Skye's Blog

Next was the two coloured inserts. The first one is apparently what Origin truly looks like. Countless bodies, human and demon, packed into the wall, brains connected by a cable in a spiralling loop from top to bottom in what looks like a large cylindrical chamber. How appropriately disturbing.

The second is a double surprise. On the right is Flum wearing the Abyss Mail of the Wailing Ghost sooner than I expected her to, and let me just say, Damn! Got to love a woman in full-body armour, and the black and red really suits Flum. It even matches her gauntlets.

On the left, who I thought at first glance was Sheitoom turned out to actually be her late mother and previous Demon Lord, Leatus! Now, I have no doubts that she is still dead, so this is probably a manifestation of the curse she placed on her armour interacting with Flum’s Reversal. And let me just say again, DAMN!!! Why are demon woman so attractive?!

So the prologue is intentionally a disorganised mess with a mix of the past, present and future.

First, is Origin’s origins. The story of Origin Learners (I assume his actual Japanese name also sounded more like a proper name), it confirms what we saw in the colour insert is indeed the real Origin. He apparently got the idea of a limitless form of energy by linking human consciousnesses together. He even created a technology to influence the minds of others to push his project forward and linked his own mind with those of condemned criminals whom he also probably brainwashed. He sounded like a disturbed individual before, not surprised the thing he became went right off the deep end. Also, Origin’s history confirms the traitor was indeed Dhiza. Sounds like he didn’t have any particular motive, just a short-sighted impulse from a human/demon hybrid.

The second part of the prologue is Flum losing touch with reality with only a few moments of lucidity. Apparently, she and Milkit didn’t even leave the spot by the garden so not much time has passed.

The third part is the most concerning. A series of announcements of deaths, six in total, which end with a seventh announcement implying Flum becomes part of Origin. Based on what little more I was able to read, I believe these foreshadow the upcoming deaths of all these characters, though I’m obviously not worried about the last two.

After Flum regained her sanity, we know not much time has passed but we don’t know where the other heroes are. Leitch’s staff are all apparently dead, at least some by Welcy’s hand, but she’s regained her sanity, for now, not that she’s in the clear, yet. It seems like something else is in the mansion, too.

Cyrill is apparently at the Demon Lord’s castle. In retrospect, it makes sense the seal wasn’t released right away, otherwise Flum and the other Heroes would have noticed something off right away and acted. But Cyrill could Return to the castle at anytime now that they’d set it as her new Return point, so it was just a matter of waiting for the right moment to activate the ring she was given, which is probably what Werner was doing at the party.

And now, the first of our six foreshadowed deaths is confirmed. Foiey Mancathy, and just as the announcement said, she was strangled to death, evidently by none other than her own husband, Leitch. Considering Flum almost did the same thing to Milkit, I think Origin has it out in particular for any kind of loving relationships, be it family or couples.

So that’s as far as we got, but it’s not hard to predict what happens next. Leitch would do anything for his wife. He gave Flum and Milkit a house just for delivering some life-saving herbs, then later betrayed them to trade Milkit’s freedom for Foiey’s. Considering he went through the trouble of covering up his wife’s face, he must have come to his senses, in which case, it’s not hard to imagine what he’d do. The second foreshadowed death was Leitch, jumping to his death, and they are on the top floor of his mansion.

In that case, we have to take the other foreshadowed deaths seriously.

The third is supposedly Welcy, however she’s supposed to be “torn apart by someone she loved”. Her only family should die before her, so I have to assume that Leitch and/or Foiey will have their corpse reanimated to attack her, like what happened to their staff. Honestly, I’ve been hoping she’ll be one of the survivors, and she’s already survived so much despite being fairly ordinary. I fear it’s not meant to be.

The fourth casualty will apparently be Gadhio. Not surprising that he’d be the first of the Heroes to die, he’s been waving his own death flag since Volume 3. The second of the autopsy chapters is even titled “Revenger”, which sounds like Gadhio. As far as I know, Echidna hasn’t been executed yet, and as Flum pointed out, not all of the Chimera were destroyed. There’s also the fact that with everything going on, Hallom and Kleyna are also in imminent danger. I can see Gadhio making his final stand this volume.

