Give me a moment. I feel the need to throw up.
Though I Am an Inept Villainess Ep. 10
Reirin and Keigetsu rush to counter the curse that has been placed on the empress. Swapping back also comes up, but Keigetsu explains that she doesn’t have enough qi to do both at the moment. Well, that’s a good excuse to keep both maidens in their current bodies for now. Keigetsu also insists on completing the venomcraft herself. This way, if it fails, only she dies. This is apparently her way to atone. This is how she would pay Reirin back for believing in her. As a result, the two maidens finally have the heart-to-heart they so desperately needed. Reirin readily admits that she has been blessed with an easy life, and in doing so, she may have finally unlocked the key to Keigetsu’s troubled heart. Reirin didn’t dismiss the so-called sewer rat’s experience. She heard her out and accepted them.
But as you might expect, the true villainess shows up, and when she does, Leelee realizes that that mysterious Gayou woman was Gabi all along. A predictable struggle ensues in which Gabi threatens Reirin’s life, but the maidens ultimately prevail. I mean, of course they would. There was no chance in hell they could ever fail. Still, what I find funny is the anime insisting on censoring the centipede at the center of the curse. C’mon, it’s a bug, not a dong. Plus, they didn’t censor it here!
The curse on the empress breaks, so she will survive. Gabi gets counter-cursed as a result. She even tries to off herself, but Shin-u arrives just in time to prevent this. Why do we want to keep this woman alive, though? Meh, I guess the empress wouldn’t want her former friend to die. There’s always a chance they could mend their relationship… but she did try to get Reirin killed. I dunno, man, I think some things are just unforgivable.
There’s a scene where Shin-u tries to draw the Bow of Warding, but it breaks after just one attempt. The bow is blessed with water, and the only element that beats water is earth, apparently (that’s news to me!). He then connects the dots and realizes that the maiden who used the bow can’t be Keigetsu. After all, the Shu clan is aligned with fire. So it’s his turn to finally realize that Reirin and Keigetsu were swapped. Okay, so what? I only bring this scene up because what’s the point of it? What is he going to do with this information?
I guess there’s a chance Shin-u could fall in love with Reirin like his half-brother, and thus compete with Gyoumei for her love. But here’s the thing: Shin-u has barely had any meaningful interactions with Reirin! There’s literally no chemistry between them! Gyoumei is different. I literally just find him disgusting which is why I object to their romance. But at least he has actually spent time with her before the body swap. I dunno, man, I just think it’s weird that this show insists on having some sort of romance subplot at all. Granted, Reirin is a maiden. She was groomed to become either the empress or one of the crown prince’s many consorts. Even so, romance just feels so unnecessary. Go back to Reirin living it up on her makeshift farm. That part was fun. All this stuff with the boys? Meh.
The Forsaken Saintess and Her Foodie Roadtrip in Another World Ep. 11
Vil’s brother Noah explains that the goal of the original otome game was to defeat him, the demon lord. But ever since he got isekai’d, he’s been correcting the story so that nobody has to go to war. He currently rules over a peaceful nation comprised of myriad races. But the world being the way that it is, a summoning was initiated anyway. If you’ll recall, it also got us two different women. Noah thus tasks Rin with intercepting the other saintess, because for all we know, that woman is meant to take him out. Why can’t he do it himself? Noah’s excuse is that he’s one of the major characters, so he doesn’t have that kind of free will. But he just explained how he completely rewrote the scenario to prevent all0out war. C’mon, man. Noah drops one more major doozy: Rin’s party are nobodies in the original game. He doesn’t know if they’re meant to survive, so she needs to do what she can to protect them. Hm, alright, but I thought this was just a chill show about being a foodie in a fantasy world? Like, sure, I’d love a good plot, but um… where is it? Oh, all of the above? Nawwwww, c’mon, you can do better than that!
