So many shows end their seasons at twelve episodes, so I was scratching my head at this week’s developments. Turns out there’s still one more episode to go before we wave our goodbyes to the Silent Witch.
Precious alone time with Felix
Despite being a starseer, Mary supposedly couldn’t and still can’t read Felix’s fortune. She’s been trying for ten years to no avail (maybe ’cause star reading is cough bullshit cough). And why not? What makes him an exception to even the higher elements? I think this just underscores how little we know about Felix. Obviously, this is a show about the Silent Witch, so Monica takes center stage. But a lot of time and attention has gone to establishing a wide cast of characters, so Felix has fallen by the wayside. He doesn’t feel as important as he should be. I think the series could’ve done a better job propping him up as the next most important character. After all, he’s the only reason Monica is even attending Serendia. He’s the only reason she’s been able to make all these new friends. If his fate wasn’t in such a precarious situation, she’d still be a shut-in witch hidden away from the rest of society. Despite all of that, however, Felix hasn’t gotten much character development. He doesn’t want to be the Duke’s puppet, he has a thing for the Silent Witch without knowing that she’s right next to him, and a lot of people want him dead. That’s about all we know.
Well, right on cue, Monica bumps into our prince at the festival. He has gone incognito, which seems reckless for someone who has assassins going after him all the time. Nevertheless, this gives him and Monica an invaluable opportunity to spend precious 1-on-1 time together. Does this series really need romance? No. But if you’re going to do it anyway, you might as well develop one of potential love interests — arguably the most important love interest. Monica easily spots Felix from a distance by simply taking measure of his height with the naked eye, but I mean… it’s not like he’s heavily disguised. It’s that Clark Kent situation, i.e. I’ve put on a very small mask so now I can totally blend into the crowd! Sure, buddy. You see everyone else in full costume, so it would’ve been more fun if Felix had gotten a little more into the spirit of things. Plus, do you really think the world’s top assassins wouldn’t recognize their target in such a measly getup? But I guess if we cover him up too much, then we’ll hide those “princely” features of his and that won’t do for a romance. But in all seriousness, you gotta sell Felix to me, and one way of doing that is seeing whether or not these two have any chemistry. Unfortunately, the first thing he does is take her to a brothel and dress her up like a prostitute. Kids these days…
Afterwards, Monica and Felix do what anime couples always do when they’re on a “date,” i.e. buy jewelry. Pretty generic stuff. He ends up buying a brooch with a simple barrier enchantment. Sounds like Chekhov’s gun for next week’s finale. Monica doesn’t need any cheap trinket, though. She’s just happy he picked up her nuts. Y’know, from when they first met. Nope, this is not a joke. Ever since then, she has cherished those nuts as if “they were little treasures.” Again, not a joke. Totally serious. This is a very serious show. It’s so random, though. Felix is all, “Hey, do you want a souvenir from this festival?” Monica replies with, “Nope, nuts! Ain’t nuttin’ more precious than those nuts, so you may as well never get me anything ever again!” Huh? What kind of logic is that? I guess I should never adopt another cat, because I’ll always love my first and only pet. If this is how the Silent Witch flirts, her girlfriends really need to give her a crash course on how to date. Well, all’s well that ends well, because the couple opts to share a bit of pastry instead. Sheesh, she even eats like a squirrel. I love how anime’s idea of romance and intimacy is when a guy reaches in and picks off a tiny crumb from a girl’s face. But even granting that, how do you nibble on it with both hands and still get crumbs on your face?
I do have to commend the show on one thing, though: towards the end of the episode, it does a really good job of subtly putting the prince’s loneliness and isolation on display. Despite being on the student council together, there isn’t much chemistry between these two yet. After all, Monica is not only shy around people in general, she hasn’t really gotten to know Felix all that well — a fact we’ve already established above. He tries to dispel some of her nervousness by suggesting that she thinks of him as a ghost. That’s actually more true than what it might seem at face value. He’s a caged bird, after all — under the duke’s thumb and beset on all sides by assassins. Hell, he thinks he’s here by his own free will, but Monica is secretly protecting him. This little date of theirs is really just a ruse to keep him out of harm’s way. It’s not like she’s willingly choosing to spend time with him because she enjoys his company. Yes, she cherishes those nuts, but if Monica hadn’t been tasked with such the enormous responsibility of playing bodyguard, would she even be walking by his side tonight? Of course, we like Monica because she’s the heroine. She’s just a precious little bean, so we know she doesn’t have any ill intentions. But at the same time, you can’t really say that she and Felix are friends. Not like close friends, y’know? They’re casual acquaintances. More importantly, someone as important as Felix can never feel as though people want to spend time with him for him and him alone. They always have to have an additional reason to be near him, and Monica is sadly no exception. Maybe in the future, if more of this series ever gets adapted, their relationship can develop into something more. But for now, he’s utterly alone. Like a ghost.
