundly insightful* pieces of writing Rifujin-sensei has ever produced) but 90% of the time are simply repeating the same events from a new perspective. HOWEVER, when adapted to an audio-visual medium, you can SHOW both perspectives simultaneously and let the audience infer what's going on in a secondary character's mind through the use of voice acting, animation, staging, lighting, OST, and sound design thereby allowing the anime-only audience to receive 90% of the same information that was conveyed during those same events in the novels.
The "missing" Eris POV is the primary example of this disconnect between how little LN readers think Anime-onlys are inferring and how much is being successfully communicated to them even if they themselves can't properly articulate what it was they took away from any particular scene. I highly recommend paying close attention to Eris' face in the 3 following episodes after the events of Turning Point 2 RATHER THAN READING THE SUBTITLES (dub watchers have an advantage here but BOTH performances do an incredible job) and you'll see (and hear) what I'm talking about. Sure we don't get every beat of her thought process spelled out for us in quite the same level of detail as in her POV chapter, but you can sense her inner conflict while watching Rudeus practice Disturb Magic as they ride into the outskirts of Fittoa and her heartache at seeing him standing forlornly in the ruins of his destroyed childhood home. The idea that she doesn't feel "worthy" of him is already being communicated by her facial expressions and her body language. Her letter stating how they aren't "well-balanced" in combination with that visual information is already providing context clues to the viewer as to what's going on in her head. In her final scene you can hear the sheer depth of her love give way to a deeply instilled sense of self-loathing, just by the tone of her voice, as she hoists Rudeus up onto that pedestal. Yet as she nears the end of her melancholic monologue more of that brash, passionate nature of hers seeps back into her delivery as pours her heart out.
To quote Harry Plinkett: "It's so subtle, you might not have even noticed... but your brain did."
The only emotion you could argue was nerfed by the adaptation is the depths of her self-loathing for having "taken advantage of him" after their night together but they still get a line in about their age and size difference, which when heard in her self-flagellating tone describing how "awful" she's been to him, you can easily make that inference. But you might also say "AHA even in those 3 episodes they left out how devastated she was when Rudy beat her using the demon eye after she finally gained some confidence in her strength" to which I say: Watch Ep 13: Missed Connections and, again, pay attention to Eris. Every part off the Buffalo was used.
They also never deliberately spell out her ardent belief that Rudeus is so strong and smart and amazing and brave and perfect that regardless of whatever she wrote as she struggled to find the words to leave in her letter, he would just clairvoyantly understand her intentions.... but you don't really NEED that spelled out for you when her final appearance is her shouting to the high heavens about how in love she is directly juxtaposed with Rudeus reverting to his former self-image shut away in his bedroom after very specifically misunderstanding the meaning of her words and actions! "I LOVE THIS MAN she screams as the man she loves thinks to himself "I can't believe she doesn't love me anymore." Seeing that, anyone could conclude "Were you expecting him to just KNOW what you meant??" Yes. Yes she was.
The Eris' POV wasn't "skipped content"... it was integrated. It's broken up and repurposed in bits and pieces over the course of 4, count 'em, FOUR separate episodes but 99% of it is there if you know what to look for (which for anime onlys is considered rewatch value).
By going through this in such agonizing detail I hope I'm properly communicating one of the greatest hang ups LN readers seem to have (or adaptational purists in general) relative to their expectations: You are putting entirely too much value into dialogue, monologue, and the text of a script relative to every other element the medium has to offer. The absence of TEXT does not diminish the SUBTEXT. An individual viewer might not know WHY they believe a character motivation exists as it does, but by and large most will pick up on those details whether it be deliberate (in the case of a certain psychologist youtuber who keeps nailing plot predictions over and over BECAUSE ALL OF THE INFORMATION YOU NEED IS RIGHT, THE F**K, THERE) or subconsciously (in the case of most passive audience members).

PART 1 (COUR 2): THE RESCHEDULENING (aka MATH)

Now, having detailed how a POV chapter can actually be efficiently absorbed into the runtime of the show without disrupting or sidetracking the main narrative, let's re-examine the topic of how (as well as why) this affects the production schedule. As I previously stated, overall Volume 1-9 have quite a number of POV chapters to work around as buffers to the rest of the content. Don't believe me? Let me break it down a bit more then:
Vol 1 contains ~ 2 1/2 POV chapters out of 10 = 25% Vol 2 contains ~ 2 3/4 POV chapters out of 11 = 25% Vol 3 contains ~ 1 POV chapters out of 15 = 6.5% (one of the longer action heavy volumes, yet only 3 eps) On average ~19% of content is POV. Vol 4 contains ~ 2 1/4 POV chapters out of 12 = 19% Vol 5 contains ~ 4 POV chapters out of 11 = 36% Vol 6 contains ~ 2 1/4 POV chapters out of 15 = 15% On average ~23% of content is POV. Vol 7 contains ~ 1 1/4 POV chapters out of 8 (technically 9, short prologue + epilogue combined) = 15.5% Vol 8 contains ~ 2 POV chapters out of 12 = 17% Vol 9 contains ~ 3.75 POV chapters out of 12.5 (several very short POVs, adjusted for fairness) = 30% On average ~21% of content is POV. Vol 10 contains ~ 2 POV chapters out of 14 = 14% Vol 11 contains ~ 2 POV chapters out of 16 = 12.5% Vol 12 contains ~ 1 1/2 POV chapters out of 16 = 9% On average ~12% of content is POV. ^\Note* Several chapters are not purely dedicated to secondary character POVs but rather "cut aways" between Rudy's own perspective and are occasionally EXTREMELY short (I assigned 1/4 amounts for especially short POVs to give them weight, but to prevent over-representing them). Additionally while chapters vary in length they generally represent individual events which I feel is a more apt form of measurement to relate to the anime adaptation in place of page counts (you're not gonna find the table of contents, copyrights, or the author's afterward being adapted after all). These are VERY rough estimations and should not be taken as "objective" measurements.)
Look at that proportional difference for Volume 10-12 relative to the other cours. While production had the advantage of consistently folding a little more than 1/5 of the content into the current runtime the current cour has almost 10% more content competing for the same amount of screen time as the cour before it. In fact, it's significantly LESS screen time as only the 1st episode bypassed the OP/ED compared to Cour 1's 4 episodes (and if you include the OVA, cour 1 already had a 24 minute head start in addition to the extra 3 per ep for a whopping total of 36 extra minutes of runtime over cour 2), Even if we're exceedingly generous and assume the next 4 episodes skip the OP/ED each, that would still leave it at a 24 minute disadvantage just in comparison to cour 1, not to mention the additional screen time afforded to S1 as I've already covered.

