When we last left off, Iana remembered that the duchess is the evil mastermind behind all the kidnapping. In fact, Amaryllis has gone mad, so she is also now a murderer. Basically, we have lives to save. But Iana can’t do this alone, so she predictably has to team up with Cheneau. You know how it goes. He has been at her throat for the past two episodes, so this antagonism makes their working relationship a little spicier. And in the aftermath, when he discovers that Iana has been innocent this whole time, he’ll finally bend the knee. They’re going to redeem Cheneau because he’s one of the bishies, but I don’t care because fuck this guy. Threatening to send anyone to their death without an ounce of evidence makes you scum. Forget the gallows. He doesn’t even have a reason to arrest her. What crime has she committed? The crime of running around the mansion and opening doors?
After a lot of aimless searching, Iana eventually puts two and two together and realizes where secret basement could be: the same place where the duchess had invited Konoha for tea. Unfortunately, as soon as Iana stumbles upon the entrance, Cheneau immediately gets knocked out by our mastermind, which also leaves Iana defenseless. What a useless cop. Can’t deduce a damn thing, willing to arrest people with no evidence, and even lets bad guys sneak up on him. He’s got stupid hair too.
Finally, Duchess Amaryllis goes mask-off, and… it’s… uh… okay, look, this is real Konoha’s weirdo fantasies, okay? Apparently, she even made the duchess a rapist. Blame Amaryllis all you want, but real Konoha’s younger self wrote her to be this way. It is absolutely normal for teens going through puberty to have sexual fantasies. That’s not what I’m harping about. A young teen writing about girls being kidnapped and assaulted is a bit concerning, but even then, you can do this story right. I just think this series plays it too fast and loose with such a heavy subject matter. We’re not going to take it that seriously, because let’s face it: Amaryllis is a woman. If this had been a duke instead, the tone would be a lot heavier and a lot darker. But Amaryllis is a woman, so it’s different — different enough to crack jokes like having the sex slaves act like they’re giving Amaryllis a blowjob with a parfait. So cheeky, right? But why are we even being cheeky about this?
Right on cue, we get our “haha” portion of this story beat. To take stock, we have Amaryllis, who is guilty of kidnapping, sexual assault, and also murder… but she also can’t strip Cheneau naked in order to defile him, because fantasy clothes are just so ridiculous! Isn’t it funny, you guys? But seriously, would we be having this same gag if Amaryllis had been a dude? Plus, we’re supposed to believe that Iana is now in a real, living world. It might resemble real Konoha’s writing, but we’re supposed to believe that she is now surrounded by real people with real feelings. Well, what does Cheneau do when he’s at home and needs to bathe? I get that this is a gag that allows him to avoid Amaryllis’s assault, but what are we doing, man?
Nevertheless, this entire arc is supposed to be real Konoha’s moment of growth. Face-to-face to Amaryllis, Iana realizes that she’s looking at her past self. She used to be bitter and jealous. And as a result, she may have perhaps written some questionable things. But no more! The Konoha currently inside Iana Magnolia’s body has grown up and matured! There’s also another layer to it, because no one in this world knows anything about real Konoha. Instead, they think they’re hearing the dastardly Iana Magnolia undergoing her own maturation. Finally, a moment of reflection for our heroine! I just wish this whole thing had been treated with more care and delicateness. The wild swerve between “Yo, I’ve been giving your sister ‘so much love’ for the past six months” and “Heh, fantasy clothes can’t be removed” is so dumb.
We’re treated to Amaryllis’s backstory, which is just as ridiculous as the clothes that Cheneau wears. Y’see, the duchess had a dying sister, and on the dying sister’s deathbed, she told Amaryllis to always remain beautiful. The duchess took this literally, and this somehow “warped” her heart to the extent that she now kidnaps, assaults, and murders young girls. Huh? But whatever, this was written by a horny but jealous teenager. It’s not like I can expect her writing to be worthy of a Nobel prize.
Anyway, Iana tries to free herself by using her sister’s words. Y’see, in the story that real Konoha wrote, ideal Konoha easily convinced Amaryllis to repent by invoking the duchess’s memories of her late sister. Unfortunately, Iana can’t do the same thing, because not only does the content of the words themselves matter, it also matters where those words come from. You can’t deliver someone else’s heroic speech and have the same effect on the audience if you’re a scumbag. Ironically, ideal Konoha’s words are just real Konoha’s words, and real Konoha is inside Iana. Alas… Meanwhile, Cheneau is futilely yelling at the duchess that she is committing a crime. Gee, maybe she doesn’t know that! Maybe this whole time, she thinks she’s just having fun, little parties with her victims! I’m so glad you’re here to set her straight, cop man!
Before Amaryllis kills Iana, she has to cut our heroine’s clothes off. Why? Beats me. Not sure why we’re getting fanservice in this situation, but anime’s gotta anime. I’ve also never see a plaid bra before, but this is neither here nor there. The rest of the episode is pretty predictable. Cheneau somehow breaks free and protects Iana from a fatal attack. He then tells her to go get help while he tries to distract Amaryllis with… his body, apparently? But in the end, Iana insists on staying. We’re supposed to take this as a sign that she won’t run from her problems like her past self. I mean, that’s great and all, but she can’t fight. Whatever, Sol will probably swoop in and save the day at the last second. Well, that’s our cliffhanger. Tune in next week to see how the evil duchess is finally defeated.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- When questioned about Iana’s disappearance, Ginoford doesn’t tell police everything. Nothing too significant here. Just a sign that he has some trust in Iana these days.
- Somehow, Konoha is able to “sense darkness” descending upon the mansion. I guess this is supposed to be her latent powers doing the talking. I half-expect Sol to save Iana like he always does. But there’s a tiny chance Konoha could awaken to her saintly powers due to her sister being in trouble. Hm, probably not.
- Huh, doesn’t one of real Konoha’s friends look kinda similar to one of Amaryllis’s sex slaves? I wouldn’t put it past real Konoha to write her friend into her stories.
- Even now, after Iana has shown Cheneau that everything she’s said is true, he still thinks he needs to tell her not to be seduced by Amaryllis’s offer. Bro, you suck so much. Then again, real Konoha wrote him to be an idiot, so in a way, she’s just reaping what she’s sown.