Our fifth casualty is also perhaps not too surprising. It’s Linus, supposedly by murder, a “comical one”. By the sounds of it, it has to be Maria, or her “child”, who does it. Makes sense, Linus also throws common sense out of the window when it comes to love, and it fits with Origin’s hatred of loving relationships. If it happens, there’ll be no salvation for Maria, either, not that I had much hope. The third autopsy chapter is titled “Hopeless Man”.

Here’s where things get interesting, the last fatality was supposedly Milkit, death by being crushed. Yet Milkit is on the cover of the next and last two volumes, and she is the reason Flum fights. Also interesting is that the last Autopsy chapter, “Most Beloved”, isn’t a standalone chapter, but part of Chapter 6, it’s own title partially redacted, and the following chapter is titled “Reversal”. I think these two chapters will be the turning point for the volume, where things for Flum and Milkit seem doomed, only for them to turn things around.

Satils is a real piece of work. FYI, the reason why she was so confident no one would find her secret room in the novels is because it was hidden within a labyrinth, and the way in and out was also hidden. Milkit couldn’t even identify an exit within the room. Of course, Flum had no patience for such pointless tricks so she just smashed through walls until she found the room.

Ah, Nekt, you stole Flum’s kill! Seriously, that was the most brutal execution Flum had ever performed. Stop sane-washing my girl, anime, we all know she’s one bad day from either a complete emotional breakdown, or going on a gory rampage!

Speaking of Nekt, definitely got the vibe down. Shame we didn’t really get to see the other children.

“Mother” is a very disturbed individual who naturally had a very crappy mother. As such, Mother’s “love” is very conditional, largely based on total dependency and obedience from the Children. The moment they become defiant, they get kicked to the curb, in Ink’s case, quite literally.

Are they really writing Eterna off so easily? It’s only been a few hours and she is many times more capable than Sara, Ed and Jonny combined.

The second generation Spiral Children have stats comparable to S-Rank Adventurers, in addition to one of Origin’s unusual powers. Even so, they are still just children and are ultimately inferior to the members of the Heroes’ Party who have built themselves up and mastered their talents through years of training and practical experience. So naturally, Gadhio won, even in just his street clothes.

I know at least a few people picked up what was going on with Neigass, but I didn’t expect the show to just spell it out like that.

I’m still not entirely clear on what Origin is exactly, but considering how often it is described as a dream technology, I think that means it gets its power from dreams. That’d explain why it has the power to influence people’s minds, and also explains why it is so unhinged.

I consider this series to be part of the post-apocalyptic genre among other things. In the fifth novel, we even got to learn what it was like during the time Origin first wiped out humanity, and it was some of the darkest moments this series has ever had, which is really saying something.

Anyway, there’s the truth behind the Heroes’ Party, to use Cyrill’s power to release Origin. Of course, only one member of the party was actually aware of the truth. Most of the others either bought the lie or just didn’t care, but Gadhio was already aware of the evil within the Church, and joined the party to figure out what they were really after.

There’s why it was important that Flum never killed Dein outright, his heart was used to replace the core in Ink’s chest. It was a gamble to go through with the transplant, and required more luck than anything else, but desperate times, right?

Maria was a high-ranking member of the Church and their chosen representative for the Heroes’ Party. Naturally, she is aware of Origin’s true nature and wishes to release it regardless. She was also aware of Flum’s power and Origin’s obsession with her. And of course, she also makes use of the cores despite their risk. Notice though that she chose not to give one to Linus.

Of course, just giving a core to Cyrill won’t accomplish anything right away. Her issue isn’t a lack of power, but a lack of confidence and direction. Of course, neither Maria or Jean are actually interested in helping her. At least Linus seems to understand the problem, but the only solution he could think of was to track Flum down and have Cyrill reconcile with her, something he’s not comfortable doing after she allegedly chose to quit the party.

Only Sheitoom and Dhiza know where the writings on the seal are kept? Way to narrow down who the alleged traitor could be.

Of course, while it is naive of the Demons to dismiss the idea of a traitor, you have to understand that Sheitoom, Tsyon and Neigass all grew up together, and Dhiza helped raise them all. It’s not easy to admit that someone who has been close to you for so long is not who you think they are.

Ottilie is also fine. That girl is resourceful and it’s nearly impossible to catch her off guard with her freakish perception stat.