Part 3: Screen Time as a Resource (aka Content / Time = Stress)

In a novel characters can engage in chapter length diatribes or strategic planning in their own heads, engage in "talking is a free action" whilst in a fight to the death, and all sorts of ridiculous temporal bending contrivances that simply do not translate to the screen where time is the single most precious commodity (unless you're a shonen protagonist charging up your kamehameha). So let's view this from the scriptwriters' perspective to understand why they are forced to make some very difficult choices. As you are starting work on your assigned episode(s), the show's production committee makes the call that while previously you were afforded as much as ~300 minutes (5 hours) to convey ~1K pages of material, this time you only get ~255 minutes (4 1/4 hours) to convey ~1200 pages of the same density of material. Much more information to convey in much less time and you only JUST BARELY scrapped by to include as much as you could the last 3 times. That's means that at a MINIMUM, 200 of those pages are destined for the cutting room floor.
Though speaking of shounen protagonists, action set pieces are extraordinarily useful for either expanding OR condensing a scene's runtime by exactly as much as you need to fit within an episode's runtime. Need to add time? Go balls-to-the-wall, high-octane, budget-melting sakuga insanity that outshines even the source material (Turning Point 2/Eris vs Assassins) or you can condense high page counts into surprisingly short runtimes while still conveying the impact and information stored in those several pages worth of text. High impact, malleable screen time, same information conveyed. More time to dedicate to world building and secondary character development. As such, S1 (cour 2 especially) had a TREMENDOUS amount of leeway in how much they wished to expand OR condense action scenes at their discretion compared to the (comparatively) action-lite S2 (for Cour 1 at least).
So then you might ask with Cour 2 revving up the action again, why is it instead CUTTING tons of those action scenes rather than merely truncating them to make space for dialogue scenes like the prior cours? The short answer is there's already no time to spare. The longer, more complex answer is action scenes can't exist in a vacuum. In the same way you have to accelerate and decelerate in your car evenly to get from point A to point B safely, you can't simply hit 0-60 mph in under 2 seconds and you certainly can't go from 60 to 0 in a fraction of a second unless you want an episodes' pacing to liquify like your internal organs. Before, during, and sometimes after a fight scene is initiated, several questions need to be answered for the audience like "Who/what is fighting?" "Where are they positioned?" "What is the level of threat?" "What are the stakes?" "What are the win conditions?" with greater or fewer questions depending on the complexity of the scene or it's meaning to the character(s). Failing to provide the audience adequate answers to these questions can easily result in a nonsensical farce.... unless that's literally your intention. Thankfully, the requirement for winding down action is much simpler. After a beat of heightened tension, your protagonist simply lowers their guard/weapon and the message communicated to the audience is "the threat is over" and within seconds you can move to the next scene.
Most major encounters follow this rhythm throughout the series, with individual chapters dedicated solely to these fights, spanning page counts that are generally (but not always) on the higher end. In general, there are only 1-2 major battles per volume. Vol 11 and 12, by contrast, have several chapters that contain a half dozen individual skirmishes apiece that make adapting the material a total NIGHTMARE to pick and choose what makes the cut. So as an example, a weirdly high amount of time is seemingly spent establishing the succubus encounter in ep 19. Why you may ask? So they could ride those same rules of engagement straight into the following montage to inform the audience "these fights possess the same rules of engagement we just established" without having to spend the additional time winding up each one individually (another, more humorous example, is Ruijerd "dueling" the 3 North God students in a row). The montage also pulls double duty by conveying both the passage of time and distance. You'd think truncating roughly 1/5 of the entire volume into a scant 60 seconds would give them plenty of extra time to work with, but sadly, the ability to condense content is still only enough to break even with the established pace.
Another major element that placed Season 2 at a massive disadvantage is that Season 2 had to use it's precious 25th episode OVA to *catch up* on content that was deferred from Season 1 as Sylphy's POV chapters starting all the way back in Vol 4 did not make the cut. So rather than getting a jump start, the OVA was actually just catching up on deferred content that could not be included DESPITE all of the tremendous advantages I've previously discussed. And even then, it still needed to skip all but a few scant details from the intervening chapters that bridge the gap between Sylphy becoming Silent Fitz and Ariel's entire entourage fleeing to Ranoa's University of Magic resulting in all but 5 of them being slaughtered by assassins in hideously gruesome fashion. In a nutshell, Season 2 actually only has 24 episodes to dedicate to itself, and most of the benefits of scheduling seems to have heavily favored Cour 1 over Cour 2.
At this point, assuming like everyone else who joined up with Studio Bind, you are yourself a massive fan of the series and absolutely love these novels, you are effectively being asked to CHOOSE your favorite children chapters to sacrifice in the name of ending the season at a satisfying arc conclusion. Sure you could just adapt at the same rate of chapters-to-screen time as before and conclude the final 12th episode with THAT THING THAT HAPPENS but somehow I feel like doing so would result in death threats being strapped to a brick and hurled through your office windows. You've certainly maintained the integrity of the show's original pacing, but telling fans to sit tight until the next production cycle is ready in another 2-3 years feels like a recipe for disaster.
And frankly, Vol 12 has some INTENSELY heavy dialogue/monologue scenes filing out the back half of the volume that are going to need significantly more screen time to convey the necessary information relative to the first half as it is ENTIRELY Rudy-centric. So the only way to get there with enough time to allow the season to reach a natural and satisfying conclusion and still hit all of the vitally necessary plot threads is to put those proverbial chapter babies containing some of your favorite character interactions and world building on the alter as a ritual sacrifice for more time on the clock. And what did those sacrifices get you? 5 episodes. A range of 105-117 minutes (depending on OP/ED usage) of screen time to cover the single densest volume since vol 3 (see above). Barely one episode ahead of pace (but in terms of available screen time still barely ahead) of prior cours. And if you think it's unfortunate that ACTION was being cut, oh lordy I have some *bad news for you.\*

