Man, how did the maid in the background get her braided twintails to look so puffy?
Though I Am an Inept Villainess Ep. 4
Keigetsu feels worse than ever, which is kinda funny because Reirin’s frail body isn’t even doing that badly. Nevertheless, the true villainess turns to Reirin and pleads for help. Our inept villainess, still over the moon that she gets to experience life in such a strong, healthy body, is more than happy to help the woman who tried to doom her. In reality, Keigetsu is just panicking, so Reirin has her cover her mouth and slow her breathing. It’s kinda like when you see people breathe into a brown paper bag to stop hyperventilating.
As soon as Keigetsu recovers, however, her nastiness returns. Reirin, feeling pity for her counterpart, suggests that they swap back to their original bodies. But it’s too early for Keigetsu. It’s too early for her to undergo the necessary character development needed to admit that she is wrong. Instead, she seems to think that Reirin’s body will recover one day, and when that happens — if it ever happens — she’ll finally be able to reap all the rewards she’s always wanted. So be it. Let the girl suffer some more. She’ll learn eventually.
When Leelee finally returns later that night, the court lady regrettably informs Reirin that she couldn’t return the hairpin. Since the captain hasn’t come to arrest Leelee, however, maybe they can just put this incident behind them. But Reirin refuses; she needs retribution for Leelee’s poor treatment. This is kinda funny, because she shows nothing but grace towards Keigetsu. So why the continued beef with Lady Seika?
Nevertheless, Reirin intends to confront Lady Seika at the upcoming Ghost Festival, which involves dancing in a fancy garment or something…? I dunno, not my culture. But lemme guess, everyone will snarl at Reirin because all they see is Keigetsu, but she will blow their socks off when she performs with grace before her audience. I can already picture it. After all, on the day of the ritual, Lady Seika bemoans the fact that Reirin, who is secretly housing Keigetsu’s soul, continues to be bedridden. She just sits there and trashes the other girls. No one else can possibly hope to match the beauty of Reirin’s dances! …or something to that effect. Well, sure, let’s see what Reirin can do in a “sewer rat’s” body.
Unfortunately, the prince is being a little jerkwad again. Y’see, he’s supposed to obey “the Lion’s Judgment,” so Reirin is innocent. C’mon, man, the lion has spoken! But seeing Keigetsu struggle in Reirin’s body has the prince all incensed again. In fact, he will be even madder than ever if he sees the inept villainess try and be, well, herself. I get that none of these people are aware of the body swap nor can they even imagine the possibility of it. But damn, can a girl not redeem herself? Yeah, I dunno about this prince. He seems too petty and myopic to be a ruler. Maybe Reirin will impress Lady Seika at the Ghost Festival, but inadvertently piss off the prince.
A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even Ep. 5
The start of this episode is all about Friede’s incompetence. The problem is that they make him so useless that it’s almost unbelievable. His soldiers have to lose to him on purpose to puff up his ego. He’s a spendthrift who spends mountains of gold on useless jewelry for Silvia. Speaking of Silvia, she’s supposed to undergo princess training, but Friede brushes it off. He doesn’t do any work, so Rosaria, the woman assigned to replace Elizabeth, has to pretty much seize control of the government. To top it all off, a mere merchant is even able to goad Friede into attacking the Empire in order to garner respect. So like, if this guy is such a fucking pathetic dumbass, why does he have the keys to the kingdom, so to speak? Empires are brought down by idiot successors all the damn time, so I’d understand it if his father was dead. But he’s not! Elizabeth’s father is also still around. And again, Rosaria has been handling the prince’s responsibilities. So what gives? Why have they not severely curtailed Friede’s power? At this point, they’re just as incompetent as the crown prince for allowing him to do whatever he wants. If a kid takes the car on a joy ride and accidentally kills someone, who do you blame? The parents! And Friede is pretty much a manchild!
But yeah, war breaks out. Problem is, Haldoria signed a peace treaty with the Yutear Empire, and they can’t just break it willy-nilly. So instead, the gutless crown prince orders one of the kingdom’s vassal states to attack the empire instead! Aw man, diplomats and ambassadors hate this one loophole!
Anyway, the fighting threatens one of Elizabeth’s manufacturing sites, so she has no choice but to join the war and flex the powers of her grimoires. Don’t mistake her for a kind-hearted heroine. She’s an ultra-capitalist through and through.
