A Sign of Affection – 04 – A Magical Journey to Costco

Yuki immediately treasures the foreign coin Itsuomi gave her. It may be only a small token, but connects her to the bigger outside world. She feels like it could take her anywhere. Itsuomi also seems serious about Yuki and no one else, because he spends the night at Kyouya’s rather than deal with Emma.

He should probably be more direct, rejecting her and sending her home, but he chooses the more passive move. As Itsuomi changes the audio on the TV to English and “shadows” the dialogue for practice, Kyouka ponders whether he’s only into Yuki for the signing as part of his larger “dream,” or another girl whose heart, like Emma’s he’ll eventually break.

Fuck *OFF*, Oushi

Rin asks Yuki if she and Itsuomi will accompany her and Kyouya on a shopping run, and Yuki asks Kyouya about it, then “huhs” to suggest it’s very interesting Kyouya is hanging with Rin outside the café. The next morning Yuki takes the train out a bit to be picked up in hopes of avoiding Oushi, but there he is on the train.

Oushi, as usual, thinks he’s Yuki’s keeper and believes his deaf childhood friend’s whole business is his business. He’s such a fucking whiny bore, twirling her hair and leaning against her. He tries to be valiant when Yuki gets caught in the crush of people, but when Itsuomi saves her instead, he tries to tell him he saved her wrong.

Itsuomi indulges Oushi in a little stare-off, but otherwise that’s the most fucks he gives about the little shit. For the love of God, Oushi, please grow the fuck up … or try going out with Emma. I hear she’s single and miserable too! Fortunately, that’s the last we see of Mister Mopey this week.

As Rin predicted, she’s a nervous wreck being alone with Kyouya, who last night insisted to Itsuomi that “it’s not like that” even though Rin very much wants it to be like that. But she’s able to relax when she Yuki and Itsuomi arrive—that is, after the shock of seeing them holding hands like it’s nothing. When she looks in the back seat to see Yuki teaching, all of Rin’s nervousness melted away.

Tiny Itose, or Titanic Tiramisu? Yes!

As for the big shopping trip, when I saw the Costco sign (it read Costaco, but I see you, Studio Ajia-Do) I laughed out loud. Not only because it’s the last place I expected them to go, but because I remember when I was young feeling exactly as excited as Yuki and Rin do. “Loogit how BIG the packaging is!”

It truly is some Alice in Wonderland vibes, and Itsuomi takes full advantage by handing the petite Yuki a Tiramisu the size of a lasagna, with predictably adorable results. Rin and Kyouya also notice something Yuki can’t, but tell her about after it happens: Itsuomi calls Yuki’s name in a very affectionate tone. That gets Yuki thinking about how his voice has sounded all the times she’s spoken to her.

Not that tone matters, because be they via text, sign, or lips, everything Itsuomi says to her shoots straight through her heart. She’s down bad! When Itsuomi, who’s also been watching Rin, asks if she wants some alone time with Kyouya, he tells her to ask Kyouya to take her on a drive after the shopping trip. Rin, who is happy for his help, asks, and Kyouya is cool with it.

That, of course, means Yuki and Itsuomi get to be alone together as they take the train back home. Yuki grabs his attention, then signs “do you want to go out for dinner?” Itsuomi says he’s going home. Yuki is momentarily crushed, but he wasn’t turning her down, because he asks if she wants to just grab a bite at his place? That’s right: he invited her to his place. She didn’t just show up there unannounced with booze and … designs. Emma, take notice!

A Sign of Affection – 03 – Off to the (Heart) Races

The next time she come to the café with Rin, Itsuomi asks her all kinds of questions, and it’s confirmed Yuki is completely deaf and has been since birth. Since he’s either curious or interested (both really), Yuki deems it the right moment to give Itsuomi a lovingly hand-illustrated sign language guide. He accepts it, but notes he may not use it much, as he’d much rather practice signing in person, with her.

The bliss is interrupted by the arrival to two of Itsuomi’s old friends, Shin and Emma. Because they’re drunk and slurring their words, even when they’re facing her Yuki can’t make out what they’re saying. But more concerning to her is that the gorgeous Emma is clinging to Itsuomi; Yuki doesn’t need words to read how she feels about him.

Four days pass without Yuki and Itsuomi interacting, but when she works up the nerve to ask via text if he’s in Japan, he says he is, and invites her to hang out with him at the laundromat if she wants. It’s the latest Yuki has ever gone out on her own, let alone to meet a guy, and on her way she encounters the overbearing Oushi, who warns her not to get too close to Itsuomi, assuming he’s just messing with her.

Oushi should really mind his business. If he likes Yuki, he should tell her, and be nicer to her, but for all his signing fluency he keeps their relationship at odds. Itsuomi may only be starting to learn signs one by one, but because its out of a genuine desire to get closer to Yuki and her world.

When he verbalizes that he’s always looked at far-off goals, but now finds a special one much closer to him, Yuki unfortunately isn’t watching his lips. But she does manage to make it clear that she wants to become much closer to him too, using the sign for more by “climbing the ladder” with her hands as high as she can reach. When he takes her hands in his, she feels excited and her heart races, but she also feels safe, and never wants her curfew to come. He draws her into a hug, he says “you’re sweet” in German.

He walks her home in the gently falling snow, and Morohoshi Sumire’s inner monologue, as ever, feels just as beautiful and delicate. They pinky promise to see each other again soon, but when Itsuomi comes home he finds Emma waiting for him with drinks. She makes clear why she’s there, so he makes it just as clear he’s not interested.

