A Condition Called Love – 03 – Unlimited Overtime

A commenter in the ANN forum on this show made a very good point that made me want to reassess the show so far: this show is clearly aware that Hananoi’s more obsessive behaviors are problematic. Fortunately, while he does loom over her at the end of last week’s episode, he ends up collapsing due to his fever from waiting in the cold for Hotaru all morning.

Hotaru calls his grandma and goes home, and feels awful for asking Hananoi to do something that means so much to him, just to see if she’d feel anything. I think she’s being a little harsh on herself, but like Hananoi, that’s something she needs to work on. She’s always thought she was just some NPC, but to him, she’s a princess.

A couple of days pass, and the day their trial run ends arrives. It’s Christmas Eve, and they were supposed to go on a date, but Hotaru assumes it’s not going to happen, either because he’s still ill or because he’s sick of her. She recalls a past instance of unintentionally hurting a friend of hers, but missing the opportunity to properly apologize and drifting apart.

When her little sister’s ice skating costume rips and she needs Hotaru to rush to the skating rink with a sewing kit, Hotaru is resigned to having the same Christmas Eve she always has with her family. But then Hananoi arrives there, having remembered her mentioning her sister’s skating. He still wants to take her out on a date, and Hotaru is surprised by how relieved she feels to see him again.

She may not be aware, but the longing she felt those past two days … well, that’s pretty much love, isn’t it? She felt bad about what went down at his place, but she also missed him. After she presents him to her family (whose jaws drop at the hottie she scored) they go out on a cute, fun, low-key date with food, shopping, light viewing, and skating.

When the lights temporarily go out, Hananoi describes all of the reasons he likes Hotaru, and points out that those things aren’t normal. Not everyone is as kind and curious and generous as she is. She’s special, and he wanted her to have a special day, because he managed to find out that Christmas Eve is also her birthday.

When she slips on her skates, she catches her in a princess carry, and the lights come back on. Hotaru is struck by how many new things she’s started to feel since her trial with Hananoi began, and isn’t ready for it to end. So after he escorts her home, she asks if they can keep the trial going. Naturally, he’s fine with her extending it indefinitely.

Hananoi felt notably less creepy this week, even if he still tries way too hard sometimes at the cost of his own well-being. But I think the more time he spends with Hotaru, the more even-keeled he’ll learn to become, just as the more time she spends with him, the more she’ll learn about what it is to love.

It’s just a shame this was not a particularly nice episode to look at. I fear I’ve been so spoiled by the likes of No-holds-barred powerhouses like Dangers in My Heart that I probably won’t be continuing with this one.

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.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 02 – Two New Beginnings

Tsukimichi steps away from Makoto, Tomoe, Mio, and the Demiplane Gang entirely this week, instead focusing on the stories of the other two heroes from Makoto’s world. First up is Otonashi Hibiki (Kakuma Ai), who is actually Makoto’s senpai at their school. Raised by a powerful, successful family and hardworking and calculating, there’s nothing Hibiki can’t achieve with ease, which is her whole problem: she’s bored.

The Goddess summons her to eliminate that boredom by sending her to a world where she’ll face challenges as an adventuerer and one of two Heroes who will save the world. (Of course, the Goddess doesn’t mention Makoto.) And so, while she started the day in Japan, she ends it in the royal palace of the Limia Kingdom with a wolf familiar.

Joining Hibiki in her Hero’s Party is Navarre, a bloodthirsty ogre swordswoman; Woody, a powerful Mage; and a brawny blonde knight. On their first quest together they rescue the talented priestess Chiya, who cuts her hair and joins the party on the spot.

It should be noted that Hibiki does not have an easy time in this first battle. Her first slash of a kobold cuts too shallow and hesitates when it begs for its life. It then cries out for help, resulting in dozens of reinforcements. It’s then when Hibiki refuses to give up and rallies to victory. By the end she’s a sobbing mess, but Navarre comforts her.

The five-person party kicks ass in all of the battles that come, but all winning streaks must end. The first true defeat Hibiki faces, both in this world and the one she came from, is at the eight insta-regenerating legs of all-devouring Spider Disaster we have come to know and love as Mio.

I’ll point out that both her first battle and this defeat aren’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, but they are competently animated and feature some flourishes of style. Hibiki wakes up in her room surrounded by her bandaged but otherwise okay party-mates, but thanks to Mio she is determined to become stronger so she’ll never suffer such a defeat again.

The second hero the Goddess snags is Iwahashi Tomoki, who judging by the uniform is a middle schooler, bullied by the boys and loved by the girls for being a “fragile bishounen”. But he hates the way he is, and how he can’t even win at video games, so the Goddess lures him with the promise of a transformative new life as one of two Heroes in another world.

In addition to the physical and magical level-ups Hibiki gets, Tomoki is also given a magic eye that allows him to enthrall anyone, as well as immortality at night during the full moon, which sounds pretty lycanthropic. He’s also, as he specified, much taller and brawnier, and has silver hair instead of black along with heterochromia.

While Makoto started out in the wastelands and Hibiki arrived in the middle of an celebratory crowd, Tomoki appears in this new world in the presence of one person: Lily Front Gritonia, second princess of the Gritonia Empire (which is, for now, allied with Limia against the Demons).

He soon meets Guinevere, a lady knight, Yukinatsu, an alchemist specializing in golems, and Mora, the resident dragon tamer. All three women make contact with his magic eye, which he can’t yet control, and all of them fall madly in love with him, providing the motivation for joining his party.

Not to be left out, Princess Lily intends to avoid the effects of Tomoki’s eye while keeping him wrapped around her finger. Her late mother was a believer in the “capricious” Goddess, and Lily is ready to do whatever it takes to defeat the Demons. That includes stealing a march on the other women and taking Tomoki’s virginity right away.