Chimera, Children and Necromancy are different research groups all performing different experiments with Origin’s power. Of course, we’ve seen some of Chimera’s earlier experiments, and we’ve met two of the Children. As for Necromancy, I can already guess the question popping up and no, they are not responsible for the ghouls we’ve. They are just corpses that have been exposed to enough magic to reanimate them as weak F-Rank monsters, and are only a threat to the unarmed and the careless. Necromancy’s goals are far more ambitious.

Origin intends to absorb Flum’s power into itself in the hopes that it might gain an immunity to Reversal. Whether that is actually possible is pure speculation at this point, and why Origin hasn’t quite decided what to do with her. As far as I can guess, it seems the original plan was to bring Flum to Origin itself while she was still unaware of her true power, but now she’s awakened to it, so Origin seems to have shifted gears to using proxies instead.

Sara is still ex-communicated, so until the Church is defeated, it isn’t safe for her in the Capital. So her seat at the dinner table remains empty, but a new one has been drawn for Gadhio.

I don’t even blame Flum at all. Girl was already a slight nudge away from a total breakdown when she found out.

They moved forward Milkit being taken to Satils as well. That’s a lot to do at once in the last two episodes. Well, let’s see how it goes.

Here’s the last of Dein’s loyal men, or rather, what’s left of them. The power that did this to them, Sympathy, is a terrifying one. Their individuality is permanently overwritten, and they each share a mishmash of the group’s highest stats, plus share skills, experience, and even their senses between each other.

Flum’s unique reversal magic in action. In this case, reversing the trajectory of projectiles. Flum can reverse a lot more things depending on her imagination and how much magical power she puts into it.

And here’s Gadhio coming to Flum’s aid in her hour of need, first to help her wipe out her opponents, then to assure her she hasn’t lost everyone.

The Spiral Children have arrived. I figured those were masks they were wearing in the preview stills. Somehow even creepier than the spiral faces underneath.

Origin’s power can enhance an individual’s abilities and give them powers that can even defy the laws of nature, but it has one crippling weakness. Against most people, even the rest of the legendary Heroes, it’s not normally an issue. However it leaves one particularly vulnerable to Flum’s Reversal magic.

Dein’s an idiot. The power he was given never belonged to him. Origin gives power according to its whims and takes whatever it wants in exchange. Dein could control the eyes because they too were created with Origin’s power and didn’t have any other will consciously controlling them. Now that Flum has revealed her true power to her, Ink has enough awareness to exert her own will on the eyes.

Indeed, Flum was also betrayed by those she considered friends, yet she didn’t let that change who she was. She reversed her horrible fate by her own will, and gained so much in the process that she made peace with being sold off. She still hates Jean for how cruel he acted but that’s not enough for her to make bargains with monsters like Satils and Origin for something as pointless and empty as revenge.

That’s a rather tame way of showing Flum turning Dein inside out. I suppose they wouldn’t go too graphic. BTW, Dein didn’t have an Origin core in the novel, Flum turned him inside out because she was so done with his shit that she didn’t even want to give him an easy death.

A rich woman searching for a girl in orphanage clothes in a district of poor people? No way that passes the smell test, though given the usual calibre of adventurers in the West District Guild, there probably would have been more than a few takers who wouldn’t ask such obvious questions, if they were still around.

One benefit of the event yesterday is that it effectively cleared most of the rot away from the Guild in a single day. Of course, without Dein to organise them, they were more nuisance than anything else. And compared to the Church, and their experiments, I know which Flum would rather deal with.

No chance the timing escaped Flum’s notice.

Sara. Ed. Jonny. Ottilie. All Flum’s friends and allies are disappearing one after another, all within a day or two.

It’s not your fault, Flum. You and Sara stumbled into the Church’s secrets together, or perhaps she was used to lure you to Anichidey. Either way, once Sara knew, there was no way she could have looked the other way, even if you asked her to. And of course, you’re not responsible for a grown woman like Ottilie.

As for Dein, coexistence was never an option. He tried to set you and Milkit up to die the day you met for no other reason than for fun.

And then there’s Milkit, the girl who had nothing and was fated to die in that cell. Now, even everyday tasks bring her joy and she has gained so much in such a short time, and the one responsible for turning her life around was the “useless Hero,” Flum.