This is not apparently not the first time Emma has “pulled this crap;” suffice it to say Itsuomi is fine with their status as “just friends” while she wants to take the next step. Instead, he leaves her in his place to drink alone, which is when she discovers the signing guide.

When it’s just Yuki and Itsuomi, it truly feels like time stops. But her heart isn’t the only thing racing; she’s one vertex in a love polygon with him, Emma, and Oushi. There may be drama afoot, so we’ll see how Yuki weathers it.

A Sign of Affection – 02 – Deciding On Love

Rin congratulates Yuki for securing Itsuomi’s deets, and picked a spot where she knows Itsuimi’s club meets. When Yuki can’t get his attention, Rin calls out to him, and he and Yuki have another cozy text exchange, where she learns he’s traveling to Laos. Rin notices how much Yuki is glowing, and that when it comes to knowing the difference between a crush an being in love, it’s ultimately Yuki’s choice.

Observing from on high is Oushi, Yuki’s childhood friend who signs fluently, but as Yuki says, “only to be mean to her.” That he learned to sign for her sake speaks to his protectiveness, but while they’re in college now he acts more like a little kid would towards someone he liked. I got vibes from his friend Izumi that she liked him, but can also tell how much he cares for Yuki.

Oushi would have preferred if Yuki stayed “somewhere safe”, but it’s not his life, and not his call. Having gone from nursery through high school in a special school for the deaf with just three classmates her own age, Yuki yearned to explore a larger, less isolated world. The first step to doing that was attending this college, and now through Itsuomi’s texts and photos she’s learning a lot more about the vast outside world.

It would be one thing if, say, Rin were the one providing her with this exposure to far off lands. That a super-hot guy is doing it intensifies her excitement. She’s never felt this way about anyone before, and that intensity makes her feel like it isn’t just some silly crush. That he took the time to learn how to sign “good morning” to her when he returned home speaks to his equal desire to explore her world. That said, I wish he’d ask before touching her head!

Yuki is excited to talk to Rin more, but finds she’s already conversing with two other women. While she waits for an opening, Oushi has a conversation with her in signing. I love how this is depicted, with detailed hand gestures, facial expressions, and subtle use of hand and mouth sounds made during signing.

That said, it’s kind of a fraught conversation. Yuki can tell Oushi cares about her by the fact that however blunt he is with his sign language, his hands still look gentle, even frail to her. But still, this dude is being a big ol’ stupid jerk. If he has a problem with her expanding horizons, he can sit and spin! At the very least, he should be upfront about how he feels.

Yuki, for her part, has taken Rin’s advice and determined for herself what it is she’s feeling towards Itsuomi: she believes it’s legit love. I loved Rin’s little hug of congratulations, and Rin signing “hang in there” to Itsuomi. I just hope Yuki doesn’t linger on the worry that he’s only interested in “cultural exchange.”

Vinland Saga S2 – 23 – Someplace Not Here

Sweyn’s head tells Canute that Thorfinn is dangerous and should be killed. But when the king asks him what he’ll do, Thorfinn says he’ll simply run. He’ll run to somewhere he can’t tell Canute about, a place for people like the two of them, who won’t belong in the paradise he’s building.

Thorfinn intends to “fill the hole” Canute leaves with his methods, and warns him not to “make too much work” for him. To this Canute laughs, and not to mock Thorfinn. Rather, he’s laughing at the sheer absurdity of what Thorfinn did today: take a hundred punches without throwing a single one, all so that he could speak to him.

Canute is struck by how eloquently Thorfinn speaks now, and what a “beautiful man” he’s become, for all his scars and bruises. And you know what? Thorfinn wins. Canute decides to withdraw from the farm, ditch plans to requisition all the other farms, and even disbands his armies in England, trusting the nobles to maintain the peace.

Not only does he do these things that are seemingly in complete opposition to “the Viking way”, but it works. The English nobles acknowledge the trust he’s put in them, and the uprising that was feared never occurs. With no threat of an uprising, there was no need for an expensive army.

Floki and his Jomsvikings are disappointed, but fuck ’em. Their way only leads to ruin. Canute isn’t about that. He admires Thorfinn, and accepts that the two of them can independently peruse their paths to paradise. In the long run, Canute strengthens his reign with these peaceful moves that respect the people’s right to live.

The visual of Thorfinn, who turned a king and his vicious Viking army away with nothing but words, waking up in the same straw bed in a smelly stable as every other morning of his last few years, is a powerful one that speaks volumes. He slowly limps through the peaceful farm and joins Canute, who still tends to Arnheid’s grave.

Thorfinn tells Einar he regrets not being able to tell Arnheid that there was something more appealing than the release of death she sought after so much suffering. But now he knows what he must do: find that place that he can tell others in her situation about. And if he can’t find it, he’ll make it. He embraces Einar as a brother, and they resolve to travel to Vinland.

In another example of his selfless goodness, Thorfinn has Olmar take the credit for negotiating Canute’s withdrawal. He bids farewell to Olmar, who now wants to be strong and kind like Thorfinn, to Sverkel, who maintains he needs no thanks as he was only honoring a deal they struck; Pater, who promises to care for Arnheid’s grave, and Snake, who tells them his real name: Roald, Son of Grim, before wishing them Godspeed.