Thus this episode ends with both Hibiki and Tomoki having lost their innocence and finding themselves firmly integrated into this new world. There are still other players in the OP and ED we’ve yet to meet, but for now they seem like decent new additions to the cast, and  I’m excited by the prospect of Makoto crossing paths with them at some point.

7th Time Loop – 01 (First Impressions) – The Constant

We open on a dark, stormy, bloody night. A castle has been breached, and invaders in black jackets are slaughtering knights in white. The leader of the invasion walks purposefully, in no hurry, and cuts down anyone who gets near him.

Even the four elite knights guarding the young princes’ chambers are no match for him. The last knight is very slim and feminine in appearance, with coral hair and full lips. This knight is the only one able to spill the enemy’s blood, but not before being impaled and killed.

As the knight declares she’s lived another full life, she proceeds to undergo the process of magical reincarnation, returning as Lady Rishe Imgard Weitzner. She stands before her fiancé Crown Prince Dietrich as he is leveling charges of being a “devious woman” against her and annulling their engagement.

Not only does Rishe take all of this in stride, she responds as if she knew it was coming, because she does … it’s the seventh time she’s relived it! The first time it came as a shock, and she was disowned, exiled, and thrown onto the streets with only the clothes on her back. But she happened to meet some friendly merchants and ended up becoming one herself.

When she was swept up in a war, killed, and reincarnated, she left with more money and effects, and while she didn’t encounter the merchants, she used the amassed knowledge from that life to become an accomplished herbalist. When she was killed again in the war, she became a scientist in her next life, and a simple handmaiden in the life after that.

In her sixth life she cut her hair short, disguised herself as a man, and became a knight, only to be cut down by one Arnold Hein, Emperor of Galkhein. While this is the only loop in which he kills her personally, Arnold is the one who starts the war in every loop, which always claims her life five years after her engagement is broken.

After excusing herself from Prince Dietrich’s false charges a seventh time, Rishe decides not to use the main entrance to depart this time. That turns out to be quite fortuitous, as who should she nearly collide with as she rounds a corner but Arnold Hein himself!

The shock of suddenly standing before the man who took her sixth life causes her to blurt out his name, including the title of emperor … which at this point in the timeline he has not yet achieved; he is merely a Crown Prince.

Rishe begs his forgiveness, as she’s in a hurry. Resigned to leaving with only the clothes on her back like the first loop, she removes her shoes and leaps out the window, landing into a roll to protect herself, then breaks the heels off her shoes and runs off. Arnold is thoroughly amused by this spectacle.

Delayed by her surprise encounter, Rishe ends up encountering Prince Dietrich outside her house with her parents, guards, and commoner bystanders all present. Dietrich, who is a right piece of work, notes that from the state of her she must be feeling heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief. But Rishe says “grief does not dirty a dress.”

Armed with six loops and a combined thirty years worth of experience, Rishe levels with the prince: she will be okay without him. She says, because she knows, that she can go out into the world and find her own worth, purpose, and happiness.

When Lady Marie, the woman who framed her, speaks up for the Prince, Rishe tells her she holds no ill will towards her, as she knows she only usurped her in order to save her family. She urges Marie to lead a life where both she and her family can keep smiling.

Having left Dietrich on the ground thoroughly chastened and Marie looking quite inspired by her words, Rishe continues on her way, but Dietrich orders his knights to stop her. As one approaches her from behind, her own knight instincts kick in, she steals his sword, and uses it to block a strike … from Crown Prince Arnold, coming around another corner.

The fact that she successfully parries his strike pleases him, as does the fact she knew he was holding back. But then he does something even she in her six lives could not have predicted: Arnold gets on one knee and asks for her hand in marriage!

Having watched her reaction to being spurned by Prince Dietrich and her heroic leap out of the window, to her powerful declaration of independence at the gates of her family’s home and finally parrying his blade, Arnold has evidently become smitten with Rishe … and who can blame him? She’s the complete package.

I don’t know for sure, but I assume he isn’t aware that he is the “constant” that has cut short all of Rishe’s previous lives. It stands to reason that if he doesn’t start a war in the next five years, she won’t die in this seventh loop. What better way to stop him from starting a war than by becoming his bride, and perhaps confidant?

That’s a hell of a premise for a reincarnation fantasy series. This first episode is largely setup, but makes that setup efficient, compelling, and epic in scale. Rishe has worked her ass off in loop after loop; not only does she deserve to end the cycle of death and reincarnation, but she deserves happiness and respite. We’ll see if life as an emperor-to-be’s fiancée will provide that!

Tales of Wedding Rings – 01 (First Impressions) – Childhood Hero

One night Satou Haruto was trying to catch a rhinoceros beetle in the woods when a pillar of golden light appeared, and with it a beautiful girl and an old man. She asks for his name, and gives her own: Nokana Hime (voiced by Kitou Akari). If he’ll keep her secret, she’ll be his friend. She wears two rings around her neck at all times; one is for her, and one is for her future husband.

Ten years later, Hime has been as good as her word. She and her gramps have been Satou’s neighbors for that time, making her and Satou childhood friends. Now in high school, his feelings for her are starting to run deeper. His jealous friend envy his situation, and warn him that if he loves Hime, he needs to make it known or she’ll slip away.

Satou thinks he has the perfect opportunity to confess when Hime invites him to the summer festival. They have a grand time together, but that’s nothing new; they’re old friends after all. When they end up somewhere private, he starts to tell her he loves her, but is interrupted by fireworks and a bombshell from Hime: she’s moving “far away”.

Satou doesn’t want to accept this; it’s too sudden. Then he sees that golden pillar of light out in the woods and rushes to Hime, who is about to step through. She tells him she’s going back to her world to get married. As she turns to enter the pillar, Satou sees her shed a tear. From the moment he met her a decade ago, he felt like he needed to protect her. He can’t do that by staying put, so he throws caution to the wind and jumps in after her.

