First Impression: The Holy Grail of Eris

The bells of St. Mark’s Square summon the multitude to witness a bloody public execution. Scarlett Castiel, a fiery woman in chains, faces the roaring crowd and curses it. But she changes her expression when Constance Grail, a young kid who has stumbled upon the scene, starts crying in compassion. The dead woman walking tells her something, something we do not hear. Seconds later, a guard is holding her head. We see her headless corpse. Oh well. In time, Constance Grail becomes a young lady who timidly embraces the family motto, “Be you sincere.” To help the Grails out of debt, she agrees to an arranged marriage to Neil Bronson, the son of a merchant family. Luckily, Constance likes Neil, and he is kind and loving towards her. But there are rumors that Pamela Francis, a notorious seductress, is his lover. When she stumbles upon proof, Constance decides to confront her fiancé directly at the Grand Merillian ball. But the swift Pamela is already on the move: Taking advantage of our heroine’s kindness, she frames her for a robbery and turns the assembled nobles against her. Constance Grail falls to her knees, praying that someone, anyone, helps her. As it turns out, she was kind to someone else before the ball…

Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord (not that one), and the Holy Grail, the cup of Jesus’ Last Supper: Now, there’s a striking contrast. After a beginning that was darker than it needed to be and some questionable character designs (Scarlett’s physics-defying proportions almost made me quit the show on the spot), I got really invested in Constance’s tribulations. Unlike most entries in the villainess genre, there is no ostensible video game mechanic at play here: only the social game and those who become Playing Characters and stop being passive NPCs, but risk losing themselves to the dance. The changing moods of crowds and social cliques, the techniques employed by those who influence them for good or ill, are topics that endlessly fascinate me. People seeking to be good are often like sheep in the midst of wolves, who must not fail to be both wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). And just when I was getting interested and had forgotten about all that blood at the start, the show had to make people dance to death as if this was The Red Shoes. We cannot just have a cruel multitude: It has to be an entire society of faceless psychopaths, watching and commenting with glee. Perhaps it will strike others differently, but it left me disgusted: I’m walking away from Omelas and not looking back. Goodbye!

The Holy Grail of Eris can be streamed at Crunchyroll.