Part 4: Screenwriting as an Artform (aka how write story gud)

"But why are they STILL so stretched for time if they have access to and are utilizing all of these time-saving techniques?" Well I'm hoping the previous 3 parts of this gargantuan multi-tiered super essay have helped establish the constraints Studio Bind are working under compared to the prior cours. Cour 2 is working with significantly LESS screen time, with MORE events to manage and they're already so stretched for time that even multi-chapter spanning story events like the Merchant caravan are being cut entirely, rather than merely abridged, to make up that difference.
The requirement for "essential viewing" grows ever higher as mundane scenes like coming in and out of the teleporter still HAVE to be given priority over fan-beloved moments of character development because as uninteresting as those kinds of expository, utilitarian scenes are, they serve a far more vital purpose in a screenplay for communicating to the audience the "BUT, THEREFORE, BECAUSE" flow of script writing (watch the video it's extremely short and a great explainer, but essentially "But = Complication", "Therefore = Next logical action", "Because = Character motivation for performing said action"). You literally cannot skip these unremarkable, bog standard scenes because doing so would commit one of the deadliest sins of storytelling that I was alluding to when discussing how to establish action scenes: The Discontinuity of the dreaded "AND THEN" statement. If you're watching a movie and it's a series of "and then this happened and then that happened and then this person showed up" it ceases to be less a story so much as watching someone's attention span annihilating slideshow of vacation photographs.
As an example, scenes like the ones that establish how, where, and why Rudy and Elinalise use the teleporter to get from Ranoa to Begaritt are slow, mundane, and heavily time consuming and yet are so absolutely necessary as a scriptwriter to take the time to make sure the audience can follow along the logical thru-line for how these scenes connect to one another. If you skip such seemingly trifling, yet necessary information, the audience is not going to react by saying "oh THAT SCENE I LOVE is coming up" but rather "wait, why are we in a desert?"
As an example I'll use the last 2 episodes to demonstrate. The logical flow of episode 19 into 20 proceeds as follows (some parts are truncated for *relative* brevity):
"Rudy needs to leave for Rapan. THEREFORE he tells everyone goodbye, BUT Nanahoshi knows how to teleport there. THEREFORE he changes his route with Elinalise. THEREFORE they get prepared BECAUSE they want to save Zenith, BUT Cliff proposes to Elinalise BECAUSE he feels his lack of commitment was making her nervous. THEREFORE Elinalise is caught off guard BECAUSE she originally intended to leave without telling him to break off their relationship. THEREFORE she accepts his proposal. THEREFORE they travel to the teleporter, BUT teleporters are considered a source of danger to adventurers. THEREFORE they study it first as a safety precaution. THEREFORE they verify it's safe operation and use it. THEREFORE they arrive in Begaritt, BUT they are attacked by a Succubus. THEREFORE Rudy needs to detox himself BECAUSE they want to keep their promise to Cliff and Sylphy. THEREFORE they continue their sexless journey, BUT they are attacked several more times. THEREFORE they kill the monsters and proceed with caution. THEREFORE they arrive in Rapan in ~6 weeks. THEREFORE Geese is surprised to see them when they arrive, BECAUSE he only sent the letter so recently. THEREFORE he takes them to see Paul. THEREFORE they reunite with Paul, BUT Paul has fallen back into depression BECAUSE they lost Roxy while failing to find Zenith. THEREFORE Rudy tells Paul about his marriage and pregnancy with Sylphy. THEREFORE Paul recovers BECAUSE of the joy and pride he feels for his son BUT still feels worthless BECAUSE of his failures. THEREFORE Paul finally notices Elinalise. THEREFORE he apologizes BECAUSE ....uh y'know that thing that happened. THEREFORE Paul and Elinalise reconcile BUT Paul is confused that she didn't sleep with Rudy BECAUSE of her curse. THEREFORE she explains her husband Cliff's magic tool BUT Paul can't believe she has a husband. THEREFORE they get into another spat BUT the rest of the party returns during their argument THEREFORE Rudy learns that Roxy is lost in the labyrinth. THEREFORE Rudy starts to panic as the party begins to squabble. THEREFORE Elinalise takes Rudy's shoulder to draw his attention BECAUSE she realized he was panicking. THEREFORE Rudy asks to be caught up on the situation. THEREFORE Paul describes the difficulty of the Teleportation Labyrinth. THEREFORE Rudy gives Geese the book detailing it's depths which he borrowed BECAUSE he would be using a teleporter to get to Begaritt, BUT it will take Geese time to read it. THEREFORE Paul calls the meeting to a close to allow Geese to adjust their strategy using the book. THEREFORE Rudy, Paul, and Lilia start talking, BUT Paul is still a crude dude. THEREFORE the topic turns to sex BUT Lilia is in denial about being a total sex freak. THEREFORE Paul teases her BECAUSE he knowns how much she likes it rough. THEREFORE they retire for the night after some locker room talk. THEREFORE they depart for the labyrinth the following day. THEREFORE they reach the labyrinth and begin their descent, BUT Paul is breaking formation to show off in front of Rudeus. THEREFORE Elinalise scolds him, BECAUSE she wants to keep her family safe. THEREFORE Paul flippantly dismisses her claims of thinking of him like a son, BUT he is unaware of their connection through Sylphy. THEREFORE they continue further into the Labyrinth maintaining their formation, BUT they encounter new monsters. THEREFORE Rudy starts to cast a spell, BUT Talhand advises him not to use fire BECAUSE it fills a room with poison BECAUSE the concept of carbon monoxide poisoning exists but isn't fully understood in this universe BUT he also advices not attacking the ceiling BECAUSE it could cause a cave-in. THEREFORE Rudy uses ice magic to kill the remaining monsters. THEREFORE they advance to the second stratum in proper formation. THEREFORE they breeze through the second formation and take a break before entering the third. THEREFORE Geese uses the opportunity to inform Rudy that the next section is where Roxy went missing and may still be near that area BECAUSE teleporter traps only warp victims within the same stratum. THEREFORE as they approach where they lost Roxy, Geese asks Rudy where he'd look for Roxy based on his intuition. AND THEN Using his intuition, Rudy notices condensation on a wall and uses his Roxy Odor Snoof Sense to detect Roxy's location through a damn wall despite being a contrivance BUT it's the same contrivance used in the source material THEREFORE shut up. THEREFORE we cut to Roxy BUT she's being surrounded by monsters. THEREFORE she casts numerous spells to hold them at bay, BUT she runs out of mana. THEREFORE she believes she's about to die BUT Rudy saves her just in the nick of time. THEREFORE Roxy is shaken to her core at the sight of the man who saved her despite not recognizing Rudy, BUT then her POV didn't play out the way it did in the novels THEREFORE LN purists got upset BECAUSE they assumed her POV had been cut BUT they forgot that Roxy's POV has always been shown tremendous favoritism by Studio Bind THEREFORE they jumped to conclusions unaware it would happen the following episode.

