First Impressions / Log Horizon

「つばめとひなむく」 (Tsubame to Hinamuku)
“Swallow and Young Starling”

After weeks of nonstop action and literally changing the rules that dictate the world, this week’s episode made a complete 180 and brought us into some unexplored territory — Shiroe’s weaknesses and the problems with being in love. And cakii!

Akatsuki and Minori — Rivalry at its finest!

Going off of what Stilts slightly touched on last week, I think it has become pretty clear how the pair feel about Shiroe. With both of them approaching the “Shiroe” situation slightly differently, let’s break it down a bit and take a closer look at the two. Because what better time is there than an episode that mostly focuses on them?

Starting with the girl who showed up first at least episodically, how can you not support Akatsuki? What she lacks in that girlish charm and trendy fashion sense is made up with her complete and utter loyalty to Shiroe. She’s been there with him since this whole apocalypse thing started and when there’s work to be done, you can bet she’ll be there to be his right hand woman. And let’s not forget that she does have a huge level and skill advantage over most characters! Like a certain character from another show about MMORPGs once said, these kinds of game are essentially about numbers. And numbers can be exploited.

On the other hand, you have the adorable Minori who’s been rapidly maturing. Essentially the polar opposite of Akatsuki in terms of personality, she’s the cute kouhai who knows exactly how to be the perfect waifu. What she lacks in seniority she makes up with the fact that she’s essentially Shiroe’s apprentice. Plus, if the events of the past few episodes slipped your mind let’s not forget that she was able to make him drop everything on a moments notice to come to her aid.

So you basically have two perfect girls gunning for the same guy — of course there’s going to be some rivalry! The thing is, I’m not 100% sure if it’s going to matter. Why you may ask? Because if there’s one thing that Shiroe isn’t comfortable at, it’s dealing with others when the issue is about him. More about that later in the post!

Shiroe’s Only Weakness Redux, Cakii, and Misconceptions

As omnipotent as Shiroe seems, these past two weeks have done a great job at highlighting that he is still human like the rest of us. With last week focusing on how his introverted nature is causing him to ignore the importance of things like public relations, this week put the emphasis on just how weak his person-to-person skills are when he isn’t being the villain in glasses. Because there were moments this week that just make you go “Come on Shiroe! What were you you thinking?!

The cake buffet I think is a prime example of how Shiroe is doing more harm than good on all fronts. I think it was pretty clear that the whole point of it was to have couples come in and act all lovey-dovey while feeding cake to each other. Because what better time is there to do things like that than during a festival? The thing is, as I watched the whole scene play out there was something that kept popping up in my mind — how highly would you think of someone who brought two girls to an implied couples only event? Two-timing, jerk, and other negative adjectives is what came to my mind. Adding on to what Stilts touched on last week, the world of politics is a ruthless place. And with Shiroe letting others define his reputation, it seems like it’s still spiraling out of control in the worst possible way.

And to add insult to injury, the whole thing brought to the surface just how messed up this whole love triangle is. As I said earlier, Shiroe’s introverted nature is probably hindering his ability to handle the situation in front of him. I say probably because I don’t think he’s dense enough to be completely oblivious of how Minori and Akatsuki feel about it. However, if I were to make a guess based off of what we’ve seen it looks like he’s going in circles with the whole thing. By no means is it entirely his fault, but in this case the guy has to be the one to affirm or disaffirm those feelings, right?

But what literally made my jaw drop was the comment Shiroe made when Akatsuki was rubbing his forehead. I don’t know if it was the best place to rub (I’m sure Shino would have had better ideas) but come on, COULD HE REALLY THINK EVERYTHING SHE’S DOING IS PART OF HER ROLEPLAYING A SHINOBI SERVING HER LORD? Not only would that throw a huge wrench in her getting anywhere with him but until this is cleared up I’m going to feel so awkward whenever I see them interact.

Touya #1 Brother JP

Man, I feel like I’ve been pretty negative throughout most of this post! Luckily there were two moments of pure bliss for me. Those were watching Minori not give up hope on her dreams and Touya with his profound of wisdom for his twin sister.

Something about the way Touya bluntly phrased things resonated so clearly with me that I couldn’t help but smile as he helped Minori figure out just what she has to do. And even though I am a bit concerned with what may happen now that she’s decided to put her foot down and go for it, I’m excited to see where things go. Because what she figured out is something that most people never even realize — you can’t give up before you’ve even tried.