Life at Ketil’s farm continues as it had, with Olmar embracing the philosophy of tilling the land and carving one’s feelings, one’s love into it. Of building something rather than destroying. Even Snake and his men take up farm work at Sverkel’s, with no imminent enemies to fight.

Pater remains amazed that after such a long life of enduring pain and anguish, that he should come upon men like Thorfinn and Einar: strong, yet dedicated to peace. And so they go forth, a nation of just two, in search of a place without slavery and war that scarred them and so many others. They surely won’t be alone for long.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 14 – These Violent Machines Have Violent Ends

Lady Prospera continues giving the isolated Miorine the rundown on why Suletta is at Asticassia. She believes she’s fulfilled her role as a “proper” mother by making Suletta’s dream of going to school and having friends come true. But the school is also the perfect place to “optimize” Aerial and its ability to “rewrite the world”—i.e. control any system—through data storms.

Miorine doesn’t like this project one bit, of course, but it’s also not something she can reject hastily now that it’s in her hands. Meanwhile, at the dust-up in the mobile suit hangar, Nana only suffered a broken arm, but even at Suletta’s urging won’t trouble her further by telling her what’s going on…or what she’s done.

Elan tries for the umpteenth time to elicit a kiss from Suletta, only to be interrupted once more by Sophie and Norea. Sophie is excited to duel against Suletta, kill Nana before she can snitch, and make Suletta her official big sis. Norea passes a smartphone with something on it to Elan in his capacity as Peil representative.

When the “Rumble Ring” begins, it’s an open invitational battle royale meant to showcase to all visitors the abilities of Asticassia pilots. It’s all in good fun. But there’s another plot at play during a battle that includes Lauda and Felsi from Jeturk, Sabina and Renee from Grassley, Suletta and Chuchu from Earth House with Elan pitching in, and some randos.

Things take a turn and the sanctity and relative safety of the dueling environment is changed forever, when Sophie and Norea blast into the battle area and start firing live rounds. Dueling Committee members Secelia and Rouji watch in horror as their elaborate game is suddenly stained with the blood of a real dead pilot.

Secilia immediately cancels the Rumble Ring and orders an evacuation, but the battle continues. Sophie’s green Gundam is joined by six of her own “Gund-Bits”—unmanned Gundams she calls “Gundvolvas”, while it becomes clear that Sabina and Renee are merely pretending to be losing to Sophie and Norea.

Nana is about to call the authorities to confess, but her phone is snatched up by Shaddiq’s buddy Henao. Her fellow Grassley housemates Maisie and Ireesha incapacitate President Sarius’ bodyguards and take him into custody under Shaddiq’s orders. He may not be in a cockpit, but he’s pulling all the strings here, and may have just succeeded in taking over his adoptive father’s company.

While Sophie is a crucial part of his plan, she couldn’t give a hoot about any of Shaddiq’s ambitions. She wants to duel with Suletta and make her her big sis, period. She’s willing to wound and maim and kill and destroy whoever and whatever she needs to to accomplish that and create a better life for herself.

Even as Suletta tells her killing to make those things happen is wrong, she thinks back to when she killed someone to save Miorine. Aerial was built to protect her and help her help others…right? In the midst of this logical conundrum, Aerial emits a data storm that disables Sophie, who was already at her Permet limit.

The battle within the training area is over, as Shaddiq’s objectives were achieved. As this is going on, Bel meets with Prospera and has her worst fears confirmed: there is a second will at work within Aerial—the will of Prospera’s second daughter, Ericht Samaya. The little girl named Eri from Ep 0 and the present-day Suletta aren’t the same—they’re sisters.

While Suletta has always regarded Aerial as her sister, she naturally doesn’t know that she once had a human body, but was turned into a Gundam due to their mother’s ambitions. Like her sister, Suletta is immune to the curse caused by Permet strain, a curse that claims Sophie’s life, and which Norea says will claims hers too in due time.

Prospera insists that Eri, now in Aerial form (I’m just realizing her name is phonetically right there), represents the “future of GUND”, the end result of research to create an end to war, disease and suffering, a pen with which to literally re-write the world as it is. This world may suck in numerous ways, who gave Lady Prospera the authority to unilaterally flip the script? Well…she did. She’s hoping Miorine, like Delling before her, will join her on this journey. But if she doesn’t, that won’t stop her.

As for Suletta, faced with the death of someone while she sits in Aerial’s cockpit (though Norea tells her the Permet killed Sophie, not Suletta), she can only take solace in knowing that she protected the school and her friends … but only for now. The “new world” Prospera is building is already stained with blood, and will be stained by a lot more. The only question is whose.

As for Nana, she is being arrested for terrorism. She may be the fall girl for Shaddiq’s machinations, but the fact remains: she made her choices. And since all of Earth House is brought in for questioning, she wasn’t even able to keep them away the trouble she was hoping to spare them.

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 08 – Into the Western Woods

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent would prefer if we forget about Aira and whether or not she and Sei will ever actually speak to each other, and despite being somewhat frustrated by the sudden page-turn, I came to accept it in the spirit of enjoying watching Sei’s magic power continue to evolve, which all starts when she finally gains access to the forbidden section of the library.

Yuri Drewes might have the line of the night when he sidles up to her and asks if she’s thinking about murdering someone. But her interest in poisonous plants is obviously more honorable and altruistic. When her attempts to create holy water or imbue plants with magic fail, she learns from Yuri about “Saintly Conjury”, which is the closest analogue to the “blessing” of water of which she speaks.