Right, now that things are escalating, and there’s a search request out for Ink, they can’t afford to let things drag on. They need to find out what she knows and what connection she has, if any, to the Church and recent events.

That’s not a name Milkit expected to hear within the safety and comfort of her home.

Ink is older than the other children and she was the “first generation”, or rather the first test subject. Then we have a second generation who can all hear this “papa” through some kind of telepathic link. Ink is the only one who can’t hear this “papa” and the only one who needs medicine. Whatever was done to her would have to have been highly experimental and very unlikely to achieve the desired results. The question is, what does this mean for Ink now that she is outside a controlled environment and not taking her medicine.

And there it is. Origin, the very “God” the Church worships, is the one behind it all. The power behind all those strange creatures that can even affect their stats. And it’s obsessed with Flum. She was indeed chosen by Origin for the Heroes’ party, but now she is loose in the world, and has started using the very power that is capable of countering Origin’s own.

And now we know why Eterna has been fixated on Ink’s heart.

Neigass has left for the KIngdom, again. What will she bring back next time? The answer will definitely be quite a surprise to Sheitoom.

There’s confirmation that Gadhio has finally left the Heroes’ party.

Sara didn’t have the means to fight back, but someone did. It hasn’t been mentioned, but the fact that Ed and Jonny were only “transferred”, but Sara was excommunicated, was a hint she was alive. No one who knew Sara would believe she did anything to deserve such a punish, so the Church would only risk labelling her a heretic if they were concerned she could show up again.

It makes sense that an influential merchant would be the one supplying the Church with contraband. She has the infrastructure for acquisition and transport, and the money and connections to get around the authorities.

Unlike most people, Flum doesn’t have an elemental affinity, and even Cyrill had records of past Hero affinity users to know what her magic can do. Flum has to figure it out as she goes, but she has some interesting tricks up her sleeve when she figures them out. Some are quite interesting, others can be described as nothing short of disturbing.

Ink doesn’t have a heartbeat because her heart was replaced by one of Origin’s cores, like what the Spiral Ogres had. It’s the same with all the Children.

Now Eterna, and before Flum can even process that bombshell, Milkit, too.

BTW, the water trail only leads back to where she and Eterna encountered Dein. In the mere seconds that Flum went to grab a towel, someone or something managed to enter their house, grab Milkit, and get out again, without being seen or leaving any trail to follow. That’s a seemingly impossible feat.

Flum’s spiral into despair and desperation hits pretty hard in the novel. Even if Eterna and Ottilie could look after themselves, for a while at least, and someone is protecting Sara, they’re no longer able to help or back up Flum. Milkit’s sudden disappearance is the worst. She’s Flum’s reason to keep fighting and living, and she has no means to protect herself, so she is at the mercy of whoever or whatever took her.

I’m sure more than a few people guessed it. The first mutant corpse showed up shortly after Ink did. She has no eyes, and magic tattoos (or stitches) on her eyelids, and it was eyeballs attacking people. That “face” is also an appropriately disturbing sight. I suppose I should be glad the animators didn’t hold back.

BTW, the ED the past few episode which focused on Ink, showed a green eye in the middle, in place of Milkit’s eye, despite Ink not having eyes of her own, at least not in the normal sense. It was one of the eyes created by her Origin-given powers. I also knew there was a chance the next time the ED changed, we’d see the people disappear. I half-expected Sara to disappear in last week’s ED. Taking everyone else away from Flum, all at once, though, that hits hard. It was really diabolical what they did with the ED and it reflects Flum’s journey (and mental state) throughout the season.

Ah, the bandages thing. I do think it started innocently enough, Milkit’s had them for so long she’d naturally feel exposed without them so suddenly. But then both her and Flum got so caught up in the idea of Milkit’s face being exclusively for Flum’s eyes only. It’s gotten to the point Flum isn’t sure if she wants her own parents to see Milkit’s face when she introduces her future wife to them.

You heard that right, folks, eyeballs. A swarm of eyeballs attacking people. Not something you can easily fight or protect yourself from without wide-range AoE attacks, which Flum noticeably lacks.

Trust me, Flum, Cyrill was, no, is the same. It’s just when you see someone you care about is in imminent danger, you act. You two are more similar than you realise.