Looking Ahead — Minori’s Chance to Shine

After an episode of cakii that I probably took a little too seriously but still tremendously enjoyed, it looks like next week is Minori’s chance to shake things up.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading the post! I hope you weren’t too disappointed that Stilts isn’t here this week. He will be back next week though, so please make sure to leave a comment on his post that he missed the cakii c;

Random Thoughts:

  • Minori’s cake eating face is priceless.
  • Minori, Touya Ashlynn(?), and Akatsuki Nuigurumi? Yes, please.
  • So. Many. Cute. Faces.
  • Shiroe is such a dick LOL. I can’t believe he sent Soujirou to his death!
  • For Stilts — Cakii? More Cakii! Too much Cakii.
  • Touya! I didn’t know you swung that way!

 

Preview

98 Comments

  1. My heart almost skipped a beat when it looked like Akatsuki kissed Shiroe! But alas i think that would be way to bold of her at this point. So i’ll take a good old head rub 😛

    On another note I can’t believe i just noticed this but Henrietta and Benio from Mikakunin de Shinkoukei are like soul sisters this season with their loli loving ways xD.

    leatherhead333
    Reply

  6. I think this episode is nice. The “date” was funny and I have a good laugh. Although I’m quite hesitant to think Shiroe is lucky because he has two loli lovers and he is torn between them!

    meiji_era
    Reply

    1. THIS IS AKIBAAAA!
      -what else could we expect than a cottage ndustry of figurines to spring up in the wake of discovery of ingame artisanship?
      -and who else would be better suited to be a model for bestselling figurines than true princess?

      ewok40k
      Reply

  9. Darn, this episode. Traditional School Festival trope much? Cake eating and everything. Well Shiroe’s harem keeps on growing. XD

    Anyways this just reinforces the hate heaped upon Shiroe, considering there’s a lot of NEETs populating Akiba as seen when Lenessia was invited last episode. xP

    Also that Akatsuki doll. So qt. :3

    Netto
    Reply

  12. This was a fun, cute episode that gave a nice breather between the last arc and the next one… I just hope there’s enough episodes left to work with to lead up to a good finale!

    Favourite part with seeing Shiroe attempting to strategize his way out of the dirty looks he was getting at the cake buffet… only to be thwarted by two cute girls feeding him cake…

    Blue Variance
    Reply

  13. This was hilarious from start to finish. Especially loved Akatsuki alone in her room trying to figure out what to do, that had me in stitches. Ironically too Shiroe’s unawareness was realistic because of his introverted nature. Unlike other overtly harem-based shows, the lead (Shiroe) here literally does not understand what is going on due to the under the surface power play between Akatsuki and Minori and his disinterest sexually in either one. All Shiroe knows is that attention is being paid to him, that it is not of the good kind (the spectators), and that he has no clue how to diffuse it. Part for part the exact play through of what I’m sure was the love life for many of us growing up (at least for me) 😛

    Personally I don’t see Minori’s crush going anywhere, she is both too young and already classified as a student for Shiroe, his mind may see her as female, but it won’t make the bold leap into intimacy. Heck Shiroe already has a hard time identifying Akatsuki’s affection for him and when that comes out it’s going to shock him. Minori’s infatuation with Shiroe will disappear once she finds someone else who grabs her attention more.

    Pancakes
    Reply

  14. Have to admit that until last week’s episode I never noticed that Minori felt more than admiration for him.
    A very cute episode and unlike some other series this season I am enjoying the romance between the “main couple” here, namely Shiroe and Akatsuki.

    @Takaii: Someone posted in last week’s comments that “keeki” would be more correct. Make of that what you want.

    boingman
    Reply

  15. [blockquote]Shiroe is such a dick LOL. I can’t believe he sent Soujirou to his death![/quote]

    ah, you misunderstood. He didn’t sent Soujiro to his death. he sent Soujiro to bankrupt the cake shop 😀

    Xellos-_^
    Reply

    1. @Takaii
      Soujirou didn’t die,
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Ungas123
      Reply

      1. Nothing key to the plot just interesting background but reply to above
        Show Spoiler ▼

        RedRocket
        Reply

  17. Very enjoyable episode! Love the two fight over Shiroe, man I would love it if they both get jealous over Henrietta who’s close enough to give him a shoulder rub and would love it if Henrietta joins in as well! I mean with a master strategist like Shiroe, I’m sure he can handle the three girls, I mean it’s only three compared to Soujiro’s harem which is pretty much his whole guild.

