Our heroine Melphiera (that’s a mouthful so I’m just going to call her Melphy from here on out) likes monster meat, and that is apparently a mark of shame. To be fair, she doesn’t exactly help her own cause. When a gentleman asks to try some of her delicious-looking food1, Melphy is more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, she doesn’t tell him what he’s eating until he’s taken a bite. People should know exactly what they’re putting into their bodies. I don’t think that’s a wild concept, and yet, I always hear stories of people trying tricking their family and friends with “good intentions.” For example, trying to feed a bunch of meat eaters something like Beyond Meat or just some weird ass form of tofu2. Look, I get it. You truly believe in your cause, and you would love nothing more than to show others the light. But surely, you don’t actually believe people would react well to deception.
We next find Melphy at a party full of prospective young men and women. Basically, our girl is old enough to get married, so you know what that means. “Gethitchedgethitchedgethitchedgethitched,” so says the evil stepmother. Well, maybe she isn’t evil, but threatening to send your stepdaughter to a convent if she can’t find a suitor sounds a little evil to me. Sadly, even Melphy’s own father is putting pressure on her. Can our girl not be independent? Not in this universe, apparently. It sucks, doesn’t it? These heroines are always stuck in predicaments where the only path forward is immediate marriage. I just watched an anime last season about a girl being abused by her parents. If some random prince hadn’t fallen in love with her, she’d probably have died under her parents’ thumb. Our girl Melphy doesn’t have it that bad, but she’s still in danger of losing her freedom. On the flip side, have you ever seen this happen to a guy? Have you ever seen an anime about a dude who desperately needs to find a wife or girlfriend before, I dunno, his balls shrivel up and fall off? Maybe I’d like to see that.
Unfortunately, people in this universe really care too much about Melphy’s predilection for monster meat. Melphy is practically shunned by everyone at the party. They even have a nickname for her: the “Voracious Villainess.” Really? You’re going to call someone names just for eating weird food? Talk about needing to touch grass and just get some perspective in general. From where I’m sitting, I can’t understand why any of this matters. If I dated a girl who was into weird food, so what? She can have her dinner, and I can have my dinner. As long as she doesn’t try to force me into eating her food, what’s the big deal? You’d really pass up a smart and beautiful girl because she likes wild game3? That’s crazy to me.
To make matters worse, a monster suddenly attacks the party… which is kinda weird, if you think about it. Is there no security for this party? Are you having it in the middle of the wilderness where monsters might roam? If it were me, I would probably wonder if someone had planned this. But our Melphy is a goody two-shoes, so she’s to busy trying to lure the monster away from a helpless old couple to conjure up conspiracy theories. She loves eating monsters, and yet she might get eaten by one herself. Ironic. But it’s fine, because this is all setup for Melphy to eventually encounter her brand of weirdo.
In comes Astride, a.k.a the “Blood Mad Duke.” He gallantly strides in and beheads the monster in a single strike. To put it simply, he’s got everything that Melphy could want. He’s not put off by her love for monster meat whatsoever. In fact, he’s even curious about it. Astride picks Melphy’s brain about monster meat, and she’s happy to finally meet someone who stays and listens. For once, she’s met someone who isn’t disgusted with her favorite topic. And naturally, Astride is tall, buff, handsome, and shares a voice actor with Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling. Sure, Melphy is desperate to find a soul mate who won’t judge her for her harmless hobby, but she also can’t marry an uggo! Heavens forbid!
From here, the episode plays out pretty much standardly. Melphy wants to be able to slay monsters on her own, but she’s a weak girly girl. So instead, Astride’ll do it for her, and she can prepare the food like a proper woman4. Thus their courtship begins. I’m disappointed, because the show simply plays it too safe. Melphy’s a weirdo for liking monster meat, but she can’t be too weird. So of course, she gets her “princely” suitor, and she’s gonna cook for him, blah blah blah. For a show that is potentially about monster guts, Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! doesn’t seem to have any guts of its own. If it continues like this, I don’t see how this show can sustain my interest longterm. What am I gonna do? Just watch Melphy tell us all about how to prepare and cook fantasy meat? Watch Astride slowly fall in love with her? Meh.
1Who does this? I have never felt the desire to ask a stranger for their food.
2Look, I love tofu in its original state. It doesn’t need to pretend to be something it’s not.
3I’ve never had anything too extreme. Just elk, antelope, and buffalo. I’m not sure if I would have the stomach for anything “weirder” than that. For example, bear meat apparently contains parasites, so you always have to cook it thoroughly. Sorry, but that’s enough to turn me off from trying it completely. On the other hand, my parents have it even worse. Lamb is apparently too gamey for them. But man, I could go for some lamb korma right now.
4This is sarcasm in case you’re dense.
Even hearing that you’ve had elk and buffalo sounds fancy to me haha. But that’s likely a difference in where we live. I have had kangaroo but most Australians have at least tried it
It’s all relative. I’d never even dream of eating kangaroo because it’s so far away.