Speak of whom, she’s really hard on herself, and Jean is naturally only making things worse. She’s just a normal girl, more normal than Flum at this point. She’s weighed down by responsibilities and expectation she doesn’t want and never asked for, and she has no personal motivation to keep fighting, especially now that the one person she wanted to protect “left” after Cyrill gave her the cold shoulder.

So now we have a new mystery. Neigass claimed demons don’t kill humans needlessly, and indeed she and the other Demon Chiefs have gone out of their way to avoid casualties in their clashes with the Heroes’ Party and their destruction of towns. Yet, Maria, who was about 7 or 8 years old at the time, claims to have witnessed demons slaughtering her family and friends, first hand. We know the Church isn’t innocent and that they benefited greatly from the destruction of Maria and Sara’s villages, but could they have pulled off that level of deception? I certainly thought it more likely that there are traitors among demonkind, and that some might be colluding with the Church.

You know, if it were based solely on the acronym, Mofo would be better than Mama, if it didn’t already also mean something else entirely. Please don’t make this mean Flum and Milkit also end up calling it Mofo, too.

Sorry, Sara, I’m siding with those two. Their concerns are perfectly founded. With your stats, you’re a freak of nature for a 10 year old, and far stronger than the average man, but compared to the higher ups in the Church, and the experimental weapons they’ve been making, even the Heroes are sourly outmatched.

Teasing Eterna’s backstory, are we? Yet, even more evidence of the anime setting up for the following arc.

Is Dein joining the Church part of some masterplan? It certainly wasn’t Dein’s idea. However, considering what I know of the individual who recruited him, I doubt they had any such detailed plans. I bet they just wanted to see what would happen.

Kahnis! Kahnis! Kahnis! Ah, sorry, I got caught up in the hype.

Kahnis, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Wait, they made her the one to give him the core. I mean, it does still work. That woman thrives on chaos, although her usual MO is to destroy beautiful things. Not sure why she’d bother with some lowly thug from the impoverished West District. The only interesting thing about Dein is his ego-fuelled antagonism towards Flum. Although, she is exactly the kind of girl that woman would target just for fun. A girl with a pretty face. A slave who thinks she’s a person. A hero with a strong sense of justice. Someone who is deeply in love. Flum ticks all the boxes for the kind of person she takes pleasure in tearing down until they break. If she knew about Flum beforehand, much less knew about her connection to Milkit, I could see her using Dein to mess with her.

Oh, there it is! Or rather, there they are!

Yeah, running! Running is a good idea!

Why’d you stop?! This is not the time to emulate your hero! Flum would also tell you to run!

Well, there it is, folks. Our first major character deaths.

…

I saw it in one of the preview stills, but yeah, Flum got the dress after Milkit said it would look good on her. And if Milkit wants something, Flum would move heaven and earth to get it for her. An interesting addition not seen in the novel or manga. As far as we know, Flum has mostly worn the same type of clothes since becoming an adventurer, with a single exception in the 3rd novel that got an illustration. Probably doesn’t help that drama can happen at any time, even during a shopping trip or even when they step outside to water the plants. It’s unfortunate that Flum doesn’t have the luxury to wear clothes she can’t fight in too often.

Milkit not letting Ink touch her face seems very on brand for her. Even putting aside that most of her face is carefully wrapped in bandages, and still healing, she only really allows Flum into her personal bubble. Also looks like the redness is finally gone from her face.

If I said Flum’s suspicions were right, would it even be considered a spoiler? Ink was set up to be a major character of this arc, she’s even on the 2nd novel’s cover, and the Church has already been set up to be a major antagonist, more so than the “peaceful” demons, or an arrogant gang leader like Dein.

They may not be related, but they are definitely siblings. Makes me wonder, they apparently grew up raised together by the same mother figure alongside Maria, but she’s never done any goofy poses like this. Perhaps it’s just because unlike Sara, she actually remembers the alleged demon attack on her village, or perhaps it’s because of some of the Church secrets she’s learned over the years. Still, now that I have had the thought, I want to see it! Especially after recent developments in the novels.

This is pretty much how we got introduced to Kahnis in the manga. He just kind of shows up in the wake of Dein’s disappearance and the remnants of the gang flock around him. Based on the stats the manga gave, he’s not all that impressive. His strength is not too much higher than Flum’s and she can easily make up the difference by boosting herself with prana.