He finds himself in a church in the middle of a hasty wedding ceremony between Hime—who is a real Princess whose real name is Krystal Novaty Nokanakita—and a Prince named Marmarugias Gisaras. When the ceremony is interrupted by a monster of the Abyss (no, not that one) crashing through the hall, Hime’s gramps urges her to give the ring of light to her prince.

Of course, the no-name Prince may be a prince, but he isn’t her prince. That’s Satou, whom she rushes to and kisses. The Prince, apparently cool with this (which I like), tosses Satou his sword, which suddenly becomes imbued with bright golden light. With a single determined slash, Satou manages to eliminate the monster, only to pass out.

He wakes up in bed with Hime beside him, telling him they’re in their wedding chamber. Just as he kinda just went with it when the choice to follow her, she chose him over the prince she didn’t know. We learn this will have political consequences, but whatever!

I loved Hime’s mischievous smile when she says “Sorry! I chose you to be our hero!” She dons a wedding gown while he oddly just wears his school uniform as they officially unveil themselves to a largely welcoming populace that is excited their hero and Ring King is from another world.

In this way, the honorable and positive attitude Souta exhibits as he willingly chooses to go to another world (out of love for Hime) is rewarded by a world that welcomes rather than shuns him. Yes, he’ll have to defeat monsters, but he seems to have an innate affinity for that.

After a whirlwind of a day, Satou relaxes in the royal baths, and is joined by Hime, who tells him she doesn’t have a choice as they’re technically newlyweds. Hime worries about the burden she’s placed on Satou, but he believes it will all work out, noting they’re technically still on summer break.

Hime remembers that when she first came to Satou’s world she was bullied for her unusual-for-Japan appearance, but Satou always had her back. While Hime goes on to say she picked him on impulse and they’re both too bashful to admit they’re more than Just Friends, Satou at least makes some measure of his feelings known by saying Hime choosing him made him happy. He never forgot her childhood promise to marry when they grew up, after all.

Their bath is interrupted by another attack by monsters from the Abyss; this time way more than just one. The two dress as they run to the front gates, leaving others to wonder just what they were up to.

Satou has no fighting training (we don’t even know if he knows any martial arts), but a second kiss from Hime is enough to steel his courage for the fight ahead, while the axe he’s given is imbued with light. Now that he’s been given the opportunity to protect Hime and the world she loves, he’s going to give it his all!

Tales of Wedding Rings has a lot in common with Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, only instead of a platonic trio we have childhood friends. Their situation also reminded me of Tonikawa, both due to the hastily marriage angle and the fact Kitou Akari (who is always great) voices Tsukasa.

I wish it had a slightly larger budget, but Satou and Hime are established well enough such that by the time the plot pivots to isekai heroics I was thoroughly invested in their fortunes, and able to overlook the animation shortcomings (for now). Also, it doesn’t look terrible by any stretch.

That brings us to the elephant in the room: the OP ends with a shot of Satou in bed with a skimpy nightie … and four other women in skimpy nighties, all wearing rings. Then the ED visuals consist entirely of the camera lovingly gliding across these four scantily-clad women bearing come-hither looks. The title is Tales of Wedding Rings, so it looks like Satou won’t just be marrying Hime. So far this was a simple tale, told well, but it’s about to get a lot more complicated!

Goblin Slayer II – 12 (Fin) – Ministers of Grace Defend Us

The Princess is, to quote Saruman, “alive and unspoiled,” thank goodness. She is however extremely weak and thoroughly terrified, so a gentle hug from the Priestess means a lot. Unfortunately, the party lets their guard down, and Slayer notices too late that the Goblin Priest isn’t dead yet, but sacrifices himself to summon the hand of a Greater Demon.

This isn’t ideal, as the hand unleashes a horrible blizzard, and if there’s one thing the Lizard Priest can’t abide, it’s the bitter cold. Slayer shields him as much as he can, while the Dwarf Shaman puts up a crude ice wall, but then the hand moves, smashing the wall and sending everyone flying. Elf Archer gets the worst of it, hitting the back wall hard.

After taking some potions, everyone regroups. Slayer uses his rope to snag the blind hand, while Priestess opens the elevator shaft. Lizard Priest summons a scythe which Archer fires like an arrow at the hand, knocking it off balance. When Slayer pulls it into the shaft, Priestess creates a barrier with Protection. When it starts smashing against it, Priestess’ mettle is tested.

Ultimately, she is able to prevail, as the barrier holds out enough to activate the elevator and smash the hand into goo—the proverbial hammer-and-anvil tactic, this time employed by Priestess. With the threat once again eliminated, the party kills the remaining goblin stragglers and limps back up to the surface, only to find dozens of goblin reinforcements awaiting them.

It doesn’t look good for our people, but Slayer had a plan: he asked for the Sword Maiden to aid them, and she arrives just in time with a huge force of warriors and mages from the capital, along with an adorable giant white alligator she presumably rode there.

While her hand trembles, she manages to kill most of the goblins with lightning from the heavens, while the army mops up the rest. Priestess, who had taken Slayer’s sleeve, lets it go, as she wishes she could have protected Slayer this time and vows to do so next time.

We learn that some revolutionaries were plotting to overthrow the king by having the princess kidnapped and letting the goblin priest sacrifice her to summon a demon that would then merge with the otherworldly “thing”.

However, just about every part of their plan failed, as the “thing” was influenced by airborne teleported goblins first, while the princess is alive and safe and the demon dealt with. They are then taken out by a force led by the “Knight of Diamonds”, whoever he is.