THEREFORE Calm down and let Studio Bind cook

Effectively the point I hope I have demonstrated is that there IS a logical and consistent thru-line from scene to scene to scene that an audience can follow (and if you want to improve as a screenwriter, this is a GREAT exercise to figure out what makes your favorite shows tick. It's basically the screenwriter's equivalent to tracing someone else' art as practice). Even these unfairly maligned episodes have a viewing experience that provides a consistent sense of pacing. But if you want to know WHAT precisely feels different about them? Well if I had chosen to break down episodes from any of the prior 3 cours (or the best episodes of this cour), you'd be seeing the word BECAUSE significantly more to fill out every action, reaction, and complication along the way. If "THEREFORE" and "BUT" are the easel and canvas, which are necessary to even begin the process of creating art, then "BECAUSE" is the screenwriter's paintbrush that allows them to breathe life and detail into the characters on screen. The prior 3 cours were awash with "BECAUSE" statements detailing why characters are behaving the way they are in every individual scene so if there's one crime that can legitimately be pinned against several episodes in the latest cour, it's "JUST 'CUZ."

PART FINAL: The TL;DR (aka the... tl;dr)

So having laid all this out in such verbose, granular detail, what exactly does all of this mean?
To put it bluntly, Season 1 being such a near-perfect masterwork of adaptation spoiled the ever loving hell out of us. Having gorged ourselves on that expectation, we've ruined our appetites because now such perks are simply anticipated as standard with a vocal minority now irked by the use of a standard OP simply because it follows the conventions of the medium or (stay with me here) committing the sin of appealing to shonen fans. I know, truly a crime worthy of sudoku because of 14 seconds depicting one of the single most important events in the series. I truly don't understand (seriously, explain it to me please).
The current cour is merely receiving the same treatment most adaptations are given while still outperforming its peers if weekly rankings are anything to go by. Episodes range from pretty good to excellent (Norn and Nanahoshi's spotlight eps being the highlights thus far despite some grumbling) with even the extremely barebones Ep 19 squeezing in what sparse worldbuilding nuggets it can despite the plot literally necessitating that Rudy book it from one side of the planet to the other within a 21 minute period (a production level pacing decision you are still free to criticize). As I said earlier (but it bears repeating) these episodes are a good adaptation of Rudy's story rather than the whole that makes up MT because it simply doesn't have the screen time to focus on anything that falls outside the scope of his perspective given the sheer breadth of competing narrative essential content. As a show, these episodes are still delivering a cohesive and engaging thru-line by being glued to Rudy's perspective. So as long as Rudy remains interesting to watch the audience will be more than satisfied.
Expecting the same anomalous level of dedication AND leniency from the production committee to happen for every season was unfortunately nothing but a pipe dream. Cour 2 is now being forced to make due with what it has and while they are doing a commendable job given the heavy restrictions, it is completely unreasonable to expect them to fit so much into such tight confines. It is the adaptation equivalent of being asked to fit everything into one grocery bag, but not wanting the bag to be heavy.
Could this cour have been scheduled better? Absolutely. Was it possible certain changes to the script or episode direction could have provided more opportunities to explore the cut content? Of course. Is it still a total bummer that the realities of production that have compromised the artistic integrity of our beloved peak fiction? Without a doubt.
We are simply going to have to get used to the fact that S1 may never be topped with our only hope being the return of the waifu-wars for S3 rekindles the beefs between animators vying for shot assignments (which may hopefully still be in the cards god willing).
Of course, I'm not a future seer, so maybe, just maybe, Studio Bind bursts into flames and all of the footage is lost resulting in the quality of the last 3 episodes to be the worst drop off of a television show since the final season of Game of Thrones. If that is the case then I'll be eating more crow than I ever have in my life. But if Studio Bind sticks the landing and delivers on the emotional climax to one of the most beloved arcs among the fanbase that we've anticipated for years, then please calm it down with these exaggerated "cutting content is ruining the show" claims.
Thank you from coming to my Ted Talk and enjoy the rest of the season everyone.

