The action is so much better than the novel but the show character assassinated the prostitute. I cherished her portrayal in the novel, yet on screen, she only received a few seconds compared to the numerous pages dedicated to her in the book. I hate that.
This reminds me of Overlord all over again. When I decided to drop the Overlord anime, it wasn’t due to the show’s inherent quality. Having previously read the light novel, witnessing the lack of depth in the characters I admired just didn’t sit well with me. It felt as if they were being diminished, and I didn’t want to see them in that light.
The Eminence in Shadow show, at least, has some relatively good action scenes, so it’s not too bad. However, the pacing is what truly bothers me. It feels excessively rushed. The emotional moments that resonated in the light novel seem nonexistent in the show. For instance, during the battle with the Blood Queen, the conflict between the Shadow Garden, Aurora, and the Queen is extraordinary in the book. It was infused with so much emotion. However, in the show, it devolved into a one-sided battle where the Queen effortlessly dominated. It didn’t feel authentic.
The arcs after John Smith weren’t as butchered as that one but they weren’t necessarily better either.