Slayer and his party return home, where Priestess learns that the Princess became a devotee of the Earth Mother. However, she didn’t join a nunnery; she remains in the order of succession, but was inspired by a certain cleric who rescued her: the Priestess.

This brings tears to Priestess’ eyes, and Archer is happy for her. She’s come a long way in the year and a half since she was exactly where the princess was when they rescued her: innocent, weak, and foolish. She still has a long way to go, but is not longer any of those things, thanks to her friends and Goblin Slayer.

As for Slayer himself, he returns to the farm and is warmly welcomed home by Cow Girl. While Sword Maiden, Noble Fencer, and Priestess will continue along the high road, he stands by his choice to do the necessary dirty work to keep the innocent safe: slaying goblins. It’s what he was built for, and it’s what he intends to keep doing, over and over again.

That might be a road that will never end, but he’s willing to walk it. What he might fail to realize is that plenty of people, including the Maiden and Priestess as well as the Elf Archer, Lizard Priest, and Dwarf Shaman, are just as willing to walk that road right beside him. And they’ll always be stronger together, raging against that endless wave of dastardly little green blighters.

I’m in Love with the Villainess – 12 (Fin) – Tipping the Scales

Rae is certain that she’s lost Claire, and there’s nothing she can do to get her back. But then Manaria grabs her in the hall and asks why she’s giving up and running away so easily. Rae thinks that’s pretty rich coming from the girl who stole Claire from her, but in her thoughts she can’t deny that Manaria is absolutely right about her: she is running away, putting up a “noble front” to avoid the pain of rejection.

Manaria tells her that kind of feelings that “seek nothing in return” end up “warped”. She knows from experience, having bottled up her love for a palace maid, then one day make a terrible mistake, forcing herself on her. The maid eventually disappeared, and Manaria hasn’t loved anyone quite like that ever since. The rumors were true: she sought the clarity of money for sex, but it never satisfied.

Despite her appetites, I’ve been pretty sure since she showed up that Manaria is playing the villain on purpose to bring Rae and Claire closer. While it’s had the opposite effect so far, she knows how to get Claire to make a U-turn: by threatening to make Claire her plaything. That does the trick: the two will make their offerings to the scales of Amour. If Rae loses, not only does Manaria get Claire, but Rae as well.

Manaria later informs Claire of the contest she and Rae are undertaking, and Claire’s first instinct is to resent being used as a prize for their competition. Manaria tells her she’s not blameless, for she refuses to tell her or Rae how she really feels. In fact, the scales may not be measuring her or Rae’s feelings, but Claire’s.

She leans close to Claire to whisper something, and that leads Claire to search everywhere for Rae, only to learn she’s out performing all of the Knights missions on the bulletin board, then admires the necklace Rae gave her in the mirror. Rae’s not fighting through the night to level up, but to acquire an exceedingly rare (0.5%) drop, knowing Manaria will most likely bring a Flower of Flora to the ceremony.

When the day of the ceremony arrives, Claire is standing with Misha, who asks her straight up to say honestly who she hopes will win: Manaria or Rae. Claire says the whole enterprise is insulting (she’s no prize), but Misha hopes it will be Rae. When Claire accuses her of favoring her friend, Misha asks how she feels about Rae.

Claire goes over all of the silly and embarrassing things Rae has said and did, but ultimately looks upon those times with fondness, stating Rae is “far too cheeky for a commoner.” When asked if she’d take Rae back as her maid, Claire says it would be impossible for someone of the nobility to bow to a commoner.

Nevertheless, Misha hopes for a miracle, both for Claire and for Rae. And at first it looks like those hopes are futile, for only Manaria shows up, with the Flower of Flora (of course), and with no opponent on the other side of the scales, she declares victory, takes a knee, and dedicates herself to Claire with the same words she used years ago when Claire thought she was a boy.

Manaria leans in for a deal-sealing kiss when a filthy, tattered Rae appears and shouts “STOP!” Rae makes clear in no uncertain terms that she won’t let Manaria “have” Claire; this makes Claire blush. But Manaria declares victory, saying nothing beats a Flower of Flora for an Amour offering. Rae presents her offering: a little twig with one leaf and a couple of tiny buds.

The offering is met with laughter, but Rae isn’t joking around. Not anymore. After she places the twig on the scales, nothing happens for a dramatically appropriate amount of time, during which Claire realizes her own faith in Rae may be the key. Then a giant goddamn tree grows from the twig, weighing the scales down in Rae’s favor.

The first question everyone has is what the heck is with this tree, Rae explains it’s a Tree of Eternal Love, dropped only very rarely from a particularly nasty tree monster. It’s a secret item that would only be known to a player of the game, since getting it gives you access to an exclusive event CG. Rae vowed not to rely on something like this as it felt like cheating, but against a foe like Manaria and Claire’s freedom on the line, she realized she had no choice.

After accomplishing something no one else had done before in history (i.e. trump the Flora flower) Rae is finally able to be real with Claire. “I’m not capable of the love you see in stories,” she says. “I can’t even say what really matters without turning it into a joke.” But no matter who she loses to or has to kneel to, she will always love Claire. But before Claire can take her hand as a sign that she’s picking up what she’s putting down, Manaria gathers Rae into a hug, earnestly proclaiming that Rae was the one she’s been after from the start!

All the times she made Rae jealous by hitting on Claire? That was to get all of those adorable reactions out of Rae. But before she can kiss Rae, Claire puts a stop to it, grabbing Rae and pushing her behind her, declaring that “Rae belongs to me! You can’t take my things from me!” In response to this, Rae hugs Claire in appreciation.

Shortly after all of this hullabaloo, Manaria is called back to her kingdom, where the first prince has died and she’s now a contender for the throne. It’s around this time that Rae finally gets around to realizing that Manaria may have been playing the bad guy on purpose all this time to get her and Claire closer.