    Ryner
    Reply

  21. Not only would that throw a huge wrench in her getting anywhere with him…

    Reality – successful relationships happen because each acknowledges and acts their part (role).
    Whatever is agreed; that’s how the dynamics work. Note, role != place, as in he/she knows their place.

    Anime – I really believe (most of) the Anime writers are pretty clever about injecting things like this
    that have layered meanings – on the outside looks pretty simplistic, but there’s that hidden depth
    propping their story’s foundation. There are good things to think about in Anime.

    Anime – The writers love to play the loli angle, and this was the perfect opportunity to introduce this.
    Akatsuki may be closer to Shiroe’s age, but she is drawn like a middle-schooler nonetheless.

    I’m actually surprised (counting next week’s episode) to see this “love” arc take 2 1/2 episodes as
    it is clear that Minori is cast as a romantic interest. I didn’t expect that much to be honest.

    I agree with Pancakes in that I don’t see Minori’s crush going anywhere, she is emotionally too young
    and a student of Shiroe – but both taboos that Anime love to tease their audience with…

    mac65
    Reply

  22. Who needs the aproval of your citizens when you have two crazy in love beautiful lolis fighting over you?. I´m so torn! AkatsukixShiroe is so cute but MinorixAkatsuki is so danm cute as well!. What to do?.

    haseo0408
    Reply

  23. I like loli’s and I really love Akatsuki.
    It’s natural that I ship Akatsuki X Shiroe.
    Normally I wouldn’t feel complicated by the fact that Minori is a love rival for Akatsuki,
    but Minori is just 14 years old, while Shiore is 23.
    That gap is just too much for me… :I
    She’s still in the age to explore love and everything, it shouldn’t be a “real” love…
    Gawd… downvote me, I know some will do it…

    Helix
    Reply

    1. I know what you mean but let me give you an example that this not always apply: my dad was 38 when he met my mom who was 28 at the time, an age gap of 10 years is a big deal in my country but they got married anyway; 26 years later they´re still married, they still love each other and have three children which includes me. The age is important in a relationship but more important is what you feel about the other person.

      haseo0408
      Reply

      1. It’s not really the actual amount of years that is a problem as much as the fact that she is 14. Her prefrontal cortex isn’t even fully developed yet. Someone who is 28 is biologically equal to someone who is 38 but that is not true between a 14- and a 23 year old. Yes, it is possible to seem mature at 14 (perhaps even mature enough to match an immature 23-year old) it is easy to forget with our anime/manga goggles on; but she is a child and this is the first love (judging by her inability to recognise the feeling as such) of a child.

        Nat
        Reply

      2. I’m happy that it worked out for your parents Haseo. I actually have an aunt whose husband is nearly 20 years older than her. And they’ve been happily married for as long as I’ve been alive.

        And that has nothing to do with this situation. She is a child. REALLY a child. Unless we’ve been given a specific age, last I checked all we knew is she’s in middle-school, meaning she’s somewhere between 12-15. So very young. Ask yourself, if you had a friend that was even remotely having mildly romantic moments with a 14 year old girl, would you be okay with that?

        I’m sorry. This is not okay. I like Minori, I like Shiroe, I like everyone else. And I was perfectly happy with Minori being shiroe’s student who looked up to him. The romance angle is unnecessary and creepy.

        KaleRylan
        Reply

      3. You´re right on that Kale-san, it worked for my parents because they were older and arguable wiser so Minori´s chances are poor but it al depends of how the author aproachs the relationship, real-life logic and that would be all for Minori´s first love or anime-logic, with the second one the sky is the limit.

        haseo0408
        Reply

      4. @Kale R.

        Yup, the creepy factor is here to stay. I won’t blame you since this is matter of personal taste. Actually, I want to confess that I too am one of those who doesn’t outright support the idea of Minori falling for Shiroe but for a different reason.