The Forsaken Saintess and Her Foodie Roadtrip in Another World Ep. 5
Like always, we get action scenes that are laughably bad, and mountains of meat as a chaser. The meat sweats this party gets must be terrible. At some point in their dungeoning, they discover a barren field draped in snow. For whatever reason, Aria is extremely sensitive to the cold. As a result, Rin “cooks up” moxa by microwaving dried mugwort, throwing in some random bullshit, then wrapping everything up in a cloth. Once she drapes this around Aria’s neck, the elf’s condition instantly improves. I have no clue what moxa is. My cursory research suggests that it’s just nonsense related to acupuncture. Our forsaken saintess probably could’ve saved a lot more time and effort with regular heating pads.
The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power Ep. 6
This is probably the most annoying episode yet. Thanks to Carolina, Gilbert’s debilitating illness has long since been cured. We’ve known this since the end of last week’s episode. Nevertheless, he pretends otherwise to keep Carolina around. She has to keep visiting him every day. And as she does so, rumors start spreading. The source of said rumors? Gilbert himself! He ultimately stages a scene in which it looks like he and Carolina are embracing in front of Edward. Then even after his brother and Carolina have affirmed their love for each other, Gilbert confesses his feelings anyway for “closure.” Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.
Of course, the story tries to hedge at the last second. Edward’s aide asks if Gilbert was actually trying to spur Edward into action. You could thus argue that he was gauging the depths of Edward’s love for Carolina. If his younger brother had faltered at all, Gilbert would swoop in to claim Carolina for himself. But that’s still insane. How could you even consider taking your younger brother’s wife for yourself? It’s so ungrateful, too. Edward has never once deigned to claim the throne for himself. He easily could’ve done so considering Gilbert’s chronic condition.
But Gilbert isn’t the only annoying character. Edward is mad with jealousy, but he bottles up his feelings to avoid hurting Carolina. Meanwhile, Carolina is dumb as a rock, not realizing that her husband is jealous. She’s completely clueless the entire time! I guess you could even say… she was oblivious.
Anyway, back in Celestia, evil pope man — or maybe he’s an evil bishop man — finally informs the king of the truth: Carolina is the true saintess. As a result, they should try and get her back. Unfortunately, the episode ends there, so we don’t know what the king will decide. Carolina’s father is also present, and I’m curious to see what he thinks. After all, he didn’t really want to marry her off. He did, however, pay them a visit right before she got married, so he should know that she’s happy in the empire.
All Works Maid Ep. 7
Anna-Marie bumps into Melody in town, because the former knows the game inside out. As such, she knows when and where a game event should unfold involving the heroine. What’s weird is how Melody’s words and actions still reflect the game’s script despite, well, her becoming a completely different person. Not only is she someone who has been isekai’d — so she should have her own personality separate from the in-game heroine — she’s also a maid instead of a saintess. And yet she treads the same path? She still utters the same words? Why does Melody not feel like her own person?
Unfortunately, everyone is still as dumb as a brick. Despite all of the evidence pointing to Melody as the heroine, Anna-Marie still can’t connect the dots. I mean, Melody was the one who enchanted Luciana’s dress for the ball. That’s a pretty big clue, isn’t it? And this week, Melody is the one being accosted by thugs in town like the heroine? Another big clue! Melody goes to a shop and stares at a blue ring — the same blue as her mother’s eyes. Another massive clue! And yet, Anna-Marie shakes these all off. Nawwwww, that girl can’t be the heroine. My heroine has silver hair! C’mon, I’m not even asking for smart characters. Just give me average. Just give me someone who has suspicions and thus carries out tests or experiments to verify said suspicions. But Anna-Marie does nothing of the sort.
She does, however, fill the gaps left unattended because Melody refuses to embrace her fate. Basically, the heroine would’ve been going from orphanage to orphanage, aiding the children like a proper saintess. But our Melody is too busy being a class traitor. Luckily, Anna-Marie hates sad endings, so she’s stepping up. She even sends the poor children money. And isn’t that just sad? All this does is remind us how much more Melody could be doing, but our protagonist would rather be a maid. And hell, like I argued at the start of the season, she could still be a maid and help the needy. She just has no imagination. It’s also funny how Melody seems to obey the script in so many ways, but literally saving children is something she still has the free will to avoid. Astounding, really.