Misha, Claire’s flunkies, and the three princes all support Claire and Rae, acknowledging that love takes many forms. This irks Claire, but she can no longer deny that she cares for Rae. After all, she fought for her!

Before she departs for home, Manaria meets with Rae in private to ask her one question: “Just who are you?” Rae probably predicted that finding a secret offering that surpassed the Flower of Flora might elicit some suspicion from certain characters. All she’ll tell Manaria is that she swears on Claire that she isn’t a spy of the Empire, which is all Manaria needs.

We also learn that at some point in the game, Claire, the villainess, is executed, so Rae’s goal going forward is to prevent what for her would be the Worst Ending. Until then, she continues to openly flirt with Claire in class, and not only does Claire not hate it, but everyone around is on board.

Will we ever get a continuation of this nascent romance? Who’s to say? All I know is we end things on a high point, with Rae not settling for unrequited love. Claire, who is classically so easily made to be lonely, need not worry about being alone ever again. Manaria provided the kick in the butt Rae needed to fight not just for Claire’s happiness, but her own. If this story ever continues in the future, you can be sure I’ll be watching.

Goblin Slayer II – 11 – Domain of Restraint and Darkness

Goblin Slayer tends not to deviate from what’s on its tin: slaying goblins. This season has featured some enjoyable exceptions, from High Elf Archer’s sister’s wedding to the various non-goblin jobs they’ve taken on. But this week we get back to the bread-and-butter. The princess has been kidnapped, and they’ll need to slay a lot of goblins to rescue her.

Sword Maiden and Noble Fencer, two women who have seen enough goblins in their lifetimes, see the Slayer’s party off, and when they reach the wagon the princess was riding, evidence indicates she was not maimed, so they believe she’s to be a sacrifice. Once the party reaches the fortified mountainside town, they sneak around it to reach the entrance to a dark and foreboding dungeon.

While Priestess notes that this is the first official dungeon of its kind she’s been in, the basics are the same: stay vigilant, keep count of how many goblins are around (lots) and make sure you have the tools you need to defeat them. Slayer advises restraint: no spells or potions unless absolutely necessary. They need to save their best for the boss.

Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman are fine hacking away at the goblins beside Slayer while Elf Archer shoots them and Priestess stands by. When she apologizes for not being that much help, they remind her a priestess, particularly a back-liner, shouldn’t have to swing a weapon. Her job is merely to stay safe and ready for when things get tough.

Goblin Slayer decides to use a gate scroll he must’ve borrowed from the temple to suck a bunch of goblins in and spit them out at a predetermined destination: in his case, the sky. That proves advantageous for the Hero’s Party, who were dispatched to investigate the object from the heavens that landed in the Holy Mount.

This object turns out to be very similar to The Thing from The Thing (my favorite version being John Carpenter’s remake): whatever it encounters first, it mimics. And that happens to be the goblins Slayer sucked into the gate scroll. This makes the monster easy pickings for the Hero’s Party, who are disgusted by the eldritch abomination before them but soon realize … it’s not that bright.

We also another instance of that sweet, sweet Hero Party’s battle theme, my favorite Suehiro Kenichiro piece in the series.

While the Hero’s Party fights atop the mount, the Slayer’s party descends in an elevator, and make their preparations. Archer hears at least 10 and possibly 20 goblins shifting around, and also smells incense, which Lizard Priest notes is needed for a ritual. The incense may be poison, so Priestess suggests casting Holy Light just as they rush out of the elevator.

Dwarf casts light across the ritual chamber, allowing Slayer to quickly assess the strength and composition of the enemy, and then he and Lizard get to slayin’. The Princess’ robes are a bit torn but she otherwise seems to have avoided having unspeakable things done to her. However, it’s not merely a Goblin Shaman who has her in his clutches, it’s a Goblin Priest, who is even able to cast Protection over the sacrifice altar.

As Slayer and Lizard continue carving through goblins and their blood splatters on Priestess, she realizes that throughout the chamber are strategically placed corpses of adventurers bleeding into specialized channels, all leading to the altar. It’s definitely a bloodletting ritual, with the Priestess as the main sacrifice.

Before the Goblin Priest can accomplish whatever he set out to do, Priestess puts an end to it by casting Purify, changing all of the spilled blood into water and casusing the Goblin Priest’s Protection veil to fall. Everything is going according to plan, with Priestess saving her miracles for when they were most needed.

With all his underlings slain, the Goblin Priest holds the Priestess up as a last-ditch hostage, only for Slayer to confidently stride up to him and kick him hard in he balls, then bash his head in with a goblin’s club. The Priestess is now safe, having endured a far briefer and less horrific ordeal than either the Sword Maiden or Noble Fencer. Hopefully she isn’t emotionally scarred for life, and this can be a teachable moment for her not to go rushing into adventures on her own.

I’m in Love with the Villainess – 11 – Jolene Complex

You’ve probably heard Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, or her apprentice Miley Cyrus’ cover of same. It’s a gorgeous, song full of pain and longing, and reminded me of Rae’s situation here. She cannot hope to compete with Princess Manaria’s beauty, charm, ability, or even confidence.

Manaria could be with anyone, man or woman, but she is taking Claire from Rae “just because she can”. She’s all over Claire to the point Rae doesn’t get any time with her. She complains to Misha, who tells her that if she can’t take it anymore, the only thing for it is to fight her.

Now, it is abundantly clear that a fight is exactly what Manaria wants. But I don’t think she quite wants it for the reasons Rae thinks. While poor Dolly had to beg Jolene not to take her true love away, this feels to me like tough love: like Manaria is forcing Rae to get off the sidelines and act for what she wants.

