Arifureta - Episode 08

"Reunion with the Past" (過去との再会) is the 8th episode for Season One of the Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Anime adaptation.. It aired in Japan on September 2, 2019.

Synopsis
Hajime and the gang reluctantly accept a quest. Their journey north to the town of Ur leads to an unexpected reunion with their teacher, Aiko.

Summary
Hajime is asked by the Adventurers Guild to find missing adventurers, including a noble’s son. They travel to a nearby farming village, unaware the farms are being visited by Aiko and several classmates, though one classmate, Shimizu, has disappeared. Hajime tries to avoid them but they hear Shea calling him by name.

Aiko tearfully confronts him about where he has been but he ignores her. They are confronted by an arrogant Templar Knight who insults Shea, so Hajime severely injures him. His classmates are shocked and scared by his new merciless personality though Aiko swears she will find a way to bring him back.

Later, Hajime visits Aiko alone to tell her the truth about the war against the demons. Centuries ago several humans discovered the truth, the God Ehit was not on their side, he was merely controlling the war for his own amusement. These humans became the Liberators to free mortals from Ehit’s tyranny. Unfortunately, Ehit, through the Church, had them labelled heretics and renamed Mavericks. The remaining Liberators built the labyrinths to keep their Ancient Magics safe until someone capable of defeating Ehit came along to claim their powers. Before leaving he also tells her in no uncertain terms that one of his classmates tried to murder him.

The next morning Aiko and the students stubbornly insist on helping them search the mountains for the adventurers as Aiko wants to ask more questions about the Liberators.

Characters in Order of Appearance
Characters in italics debuted here.
 * Ilwa Chang
 * Hajime Nagumo
 * Yue
 * Shea Haulia
 * Will Cudeta (flashback)
 * Aiko Hatayama
 * Yuka Sonobe
 * Nana Miyazaki
 * Taeko Sugawara
 * Atsushi Tamai
 * David Zahler
 * Owner Chef of Water Sprite Inn
 * Kousuke Endou (flashback)
 * Eri Nakamura (flashback)
 * Suzu Taniguchi (flashback)
 * Oscar Orcus (flashback)
 * Miledi Reisen (flashback)

Locations

 * Fuhren
 * Adventurer's Guild
 * Ur

Monsters

 * Hydra (flashback)

Differences from Light Novel

 * Hajime's time in Brooke Town is omitted in the Anime.
 * Furthermore, Hajime, Yue, and Shea registering to become adventurers is omitted as well.
 * Hajime and the others acting as guards for More Nos while they travel from Brooke to Fuhren is omitted in the Anime.
 * Hajime and his companions' time in Fuhren before they meet Ilwa Chang is omitted in the Anime.
 * In the Light Novel, Ilwa knows of Hajime due to the latter getting into a confrontation with Poom Min. In the Anime, He hears of Hajime though rumors of his strength in Brooke Town.
 * In the Light Novel, Ilwa's assistant, Dott Clowe, is also present when Ilwa requests Hajime to rescue Will Cudeta.
 * In the Light Novel, Ilwa is initially hesitant of agreeing to Hajime's condition of being granted access to all of the Adventurer's Guild's connections in exchange for rescuing Will.
 * In the Light Novel, Ilwa suspects that Hajime is one of the heroes that was summoned from Earth after their meeting ends.
 * Several characters that accompany Aiko to Ur in the Light Novel are not present in the Anime. They include Noboru Aikawa, Akito Nimura, Chase Domino, Joshua Augus, and Jade Hatto (it is later revealed that Noboru and Akito stayed behind to act as backup for the kingdom).
 * In the Light Novel, Aiko and her students eat dinner at a private booth with curtains in front of it. In the Anime, they eat at a regular booth.
 * Foss' name is not revealed in the Anime.
 * In the Light Novel, after Hajime reunites with Aiko and his classmates, he joins them at their table for dinner. In the Anime, Aiko joins him at his table.
 * In the Light Novel, when Hajime shoots David during his meeting with Aiko, he hits him in head and knocks him out when he hits the wall behind him due to the impact. In the Anime, Hajime shoots him in the shoulder, breaking the armor in that area without knocking him out.