At the end of the day, Sei more or less figures out how to perform Conjury quite by accident, simply because she’s concentrating very intently on her desire to help those who have helped her. An orb of magical energy appears just below her throat, and it lets out a little shock wave that imbues all of the surrounding plants with magic, just like she’d been trying.

While this is inarguably a huge breakthrough, Sei isn’t quite sure how she did it, and so isn’t sure how to repeat it. But then duty calls, as the knights request the institute’s best healer to accompany them on a dangerous expedition to the infamous Western Woods. Johan expects her to be very low on the prospect, but to his surprise, she’s fully prepared to do whatever she can to prevent or mitigate more casualties of the kind she treated before.

So early the next morning, she dons her durable, practical, yet stylish adventurer’s outfit and prepares to depart. She’s met by several surprises, first Jude and Johan seeing her off (though I don’t see why she’s surprised; they both adore her). Then she learns Commander Hawke will be joining the expedition in order to protect her. That goes for Yuri too, though a part of him is coming along just in case she pulls off Conjury again.

While Sei is wearing the hear ornament Albert gave her because she knew she’d want to keep her hair out of the way, he tells her that it’s actually enchanted, and will keep her safe come what may. His delicate, respectful, and above all dignified courtship of her has been one of the many surprise delights of this series.

But heck, even if her hairpin didn’t do jack, she’d still be fine, right? I mean, she’s got a Knight Commander and the Grand Magus protecting her. Well, maybe not so much, as the miasma becomes denser and the monsters grow stronger, Yuri and Albert’s hands are full stemming the tide of lesser beasts when a boss-type salamander appears.

When it spits its fire breath at Sei, she doesn’t have time to raise a magical shield, but her hair ornament has her back, raising an ice barrier in the blink of an eye that protects her from the flames. So yes, practical choice of hair accessory, but also a literal lifesaver. Though I suppose she could always heal herself if it came down to it…

But up to this point in the ongoing battle, Sei had been on her back foot and serving a support role as a healer and buffer, a role she knew well from the video games she’d play when not working her ass off. But when she witnesses a demon cat bite Albert in the shoulder, drawing blood and causing a deep wound, Sei just…reacts.

Whether it’s Saintly Conjury or simply Saintly badassery, Sei casts the same spell she cast the other night, but instead of simply imbuing nearby plants with magic, it eliminates all monsters and miasma across a vast area-of-effect, while fully healing Albert and everyone else’s wounds, right down to minor cuts and bruises.

Sei’s not just a healer or supporter. She also might just be the greatest weapon against evil alive. That aside, it was just hella fun to finally see her operating in the field, rising to the occasion as I expected she would.

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 07 – All About Aira

SMPO pulled off a clever trick: By having Sei’s story monopolize the first six episodes, we became wholly invested in her happiness, her growth, and her success as the true Saint. Prince Kyle and Misono Aira were always off-camera, and so neither of them really had a chance against someone as charming as Sei—not to mention her seiyu Ishikawa Yui.

But while we were always pretty sure Prince Kyle was a big ol’ asshole for picking Aira and spurning Sei, there was always a lingering feeling that there was more to the story, and in any case Aira was as innocent as Sei in this whole business, having also been summoned there against her will.

The show finally rights a wrong by explicitly placing Aira front an center in her own episode, which is bookended by an instance of Aira encountering Sei in a hallway, who is too preoccupied talking to Liz to notice her. But Aira notices her, and you can’t help but feel a yearning in her; a desire to reach out and know this person.

But first, Aira’s beginning. The daughter of two busy parents, she’s about to head out for a solo dinner when she’s summoned to Salutania and quickly whisked away by Prince Kyle. Her visceral shock over the sudden change of world is beautiful and heartbreaking in its presentation

When she’s told there’s never been an instance of a Saint returning to her home world, she finally breaks down. Here’s where we learn Prince Kyle isn’t a complete shithead, as he displays genuine remorse over putting Aira in such a position. That said, he is convinced the survival of his kingdom and his people will depend on her.

Like Sei, Aira is cast into a den of maids who present her with a variety of dresses to try. Just as her parents did for their family portrait, a “cutesy” pink dress is chosen for her, rather than her being vocal about wanting the more subdued color.

When Kyle sees that Aira still can’t quite believe any of this is real, he springs her from the palace to walk among the masses in the capital. This raises her spirits, and is also when she sees that Prince Kyle is not altogether beloved by his people.

While on a balcony overlooking a gorgeous view of Salutania, Kyle’s friend anf advisor Damian confirms what Aira had suspected: to uphold the Kingdom’s peace, they must be “strict” with its people, even if it doesn’t endear them to said people. Kyle also vows to do whatever he can to find a way to send Aira home once the threat has passed.

Aira tells the “self-centered, awkward…and direct to a fault” prince that she’ll do her best. Shortly thereafter, he presents her with a wand, a robe, and all the other supplies she’ll need to attend the magic academy. There, we see she begins to thrive, all while enjoying the company of spoken-for lads.

Due to her forwardness with said lads, Aira is shunned, resented, and ostracized by the other women, who are in the margin of every shot in her training montage, visually expressing their disapproval. this whole time, I wished Sei would enroll at the academy and give poor Aira a damned hug.

There’s no more heartbreaking, lonely scene than when Aira and a classmate end up sheltering from the rain beside each other. The other girl seems receptive to talking, but before Aira can get a word out, two more girls show up and offer the girl an umbrella, completely ignoring Aira.

