#marchposts

we (a)gott more agott scenes in the beginning here, a really interesting change for an episode that's otherwise a pretty straightforward adaptation of the manga. overall I can see that they're trying to soften agott's edges in the anime a bit early since her really obvious changes are probably going to be for season 2+. (wonder if this means the arc about coco getting sick is going to get moved around at all?) the bird and light is some cute extra foreshadowing though.

they removed the carapace yam scene getting reversed by the magic cookpot- a pretty straightforward retcon, since counterclock spells are better defined and have a strict time-limit.

(side note: I've got to wonder if the limit for counter-clock spells being a full day has anything to do with positions of stars in the sky, stars being connected to magic repeatedly and all)

here, agott in the dub at least, comes across a bit softer in general, thanking coco for the offer.

the anime adds in a line from qifrey about the storm coming in- connective tissue for the rest of the staircase stuff.

anime olly is also more visibly & obviously caught off guard by coco being an apprentice, in my favorite bit of the episode. not a huge change but its funny so thumbsup

they cut out the stable of apprentices line here for another line thats similar in meaning, not something super noteworthy by itself, BUT! it was present in the dub trailer which is interesting. after some more digging it looks like the line in the jp trailer and episode are the same- so it looks like a dub-only change? i'd imagine its a translation/timing thing but I dont know any Japanese so I'm just speculating here.

Not the first to notice this, but RIP to this cunty manipulator pose Qifrey hits before just brushing off Olruggio for Coco exposition. Makes up for though by putting some extra sauce on the guilt-trip itself though.

This line got cut which, overall not a huge deal but I do kind of miss it since I've seen people be confused + it ties into the next change

The change I have the most mixed feelings, why I wrote this long rant to begin with, is from this line from Olruggio. Saying the glowstone path is the invention he's most known for VS. the anime where in both sub and dub where he says its his best work feels like a pretty significant change.

I think he probably does believe it on some level, considering its the one invention of his that has seen mass adoption and has materially helped a lot of common people. Compared to the rest of his commissions we see him doing generally being luxury items for rich patrons, it makes sense.

But, I just find it hard to believe he would just outright say that it's his best work to Coco without having a complex about it lol. Olruggio in general is such an interesting character of a working artist and former child prodigy. He's always pushing himself to help more people- to admit his best work is past him seems like he's resting on his laurels in some way.

(also for silly reasons I think its funny if they establish it early that Olruggio is a celebrity. here's your kind and patient teacherparent and his dog mandated reporter, Steve Jobs*)

adapting two chapters this episode with a lot of dialogue means we we're going to cut stuff no matter what so its a interesting one to look at this week

this episodes productions was noticeably a bit more variable which makes sense considering how much juice we got in episode 1, 3, and 5 especially. not a strict downgrade but just an observation. curious how the start of the romonon stuff is going to go in terms of animation therefore.

small detail but the bit about not wanting to forget her mother is so heartbreaking and I'm sad they cut it. having the memory spell keep wiggling was neat in terms of keeping the tension though. richeh goat still though

the tetia bit got cut, and it is probably correct since its not super critical but still. my daughter:(

I feel like the decision to have Qifrey's voice cut in before we see the blade at Easthies is strictly a downgrade imo? feel like there could have been a beat between seeing the blade and the voice, especially since this is the Qifrey is Sus ramp-up arc. and there's some time I would have cut later which ill get to.

the rest works pretty good, the dialogues been changed in parts but nothing thats shifts the meaning that much. the olly cut in in the dub was awesome also. no notes.

the dagda scene was pretty straightforward but still hits what I wanted. dagda custas ill miss you....

some minor changes but works well overall, I laughed out loud when I saw they kept the olly and qifrey hating your vibes shot.

the big change is having qifrey's hand come into the shot when easthies inspects Coco's hands. Really chewing on it, cause its interesting as a throughline since we are going to see Qifrey's metaphorical hands get dirtied here irt Nolnoa. I think its one of those things that works better for a single season of anime but feels a bit weaker for Easthies character longterm, as I think this bit to let go Coco on his own terms really stands out in the manga as the few bit of humanity from Easthies. I gotta chew more on it to really come down on a judgement but it is an interesting choice if nothing else.

