The start of the episode has Rose shopping for a new robe. To be more accurate, Tien has brought her all sorts of nice fabric that they can turn into a new robe. I guess it’s only natural for a girl in love to also start paying attention to how she looks. But in the end, she feels too self-conscious to wear her new, fancy garment around Harij. “It’s far too obvious,” she says, “if I suddenly start wearing a brand-new robe.” What’s obvious? Her feelings? You think a dude like Harij would make that connection? Hah. And despite forgoing the new robe, she still pinches her cheeks to make it look like she had put on rouge. In my opinion, this makes her stand out way more than anything she wears. I mean, we’re supposed to change our clothes on a daily basis. Rose just doesn’t know that, because she’s a recluse living on the edge of civilization.
There’s an amusing moment midway through the episode when Harij asks Rose about the contents of a bowl sitting in front of him. He probably thinks it’s some mystical product that a witch like Rose might whip up. But no, it’s just a bunch of wilted lettuce. Our heroine is a complete girlfailure who can’t even do the simplest of chores! Not only that, who gives a shit about your new robes or lip balm when you can’t even throw old, disgusting lettuce away? In fact, she confesses that this is all she eats when she’s out here by herself. Oh, you mean 99% of the time? Why just eat lettuce, you ask? ‘Cause she doesn’t have to cook it.
Harij grabs Rose’s arm and finally realizes that she’s skin and bones. Now, there’s no possible way a person could subsist on just that. There are barely any nutrients in lettuce. Even a rabbit can’t survive on it alone. But whatever, this is anime so you’ll just have to pretend that a girlfailure can nevertheless eke out an existence in these conditions. Rose probably gets the bare minimum of nutrients from all the mold in her dirty domicile. She tells us later, “Lately, I’ve started to bathe more often, even if I find it a hassle.” Ugh, what do you suppose “more often” means here? How much less often did she bathe before Harij started visiting her regularly? Actually, maybe I don’t want to know.
Speaking of bathing, Harij is suddenly back. She wasn’t expecting him, because she had told him that she needed a month to process the ingredients. Naturally, she’s buck naked at the moment. Rose dashes off in embarrassment, thinking to herself, “To think Lord Harij, of all people, would see me with my pale-skinned, sloppy figure that’s not even constrained by a corset.” Girl, don’t put on a corset. You probably don’t consume even a gram of calcium, so a corset would simply snap your ribs like they were twigs. Case in point, Harij is only here because he was concerned about her diet. As a result, he’s brought a basket full of bread and a jar of apple butter. Okay, well, I suppose that’s a step up from lettuce, but you still need more than bread and butter. He honestly couldn’t throw in some cured meats like bacon? C’mon, bro, you’ve got a knight’s salary, don’t you! In fact, our girl needs all sorts of things. She probably doesn’t even get enough salt in her diet.
Even when she’s fully dressed, Rose is freaking out. She accidentally lets it slip that she knows his name, so Harij keeps pressing her. She starts rambling, so she reveals a witch’s one big weakness: they can’t tell lies. I don’t believe that, though. Or rather, I question this show’s idea of what constitutes an actual lie. I love these silly rationalizations Rose tells herself: “Even though we cannot lie, we can still hide the truth or steer conversation away.” Girl, you’re already leading the guy on a wild goose chase, because you can’t admit that you don’t really want to make him a love potion. That’s a form of deception, i.e., lying. “Hiding the truth?” That’s also considered lying — lying by omission. Ah well, at least it isn’t as bad as trying to brainwash someone with a love potion.
A couple stray thoughts:
- Alright, fine, I’ll do a dedicated post for this show every week. For the time being, anyway. I don’t have high hopes for the show, but there isn’t really much else to cover. This is one of the weaker seasons that I’ve seen in a while.
- Tien kinda acts like the uncle who has no kids of his own, so he gets to spoil his niece whenever he visits. The only problem is his character design; I feel like he should look a lot older than he does.
- It doesn’t freeze during the winter, does it? I’m just wondering how Rose keeps herself clean when the lake is frozen.
- I thought the dude would slice the bread into, y’know, slices. But no, he gives her a rather large wedge of bread. Is that how others eat bread?