Thankfully, Damian shows up with an umbrella, distressed by how soaked Aira is, only for Aira to demonstrate her extremely precise magic by gathering nearly all of the rain that was on her skin and clothes into a single orb suspended over her finger.

But while watching it unfold makes Aira a much more sympathetic figure, I could have imagined this was the life Aira had been living while Sei enjoyed a comparatively easier road. The real twist of the episode concerns Prince Kyle’s decision, in light of rumors Sei is the true Saint, to accept his mistake as having been born of his stubborn pride.

Kyle took Aira’s home away from her, so he feels it is his duty to find her a new home. If it’s inevitable that Sei will supplant Aira as the Saint, he plans to continue playing the role of “incompetent, stubborn crown prince”, hoping the court will take pity on her. He’s proves he’s not just playing lip service; he truly cares about Aira and doesn’t want her to suffer because of his fuck-up.

Not every woman hates Aira’s guts, of course. That one girl in the rain would have likely talked to and even befriended her had those other girls not shown up. Likewise, Elizabeth is ready and willing to become friends with Aira, only for Kyle to step between them and forbid it, saying he alone will look after her.

It’s another misstep for Kyle, who is being overprotective in this case. He may think his fiancee is jealous of Aira, but we know that Liz isn’t that kind of perosn. One would hope the crown prince would get to know his future queen a bit better!

As for Sei, she and Aira still haven’t so much as uttered a single word to each other, nor has Sei even looked directly at Aira since the two were summoned. That remains hugely frustrating, especially when I think of how much tension could be released by their meeting and sharing of experiences. There’s no good reason for them to be on opposite sides of anything. Hopefully this wrong is righted soon!

Re: Zero – 44 – Prediction of a Happy Future

Lil’ Lia is all alone when Pandora approaches her. With Kugimiya Rie’s soft, sweet yet oddly menacing voice, Pandora begins the mind games, thanking Lia for bringing the key to her at the opportune time. When Lia says she knows of no such key, Pandora goes straight to threatening to “turn over” the forest looking for it. Then Lia says she’ll be the key, and it appears in her hands, though only she can see it.

For all intents and purposes, Lia herself is the key—she always was—and protected as such by being kept in isolation away from the seal she unlocks. But unlike the inanimate object with which she shares a purpose, she’s a key that made a promise to Mother Fortuna. This is when Pandora tells her she must make a choice: keep the promise and invite conflict, or break the promise and resolve “all this” harmoniously.

Pandora makes it clear that should Lia decide to keep her promise, she has a promise of her own: to open the seal by any means necessary. As if rewarding Lia for standing firm, Fortuna returns to her side, thanking her for keeping her promise. I may have faked myself out in believing Fortuna was killed by Pandora off-screen, and that she’s Lia’s biological mom.

She’s neither, and Lia is again referred to as “the Witch’s Daughter”, implying her birth mom is one of the witches. That’s not answered, but suffice it to say Fortuna doesn’t possess the ability to kill Pandora and make it stick; as a witch, Every time she’s struck down, Pandora can resurrect her body instantly, calling into question whether she’s even physically there.

Her witch’s tricks also victimize poor Geuse, who arrives in the nick of time with plans to help Fortuna. It’s important to note that he hasn’t “changed sides” here; his bloodshot eyes simply cause him to see Fortuna as Pandora and Lia as Fortuna, so when he uses his newly acquired Unseen Hands, it is Fortuna who receives the full brunt of the attack, which proves fatal.

As Pandora assures Geuse that his “love was not wrong”, and nor was offering up his soul to save the one he loved. In her last breaths, Fortuna expresses regret for not being able to keep her promise to her sister-in-law, saying she’ll never forgive her. Lia forgives Fortuna in her mother’s place.

Fortuna isn’t dead for five seconds before Pandora says Lia is no longer bound by promises made to a dead woman. Not the most tactful witch, is she?! Lia removes her flower hairclips and replaces them with one of Fortuna’s, which resembles a snowflake. She then interrupts Pandora with a simple “Die”, exploding her with a giant snowflake.

Again and again Lia’s ice magic destroys Pandora’s body in the blink of an eye, and again and again Pandora returns a blink later, telling Lia it’s pointless to continue. As Lia gets more and more upset, her ice magic gets out of control, covering Fortuna, an emotionally wrecked Geuse, everyone in the village, and all of Elinor Forest.

Lia herself becomes encased in ice, and Pandora accepts that she’ll have to wait a bit longer to unlock the seal, but it will happen. Before taking her leave, she touches Lia’s face, removing all memories of their encounter and knowledge of her existence, telling her to “fill the emptiness” however she likes.

Before her breakthrough with Subaru, learning all of this may have broken Emilia, but she accepts everything she’s seen without complaint, or protest, or emotional breakdown. Because she’s able to part with her greatest regret and accepted her past self, she’s completed the first trial, just as Subaru did.

While she regrets she wasn’t strong enough to do more, Emilia is pleased to learn she never broke her promise to her mother to obey Fortuna. She never yielded to Pandora and even forced her to withdraw. She now has her gaze focused on the future, one in which the permafrost is lifted from Elinor and her friends awaken from their deep slumber so they can yell at her.

When (not “if”) that happens, she vows to keep apologizing until they forgive her, so they can all live in the world her mother, Fortuna, and Geuse loved. Echidna can rail against her all she wants about delusions, pushiness, insolence, egotism, selfishness, and hypocrisy, but she can’t deny the effectiveness of Emilia using her mother’s sacrifice as an “excuse” for her resolve, to see that the future she dreams of come true.