This is my brothers two year old leopard gecko. My dad and brother came home with her as a baby and she’s been pretty good and active. But as of about two weeks or so my brother told me he was out of food for her and no one had gotten him any, so I went and picked up some meal worms. She is extremely frail and weak and will not eat she also laid an egg and shed within the past few days. I told my dad she needs to see a vet and his exact response was “she’s just gonna have to die I’m not spending hundreds on a vet, just get a new one” I don’t know what to do she is the sweetest thing and it breaks my heart that he doesn’t care about her. I work but I don’t make a lot of money and pay for my car and insurance so realistically I’m scared of what it would cost for me to take her. Does anyone have an idea of how much it would cost to get her looked at or how I can help her? It would kill me to let her suffer longer. Any advice helps

My last (but not latest) original character for the moment, I had a lot of fun creating this one. Unlike my others, she has a little bit of lore and a signature weapon (that ended up being a more general purpose version of Neuvillette's, albeit on accident).
This is also the character who, for anyone that saw it, is why my opinion of Yanxue dropped somewhat, as I just enjoyed how this one came out so much.
Anyway, with that said, here she is.
https://preview.redd.it/jappdxn8wk5d1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=ba146b7a86af4d6ce8f6244dd52d801cd0f34633
Kureya, real name Claire, is a Fontaine native who was born in the Fortress of Meropide and spent most of her childhood and teenage years there. Her main past time as a kid was reading smuggled in light novels from Yae Publishing House, with her favorite being the Princess Mina of the Fallen Nation series, which gave her a... Strange personality.
^{(I'm saying she's a hardcore weeb; or the Teyvat equivalent, anyway. If Fischl can be chuuni, why not a weeb?})
She really fell in love with the concept of samurai and ninja and would often play at being either one in her free time. Eventually, she got out of Meropide and, for old times' sake, bought a Yae Publishing House light novel; this one happened to be Shogun Almighty: Reborn as Raiden With Unlimited Power... Which happened to be a very telling title, as it happened to contain her vision within its pages.
And she immediately used it to try and conjure both a flaming sword and a fiery kunai. Which she succeeded at, somehow.
Thanks to that, she changed her name to Kureya, a Japanese pronunciation of Claire, but she writes it with the kanji 暮屋; the former is read Kure and means "sundown", while the latter is read Ya and is regularly used as a suffix for someone who does something (i.e., Baker is Panya, Blacksmith is Kajiya, etc.).
Yes, that also means that, in that very weeby way of just smashing cool kanji together, her name could translate to Sundowner. Yes, *that* Sundowner.
I'm actually rather proud of how stupidly cheesy, yet thematic, I managed to get her name. With that said, here's the rest of her kit.

Name	Kureya (Claire)
Title	Twilight Mirage
Rarity	5*
Weapon	Catalyst
Vision	Pyro
Model Type	Tall Female
Constellation	Imaginarius
Region	Fontaine
Affiliation	Fortress of Meropide
Special Dish	"Holy Water" ("Pure Water" variant)
Namecard	Kureya: Light in Darkness

Base Stats (Lv90)

Base HP	Base ATK	Base DEF	Special Stat (Pyro DMG Bonus)
11,962	351	600	28.8%

Ascension and Talent Materials

World Boss Material	Emperor's Resolution
Local Specialty	Spring of the First Dewdrop
General Enemy Material	Firm Arrowhead/Sharp Arrowhead/Weathered Arrowhead
Talent Books	Justice
Domain Boss Material	Denial and Judgement

Normal Attack - Yagyu Thrown Blade Technique (Adapted)

• Normal Attack - Performs up to 4 consecutive attacks that take the form of fiery kunai, dealing Pyro DMG.
• Charged Attack - Consumes Stamina to conjure a blazing greatbow as long as she is tall to entire the Twilight Hawkeye state and fire an explosive arrow, dealing AoE Pyro DMG. In this state, Kureya can move and change facing while charging a more powerful shot. If Kureya's HP is above 50%, she will consume her HP until she is at 25% of her Max HP, converting it into additional DMG.
• Plunging Attack - Plunges from mid-air, dealing AoE Pyro DMG upon contact with the ground.

Attribute Scaling	Level 10
1-Hit DMG (%)	68.11
2-Hit DMG (%)	63.94
3-Hit DMG (%)	73.87
4-Hit DMG (%)	99.63
Charged Attack DMG (%)	313.34
Charged Attack Stamina Cost	50
HP Consumption	3% Max HP / 0.5s
DMG Bonus (% of HP Consumed)	48
Plunge DMG (%)	112.34
Low/High Plunge DMG (%)	224.62 / 300.37

Obviously, the star of the show here is her Charged Attack, which functions almost identically to Neuvillette's. The main difference is that it's not a continuous attack; instead, it's more akin to the Lv2 Charged Shot from some Bow users, where you have to hold it for several seconds before releasing it. This is also a large part of why she gets such a massive DMG Bonus from her consumed HP: if you get interrupted or miss, you just wasted all that time.