I was not expecting to see that woman. While it makes sense to have her appear in Milkit’s flashbacks and nightmares, having both her and Welcy appear in the flesh suggests the animators are already setting up for the next arc. Perhaps this really does mean they’ve already planned for a second season or an OVA.

She’s looking for a missing child? Given the timing, the most obvious conclusion is she’s looking for Ink, though it could also just as easily be Milkit. She is connected to the slave trader who bought Milkit off her despite her obvious condition, and the trader was also connected to the Church, so its not a stretch to suspect she could be connected as well. On the other hand, Milkit has a pretty unique appearance and never goes anywhere in public without Flum and/or Eterna who draw attention in their own ways, so rumours are likely to spread about her.

It’s the little details created for the anime that always gets me. Ink helping Milkit with chores is such a minor addition and so profound at the same time. Aside from a scene or two of playing around, neither the novels or manga depict what her day-to-day life is like. And yet, it makes sense she would if she could. Disability aside, she’s actually a little stronger than Milkit. Plus, thinking about it, she has a water affinity, too, so Eterna could probably teach her some basic magic that would be useful for household chores.

What is there to misunderstand, Flum? We can literally see Milkit’s hand on your breast.

Ah yes, every yuri enthusiast knows that handholding is about the lewdest thing two girls can do. Joking aside, I always considered Eterna and Ink to be far more ambiguous and tame, especially if we compare them to those other two.

Eterna is on the money. Sara is mostly just here for the free food. All that talk about not indulging in “earthly pleasures”? Total BS!

And now, Ink has her own signature outfit that she’ll wear almost exclusively for most of her screen time, like any true anime character.

So just to summarise, Cavalier Arts, used by Flum and Gadhio, turns stamina into prana, which can be for special combat techniques or to enhance the user’s body. Genocide Arts, used by Ottilie and Henriette, uses the wielder’s own blood to restrict the bodily functions of their targets. There’s also the mysterious Justice Arts, used by the Church Knights’ leadership, but the details are a closely guarded secret.

All this talk about strength, and yet in the grand scheme of things Kahnis and Dein are just thugs playing at being kings of a rundown district full of poor people. There are greater forces at work within the capital that view them as little more than playthings for their schemes.

Dein initially planned to do to the Church what he did to the West District guards, to blackmail and corrupt them into becoming part of his little empire in the mud. He was well and truly in over his head and now they own him. The big fish in the small pond found its way to the ocean where it received a painful reality check.

I actually prefer Sara with her hair down. Her usual hairstyle is unique, but I don’t get the appeal.

That’s a foul, Flum. If you’re going to propose, put at least a little effort into it.

Flum and Ink have a lot in common. Before, they were the “useless” ones, looked down on for the crime of being surrounded by far more talented people.

Friends? More like found family!

Finally, the full facial reveal!

Yeah, you match, along with every other slave that has their mark on their cheek. You two have money, and I know for a fact that Milkit is good with crafts. You can find plenty of other ways to match. If you ask, Eterna might be able to figure out a way to remove the special paint, eventually. Heck, knowing her, she might secretly be working on it already.

We’re going that route after all. I always thought this bit in the novels was a bit overkill for Dein, but the author does thrive on bringing out the desperation in characters.

I love the little detail of actually showing Milkit do her writing practice.

Eterna is concerned for Flum, and only Flum. Those men surrounding their home, not a threat at all.

Hey, it’s that guy she caught the other day. Not surprised he’s already out if the cell they put him was also controlled by the corrupt West District guards.

Gotta love how people who have no idea of Flum’s true abilities are always unnerved about how she intentionally harms herself, and then even further unnerved when they watch as her wounds heal themselves without the use of normal healing magic.

That’s on you, Flum. Most people never look up, unless you’re seen by countless witnesses jumping up onto a roof. It’s a good vantage point to get a lay of the land, but’s also incredibly exposed.

Flum, take a deep breath and take into consideration that Dein only mentioned Milkit. Ask him how his men got past your housemate, and if he acts confused, he’s just assuming the men he sent to your house only had to deal with one defenseless girl. That’s the first critical mistake Dein made, he set this all up without properly looking into Flum’s identity, abilities, or connections. He underestimated her because of her size, age, gender and slave mark.

