Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 23 – Time to Focus

Sofia is rearing to fight Kuzunoha when Rona appears, and gets super upset with Io, who she clearly cares about, for first using his Rose and then not telling him right away that Kuzunoha already broke the Rose, so his death is not guaranteed. Sofia also informs Rona that Kuzunoha is the famous “Sorcerer”, a fact that comes as news to Makoto himself!

Sofia may be brimming with confidence, but as expected, her attacks aren’t effective against Makoto’s Mana Matter. I get it; Sofia is one of the toughest bastards in this world, so her arrogance isn’t unearned. It’s just probably not a good idea to just start hacking at an enemy you haven’t come close to understanding!

Despite saying she’d fight him with her full strength, it’s clear she’s holding back from the start. Once she determines she can’t do anything at that level, she summons more of the four-fold greater dragon powers she’s absorbed, and her appearance becomes more dragon-like. And while she’s able to slice through Makoto’s matter, he can instantly rebuild it.

When Sofia starts complimenting the Empire’s Hero as not only having better offense but also more charm, Makoto plants the idea in her head that she might just be subconsciously under his influence, though he hasn’t personally met the guy. I hadn’t considered that, as it would mean his powers work in a more subtle/insidious way than I’d thought.

Souped-up dragon powers or no, Sofia isn’t able to worry Makoto enough for him to even remove any of his mana-suppressing rings (they still do that, right?). Not only that, she seems to be under the impression that Mitsurugi will come to back her up, but Makoto informs her that Shiki, who is guarding Hibiki, is far stronger than Mitsurugi, AKA Lancer.

Their battle will have to wait until next week, while Io was Rocket Punched out of the area and Rona, suddenly terrified of Kuzunoha’s sudden focus and maturity in this situation, decided to withdraw, leaving Sofia to her own devices. Having learned from past battles that could have gone better, Makoto does seem to be taking all of this seriously. Anyone who opposes him should be very worried about that.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 12 – Not Too Late to Apologize

After a bear attacks one of the orcs as a warning, Makoto investigates the deep forest and meets huggable bear, a surprisingly reasonable pack of wolves, and an ever larger bear, essentially the ruler of the forest. Once Makoto makes clear he has no plans for conquest and only wants to be friends, the animals are open to coexistence.

While Makoto is scolding Tomoe and Komoe for picking too many persimmons, another animal friend appears: a giant bird that shrinks to the size of a pigeon to speak to Makoto. Introducing himself as “Boulder Bird”, once Makoto compares it to “roc bird”, he adopts that name going forward. In these guardians of the forest, he’s gained subjects, not to be confused with followers like Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki.

Back in Rotsgard, Jin and Abelia dress up and go out for drinks. Abelia wants to pump Jin for info on Shiki at first, but it become apparent they both want to have another go at the demidragon before summer break is out. We learn a lot from the two. Abelia has no family or home to speak of since her mother passed, so maintaining high enough marks to stay in school is key.

As for Jin, he admits he has a village to go home to, but he left it with a bad taste in his mouth. Another resident of the village, an orphan girl named Miranda, was his first love, mostly because she was so much stronger than him. But when they discovered a giant chimera in a remote barn while on patrol and she seemed to take pleasure in tearing it to pieces, Jin called Miranda a “monster”, and she ran into the woods, never to be seen again.

While he was only a punk kid, how he left things with Miranda never sat right with Jin. So he vowed to work hard enough to get scouted by the academy so he could become strong enough that when he saw Miranda again he could apologize. To that end, thanks to Makoto providing them with one, the whole group, Jin and Abelia included, manage to bring down the demidragon as a sign that they are becoming stronger together.

As for Miranda, well, we know her: she grew up to be Sofia Bulga, the tough-as-nails warrior that nevertheless was squashed by Makoto once he got serious back in season one. Having returned to the abandoned barn where she and Jin last saw one another (and indeed, she momentary wonders whether he’s still alive), she vows to track down her creator, Luto, and “absorb” him, no doubt to become strong enough to defeat Makoto. Good luck with that, kiddo: he’s got a slime suit now!