The big reveal in this episode was that the three girls were all castaways, too.

It did turn out that the reward for Rick and Neris was money. It was more than needed to repair the furnace (in part because Hank dropped his price). They've also installed a counter where people can sit and eat. Hank the dwarf did a fine job rebuilding their furnace, and at the end of the episode Rick and the girls are once again baking in their own house.

Rick is bothered by his own skill with the sword. It's evident, even to him, that it goes far beyond the abilities of an ordinary man-at-arms. Xiaomei refers to him as a knight when they have their talk.

Turns out that she's the one who paid for the repairs to the church orphanage's roof. (A classic "pet the dog" moment.) Between that, and his own skill with the sword, Rick spends a lot of this episode thinking. In the end he decides that he's a baker, or at least that's the life he wants to live.

I read about the game, and it involved a lot of quests. In one of them he was accompanied and supported by Alvin the elf. Hank was involved in another one. But we haven't seen anything like that, and at this point I don't expect we will. It looks like there was a serious rewrite in the translation to anime.

They're sure taking their time unrolling the story. This show really seems more about spending time with the characters, which is a characteristic of iyashikei.

I really like the fact that this isn't a harem show. At this point we've got seven, and arguably eight, desirable girls around Rick but no one is talking romance. No one is flirting with him. It's pleasant once in a while to not have that complication. And I like the fact that such fan service as this show has is subtle and gentle, just like everything else in the show. The eight girls are all easy on the eyes, but no gainaxing that I remember. No upskirt shots. And no accidental compromising positions. I really hate those, and it's nice that this director doesn't feel any need to include them.

There are a lot of strange threads dangling: Rick's past, Rick's fancy sword, Kaguya and her pendant, the strange creature hanging in Hank's workshop, the plaque they got from the sea floor which was seized by the castle guards, and that battleship. Presumably they're all going to come together in some meaningful way, but I sure don't know how yet. Which is also nice; too many series telegraph their endings.

UPDATE: Actually, the potential harem count is nine so far:

Amil
Airy
Neris
Xiaomei the catgirl
Kaguya the castaway
Rana the elf girl
Rouna the doggy girl maid
Princess Rufina
Melty the loli witch

In real unoriginal harem shows based on H games, there's always at least one loli, so if this show were going in that kind of direction, Melty would be included too.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 07:50 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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