The thing is, Rae is so sure she has zero romantic shot at Claire, she’s settling for being happy that she’s happy. She recalls from the game that Manaria helped the Heroine (i.e. her). I think she still is, but Rae can’t see it. And then the flunkies ask Rae to protect Claire from Manaria, whom they’ve learned has a “reputation” among the ladies of the night in her kingdom

The prospect of Manaria hurting Claire has Rae on edge, so when Manaria is just outside Claire’s door after Rae bids her good night, she accepts her invitation for a chat. Manaria doesn’t mince words: she has been provoking Rae on purpose. Rae declares that she doesn’t mind if Claire won’t look her way, while also insisting her love for her trumps everyone else’s.

Manaria calls her out on this, saying wishing for her happiness without bothering to consider if she’d make her happiest is nothing but running away and giving up. Manaria even says she feels bad for both Rae and Claire. At the tea party, she says “love is blind” when Claire, who is clearly thinking about Rae a lot, voices her concern with her odd behavior.

Manaria manages to get Rae to agree to a duel, even though they both know Rae can’t beat her. The next day, that’s borne out, as Rae doesn’t mess around and launches her most powerful attacks, which don’t even put a scratch on the quad-caster. Rae fights valiantly and hard, and then Manaria brings the hammer down: Domination. For once, the magical battle animation not only looks good, but packs a genuine punch.

The vicious attack leaves Rae bloodied and unconscious, and who is the first to rush to her aide? Claire, just as Manaria knew she would. Rae isn’t the only one running away from their feelings. No one has known Manaria longer than Claire, so when Manaria continually states that Rae means something to Claire, I believe her, even when Claire denied or deflected.

One need look no further than the faces Claire makes after Manaria yeets Rae: intense concern for her welfare, anger at Manaria for going too far (though Manaria does heal her), and unbridled joy and relieve when Rae opens her eyes. But Rae is so caught up in losing Claire, she doesn’t bask in the rare gifts Claire is so earnestly presenting to her.

Rae believes her loss to Manaria means Claire is now hers, and she no longer has any right to stand beside her. But if my theory about Manaria is correct, she succeeded in getting Claire to be more honest about how she feels about Rae. When the three are assigned to a team and Claire runs ahead, Manaria tells Claire to let her be; she’s fine on her own, but it’s Claire who isn’t fine with Rae on her own.

Claire isn’t acting by the game’s script anymore; she is who she is in large part due to the time she’s spent with Claire all this time. Now that Rae is acting completely different, she wants to know why. She doesn’t like how Rae’s not being herself. Then Rae tells her: she and Manaria dueled over her.

Claire, channeling Princess Jasmine and says she’s “no prize to be won”, which is true, but this is the same Claire who’s fine with her kingdom’s legend of a bunch of guys fighting for a woman’s hand via the Scales of Amour.

Then Rae, now no longer having any fun playing the real-life version of the only thing that made her happy in her past life, continues her steady retreat from Claire’s side, and does something she’d never, ever do before all this Manaria business: she’s mean to Claire. She tells her to go off with Manaria, who was her prince and first love anyway. When Claire tells her she’s not fit to be her maid right now, Rae quits.

This wounds Claire worst of all, and you know it because while she maintains her aristocratic composure in officially accepting Rae’s resignation—she even calls her “Miss Taylor”—she also tears up in the process. Rae knows she’s fucked up badly, and wants so badly to unsay what she’s just said, but also believes she can’t take it back, so she walks away.

As she does, Claire doesn’t stop smiling her sad, sad smile, for even the Commoner has left her, even though she promised she never, ever would no matter what. Rae has gone and made herself a liar in the eyes of the one she loves. It will not be easy to recover from this, but I think I know one person who will do all she can to help both her and Claire make up, just because she can: Manaria “Jolene” Sousse.

Goblin Slayer II – 10 – The Princess and the Priestess

The Princess of the Holy Capital yearns to leave the confining palace and go on an adventure like her brother. When he returns from an adventure of his own, she decides she’ll make her move and sneak out. Since we know what happens to naive folks who rush headlong into adventures, this probably won’t end well for her.

She sneaks out the same day Goblin Slayer and his party arrive, and Sword Maiden enthusiastically offers her Temple for their accommodations. She’s also delighted to escort Slayer to the library, but Dwarf Shaman insists they have a meal first. As Slayer, Dwarf and Lizard eat, Slayer shares with them some Big Questions.

He admits he had fun with the sea battle and the escort mission, but wonders if he’s neglecting who he fundamentally is: a goblin slayer. Dwarf assures him that just as steel must go though balance cycles of heat, striking, and cold, so to must people. Lizard adds that most people don’t have a firm calling, but it is perfectly okay to simply live and die while worrying and hesitating.

Priestess pays a visit to the Wizard’s grave, admitting to Archer that she wasn’t with her long enough to know her too well. When Archer sees Priestess is acting so serious for one so young, she takes her by the hand to do the opposite of serious. More specifically, they head to the capital’s lavish bathhouse.

Whlie there, Archer notes that Priestess is still wearing chainmail, which holds a great deal of sentimental value (as Slayer complimented her in it). Priestess also notices a female soldier seemingly watching her, but doesn’t let it keep her and Archer from having fun bathing together.

When Archer runs off stark naked to the saunas, a blonde, blue-eyed girl joins Preistess in the bath, and has a lot of questions about her adventuring and in particular the equipment she uses. Priestess can tell this girl is curious, but delivers a warning about being prepared that perhaps isn’t stern enough.

Priestess returns to the changing room to find her robes, chainmail, and staff are gone. In its place she finds the clothes of the soldier, who left the Priestess’ money pouch. When next we see Priestess she’s wearing the soldier’s clothes, and I thought for sure that Slayer would compliment her anew, since she looks very cool.