        I always think that it would be nice if there is anime where two main characters of opposite gender who are close relationship without having one or both of them fall in love with the other. I think it would make their relationship unique and interesting. Either Minori or Akatsuki will do. I sort of gave up on Akatsuki long before, but I was hoping it won’t be the case for Minori. Alas, it seems author has other plan in mind. Too bad really.

        There are more subtle hints in the novel of Minori developing feelings for Shiroe such as her blushing without any explanation even before this arc so it wasn’t much of shocking disillusionment for me, but more of a letdown. Anime literally left out any possible hints before this arc.

        I won’t deny that pandering to the lolicon fanbase could be part of the reasons why author did it, btw I have nothing against lolicons as long as they don’t cross 2D border, but I can see other reasons, better reason as to why Mamare did what he did. Unfortunately this episode left out huge chunks of important detail in the LN which I think could help making this arc a least bit redeemable for some people. I made a huge post somewhere down below explaning about it.

        viss
        Reply

  27. Well we can obviously see where this is going.

    Both of them will try and go after Shiroe and there’s nothing wrong with the both of them crushing on him as fare as I can see.

    After all in a couple of year Minori will be a women by Japanese standards and Akatsuki is around the same age as Shiroe despite her appearance.

    However if the author is going to follow the traditional tropes when it comes to this kind of love triangle. Minori is to get turned down because of the student-teacher aspect of her relationship with Shiroe.

    Dark
    Reply

    1. Umm… I’m sorry but it’s not okay to court a child just because they’ll eventually not be a child. If Minori wanted to try again in 3-4 years then sure, good luck to her. But she is 14. Not cool.

      KaleRylan
      Reply

    2. There’s a pretty big discussion going on a few comment blocks down about this.

      All I can say is that while it would be cute for Minori to “win”, the ending sequence would like to have a word with you.

      Takaii
      Reply

  28. Gotta say, is this really the proper time for 2 episodes of love triangle hijinks when we’re so close to the end? Or maybe we’ll be in for a season 2… (fingers crossed)

    Hochmeister
    Reply

  31. Nothing against Minori (seriously, she has a lot of positive qualities), but Akatsuki is best girl IMO. Totally shipping her with Shiroe.

    – Shiroe is such a dick LOL. I can’t believe he sent Soujirou to his death!

    Loved that scene. Simply hilarious. LOL, you can’t underestimate Shiroe. His tactics go well beyond the MMORPG battlefield. Still, I wonder how Soujirou gets away with his well known harem given the reaction Shiroe got.

    daikama
    Reply

    1. I’m sure he could manage to rope in the waitress and other women until he has the entire place to himself and the ladies. He seems to draw more aggro from his harem/guild for being popular than from other guys.

      SK
      Reply

  32. Hilarious Episode.

    Karashin.. are you really sure that you’ll check all of that mess by yourself? Please drag some of your guild/round table members to help you!. I understand that maybe 8th Shopping District also busy with its own stall.. though. But this event is Akiba’s. You deserve more helps ^^”.

    Having Minori as love rival definitely put some pressure to Akatsuki. Hopefully she’ll become more active in the later arcs because it’s already hard for her to get some action when Shiroe got stuck thanks to his desk work as round table member and his researches. Wait.. sooner or later Shiroe will needs a secretary. Maybe Akatsuki can gets some tips from Henrietta so she can help Shiroe if she’s not on spying duty?. It’s kinda sad to watch her only sit and do nothing :'( .

    Minori’s action before she realized her feeling was hilarious, too XD. Her main objective to propagate Shiroe’s image as a good guild leader failed miserably. Let’s hope that she won’t forget this “mission” in the next episode. I don’t really mind about Minori’s crush (well, it’s a common theme in the other stories) but I’d like to see more of her growth as Shiroe’s disciple.

    The best thing or me : Tohya stole the show in the ending. It’s really nice to see the twin’s interaction. Both of them were forced to mature rapidly both IRL and in Serdesea (Minori taking care the disabled Tohya IRL, and Tohya became Minori’s pillar of support after the apocalypse). They learned how to compliment each other 😀

    But yeah, no matter how I see.. I like Shiroe X Henrietta more ….

    Felice
    Reply

  33. I don’t think that whole thin with Minori applies anymore. Their entire real world lives no longer counts. Technically Shiro is like 140 + years old as was told by the game creator while Minor should be well into her 30’s base on in game calculation and really that’s all that matters the in game aspect.