Elemental Skill - Return to Honor
Condenses the power of flame into a sleek and slender curved blade, before rapidly drawing it in a wide slice, dealing Pyro DMG to surrounding opponents and entering Blade Mode.
In this mode, Kureya's Normal and Charged Attacks, as well as Elemental Skill, change as follows:
Normal Attack - Yagyu Swordsmanship (Adapted)
Performs up to 4 consecutive sword strikes, dealing Pyro DMG.
Charged Attack - Empowered Iai (Adapted)
Assumes a sheathed stance and begins charging a powerful draw cut, before unleashing an all-encompassing 360 degree circular slash, dealing AoE Pyro DMG.
In this state, Kureya can move and change facing while she projects a blazing barrier of whirling blades to shield her as she prepares. Max DMG absorbed scales off Kureya's Max HP and absorbs Pyro DMG 250% more effectively. If Kureya is attacked while this barrier persists, she will finish charging instantly.
Additionally, if her HP is above 50%, she will consume her HP until she is at 25% of her Max HP, converting it into additional DMG.
Elemental Skill - Come and Get It
Kureya opens her arms wide, blazing sword dangling negligently from one hand as she taunts opponents, attracting them to attack her.
Additionally, Kureya gains the Zen of the Mind's Eye effect, which will restore a percentage of her Max HP and will decrease the charge time for Charged Attack - Empowered Iai (Adapted) by 1.5s.
Holding the Skill button will return Kureya to Catalyst Mode and enter the Twilight Hawkeye state.
Arkhe - Pneuma
At certain intervals, after using the Empowered Iai (Adapted), a Spiritbreath Thorn will descend and pierce opponents, dealing Pneuma-aligned Pyro DMG.
Gameplay Notes

• Return to Honor is not deactivated if Kureya leaves the field. However, its duration will continue to tick down while Kureya is off-field.
• When this Skill hits at least one opponent, it generates 3 Elemental Particles. When Normal Attacks hit opponents, it generates 0.6 Particles and when Charged Attacks hit opponents, it generates 1.75 Particles.
• The cooldown starts immediately after the first input.
• Kureya's Interruption Resistance is increased while in Blade Mode.
• Plunging Attacks in Blade Mode are identical to Kureya's Standard Plunging Attacks.
• Empowered Iai (Adapted) takes roughly 2 seconds to fully charge.

Artifacts and Weapon Interactions

• Normal Attack effects apply to Catalyst Mode and Blade Mode.
• Charged Attack effects apply to Catalyst Mode and Charged Attack - Empowered Iai (Adapted).
• Elemental Skill effects apply to the initial Blade Mode change and to Elemental Skill - Come and Get It.

Attribute Scaling	Level 10	Level 13
Skill DMG (%)	129.6	153
1-Hit DMG (%)	122.79	148.8
2-Hit DMG (%)	121.99	147.94
3-Hit DMG (%)	151.48	179.51
4-Hit DMG (%)	188.37	219
Charged Attack DMG (%)	326.91	396.12
Charged Attack Stamina Cost	25	25
HP Consumption	3% / 0.5s	3% / 0.5s
DMG Bonus (% of HP Consumed)	82	106
"Come and Get It" HP Restored	100	100
Spiritbreath Thorn DMG (%)	25.92	30.6
Spiritbreath Thorn Interval	9s	9s
Duration	18s	18s
CD	26s	26s

As should be obvious, this is heavily inspired by Childe's Foul Legacy: Raging Tide, but with a few key differences: - It has a fixed duration and fixed CD, so it's easier to play with. - It doesn't deactivate upon swapping characters. - It doesn't disable Plunging Attacks. - It trades the quadratic scaling and regular DMG of Riptide for a single large swipe.

Elemental Burst - Bloodshed's End
Performs different attacks based on what mode Kureya is in.
Catalyst Mode - Bloodflame Familiar
Conjures and hurls a giant flaming shurikan that explodes on impact, dealing AoE Pyro DMG and creating a ring of Molten Shuriken that orbit your active character.
If Kureya's HP is above 50% when this ability is cast, she will consume her HP until she is at 25% of her Max HP and will grant the Molten Shuriken a DMG Bonus equal to a percentage of the total HP consumed.
Molten Shuriken

• Increases the character's interruption to resistance.
• Your active character's Normal Attacks will trigger a coordinated attack once every second, dealing Pyro DMG.
• When Molten Shuriken hit opponents, Kureya will restore HP for all nearby party members, and the amount restored is based on Kureya's ATK.

Blade Mode - One Mind
Assuming a sheathed stance, Kureya briefly charges before unleashing a nigh-invisible flurry of slashes, striking everything around her and dealing AoE Pyro DMG.
Refunds a portion of its Energy Cost after use.
Gameplay Notes

• The Elemental Burst, Blade Mode - One Mind, has a 9m radius (for reference, this is the same radius as Kazuha's Burst).

Attribute Scaling	Level 10	Level 13
Skill DMG (Catalyst) (%)	190.96	229.05
Molten Shuriken DMG (%)	77.69	95.33
DMG Bonus (% of HP Consumed)	18	24
HP Regeneration Per Hit (% of ATK+)	69 + 900	90 + 1,200
Molten Shuriken Duration	15s	15s
Skill DMG (Blade (%)	1026.41	1211.76
Energy Return (Blade Mode)	20	20
CD	15s	15s
Energy Cost	60	60

Similar to her Skill, her Burst is also heavily inspired by Childe's, which only made sense, and one mode gets an Energy Return. However, that's where the similarities stop. Her Catalyst Mode burst, while doing okay damage, provides an off-field coordinated attack with solid damage of its own and a DMG Boost if Kureya's above 50% HP and healing on hit. Her Blade Mode burst, on the other hand, is just a big fat nuke that would make for some obscene numbers if you managed to vape or melt it.