Alas, Slayer is holed up in his room sharpening a blade. The Sword Maiden pays him a visit with a book for him to study, telling him he can’t let girls cry as Priestess is crying; they typically want comfort from someone close. Slayer acknowledges this, and as Maiden turns to leave, says “Things end up lost,” then mentions specifically his father’s dagger he was meant to inherit, but ended up lost.

Sword Maiden says she’ll bring it up at the royal counsel at the palace the next day. His Majesty holds court as his advisors report on the “flaming stone from the heavens”, the possibility of having to summon the Hero and her party, and a strange new religion worshipping the “God of Wisdom.”

When it’s Maiden’s turn to speak, she gives some general big-picture report on the state of the world, but then gets extremely granular in reporting the theft of Priestess’ clothes and staff at the bathhouse, then declaring her believe that all goblins should be destroyed, creating some sweat beads on her colleagues’ faces.

Her mention of the theft connects to an urgent report given by a messenger of a young woman in holy robes being given a ride on a merchant’s wagon, only to be attacked by goblins. The merchant got away in order to get help, but the girl was taken by the goblins … and that girl is none other than His Majesty’s little sister, the Princess.

Needless to say, this is very bad for the Princess. She’s lucky she wasn’t assaulted on the spot, but there’s no chance in hell she’ll come out of this entirely unscathed either physically or mentally; not with what looks like a high-ranked goblin pope-looking mfer in charge.

His Majesty is loath to send his army out there, as the scandal of the princess stealing a priestess’ robes and getting captured by goblins will hurt the kingdom’s standing. He and the other advisors turn to the Sword Maiden to take care of this matter, as she is both capable and trustworthy.

The mere mention of having to deal with goblins absolutely petrifies the poor Sword Maiden, so it’s a good thing Slayer and his party are right outside the meeting room, heard everything, and are ready, willing, and eager to go. Time for Goblin Slayer to get back to doing what’s on the tin.

I’m in Love with the Villainess – 10 – Princess Perfect

Lene is not replaced, making Rae the only maid tending to Claire at school. But when it comes to little things like brushing Claire’s hair, Rae has a long way to go. Claire is still down in the dumps about losing Lene, and Rae tries her best to cheer her up by maintaining continuity with her flirting.

When Claire receives a letter from her “dear sister” Princess Manaria Sousse (Mizuki Nana!), Claire cheers up completely. Like the rest of the school, Claire is absolutely smitten with the tall, slender, silver-haired fox with rose eyes. Claire regards Manaria the same was Rae regards her.

Rae knows about Manaria as one of Claire’s only allies in the game, but just as no one is meant to root for the villainess, no one would normally consider her a rival in love. But that’s exactly what Manaria is, and she seems to know it and revel in it.

The reason for Claire’s affection isn’t mere puppy love. Manaria earned her love, by being the only one to approach her and tell her no one blamed her for what happened with her mother. She made it so Claire could finally cry, then stopped her tears with a chivalrous vow to always protect her.

That was ten years ago, and Claire initially mistook Manaria for a boy. But once she learned she was a girl, her love and admiration for her didn’t change in the slightest. That’s because Manaria is perfect at pretty much everything, from academics to arts to athletics.

One thing Rae could be sure of herself about was her magical prowess, but, but Manaria also happens to be an exceedingly rare quad-caster. Manaria also seems to have quite the emotional intelligence, as she isn’t believing for a second that Rae is only an member of Claire’s staff.

Manaria, like Prince Rod, seems to appreciate when someone like Rae brushes her off; pretty much everyone else treats her like a goddess walking the earth. And even if she kinda is, that must be trying and even stressful sometimes! She and Rod duel, and she effortlessly neutralize his fire minions with spell-breaking magic.

Claire can’t stop going on about how great “onee-sama” is, but even Claire can tell Rae is acting sullen, even correctly deducing that she’s jealous. Claire continues to operate on the assumption Rae is just messing with her, but even she must wonder if Rae would even go so far in her act as to feign jealousy.

Fortunately, there is a method by which Rae can prove her feelings for Claire are genuine: the kingdom’s longstanding tradition of the Amour Ceremony, involving the weighing of offerings on a set of scales to test true love. The Amour ceremony is coming up, so Rae will get her shot.

Rae shouldn’t have to prove herself, but her insistence on placing Claire’s happiness before her own leads to Manaria putting the moves on Claire and whispering sweet nothings to her while Rae watches and completely falls apart in her maid tea duties.

Unlike Claire, Manaria can see that Rae is serious, and that she’s more than just some nobody commoner. I’d love it if she were game omniscient too—what if she could read her mind?—but that aside, Rae has a choice to make. She can surrender, as Rod did, to Manaria’s overwhelming advantages. Or she can choose her own happiness for once, and fight for Claire’s love. May the best girl win!

Hyakkano – 03 – Don’t Speak

Yoshimoto Shizuka, the tiny student librarian, has resigned herself to a life of solitude, and yet she still longs for her shining knight. Enter Aijou Rentarou, who happens to reach for the exact same romance novel as her, and we’re off to the lists.

Karane had been my favorite girlfriend so far due to her admirable yet often self-defeating commitment to tsundere values. I never thought she’d be unseated so quickly, and by someone who never utters a single word out loud! Yet Shizuka achieves the feat with ease.

I love how many parallels can be drawn between her favorite fantasy romance novel and her eventual romance with Rentarou. It starts with Rentarou finding out that Shizuka communicates through passages in the novel.

At first she believes this puts him off and she goes to find someone else to help him, but Rentarou never questions why she does this or suggests that she try speaking. He accepts her for who she is. And even when she goes overboard and suggests a hundred books, he’s eager to read them all. After all, romance is his favorite genre!

The only snag is a bureaucratic one: it takes a week to get a library card. So Shizuka gives him her favorite, which isn’t a library book but her personal possession. And it slaps. Rentarou reads all it in one night, and Shizuka brings Volume II the next day, just in case he did.