Echidna parts ways with Emilia, telling her that while two trials remain, because she’s now “fighting back” they shouldn’t be much of a challenge. Was that a backhanded compliment from someone who claims to despise Lia? I believe it was! With that, Emilia wakes up within the graveyard, still festooned with Subaru’s well wishes. As her eyes fill with tears, Emilia apologizes to her mother, and prepares for the second trial.

Meanwhile, Bilma and Ram help take Shima somewhere where she can rest, now that she’s successfully told Subaru the true purpose of the Sanctuary. Armed with this knowledge, he, Otto, and Garfiel pay another visit to Roswaal, who is again in full makeup and costume; his “war paint”, so to speak. Subie’s glad to see him taking their battle seriously, but brings Otto to point out that the Margrave’s carefully set up game board is already falling apart.

Roswaal doesn’t recognize Otto, because the prophesy in the gospel makes no mention of him. While this irks Otto, it’s actually good, because it meant he could act freely without the bounds of destiny licking at his heels. It was entirely thanks to Otto that Subaru was able to find the backbone he needed for this battle. Subaru and Otto virtually break the fourth wall in musing about a male character playing that role rather than the love interest.

Subaru has brought Otto, as well as the “tamed” Garfiel, to show Roswaal that the writing is on the wall—and he’s not talking about his encouraging messages he left for Emilia. With Roswaal’s game board quickly falling into ruin, Subaru has come to ask for his surrender. He probably won’t get it so easily, but like Pandora asking Emilia to unlock the seal for her, he had to ask!

Cop Craft – 05 – A Brief Dream Before the End

Suddenly up against an ancient lauden neiven—vampire in the common tongue—Tilarna nearly finds herself outmatched, but gets some backup from her partner, who makes use of a fire extinguisher to disorient the baddie. Tilarna relieves the vampire of one of her arms and Kei fills her with bullets, but she still escapes.

Tilarna feels responsible for Chapman’s death, as she should have known sooner what they were dealing with; Kei does his best to assure her it’s not on her, it’s just the job. Using both K9 units and Tilarna’s excellent sense of smell (at least when it comes to latena), they continue the search.

After the vampire kills a truck driver, causing him to crash, witnesses recall seeing her wearing a dress that looked like black flames—Tilarna recognizes it as a magical illusion spell that provides clothing when naked (and scolds Kei for thinking about her demonstrating it). But it’s also clear the vamp has some of her power back.

The duo heads to the mall where she lies in wait. Kei ends up thrown off a high balcony into a fountain and gets knocked out, while Tilarna is captured. When she awakens both she and we get more of a feel for their adversary, who after all is extremely disoriented in this strange new place. However, she’s sharp enough to know of the “greater gate” in the “Book of Niba,” a prophecy that has apparently come true.

That being said, she’s still a vampire, which means she can’t resist an easy meal—particularly Tilarna’s delicious noble blood. Unfortunately she delays her dinner a hair too long, as Kei and a SWAT team storms the location and rescues Tilarna.

The wounded vamp once again gives the cops the slip, but Tilarna remain hot on her trail. Tilarna suggests they try to take her alive “if possible” so they can try to learn something from her, but Kei very much doubts they’ll be in a position to hold back.

A strange voice leads the vamp down into the subway tracks—the voice of a wizard, who like Tilarna wants to extract some knowledge from the vamp if he can. But between the feeling she finds herself in hell to the belief she comes to that she’s merely in a brief and very bizarre dream before her end, she’s not interested, and instead drains the wizard dry to recharge.

Tilarna and Kei arrive, and once again have a hard time bringing her down. She pounces on Kei, warning him no man has ever walked away from three battles with her, unless he’s some kind of prophesied warrior. Ultimately, the vamp’s ignorance of the fatal effect of a subway train hitting her leads to her demise, while Tilarna leaps to Kei’s rescue at the last second.

Naturally, Kei doesn’t properly thank Tilarna for saving him again, which really steams her beans, so she starts viciously kicking him in the back. It’s an oddly perfunctory ending to what had been to that point a rather thoughtful and intriguing story.

After all, the vamp wasn’t necessarily pure evil—a gal’s gotta eat—but as the episode progressed, she was more a subject of pity than disdain. She simply didn’t belong, it would have been extremely hard for her to try, and she didn’t even seem to want to stay, almost preferring oblivion to such an unfamiliar land.

Fate/Extra Last Encore – 13 (Fin) – Mankind’s Journey Continues

Twice H. Pieceman is done with humans, and he has been for a long time. On Earth, in life, he was surrounded by the death and suffering of the Vietnam War. After death, he was “reproduced” as an NPC within SE.RA.PH, but that NPC status meant the Holy Grail would always be out of reach, so he sought a successor who also felt the future was wrong.

When none came, and humanity grew stagnant, Pieceman stopped seeing the point of letting it all continue. That’s pretty much where we’re at when Hakuno, Saber, Rin, and Leo arrive at the doorstep of Angelica Cage and the Moon Cell Core, still shielded and guarded by Chakravaratin, the Noble Phantasm of Pieceman’s no-longer-around Servant.

Oh, and Pieceman is also a Dead Face; a remnant of his digital body that was destroyed when he sealed off SE.RA.PH. Killing a final boss that’s already dead will be impossible…but they don’t have to kill him; they simply need to get past him.

