Mushoku Tensei II – 21 – Two Swords

Upon finding and embracing his former master Roxy Migurdia, Rudy is suddenly shocked to the point of having to vomit, because Roxy says it’s “nice to meet” him, and asks him his name. But later while they’re exiting the Labyrinth, she clarifies that she does remember cute little Rudy, not the tall, strapping lad before her.

After she rests and regains her mana, Rudy paces around her as she studies the teleportation book, so she asks him to help her out with certain sections. Throughout this, Rudy is an eager-to-please Golden Retriever that kind of throws Roxy off. That said, their deep-seated rapport soon returns because it never left, like riding a bicycle.

As the party returns to the Labyrinth and Roxy and Rudy work together to support the front line of Lize and Paul, Roxy asks if Rudy will take on another Labyrinth with her, just the two of them, after they retrieve Zenith. Rudy agrees without thinking, as his goal was to return to Sylphie and his unborn child as soon as possible.

Rudy also doesn’t mention that he’s now married to Sylphie and that he’s about to become a father; perhaps it never came up, even during his and Roxy’s Rapan shopping trip in the three days before their next Labyrinth journey. Instead, over drinks Roxy reiterates how grateful she is to Paul and Zenith for hiring her, and how instructing Rudy helped her overcome what was holding her back from becoming a King-level mage.

Rudy and Roxy’s reunion is a gentle and affable one; thankfully they don’t drink too much and end up in an awkward position. But it’s clear from all of Roxy’s little expressions and glances that she likes this new bigger, more adult Rudy. Paul notices it too and is about to tell Rudy about it, but with Roxy in earshot, he instead simply tells Rudy that he himself has gotten used to “two swords”, each one having it’s own role.

The “swords” he refers to, of course, aren’t just the ones on his belt, but Zenith and Lilia. While the particulars probably vary by continent or nation, it’s a good bet that having multiple wives or husbands isn’t a taboo in this world. Naturally, Rudy remains oblivious to Paul’s hints as well as Roxy’s shifting feelings, but that’s unlikely to remain the case as they progress together through the Labyrinth’s strata.

Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 10 – No Filter

Kumiko walked into the faculty office wanting to ask Taki-sensei why he chose Mayu for the soli, but couldn’t do it. Instead, she asks why he chose four tubas. He basically says because winning gold in the Nationals is the goal—everyone’s goal.

At the next practice, a complaint from one of the trombonists sets Reina off. Reina has no time for anyone who questions Taki-sensei’s decisions, even Kumiko. But after practice she and Shuu have a loud argument, and Kumiko, in Kurosawa Tomoyo’s most timid, mousey tone, says “the others can hear you.”

At that practice, Kumiko tried to be the mediator, telling the other execs to get along while telling anyone frustrated she’d hear them out, but otherwise she simply wasn’t presiding the way a president should. It was a big mess, and even Reina isn’t about to ignore a request to talk it over.

On the riverbank at sunset the light is gorgeous, but Kumiko and Reina can’t enjoy it, and sit noticeably further apart than usual. At this rate, Kumiko isn’t sure they’ll make it past regionals. Reina, not incorrectly, says things will only get worse if Taki-sense speaks up about the auditions. His decisions must stand, without qualification, or it all falls apart.

But it’s falling apart anyway, and Kumiko doesn’t know how to stop it. Fortunately, she has the equivalent of “In Case of Emergency, Break Glass” option: the sunflower postcard from Asuka with her address. When she arrives, Kaori welcomes her in, and she learns Asuka and Kaori are living together.

Kaori knows exactly why Kumiko is there: Asuka told her if she used the postcard to visit her at this address, it would be because she got in a fight with Reina. Asuka may look more mature and glamorous, but she’s the same Asuka through and through, which comforts Kumiko.

To Asuka, the matter can be as simple as twisting the top of an Oreo off: Let Mayu step down and take the soli part. When Kumiko says that throws the whole concept of the auditions into question, Asuka once again knows Kumiko game to a tee: she’s being selfish. She desires closure.

Asuka is also certain that “that kid” (i.e. Reina) and Taki-sensei are just as stuck and frustrated as Kumiko feels. In Taki’s case, he made his decision, and now has no choice but to stand by it. Just as Reina basically said, if he hesitates, he’s screwed and so is the club.

Asuka doesn’t have any answers for Kumiko about what to do, saying “not my problem” in a sardonic tone. However, what she’s always liked most about Kumiko is not going along to get along, but speaking her mind without consequences.

Bottling up her frustrations until they explode in a filterless tantrum in the eleventh hour. Asuka leaves Kumiko with those observations and heads to the shower. Before she leaves, Kaori tells Kumiko she got through to Asuka, and Kumiko tells Kaori to tell Asuka she got through to her too. After sprinting through the night, Kumiko decides how and when things will go down.

The regionals arrive, and during one last brief practice, Taki-sensei cuts their performance short and says they sound excellent and are ready to go. Kumiko raises her hand and stands before the club. She starts muttering to herself, thinking out loud, until Kazuki calls her name, causing everyone to laugh and loosen up.

It also snaps Kumiko out of her hesitation, and she proceeds to have her last minute “tantrum”, speaking her mind without filter. She tells them that she, along with Reina and Shuu, decided that these auditions, hard as they’ve been, were the change that was needed to get over the National gold hump. They stand by that decision, but Kumiko also bows her head in apology. Reina and Shuu, who were notified about her desire to speak before the Regionals, also bow their heads.

Kurosawa Tomoyo puts on yet another one of her best vocal performances in Kumiko’s speech, which is partly Kumiko’s own selfish desire to say what she wants to say, but also a very necessary speech for a band that was still feeling tense and awkward. It also enables her to make up with Reina, who never said out loud but probably believed that there was a great president within Kumiko, and that she had to let it out. Here, Kumiko does that, and Reina raises a fist in satisfaction of this fact.

Now that the winds of Kumiko’s impassioned speech have blown away the discontent and hesitation, she calls for a “Kitauji, GO!” cheer, and the band marches out to win the goddamn Regionals and move on to the Nationals. There’s no way the exhausted but pleased faces of the band members after the credits weren’t the faces of those who knew they’d be advancing on.

And in the next round of auditions, I just know Kumiko will get her soli with Reina back when it matters most. It’s an episode full of satisfying certainties, and a proud acknowledgment that the best Kumiko, whether she’s acting in her capacity as president or not, is the loud, selfish Kumiko who gets out of her head and lets it all out, consequences be damned.