Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 08, 09

「祈り語る出会いと絆」 (Inori Kataru Deai to Kizuna)
“Meetings and Bonds Prayed For”

The revelations about Haraiso shed light on the dark context behind why humans are so universally reviled by monsters. Turns out a witch named Feodora – the ancestor of the current head librarian – crash landed among humans, recounting her experience to Isolde but forbidding her from writing anything about it – a promise which Isolde broke. The book which revealed the ugliness of human nature, which played a large part in bringing about humanity’s doom. To be honest, I found it hard to believe the villagers outright ostracised Feodora – even though she saved one of their own. I’m surprised that Haraiso didn’t even try to convince them that not all monsters were bad. But then again, the Salem Witch Hunts did happen. Paranoia and suspicion can really bring out the worst in people, and it’s no wonder that Haraiso didn’t even bother or that monsters would hold such an unfavourable view of humans. In fact, I’m surprised that humans even lasted for so long without being invaded by monsters. Though there’s probably a reason to that.

Below the surface of this tragedy, there’s an important part that shouldn’t be missed – the way in which a young and innocent girl was able to overcome her initially disdainful stigma against monsters. And a parallel should most certainly be made with Somali here – who holds nothing but goodwill towards all monsters, on account of her positive experiences with the golem. With Haraiso also looking after humans, perhaps an extrapolation can be made that it’s in a golem’s nature to watch over humans.

「小さな日々の思い出」 (Chiisana Hibi no Omoide)
“Memories of Minor Days”

I definitely loved this episode. It really had a bit of everything. First off, the wholesome and heartwarming interactions between Golem and Somali – with best dad even baking a cake. Somali tearing up from happiness while eating the cake smashed me in the feels, and while the Golem reacted with stoic mannerism, I’m quite certain they were reeling on the inside too. Also, folks may have been apprehensive at first when cloaked figures knocked on the door. But turns out they were familiar faces, with Shizuno and Yabashira also make a return, bringing along lightheartedness and a feeling of security.

If the Golem was already making Somali feel safe, seeing Yabashira laying a smackdown to some unruly thugs reassures us that everyone’s in good hands. They’ve got each others backs. We go through the hoops this episode – with Somali fearing that they were at risk of losing their teeth, due to not realising that children have one set of baby teeth that fall out. Fortunately, that misunderstanding is quickly resolved without much harm, though I have to say, that mouse dentist might look cute, but the way he goes about his job is truly the stuff of nightmares.

Now, I won’t claim that I’m the most punctual of writers. Believe me, I’d love to be churning out these posts with more consistency. But life’s gotten pretty hectic recently, with a new job offer in real life meaning I also have to relocate – putting me massively behind in just about every other aspect. So I apologise for the delay in these posts. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see you next week!

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