When a frontal assault on Twice and Chakravaratin by Rin and Saber fails (Leo is initially neutral and takes no action), Pieceman informs them even if they wish to save humanity, it’s too late; showing them images of what has become of Earth. Yet Hakuno is sure there are survivors he wasn’t able to eliminate—even after a millennium of trying—who will one day make their way to SE.RA.PH to continue civilization.

Having heard both sides, Leo abandons his neutral position and uses a barrier to shield the others from Chakravaratin’s lasers. He also summons Gawain and uses his final Command Seal to order him to use Excalibur Galatine on the wheel, damaging it and giving the others time to finish what he’s started.

Leo goes out as a proud leader fighting for the future of humanity, and Gawain goes out with a majestic bang, reforming Excalibur with the light of the sun.

Damaged but not stopped, it falls to Saber to fly up to the wheel and cease its turning so the shield over Moon Cell core will drop. Emperor Nero Claudius proceeds to prove her worth by achieving what is “no mean task”—stopping Chakravaratin as she promised. While she expected Hakuno to race to the Moon Cell core, he sends Rin instead, as the only true Holy Grail War Master still “in the game” (he’s not an official participant).

That allows Hakuno to come to Nero’s side near her end, which was the one simple wish she told the female Hakuno, since dying alone the first time was “harsh.” She gives Hakuno her sword and sends him off to Moon Cell.

Believing he’ll be able to manipulate a fellow Dead Face’s body and use it as a vessel, Twice is surprised to find his attempts are utterly ineffective as Hakuno bull-rushes Moon Cell, passing right through Pieceman. Despite being a Dead Face, Hakuno was able to go against his kind’s nature by expressing no hatred and not considering Pieceman a foe.

Hakuno shatters the shield and joins a somewhat flustered Rin right by the core. Touching returns Moon Cell to normal, but results in his disappearance. It’s something he does willingly, with a smile on his face: a being shrouded in death believing in life; and not shrinking from his duty, which led to his end, despite yearning for that life.

Down below at the ruins of Chakravaratin, Nero offers her congratulations to her Master and disperses in a cloud of rose petals, and Moon Cell is restored to normal, whatever “normal” is. The only person who appears to remain there is Rin, sporting a new dirty-blonde hair color, looking ready, willing, and eager to welcome the survivors of Earth, that they may begin rebuilding civilization.

And there you have it…FELE is at an end. Sure, at times things were a bit hard to follow and the jargon was a bit too dense for my tastes, but through it all Hakuno never ceased his dull optimism while Saber and Rin never ceased being awesome and fun to watch. Even Leo had a nice redemption here.

The setting of the final battle was appropriately sprawling, with intricate structures sticking out in a vast, austere void. The soundtrack delivered at every turn, just as it had throughout the show’s run. Shaft’s trademark closeups were on full display but not overused. It took a few months, but FELE came to a powerful and satisfying conclusion.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody – 02

The battlemage whom Satoo saves is one Zena Marientail, who calls off her suspicious comrades and gives Satoo a ride to their mutual destination, Salue City, a lovely walled and terraced town with friendly faces and reputable businesses.

After securing proper papers (denoting him as Lv.1 despite his much higher level), he is snagged by Martha, the daughter of the keeper of the Gate Inn, where Zena’s comrade Iona recommended. Throughout these interactions, Satoo utilizes trickery, persuasion, bartering, and other skills he’s amassed.

The innkeeper tells him about a Demon King that a chosen Hero must defeat, but Satoo settles for some cold quiche and cabbage to sate his hunger. I for one have always lamented the fact one cannot taste all the different foods one finds in an RPG; watching Satoo enjoy it is the next best thing.

While Martha shows him around, Satoo learns about the strict caste system; commoners cannot use the public baths, and there are a good number of slaves, many of them demi-humans whom the other humans fear, distrust, and in some cases outright hate. When Satoo is nice to a couple of young demis, Martha seems confused, but quickly changes gears to other things.

Upon returning to the inn, Satoo happens to spot Arisa—who bears the inauspicious titles “Exiled Witch” and “Crazy Princess”—being ridden on a cart, presumably with other slaves. I’m sure he’ll see her again, but first, he has a hearty supper of veggie soup, wild boar, black bread and mead, which proves so tasty he has seconds against his better judgment.

As he tosses in bed with an upset stomach, he ponders his situation, and concludes it might not actually be a dream, but…something else. After all, the “game” he’s seen so far doesn’t really match any games he knows of or has helped to develop; rather it’s something unique.

As he rushes out into the night to explore the city some more—it’s very pretty at night—he decides that whatever is going on, it behooves him to soak up as much as he can, that he might become a better game developer by what he sees, hears, and experiences in this fantasy world.

I don’t really blame him; he’s flush with cash and overpowered to boot. I wonder how he’d fare right now against that Demon King. Of course, he’s nowhere close to encountering such an overboss; instead, he gets a surprise visit from Zena, who has come on her day off to thank him for saving her life by spending the day with him.

Desumachi continues to be nothing groundbreaking, but I cannot deny it scratches an itch; that of a fantasy slice-of-life that takes its time unveiling its world and not skimping on the details, be it currency, society, cuisine, and relationships. Basically, it’s comfily low-stakes and entertaining enough to keep watching for now, though my socks remain firmly un-knocked-off.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody – 01 (First Impressions)

Here we go: Another anime about another black-haired dude somehow ending up transported to another fantasy RPG where he’s soon surrounded by another group of ladies. It’s directed by Oonuma Shin, whose resume includes Kokoro Connect and Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, which weren’t bad. And hey, neither is this! But it isn’t what I’d call great, at least not yet. It is merely good.