    They are either dead and are in heaven or SoL because they won’t be going home any time soon. So Minori can roll with it, it’s not like she actually LOOk like that in real life, same thing with Aasuki , in fact who to say both of those names are even real. Heck who to say even Shiro name is real.

    Like Shiro said himself, his real body is shorter and he look average and he’s sure as hell is not half alvs in real life. Their society rules no longer count so Shiro x Minori can totally happen. Of course so can Shiro an Atsuki even Heneriatta. However I am shipping Harems as this is a new world where the rules does not apply to them. They can do whatever they want! 😀

    Duzz
    Reply

    1. So Minori can roll with it, it’s not like she actually LOOk like that in real life, same thing with Aasuki

      Nope, Minori is 14 IRL and they both look like they really are. A LN reader last week pointed out that in the LN this is explained in more details, after the apocalypse the “avatars” appearance turned into the real life appearance, with the additional traits of the specific races and variations due to swapped gender and height customization. The funny thing is that of all people, it’s Nyanta that explains that.

      Voyager
      Reply

      1. Yes, Minori looks like that. The question however is: Does Elder Tales treat her adventurer body as the same age as her real body? Or does it treat it as an adult body that happens to be that size and shape?

        Krono
        Reply

      2. Of course, if this were a game in the real world, close to half of all the adventurers would have been gender swapped…

        And now I kind of wish someone were to make an anime that had some mass alternate world gender bender. The lulz would be over the top.

        Tre
        Reply

      3. @Krono: It’s really hard to say and a good question. The basic explanation from the books is that their real bodies sort of ‘fill in the blanks’ between the hard-coded things from the game (race, height, etc). Since we can assume that sexual development and that stuff is not hard-coded, it probably is similar to their real bodies.

        A good question would also be if they age or not. Their bodies are apparently immortal.

        However, the funny thing is that the physical development is not really that issue. Children’s mental development isn’t the same, even ‘mature’ children are still children.

        KaleRylan
        Reply

  34. Having Minori chase Shiro sure has helped Akatsuki get over her embarrassment and go for it I approve.

    Loved this light episode for a change. But now second season is mandatory with number of episodes left.

    RedRocket
    Reply

  36. Entire situation of locked-in Shiroe reminded me this: SWTOR: OK we put mailboxes and GTN terminals on your ship (for a price…) so you can be hikikomori even in-game…
    And I think Shiroe might be on borderline to Asperger’s Syndrome, with extremely high intelligence but low emotional intelligence (though not bereft of own feelings).

    ewok40k
    Reply

  37. I’m somewhat surprised that no one has commented on this, but one of the attractions in the festival was a Glasses Cafe!
    Krusty was the poster boy =D
    It’s not in the screencaps here, but it can be seen when Minori leaves to buy tea (right after they leave the cake shop)

    Anonymosity
    Reply

    1. LOL! Thanks for pointing that out! So many background jokes in this episode.

      Also, after Minori buys the tea and thinks about thanking Shiroe (and just before the scene switches to the Log Horizon building), there’s a scene with a Ocypete hat guy walking by toward the left and beyond him you see a store with black signs saying “黒剣 ラーメン” (Black Sword Ramen) in red lettering. Oh, Isaac, you and/or your guild just couldn’t help but participate in this non-raid-related event, could you?

      Monimonika
      Reply

  38. Oh god. So many priceless moments. So hilarious. I didn’t think I’d get to laugh so much this season in terms of humor portrayed in anime, aside from D-Frag and maybe Strike the Blood.

    Like you, Takaii, I was head-desking my way through certain scenes. That goes to show, though, that Shiroe’s glaring weakness is in socializing with and presenting himself with a positive image in front of others (Ditch the outfit, man. You can’t wear that to a date!) If there’s redemption to be had, he takes Henrietta’s advice into account, acknowledges his weakness and will probably do something about it. That’s something a little different from the typical oblivious male lead when it comes to relationships per se.

    I have to say Henrietta and Shiroe do complement each other in some way (even if this means getting a ‘dislike’ for my post :p), but seeing Shiroe as he is romance is probably the last thing on his mind.