Okay, this change does make a lot of sense. I can believe with all the men he had running around, they stumbled on that particular girl, and decided to use her as a human shield. Better than some random maimed slave girl who was forgotten by the author almost immediately. I’m still peeved about that!

Going with the poison. I can understand that for a few reasons. First, a random girl they took as a hostage can’t be forced to blow herself up, but you can force poison down her throat. Second, I’ve noticed the animators have mostly avoided gore, especially human gore, and bombs of that size are especially messy. Third, it demonstrates that Flum’s reversal abilities do have limits on what they can actually reverse. Magic that affects the body directly is reversed, but something she has to consume works the same as for everyone else.

Knowing who this girl is and what she was doing before Dein and his gang snatched her, I can imagine all the things going through her mind. Especially the significance of a complete stranger potentially sacrificing her own life for her.

Oops, now you don’t have a hostage to hide behind now and since none of you are guards, Flum has no reason to hold back anymore.

Okay, Kahnis being the one to question Dein’s order to retreat is the perfect set up for his role in the manga, and I like that addition. I like how the anime sets up future plot points early on.

There’s Dein’s second critical mistake. All the commotion he caused was bound to attract attention. And a Lieutenant-General of the Royal Army no less, it’s almost impossible to f*** this up any worse.

That’s Phil! Hold on, let me look this up. And yep, it is who I think it is. Well, sucks to be Phil.

Maybe some people already recognise her, but if you don’t, go back to that scene from Flum’s village in the first episode, Ottilie was the one escorting her. So yes, they know each other.

Okay, that pause as if you had to think about it is proof enough that you do not have amnesia. Not that anyone actually believed her in the book either. It’d be more believable to say you’re lost and don’t know the address, especially if you’re blind and in an unfamiliar place after just being kidnapped.

Not even worried for a minute. S-Ranks like Eterna and Ottilie are just built different.

Ottilie, it really isn’t on you. You weren’t the one who chose Flum to be a Hero. You weren’t the reason she couldn’t just stay in her village. It’s also not like you could have kept an eye on her every time the party returned to the Capital. There’s an argument to be made that Eterna and the rest of the party bear some responsibility for not keeping a better eye on Flum and Jean, but you weren’t aware of the goings-on in the party. However, you did make sure Flum made it to the capital in the first place, which is good, because back then she’d have no means to protect herself.

I like how when Flum says she’s alright, she’s glancing at Milkit. That’s the thing, isn’t it. She still hates Jean and will probably break his jaw if she ever sees him again, yet through all the pain and despair, it was weirdly the best thing that could have happened to her. She was miserable before, constantly crushed by feelings of uselessness and loneliness. Now she has Milkit, Eterna, actual strength of her own, and the past few days are some of the happiest she’s been in a long while. Not to mention, there’s something sus about the very Church that named her a Hero. It’s probably a good thing she’s no longer part of that quest.

Eterna, you protect both the house and Milkit when Flum is away. Given all the enemies she seems to have, that service is priceless. Plus, it would have been difficult and expensive as hell for Flum to find and hire an underground pharmacist to prepare medicine for Milkit.

Okay, the corruption within the West District guards is part of Ottilie’s responsibilities as part of the Royal Army’s leadership, so I’ll agree with her there.

Flum’s just a farm girl from the countryside. Of course she doesn’t know about some washed up former noble’s brat.

I respect whoever wrote the subtitles who translated onee-sama as milady instead of sister like was done in the novels and manga. It causes confusion as they are not actually related as far as I can tell.

Wait, did they censor nostrils? Why?! Who?! Forget Ottilie, whoever made this decision is the real weirdo.

I do respect how Ottilie owns it though. She’s a degenerate, but she’s neither hiding nor apologising for it. And trust me, she is so much worse than you think she is.

Of course the Church experiments on orphans. They have no families so no one will notice if they disappear. And since the Church runs all the orphanages, the higher ups can arrange transfers to different facilities without raising suspicions among those ordinary people lower down the chain.

It’s quite confusing, isn’t it. If her power was a threat, the Church could have easily killed her or simply left her alone. If they just wanted to use her power for themselves, they could have abducted her. They could have also easily arranged for Maria to teach her how to use her power as part of the journey. They haven’t made any attempts to bring Flum or Eterna back to the party either. Their experiments have also tried to kill Flum specifically. It seems like whoever’s behind all this can’t make up their mind about what they actually want to do with Flum.