I won’t say it started bad per se—I actually liked how we spent a good amount of time in the real world to watch Suzuki Ichirou’s “death march” at the game company where he works. But the time there clocks in at nine minutes; personally I would have been fine with a much shorter montage to establish the guy.

That would have given us more time in the the virtual world of War World where Suzuki ends up. But once he’s there, things get much more interesting.

By “interesting”, I mean “a little nerdy”, since the programming jargon of the real-world act is replaced by the clean, smooth heads-up menu interface of the game, which Suzuki, AKA “Satoo” is able to navigate with his mind.

He assumes he’s merely dreaming a very elaborate dream, and since he’s known nothing but RPG programming for 30 hours without sleep, it stands to reason that dream would be about the game. Oh, and he’s also been de-aged to around fifteen. Seiyu Horie Shun raises his voice when he’s talking out loud, while his thoughts remain in 29-year-old Suzuki’s voice.

Satoo starts out at Level 1, but when a horde of Lizardmen numbering 300, all with levels hovering around 50, and he unleashes a Meteor Rain that takes them all out, raising his Level to 310.

Suzuki doesn’t realize this until one last lizardman standing with critical HP tosses him a sword and challenges him to a final duel, and Satoo takes him out without any difficulty.

With the defeat of all those lizardmen, Satoo is suddenly maxed out in all attributes, HP, MP, and Stamina—the kind of levels it would normally take hundreds of hours to reach.

From there, he inspects all of his new skills and loot, tests his Meteor Rain ability again (then promptly turns it off because it’s too damn powerful), then kits himself out and starts to explore War World’s world.

It’s not long before he comes upon a city, which is then attacked by a Wyvern – one he could easily defeat. Instead, he sits back and watches things unfold with the city’s mostly medieval defense force, in which archers direct the beast and mages throw spells at it (nice use of distorted voices to portray the spells being chanted).

One of those mages is Zena, who fires off a particularly big spell at the wyvern, but gets tossed high into the sky. One of her comrades slows her fall, but it’s Satoo who leaps up to catch her in midair. Now that he’s rescued a fair maiden, Suzuki’s checked off another box in the stuck-in-an-RPG conventions.

Who Zena is or how she’ll react to being saved is a question for next week; again, blame the nine-minute prologue if you must. I must also report that this show did not impress with its visuals (the wyvern was particularly iffy compared to, say, Bahamut or  Zestiria), and aside from the piece that played while Satoo traversed the overworld, the music was also unremarkable. If you’d told me this was made five or even ten years ago, I’d believe you.

Despite its technical shortcomings I honestly enjoyed following Suzuki/Satoo around as he gathered his bearings, and will be back to see what he gets up to, and who he meets, next week.

 

Sagrada Reset – 21

The episode begins back when Souma made curry at Kei’s, and gives us more of the conversation they had, specifically the trickiness of their struggle against Urachi. Their adversary has devised a number of contingencies such that any attempt to undo his plans will be thwarted.

Souma laments that she’s thus far been unable to find a way around those contingencies in order to save the abilities of Sakurada, so she asks Kei to use her precognition to find the best possible future for himself; the one she couldn’t find. For Kei, that’s a future in which Souma doesn’t disappear.

Back in the recently reset present, Souma is about to meet with Urachi at the cafe, but changes course, instigating a pursuit by Urachi and Sakuin. Kei heads to the waterfront with the photo of Souma (whose ability he’ll borrow) Haruki (whose future he’ll read), Sakagami (who’ll be the means of borrowing Souma’s power) and Tomoki (to keep track of time and communicate with the other Souma).

It’s quite an intricate little plan, with a lot at stake and in which timing is everything. The moment Kei gains Photo Souma’s precognitive ability and Haruki speaks to him, the look on his face says it all…but in his infinite coyness, he reveals next to nothing in the way of actual details regarding that future.

Meanwhile, Souma is quickly caught and cornered on the top of a fire escape by Urachi and Sakuin, and believing her work to be done, is prepared to jump over the edge to prevent herself from being taken hostage, and thus becoming a potential liability to Kei.

But since Kei can see Souma’s future as well as Urachi’s, he knows what she’s about to do, and stops her before she can, using Tomoki as a go-between. Instead, he tells her he has to meet her again, and has her wait five more minutes, during which time she tells Urcachi what she really is (‘not’ Souma) and the mistakes he made that allowed Kei to reset.

What she doesn’t tell Urachi is what Kei did with his planner in the timeline with no abilities, in which Urachi has a gap in his memories. That’s because the five minutes are up, Souma jumps off the ledge, and rather than fall to her death, she’s caught by Murase (Hi Murase!), who Kei just so happened to have searching for her.

As Kei learns more and more of the futures of Haruki, Souma, and himself, he gives Souma very precise instructions on how to leave Sakurada until returning noon tomorrow. All the while, Kei is conversing with Haruki about favorite colors, and how Haruki has come to like a lot of things she once had no preference for.

It’s that Haruki Kei wants to preserve, as well as all of the abilities in Sakurada. But he won’t do that by sacrificing Souma; he wants her to be able to live a life where she’ll be able to wake up and go to sleep happy day after day.

Is he being selfish, insisting on so many conditions for victory? Perhaps, but as the only person in Sakurada who will always remember everything, no matter what, it’s kinda his show.