    Speaking of which, I found it really funny that the Villain in Glasses was utterly terrified, overwhelmed and ultimately defeated by two lovesick girls, twelve cakes and a bunch of pretty pissed off customers. Trust him to think tactics in trying to get out of the situation. Despite Minori’s self-realization of her being in love with Shiroe, the star of the show IMO is Akatsuki. With her impossibly cute faces and reactions, I cheered when she took the stage with such aplomb and showed a really feminine side.

    It looks to be another fun-filled episode next week, though I can’t help but think there’s some foreshadowing of trouble with the scene of Karashin sifting through stuff from the other guilds to check if there’s anything dangerous.

    P.S: That was a nice touch to include game-like sound effects (Henrietta’s surprise as well as Shiroe and Akatsuki’s Anpan Pleasure) and yes, the Megane cafe with Krusty.

    Owaranai
    Reply

  40. As Minori cut [the cake] with a serious expression, her hair with a black ribbon shook near Shiroe’s ear giving off a nice aroma. (Ah ah, middle school students are also girls…) As Shiroe thought about this, murmors of ‘Kill yourself’, ‘Unforgivable Lolicon’, ‘Die’, ‘Break your glasses’ could be heard from all over the cafe.

    Akatsuki looked Stunned. Shiroe shifted his gaze to her side and saw the cakes were decorated with twisted words that seemed to be written with left hand. ‘How Sly to bring 2 girls’, ‘Die Lolicon’, ‘Two-timer’ and other such words were written on the cakes.

    ….

    “Please eat my lord”

    Akatsuki fed him food this way, but it was a big problem for Shiroe.

    Feeding someone with a fork was what known in the world as ‘Ah an’ action. He could tell from Akatsuki’s serious face that she was doing it with malicious intent but the outsiders wouldn’t be able to tell.

    If this went on, he would gain the reputation of a lolicon.

    -Log Horizon Volume 5 Chapter 2 Part 5

    Nekomimimeido
    Reply

  41. COULD HE REALLY THINK EVERYTHING SHE’S DOING IS PART OF HER ROLEPLAYING A SHINOBI SERVING HER LORD?

    Yes, because if you look back Akatsuki’s always in character in public and, unlike Nyanta, Shiro’s just that thick + inexperienced enough when it comes to personal interactions to not be able to pick the signal from the noise. It’s an extremely severe case of Shy Vs. Shy in that Akatsuki hides her personality and lack of personal self-confidence behind her character and it’s competence while Shiro is very much-so the rationalist who can’t see the forrest for the trees.

    Dave
    Reply

  42. Hi Takaii. With the popularity of this series, (I see comments averaging >100 per episode), how bout turning the last 3 episodes review into a film-reel post style like Oreimo’s? 🙂

    Techim
    Reply

    1. I personally think that would be a cool way to give a nice send off to the series!

      The problem is I’m not the normal writer for the show — that would be @Stiltsoutloud
      I’ll drop him a line about that suggestion though!

      Takaii
      Reply

  43. With all the (deserved) attention to Akatsuki and Minori, let’s not forget about Shiroe ‘s character development.

    He started talking about social relations with Henrietta (eh, they have good chemistry too), but the turning point would be during the caki “date”, when he was forced to acknowledge that it was a very bad idea to bring two girls to an event for couples, and they being so young / young looking only worsened the situation (well, it wasn’t difficult to notice with all the other customers reactions, I’m still laughing at “I hope your glasses will break”).
    That made him think about how he is unable to handle this kind of things, and that he has to do something. It’s better told by his own thoughts:

    […] all the girls love Soujirou, yet he still does well running his guild.
    Naotsugu or chief Nyanta seem more like guild masters than I do.
    I don’t really have the presence. Maybe Henrietta’s right and this would be a good chance.
    I should make time to spend with everyone.

    That’s more than many people ever realize, it’s a positive attitude about his own problems, confirming that Shiroe is a worthy person, not just a generic dark hero scheming in the background to fight evil with evil. He is a guy like the others, who enjoy things like playing a prank to Soujirou just for fun (his idiotic facial expression made me smile with him).

    As a final thought, there are a lot of characters in this show, and they are all loved by the author, he gave them a full personality. They feel like people you could encounter in real life (or better, you would be lucky to encounter in real life), they are the strenght of this very good story. I still can’t believe this is aimed to kids, while we get “seinen” shows that are so stupid you don’t have enough hands for an adequate facepalm. But I’m digressing now, I’ll just leave it like that.

