So, before I begin, can we just stop to reflect what a weird trilogy of modules the ANIME trilogy is? No, really. We start with a module - aimed at levels 3-4 - in which you can't die. We continue into a module where it's absolutely possible to never enter combat and which uses that 'pacifist run' logic to deliver thematically. And we end with a module whose express theme is empathy, mostly set in a single location, and whose key scene is entirely about that theme.

That's really unusual for a set of D&D modules. And I kind of love it.

In this module, which takes place immediately after Let's Find the Sword, Go!, the players find themselves in an extra-dimensional bathhouse (or ryokan) run by a Golden Dragon. They are told the sword they're looking for is somewhere within the ryokan, that someone here has it, and they're sent on their way to find it. The key deception here is this: While this is true, interrogating people about the sword won't get them to it because the character who has it will not reveal himself to the players until he has a sense of their personality. Rather, the cleanest way to the sword is to stop paying attention to your own concerns and empathise with everyone else in the ryokan. You have to start caring about people.

Star Sword, Return! feels in many ways like the truest example of the trilogy. It doubles down on its anime theming; including characters who call their attacks with ludicrous names and spending the majority of its run time in a bathhouse. All the characters are given an 'anime type' for those who enjoy the medium and who know some of the archetypes common within it. Its key theme again ties deeply into the themes of the deity Ilmater, and it executes those themes in its NPCs. (Especially the hags, who by the end of the trilogy have gone from a full coven of evil to completely separated, lost to infighting and, eventually, self-reflection and redemption.)

If I did have to criticise it, I'd say some of the world-building tendencies in episode 1 do return in episode 3. The character of Lycidus, in particular, feels less like an integrated part of this story and more like a setup for a sequel. This can give the experience less of a tight, cohesive feel than it deserves.

None the less, I'm a fan of this module and a bigger fan of the trilogy. I want more D&D modules like this; ones driven by themes and ideas, with some courage to do new things. Great stuff.