1st Ascension Passive - If You Want to Make it Easy On Me

After using Come and Get It, the CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG of Charged Attack - Empowered Iai (Adapted) are increased by 20% and 60%, respectively, for 6s.

• Come and Get It more or less negates Kureya's reliance on a grouper like Kazuha to hit opponents with her Empowered Iai, so you obviously want to use it first. This makes it so playing her as intended is very beneficial.

4th Ascension Passive - The Spark That Starts a Wildfire

So long as a Molten Shuriken is in play, when your active character triggers a Pyro-related Elemental Reaction, the opponent shall be stricken with a Bloodflame Rebuke that deals Pyro DMG equal to 80% of Kureya's ATK.

• This gives her Catalyst Mode burst extra DMG to further encourage its use, as people'd probably see that 1k% modifier on her Blade Mode burst and use it almost exclusively (same with Childe's melee burst having both a significantly higher multiplier and the secondary DMG from Riptide Blast).

Utility Passive - Flambed to Perfection

When Kureya cooks an ATK-boosting dish perfectly, she has a 12% chance to receive double the product.

• Nothing much to say, but I find it weird that Xiangling is still the only character with this passive.

1st Constellation - Woe Be Upon These Blind Fools

While charging Charged Attack - Empowered Iai (Adapted) after using Come and Get It, surrounding opponents and objects will be pulled towards Kureya.

• So remember how I talked about Come and Get It negates her reliance on groupers? Yeah, this turns it into an "I ain't got all day" button.

2nd Constellation - You Can(Not) Prevent Wildfires

When Kureya's Normal Attacks hit opponents, her Pyro DMG Bonus is increased by 10% for 4s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.1s. Max 5 stacks.

• Shamelessly stolen from Cyno, but given that you could easily play Kureya almost as a hypercarry, it fits.

3rd Constellation - The Proper Way to Wield a Blade

Return to Honor Talent Level +3

4th Constellation - Cry Havoc

Elemental Reactions triggered by Molten Shuriken will ignore 60% of the opponent's DEF.

• Aside from giving her off-field DMG a further boost to encourage using both versions, this would also make her go very nicely as the trigger in a vape or melt team if you wanted to use an on-field Hydro or Cryo character.

5th Constellation - Resentment's End

Bloodshed's End Talent Level +3

6th Constellation - Dragon Flash

After Blade Mode - One Mind is used, Kureya initiates a follow-up slash against the nearest opponent, dealing Pyro DMG equal to 200% of its DMG.

• You know how some 5*s have an absolutely cracked C6 as a way to entice you to whale for them? Yeah.

And now for her signature weapon:
Stats at Lv90 R1

• Name: Gospel From Afar
• Base ATK; 608
• 2nd Stat: CRIT DMG
• 2nd Stat: 66.2%
• Effect -
• Betwixt Night and Day: ATK SPD of Normal and Charged Attacks is increased by 16%. When current HP increases or decreases, Charged Attack DMG will be increased by 20% for 6s. Max 4 stacks. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s. When the wielder has 4 stacks, Elemental Burst DMG will be increased by 32%.

^{(Appearance-wise, it's a very heavily embellished and accessorized copy of Shogun Almighty.})
And that's it. That's Kureya. I enjoyed the hell out of creating her, despite not liking HP consumption mechanics most of the time, but I really wanted to do several things: a ninja-themed character whose charged attack had an aiming mode, a samurai-themed character that wielded a flaming sword, like Kazuha's splash art, and a character with a different take on coordinated Pyro attacks than Yanxue.
Copying Childe's mechanics let me do all three at the same time.
As a result, I almost certainly went waaaay overboard when creating her, but I'm more than satisfied with how she turned out, so I'm okay with it (not like tweaking numbers is that hard).

Hello. I'm back with an update to the Tribunal guide. The meta has shifted in the past month and I think there's enough changes to warrant further discussion. My guide is located here in case you have not seen it before:
https://www.reddit.com/marvelsnapcomp/comments/1crfahj/guide_to_infinite_rank_with_tribunal_over_the/
TL;DR: The meta has shifted for the worse for Tribunal, especially thanks to Nocturne. You have a much finer line to balance between protecting your combo or just going for points.
Decklist has been unchanged as well.
Decklist
This has been the toughest season to date for me to hit Infinite as I've hit it on Sunday when I usually hit Infinite around Thursday or Friday. The meta right now is not kind of Tribunal. You would think it would be since we don't care about lockdowned locations, but the current Lockdown decks disrupt us very well while still delivering a lot of points across the two lanes it wants to win. Discard Hela is still running around too and our Standard stack of Cosmo + IM + Onslaught+ TLT may not generate enough points for us to win. Let's take a look at our favorite Solitaire deck.

