Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 03 – Now for Wrath, Now for Ruin

When the heroes of Limia and Gritonia meet, it’s extremely awkward thanks to Tomoki. Whether he’s determined not to show any affection for Limia’s hero in front of his lover or party, he’s very rude, curt, and petulant with Hibiki, who is only trying to get along.

I have to think part of it is his unresolved feelings of inferiority and victimhood back home. Hibiki is a reminder of the world he left behind, so it makes sense he’d be hostile. All the adulation he’s received has given him a big head, to boot.

But while power has corrupted Tomoki and turned him into a big haughty self-involved jerk, Hibiki is ever modest and grateful for her support, in particular from Navarre. The two have developed a rapport that borders on the romantic.

Hibiki tells Navarre how easy her life was and how she came to this world in search of a challenge. She didn’t think she’d find someone she could trust to watch her back, but she’s found her in Navarre. As sweet as this scene was, it was tinged with the bitter notion it might be a death flag.

The battle commences, with Tomoki insisting it take place at night, when he’s secretly immortal. He charges right in with his party, but ends up falling for a simple trap: the ground in front of the demon fortress opens up and swallows his rank-and-file.

When he confronts the “demigiant” demon general Io, he doesn’t introduce himself or ask his name, which is bad form in combat. When Hibiki comes in to back him up, she doesn’t repeat his mistake, but Io uses a magic ring to remove the goddess’ blessing from both heroes, leaving them weakened and fatigued.

Tomoki, terrified he’s no longer immortal, flees immediately with his party, who don’t question his orders. Hibiki, a little disgusted by Tomoki’s craven conduct unbecoming a hero, stays put, and she and her party fight what increasingly looks like a hopeless battle against the blue demon colossus.

Just as Hibiki starts going to a dark place where she’s faced with an foe she’s not strong enough to defeat, Navarre gets with Woody and tells him to implement a plan he’s not happy about. That’s because Navarre wants powers to be bestowed upon her and her alone to defeat the demon general.

These powers, represented by a red rose brand on her neck, come at the cost of the user’s life. Hibiki doesn’t know this until she’s being whisked away by Woody’s high-speed flight magic. Navarre, who’s never looked more beautiful than she does in her final moments, gives one look back at Hibiki before turning to her foe.

Hibiki is powerless to stop her best friend in this world from sacrificing herself in a literal blaze of glory. But Navarre, a sword ogre, doesn’t see her actions as tragic, but the height of honor. While she gained a hyuman friend in Hibiki, she’d always known her death would come on the battlefield, giving absolutely everything she’s got.

There were two heroes on the battlefield that night: Otonashi Hibiki, and Navarre Polar. Iwahashi Tomoki is a lot of things—blowhard, chuuni, figurehead, pawn—but he’s no hero. If he had actually put his life on the line, maybe Navarre wouldn’t have had to die. I’m really upset about losing her so soon after we met her.

Whither Makoto? Well, his battle against Sofia and Mitsurugi in the first season finale took place the same time as the heroes’ siege of the demon fortress. We even see the column of light he makes from their POV. And while we know he did a number of the demons, it also did a number on him, as we see Tomoe and Mio desperately healing him.

Now that we know the whole deal with the two Heroes brought here from Japan, and how one of them is no hero at all, we return to the present, and Makoto about to reach his destination of Rotsgard Academy.

Horimiya: Piece – 12 – A Lily with Thorns

Because this is the season that tells any and all stories Horimiya’s first season didn’t have time to tell, we finally get to how Hori’s parents met. Her mom Yuriko was a straight-laced, no-nonsense third-year and Kyousuke was a first-year n’er-do-well.

When she tells him not to park his forbidden motorbike in a certain spot, he decides to heed her words, and later that spot is discovered by faculty. In return, Kyousuke scolds Sengoku’s dad (also StuCo president) for not thanking Yuriko, and he does.

The cycle of supporting one another continues, and Yuriko draws the ire of an underclassman who likes Kyousuke and tells her to stay away from him. When Yuriko’s nonchalant response angers her, she slaps her foot on the locker next to her.

Kyousuke spots this and comes to Yuriko’s rescue, but she’s in no need of rescuing. After insisting a man shouldn’t put their hands on a woman, she proceeds to give the underclassman a wicked slap across the face, as being a woman, she can put a hand on her.

This story is being told in the context of Kyousuke explaining to Izumi that Yuriko was a gentle lily, but she also had thorns. Kyouko is the same way. She can be incredibly lovely, petulant, childish, and dangerous all in the space of a few moments.

The remainder of the episode takes place exclusively in the Hori household, which is often very loud and obnoxious, but which Izumi also finds extremely fun, or he wouldn’t keep going there. Kyouko’s family has pretty much become his family, and it’s a testament to his mettle that he’s able to hold is own in what can be a very volatile environment.

Izumi sees Kyouko in a T-shirt of Souta’s that bares her belly, mediate a dispute over how messy Souta is (he’s not), and when Souta declares that they’re in outer space now and the carpet is a spaceship, he witnesses Kyouko toss Souta out an airlock and become drunk with power as the new captain, complete with some strong ojou laughs.

In the last little slice-of-life segment, Souta decides to make himself useful and do the dishes, but Kyouko scolds him because the knives are dangerous. She’s a little to emphatic and causes Souta to cry. When Souta rushes to Izumi for comfort, Izumi tries to placate both sides, but only ends up making Kyouko cry, since she doesn’t like it when he’s not on her side.

When he tells her that he is on her side, she calms down, but when he tells her if she’s saying or doing something wrong, he’ll get angry, she gets excited, because she really wants Izumi to yell at her and smack her…something Izumi makes clear he’s not going to do!