That must be some good tea Eterna is drinking there.

I suppose the animators also decided having a young girl’s eyes sewn shut would be too disturbing for wider audiences to see animated.

Using the scene from the novel for Kahnis’ betrayal and eventual takeover is a brilliant use of both novel and manga material.

Now that is appropriately disturbing! More of that, please! That is what this series is best known for! That is pure nightmare fuel!

Wow, sleeping together already. It took a fair bit for them to get to that point in the novels.

The anime team really said they were throwing all subtlety out the window.

I call her Eterna, the Eternal Third Wheel. To be her is to be sometimes fulfilling, sometimes suffering, and sometimes both. There is no in-between.

Also, Eterna without her hat is a rare sight. Even in the manga, she wears it in most scenes, even in her own home.

Also, yeah, those two are pretty much like that. All over each other, but somehow not lovers, yet. No one can really make sense of it.

Here’s an idea, why don’t Flum and Milkit cook together. So long as their constant flirting doesn’t get in the way, their housemates and guests can enjoy both their cooking at the same time.

Total stats of 3,396. I think that’s a little off since she should be a little stronger after killing the Spiral Ogre and those two thugs. Cursed equipment grows stronger with every life they consume, or in Flum’s case, every time she takes a life, whether monster or man. That’s why it’s actually hard to keep up to date on Flum’s stats. She should be closer to 3,450 by now.

I know they just moved into a new home, but I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by this montage. Also, Milkit has a strength stat of 11, why is she carrying so many bags? Eterna might specialise in magic, but 668 is nothing to sneeze at. Actually, it’s a little higher than Flum’s current strength.

Come on, Milkit, you know you want to see Flum all dressed up. Actually, it’d be nice to see both of them in different styles every once in a while.

We did establish a couple episodes ago, the church is evil, but those at the bottom like Sara, Ed, and Johnny are mostly decent people.

I say just take the dummy requests and use them as an excuse to take out more of Dein’s men and further humiliate him.

“I was just kidding.” Flum isn’t. She is seriously considering killing Dein. Girl has no chill, though that is part of her appeal.

Hah, I knew Milkit would be interested in Flum’s cooking.

This scene with the cakes is inspired by a bonus scene that was included in the manga’s first volume. Back when Flum and Cyrill were still close, they bonded over their love of cake, and baked them together. It’s a sweet, little scene, pun not intended. I wish we could see a bit more of their friendship, whether past or in the future. Look, I know things are looking rather dire in the novels right now, but I wanna have faith in both of them!

Maria is a gosh damned filthy liar, she is absolutely as much a glutton for sweet things as the rest of them.

Jean going through a single scene without acting like a pretentious prick challenge, impossible!

As awkward as it can sometimes be to be the third wheel, I love how Eterna still looks out for both of them.

Milkit, just accept your fate as the wife to be doted on. Even Eterna has already accepted her own fate.

To be quite frank, Sara, you could do better. You could also do worse. I’m of two minds which side of the line that woman falls on.

Eterna just casually confirming not just the church, but the government is evil, too. Not all that surprising, really.

Perhaps you were wondering, if Eterna knew both the kingdom and the church were corrupt the whole time, why did she agree to join the Heroes’ party? The answer as far as I can tell is because she was bored and thought it might be interesting. She was a hermit for many years before she was summoned, after all. Then Jean kicked Flum out of the party and suddenly the whole thing just sucked, so she left. Honestly, in her position, I might have been the same.

Flum, try not to make your wife worry too much.

You know, that ring is quickly forgotten in the books, but in the manga there’s quite a story to it. Time will tell if the anime will go that route or do things a little different again. I’m interested to see it, though.

Flum is not exaggerating. The very moment she discovers the identity of Milkit’s former master, she decides on that very spot to kill her at the first available opportunity. Zero chill. If you have ever hurt Milkit at any point in time, you die.

Flum, for Milkit and everyone else’s sanity, listen to Eterna. You do have a tendency to get carried away and overdo it.

I like the little expansion of Milkit’s arc as she struggles with her insecurities and a lifetime of having her self-worth being grounded into dust.

Hey, Eterna didn’t fall over this time.

Alright, fluff’s over for now. Back to the plot.