Nocturne: Hard Counter to Magik

Let's get the big boogeyman out of the way; location control has always been one of the weaknesses of this deck due to the reliance of Magik and an explosive Turn 7. Before Nocturne was released, our biggest enemy was Snowguard and Legion since they could be played in any location to hit Limbo. Snowguard you can see coming so you can easily retreat once it comes down and only lose 1 cube. Legion coming down Turn 6 still might be beatable because they'd be giving up their turn 6 to play him. Scarlet Witch and Reality Stone could be dealt with if you Cosmo'd Limbo, so they weren't too big of a concern.
However, Nocturne can be played on Turn 3 with no loss in tempo. This allows your opponent to still play out a full turn 6 and we definitely will not be able to deal with it. More importantly, the opponent also gets to control whether or not they even want to hit Limbo or not and can easily buff Snaps once Nocturne is down. I have tried to beat Nocturne, but I think it's probably a 25% success rate, which is terrible. If you see Nocturne, just retreat.
Hopefully, SD nerfs Nocturne, as right now, she's just a good 3-drop that can slot in any deck. If we see a nerf in Nocturne, that will help out Tribunal, but Nocturne is definitely our #1 enemy right now.

Lockdown

Professor X decks are back on the rise. Tribunal normally does not care about Lockdown since we can put points on enemy locations, but Lockdown runs a lot of disruptive cards.
The first of these is Cannonball. By turn 6, it's obviously to the lockdown player which lane you are trying to stack. On the final turn and they usually will have priority, they will Cannonball your stack, likely hitting Onslaught and either destroying him or sending it to another lane where it will no longer be with Iron Man. One way to get around this is to play Tribunal on Turn 6 instead, provided you have space in the other lanes. Then you can save Onslaught on Turn 7.
Professor X himself can also be disruptive too. There are plenty of games where Iron Man comes down on Turn 4 due to Ravonna or Jubilee. The right move for Professor X is to lock down the Iron Man lane at which point the Tribunal will not be able to scale power. If you want to play around this, you could Mystique Iron Man on Turn 5 on another lane to keep it going, but you'd have to anticipate this line of play from your opponent.
Lockdown, overall though, is still an even match for us. Just be careful not to get outplayed or else you'll go from winning 4 cubes to losing 4 cubes. They also run Nocturne, so if you see that, run away.

Other Dangerous Cards

Besides the standard Ongoing hosers like Rogue and Enchantress, there are two cards that I also worry about seeing.
Red Guardian - This thing eats Iron Man for breakfast. Luckily can be stopped with Cosmo, but if your Iron Man gets hit, get out of there.
Magneto - I've been forced to retreat several times because my opponent played or revived a Magneto into the lane I was trying to stack and it pulls Magik into the lane and I can't play my last card into it on the final turn. Cosmo once again stops this as well, but this random card might come up from Hela. He can also pull your Mystique out from your stack if you are using it as well.
Loki - Mainly because we run Super-Skrull. You still might be able to beat it depending on how their lanes are when they drop Loki. But, remember, if they drop Skrull while you have both Iron Man and Onslaught, it's still only 2x and not 4x. You might be able to steal the win if this happens. But if they drop Skrull with Onslaught, then you're hosed. Might not be worth sticking around.
US Agent - Another card to watch out for, this is mainly used in the Ongoing deck. If this is played on your stack, you will lose. If you suspect this card, you can bait it out by playing Iron Man and then dropping Mystique in another lane. What really makes this card annoying is that Super Skrull makes the Ongoing matchup an instant win. Well, if they play US Agent, that turns Skrull from an instant win card to an instant lose card, since US Agent a symmetrical effect. If you have Skrull out and they drop US Agent, retreat unless they generously also supplied a Luke Cage. The existence of this card should make you think twice before slamming Skrull against Ongoing.
Jean Gray - Another annoying card in the Ongoing deck. If this is dropped while you are the middle of setting up your stack, it will often prevent you from finishing said stack. If you don't think you can play around this, hit that retreat button. This is usually more of an annoyance than an instant retreat though.

Balancing Protection and Power

With much more threats in the meta to our deck, we have to be mindful of whether or not we want to protect our combo or go for power. Generally, for Lockdown, you should go to protect your stack with Cosmo and back out if they played X on your stack. For discard, I generally like to push Power, but they sometimes run Tech cards.
For the Protection line, you want to make sure you can hit your combo without Jubilee or Iron Lad and then drop Cosmo. Otherwise, you can Ravonna on T2 so you can hit Iron Man on Turn 4. Turn 5, you can Mystique Iron Man and then play Cosmo in the lane. With a Standard Turn 5 Iron Man into Turn 6 Onslaught into Tribunal, this may not be enough power to beat Hela. If they've only discarded 2 or 3 cards, I'd play it out, but any more than that, I'd get out
I honestly love pushing Power since the numbers get crazy and you have a crazy turn 7. The line to push power is Ravonna and Magik before Turn 5. Then it's Sera turn 5, then Onslaught + Mystique, copying Onslaught, in the same lane on turn 6. This will reduce all your card costs by 3, meaning you can dump out your entire hand on Turn 7. Iron Many goes on the Sera lane, which gives you 96 power from that lane alone. If you drop Omega Red in another lane, that adds another 24 power into that lane, which will win any game. Would not recommend to do this against Lockdown since Iron Man won't come down until the last turn, but sometimes you just have this draw anyway.

Closing Thoughts

It was a real grind to get to Infinite this season. You still have a great matchup against bots, which will be the source of many of your cubes. I would not play Tribunal without Cosmo since it's still very important to protect our combo and it wins us random destroy matchups. Below is the match that took me to Infinite. It's clearly a bot (they kept copying their Elektra and playing it) that I still powered through without Iron Man. If you have any questions, just let me know in the comments. Good luck with your climb this season everyone!
Definitely a Bot
Decklist:

(2) Ravonna Renslayer

(3) Mystique

(3) Magik

(3) Cosmo

(4) Jubilee

(4) Super-Skrull

(4) Omega Red

(4) Iron Lad

(5) Iron Man

(5) Sera

(6) Onslaught

(6) The Living Tribunal

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To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and paste it from the deck editing menu in Snap.