Anyway, Rin and Smorgasbord proceed to investigate events that are meant to empower the true saintess. As a result, they head to a town plagued by giant bats. Well, not really. The bats are giant, but they haven’t really done anything harmful. Rather, they simply grew unbelievably large, because the saintess summoning caused giant hornets to appear, which the bats have been feasting on. As a result, Smorgasboard takes out the hornets’ hive, which should return the bats to their normal size. Doing so also gets them a mana crystal, which means that’s one less power-up for the real saintess. Sure, but why don’t you just make contact with the other woman and see if she even wants to murder people? I mean, she also got isekai’d like Rin, right? She could very well just be a normal woman. See what I mean, though? I would love to watch a show with a great plot, but that isn’t possible.
The anime finally remembers that it’s supposed to be about food, so Rin introduces her party to the Cuban sandwich. So the sandwich filling looks right. No problem there. Mustard on the bread, uh huh. That’s also expected. The next two steps kinda bug me, though. Rin might have a fully-kitted out RV, but she doesn’t have a plancha. Okay, that’s fine. You can still manually press down on the Cuban sandwich with another hot pan. But Rin doesn’t do that. She just fries it normally. I dunno, I feel like you can add anything you want to a dish in order to make it your own. If you wanna use bacon in your carbonara, whatever. I don’t care. But the cooking method has to stay the same. You can’t fry the noodles and still call it carbonara. Likewise, if you’re not going to cook the sandwich on both sides simultaneously and compress it, then it’s not a Cuban sandwich. It’s just a hot sandwich. The real thing has a signature look and mouthfeel. You can put different meats inside it, but it has to be made a certain way. Also, the bread doesn’t look quite right. It looks like ciabatta. Cuban bread might come out looking like baguettes, but what sets them apart is the lard. Yeah, that’s right. Lard. Okay, I guess you could use other fats, especially if you’re vegetarian, but then maybe you probably shouldn’t be eating a Cuban sandwich either. Alright, nitpicking over.
The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power Ep. 12
The king starts things off by saying he’ll pick the crown prince, and he won’t listen to any objections. Aaaaaand he picks Gilbert anyway. Why did he even bother with the intro? Edward never wanted the throne to begin with!
With that out of the way, Carolina is off to Celestia for a visit. Unfortunately, her bitter sister somehow has a gun tucked away in a drawer just for this occasion. She intends to assassinate her sister during the parade a la JFK. Quick, check all the grassy knolls! But seriously, I didn’t even know this setting had firearms. And where’s the dad, you ask? Admitting to Carolina that this is all his fault, but he still won’t do anything useful to rectify the situation. Dude’s just a yapper. He never acts. He just yaps.
Fiora actually manages to get pretty close to Carolina on the auspicious day, but someone suddenly yanks her back into the shadows where she belongs. Her yelp gave me a good laugh. It turns out it was her maid Iris, whom we barely know. But sure, be the voice of reason. God knows Fiora needs one, because daddy dearest is currently doing… what, exactly?
Even so, Iris didn’t conclusively talk Fiora out of the assassination attempt. She only manages to delay it. Fiora rushes back out into the streets and takes aim once more. But for some reason, she changes her mind. She suddenly comes to the realization that she has truly been a horrible sister all this time. Why the heel turn? Is it simply because she saw Carolina smiling? Or did these magical particles have a pacifying effect on Fiora’s soul? After all, Carolina is called an oblivious saint for a reason. I can’t discount the possibility that she may have inadvertently quelled her sister’s rage through her saintess powers.
As soon as Fiora turns the gun on herself, daddy dearest finally shows up. Did he just get here…? ‘Cause I’d hate to entertain the alternative. Ah well, I guess this isn’t the worst way they could’ve handled Fiora’s redemption arc. She mostly seems to come to this conclusion on her own (but those particles!). In the aftermath, she apologizes to Carolina for probably the first time in her life. The girl then asks her sister to atone by protecting Celestia, their mother’s homeland. It’s all a little too neat and tidy, though. Fiora even gets to succeed her father. Forgiveness is one thing. Trust is a completely separate matter, and I wouldn’t give Fiora any position of power for a long time. Nevertheless, we need our “heartwarming” ending.
And with that, the story is over. Eh… what more can I say about the show? It’s just not ambitious enough. These women with amazing powers — either saintesses or villainesses — should have more ambition. They should aim to do great things. I never felt that from Carolina. We saw her use her powers to wash sheets almost as many times as we saw her heal the sick and wounded.