I cannot stress enough how cute these two are together. Rentarou may be aware that Shizuka is now one of his 100 soulmates after their eyes met, but the fact he must make her happy or she’ll die according to the god of love doesn’t really factor into the equation, because he’s having a blast getting to know this tiny, diligent, charming, romantic girl.

It’s important that Rentarou isn’t laboring to make a connection, the connection is simply there. When he tells her it’s amazing that she knows the novel so well she can instantly pick out passages with which to communicate, he means it. And it is amazing!

The tragic thing is, as amazing as Shizuka is, no one else has ever acknowledged it. She believes her means of communication makes her a “freak.” So when she spots Hakari and Karane flirting in their unique ways with Rentarou, her heart breaks, but she’s not surprised: of course he already has a girlfriend.

Even if he didn’t, she wouldn’t feel worthy. Her classmates called her tendency to speak through the book “creepy”, and her own mother is the one who called her a freak, brutally verbally abusing her until Shizuka is compelled to say a word out loud, but only one: “Sorry.”

While the promo art, OP, and ED serve as minor spoilers because we know she’ll end up with Rentarou, Shizuka doesn’t know that yet, and my heart hurt to see her so discouraged after he had lifted her spirits so high before.

But Rentarou foreshadowed things when he told his other two girlfriends he’d been up late a lot “getting busy”. He felt the odd can of coffee wasn’t sufficient thanks for introducing him to such a wonderful series of novels. He wanted to help Yoshimoto Shizuka in a meaningful, lasting way.

One day after school he comes to the library, and is relieved to find her there. He asks her to download an app, and then import a file to it. When she sees the file, Shizuka is shocked: it’s her favorite novel, in e-book form…but there is no e-book version!

The app turns out to be a text-to-speech program. Rentarou typed the whole damn novel into it over the last few nights. Why? With the speech (which is in her seiyu Naganawa Maria’s voice), those she’s speaking to no longer have to look at the text…they can look at her face while she’s “talking.”

Rentarou makes clear he could never ask Shizuka to speak out loud—at this point it’s part of who she is—but he hopes that this method will help her communicate better with others. When asked to give it a try, Shizuka’s first response in her new e-voice is a confession: I love you.

While she tries to then walk it back (again, using passages from the novel), Rentarou gathers her in his arms and tells her he loves her too. And again, he means it. She isn’t an obligation, nor does he want to be her shining, dragon-slaying knight. He’s simply fallen in love with her. This re-contextualizes the nature of his soulmates.

These three girls aren’t a burden or a duty. Meeting them, getting to know them, and dating them makes his life happier and fuller. And when the inevitable awkward conversation with Karane and Hakari occurs, something interesting happens. Karane initially believe he’s succumbed to brain rot, but Hakari is overjoyed and moved that he isn’t dumping them just because he’s found a new girlfriend.

As tends to be their dynamic, Hakari takes the plunge into acceptance first, and Karane follows suit. Her objections stem from her tsundere personality, but she truly does want to remain with Rentarou and Hakari, and just by being who she is, Hakari lends her the nudge she needs. The two girls complement each other, and keep each other in check.

As such, the Aijou Rentarou polycule grows from three to four with minimal pain. I can’t wait to see how Shizuka fits into and adds to their dynamic … and how eventually adding a fourth and fifth girlfriend will cause the romantic alchemy to evolve and adapt.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 06 – A Weird Dance

This week dives deeper into Runa’s whole deal. Because she was raised and doted upon like a princess by her parents and brother, she comes off as haughty and hard to approach at school, even if she’s looking for connections. She also dislikes unfamiliar things and people, which is why Akane joining their guild was such a shock.

That said, as someone a little more grown up than her middle school classmates, Runa has come to like hanging out with the older Akane, essentially regarding her as the big sister she never had. When she sees her classmates doing a funny dance they found online, she can’t join them, but she is comfortable dancing with Akane.

Momo isn’t quite sure about the appeal of hanging out with a “runaway” middle schooler, and when Runa tries to give her attitude, she swats her right down with a frightening aura that will brook no insolence. When Akane suggests a super-bored Momo watch her play FOS, Akane’s laptop suddenly shuts down and starts smoking.

When Eita informs Yamada of the situation, he allows Runa to take him to Akanes to take a look at the laptop (he offers no promises of successfully fixing it). Akane is delighted he’s come, but knows from Eita that he’s generally awkward around women, so she does her best not to come on too strong while still being a welcoming host and friend.

When Runa snaps a cute picture of Akane and Yamada together and sends it to her brother, Eita suggests Runa do something to help them close the distance. Unfortunately, all Runa has are the most cliched anime scenarios: lucky perv, toast-in-mouth collision, walking-in-on-the-bath.

When it’s clear no one is bathing and Akane eats the toast shoved in her mouth, Runa resorts to shoving Akane into Yamada a bit too hard. When Akane gets up to scold Runa, her hair flies everywhere—including into Yamada’s eye. Akane gets up really close to Yamada and pushes his hair back to inspect his eye.

In doing so, Akane is following her usual code of being helpful and caring, while forgetting not to do anything to make Yamada uncomfortable. He excuses himself to return to his house to get some tools, but both Akane and Runa thought it felt like he was escaping the situation.

Just like hanging out with Runa means dealing with her princess act and being able to see through her sourpuss, pursuing any kind of relationship with Yamada means always being cognizant that he just isn’t super comfortable around girls. At the same time, he clearly cares for Akane, but just doesn’t have the experience interacting with women who aren’t Runa.

If he and Akane are to progress as friends or something more, it will take time and caution—like hunting for the hundreds of VIT or INT shards needed to synthesize a single gem.