A sign of things to come?
An ancient magical item is needed for the festival, and according to Monica, they each have personalities of their own. The one in question supposedly hates men. Huh. Well, we quickly get introduced to Bartholomew, a man at the festival who plans to steal the ancient magical item. His name is annoying to type out in full every single time, so I’m just going to call him Bart. On the surface, he seems friendly enough. He even lends Monica a hand during the festival. But knowing what we know about the ancient magical item, he might lose his life over a small bit of thievery. See, kids? Crime doesn’t pay. Unless you’re already rich, then you can steal and exploit as much as you want.
By the way, I just think it’s wild that some no-name thief can just waltz right in and swipe such a valuable artifact from right beneath a sage’s nose. No guards at the door. No magical barrier or anything. Just a simple lock stands between Bart and the ancient magical item. If there isn’t a twist, then Mary doesn’t seem very dependable. As such, are we sure we can rely on her fortune telling? On the other hand, maybe she knew this would happen. Maybe this is an elaborate plan of some kind. For what? Who can say? But surely a sage has to be a little more… sagacious about securing her precious items than this. I would hope so, anyway. Well, we’ll see if Mary has something up her sleeve in the finale.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- Isabelle invites Monica to a festival that feels like a cross between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Our girl declines only to be invited to it again by Mary, the Starseer Witch. Welp, I hope she doesn’t run into her friends at the festival. That would be embarrassing.
- In a show populated mostly by tiny, waifish female characters, Mary stands out a bit. She’s supposedly the oldest of the Seven Sages. Exactly how old? Well, they won’t tell you that. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s actually way older than she looks. Y’know, magic and all that.
- Honestly, I hate the concept of fate anyway. I don’t want to get into a debate about free will vs determinism. But just the idea that you’re locked into a certain destination in life sounds so uncomfortably restrictive to me. You’re telling me that even the all-powerful Silent Witch has a fate she can’t avoid? Maybe the inability to read Felix’s fate means anything can happen through his actions, and that sounds a whole lot better than the alternative. Though it’s probably more accurate to say that his fate will be decided by Monica since she’s the star of the show and all.
- Louis keeps bitching about his familiar Ryn, but he keeps her around nonetheless. He probably secretly likes her snarky, deadpan personality.
- The ringing of the bells puts Monica in a certain mood. After all, she never got to say her goodbyes to her father, so now I’m all sad again.
- Monica comes up with some of the most unbelievable excuses. A meek, little mouse like her is a troublemaker? Girl, no one’s going to believe that.
- So uh, does Felix not need the disguise now? Is it cool to just show his prince face in a brothel? I know he’s here to see the madam of the house, so there’s quite a bit of trust established between those two. But what about the rest of the establishment? You’ll just let all these random customers see that a prince is lurking about a brothel? Some of them might be nobles on his side, but surely not ALL of them.
- It’s always funny to me when anime characters let others drag them off and completely change their outfit. I would never let anyone undress me. I mean, just the audacity of a stranger touching me is inconceivable. Anime characters can’t prevent it, though. It’s like fate or something… Besides, none of the outfits here fits Monica, because why would they? She’s got the body of a child, and this establishment is full of buxomy women. This ain’t Epstein Island. Then again, they just happen to have a cutesy costume on hand…
- The madam thought Felix was planning to sell Monica to the brothel. So not only does that sort of thing exist, Felix doesn’t seem to mind it. Not at the moment, anyway. Yeah, this isn’t a ringing endorsement for his character.
- Maybe Felix’s disguise is good enough to fool Ryn, but it’s hard to tell if she’s joking or not.
- I actually love the warm palette of the festival in this week’s episode.