    Voyager
    Reply

  46. Ouch! Damn it! This week’s episode hurts this arc more than I expected. I understand that we only have like 3-4 episodes left so the schedule is pretty tight, but the novel contents anime decided to leave out from this episode really makes this arc harder to defend and totally missing the point of what this arc is all about.

    Let me get straight to the point, I think the purpose of this arc is NOT merely about love triangle as seen in the anime, its true purpose is to flash out the characters. Shiroe is the genius strategist, Akatsuki is his loyal ninja, and Minori is his obedient apprentice and that’s all there is about them prior to this arc. The author’s intention is to make his characters less of a “perfect and boring one-note character” by adding more depth and giving them some human flaws using the love triangle as the catalyst. After this arc, some of the characters will not appear as shallow as they once were. They aren’t flawless being with their own worries and issues they will have to come in terms with.

    The problem for me is that while LN narration clearly emphasis on these aspects through characters’ thoughts, anime decided to omit it thus hurting this arc making it incomplete and unsatisfying to me. From this point on, I will go over each character, but I strongly suggest people to go read the LN part of this episode, vol. 5 Ch. 2 titled “Swallow and Starling” the same name as this episode, at Baka Tsuki or wherever else you find it which elaborates much better than what I summarized here.

    One of them is Shiroe, as Stilts had already pointed out in his episode 21 post and Takaii’s this episode: to show his incapability of managing his own reputation which will be focus latter. Minori intended to have Shiroe win the cake eating competition and enter the banquet to fix his reputation, but it backfired badly and now Shiroe will be known as “The Evil Two-Timing Lolicon” note that most people only judge Akatsuki from her appearance. Kanako, the cake shop organizer, also mistook Shiroe as this which is why she pulled prank on him by giving 12 whole cake instead of just 12 pieces as agreed.

    Next is Akatsuki, her flaw comes from her insecurity due to her height during her time IRL causing others to mistake her and/or always treating her like a child or some cute mascot. She decided to play Elder Tale using a tall male assassin character avatar so people won’t treat her like a kid. She had longed for a relationship where she’s recognized by her skill and maturity, not from her outer appearance. After the Catastrophe/Apocalypse, Shiroe seems to be the first who acknowledged this and never mock her about her height. She realized her feelings for Shiroe not long after they met, but was content with being his personal ninja because it compliments her goal of wanting to be treated as a mature, professional, and dependable person, not some kid. That is until Minori came into the picture. Even though at this point Minori hadn’t yet realized her feelings for Shiroe, Akatsuki saw right through her. Akatsuki problem is that she’s stuck in her ninja/lord role far too long now that it would be awkward to suddenly switch them off even if she wants to advance her relationship with Shiroe. However, she don’t hold grudge against Minori for falling for Shiroe, but annoyed by the fact that her love rival is a middle-schooler who is taller than her. See how every issue Akatsuki has ties directly or indirectly to her height complex?

    Then finally there is Minori, she had always been Shiroe’s perfect model student and I understand that some people would want to keep her that way due to creepy and/or morally disturbing factor. However, this episode takes a step further and shows us some of her ugly side which she refused to acknowledge until now. Notice how she voiced out some of her innermost selfish thoughts, and then regretted saying that latter? This is why she was hurt. She was hurt because she noticed Akatsuki’s feeling for Shiroe the moment she saw the look on Akatsuki’s face while patting Shiroe, and that made her instantly realized her feelings as well. It was a shock, too painful for her to bear and she’s unable to make it disappear to the point she blurt them out. She can’t believe she said it. She was disgusted by this part of her and wants to make it go away. Especially thinking of Shiroe as her own belonging, she wanted to kill that part of herself for thinking of something like this. Most importantly was her failure to not notice and discard such feelings, Minori was disappointed at her arrogant subconscious self. That’s where Touya appear and you know the rest. He helped Minori in accepting that part of her now that it’s here to stay, and Minori is thinking about she will do from here on.

    As for the final quote from Minori this episode where she said she hasn’t done anything yet. This part will be covered next episode so I won’t talk about it yet, but if you’re thinking that she will try seducing Shiroe, it’s nothing like that. Not even close actually. Next episode should made this clear enough.

    viss
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