On the other hand, the decision to highlight the footprints in sand during the Qifrey memory speech was just a real highlight for me. really works with the new medium and I'm not even mad they cut the cheeky "i'd rather not see anyones memories gone" even though I do love that line

I do miss the line at the end from Qifrey though, I think the genuinely incisive teaching insight + how Qifrey is going to literally do what he says here, isolating himself in haste for his goals isn't communicated enough with the wishywashy line in both sub and dub.

even the fanservice tassel shot isnt enough to tide me completely over, even if it does make me a little crazy looking at it.

the scene with the knights flying is fine I mostly just got jumpscared with the accent in utowin, not a brit so I cant judge how fitting it is against olly's

Searwire ??? wand ?? why even change this??? also not sure we even needed the explanation for the wand at all if it cuts into runtime.

rip the cunty heart symbol. almost wish they had cut the entire bit since they cut off the punchline anyways and the episode already cuts a ton. feels blasphemous for me to say but that is my truth.

skipping ahead

wish they'd done more with the light explosion framing wise to show more of the power of it. it's fine? I think im spoiled by the creativity of the manga paneling there

overall the qifrey nolnoa scenes kept that tension that feels true to the tone. they chose to focus on the glasses but it does still work. even though I did want to see them at least attempt to adapt this panel, since the type of light/dark background here is such a running motif in the manga

I do wish we some kind of shot of tartah at the window here at the end, since it sets up the whole larger window panel as something more diegetic + i like how it shows more a of a divide between coco outside as a full apprentice witch and tartah looking but unable to reach. since I assume we're still going to get more tartah irt the hospital scenes, I'm hoping

overall, not the strongest episode, but i dont hate hate any of the choices made here. theres bits I wish could have been framed in more interesting ways but they were up against a bit of a rock and a hard place when it comes to pacing in this episode.

really awesome change here! i love love love how this ties into agott's reasons to learn magic being so selfish compared to the rest of the girls. small visual change but i really adore it.

also i feel obligated to point out they've cut the drawing with little olly from my icon but i never expected it to begin with. besides there's extra olly to make up for it later.

tetia doesn't hug the map here and it's a bit of a shame since I really like the visual here, but the character animation for tetia in the rest of her speech here is so charming i'm not mad.

dialogue is basically all the same for the scene, we do lose a neat window panel of the tower of tomes with agott and coco but it's a hard thing to adapt.

I feel like losing the stark contrast of values between qifrey & the girls here is a bit of a loss, especially since they've adapted the shot 1:1 otherwise. i'd imagine it's something to do with how the op is right afterwards, but i do think it's important for current arc qifrey sus reasons and silverwood implications. he loves the girls but can't share that joy.

the nightmare isnt quite shot for shot, but I think overall a perfectly good adaptation. we get the general elements of this panel and it's pretty effective at translating it.

the bottle scene is excellent though. I love the fucked up colors and the animation.

tiniest nitpick but I wish we got to linger on this last panel longer in the anime. the pacing in this episode otherwise is great but lingering on this shot would have felt truer to the reading experience.

qifrey getting owned was otherwise really good. the movement of the medallion in the bottle was a really neat touch, and i enjoyed getting to really see the white boy coughing and wet. and a fun extra eyeball shot when iguinn shows up which could literally mean anything

^ new shot of silly qifrey. balance has been restored.

new background dialogue from richeh and tetia here. its sweet and also. #myyaoicrumbs

speaking of, we also get a new olly appearance right before qifrey flies off to the hospital with coco. and a second "olly" line has hit the twin yaoiwers.

also also since I have nowhere to put this otherwise. lowkey the horniest shot from the animators of qifrey this episode was him chewing the silverleaf? even more so than the already indulgent scene where he's literally sopping wet. which. crazy.

and now the really meaty change this episode, the tartah shortcut scene which is a completely new addition. it very obviously parallels the coco iguin chase from episode 4, down to the same music being used for both, though the tartah scene isn't quite as long.

I really like this change and find it fascinating. I think it really plants the seeds of tartah's path leading eventrally towards the brimhats. how his interest in medicine and desire to help people + already existing alienation from his disability is pushing him away from the pointed hats. since in this scene he's the one that qifrey is following, taking the place of iguin.

fascinating change and exactly the kind of thing that elevates an adaptation from a strict 1:1. love it.

i'm super excited to learn about what anime-onlies think of it as well, if they catch this connection.

and as much as I'd love to end on a high note. overall I haven't had any qualms with the dialogue this episode.

but this line from qifrey has changed to. "you're an observant young man. i suppose you mhst look at things very carefully." (similar in the dub.)

which is just a strict downgrade imo. it's focused mainly on the tension of the memory wipe. the shot is on tartah's eyes which kind of ties it back to the silverwash but not strongly.

the manga translation manages to keep the threatening vibes of the line but more obviously has qifrey acknowledge the difficult position that tartah is in due to his disability. which ties back stronger to the end of chapter 13 and qifrey's point about witches not being accommodating. And the framing of the manga where we focus on qifrey's eye adds another layer irt the disability angle, where why qifrey is able to point it out is because he is visually disabled himself.

i wish we'd at least gotten a shot focusing on qifrey's eye here in the anime even if the line had to stay the same.

despite that, I still really really enjoyed this episode overall. the character animation specifically felt much stronger and more fluid here than it has in the past couple of episodes. and the pacing feels like its got a lot more room to breathe.