Junketsu no Maria – 11
Let’s catch up with Maria!
Welcome back to the Hundred Years War. When we last left our intrepid witch she was on her way to the thick of the fighting, without her powers, but with all the zeal of a soldier willing to defend all she holds dear.
Si Vi Amari, Ama : If you wish to be loved, love
Pictured: Witches doing….things…
At this point I’m still scratching my head over what the other members of the witches guild were up to, or why they were here in the first place. I know that a show with a title character can only spend so much time on supporting cast, much less back-benchers. But a bit more about what they did during the war might have given the show some needed magic-side depth. Viv, and then the magnificent Edwina took up much of that heavy-lifting eventually, but Cat did more than the guild did…and speaking of which…
I want to go back a bit and give some credit where due. I called her Meow last episode, but I was able to discover that the role is listed as Cat, and was played by Danny John-Jules Ari Ozawa. I just loved how she figured into a lot of the existing plot. She too cute by half. But more on her and Edwina in a bit…
Cynicism vs. Optimism?
A great deal of the story this time around was taken up by what was a very very odd fight. There really was little outward reason for these two to go all out into this pitched battle. Josef had no story reason to suspect Garfa of any wrong doing at this point, and Garfa didn’t exactly let on leading up to it. I think most of it comes from Garfa’s misplaced aggression, and Josef got caught up in it, with no choice but to defend himself.
The rest of the fight comes in earnest after the mercenary’s assault on Maria comes to light, and the boy cannot let that pass without doing something. While the physical tete-a-tete rose rose tot the fore, a verbal and philosophical fight emerges as well. They’ve made Garfa into quite the complex character all along, and this, though handled in a rather clumsy manner, is almost as if he is trying to cut his final ties to his own past. He was probably just as idealistic as Josef in the past; only without the luxury to live that way. But, idealism has allies…(Cynicism has allies, but man, they are tough…)
…and she can kick pretty darn hard….
The next “fight” was much more entertaining, and even more endearing. Don’t you love it? We’ve spent nearly the entire season seeing two people that are obvious enthralled with each other make all the excuses not to extend themselves, and not be able to say exactly how they feel. If it’s not circumstances beyond their control it’s just them. One of them is keeping arm’s length due to propriety, the other to embarrassment.
Heck, that’s not just this show, that’s most of the programming a hobbyist anime watcher digests! So yes, three cheers for those confessions of love. It took them long enough, right? They both just had to realize that it wasn’t all that complicated. Of course it might not be that easy, but I think these two can hammer out the differences. Oh, how much like Garfa is Maria and vice versa? Is Josef man enough to withstand it?
At first we were like, meh. And then were like, yeah….
It Springs Eternal
Later folks, got me a husband now!
But I don’t think that this is going to tell near enough the story. We’ve got one more episode, and besides Maria getting her powers, her home, and her dignity back, there are quite a few things left to resolve. I noticed that on four instances, issues came up, and then were left unspoken or unresolved…
The first and fourth time were mentioned by the narrator in the intro and the preview. Both statements seem to match with a fact made twice this episode. There is more to Maria than just being a witch (and indeed in sharing a name with the Blessed Mary). The second was in a conversation between Bernard and Gilbert, about how the former used witches as part of his “whatever means available” ideal. What business does the confessor still have? It shocked both Cat and Edwina somthing horrible to discover their arts were part of a series of deceptions. And the third was the strange conversation between these two…
Anne don’t take nothin’ from this guy…
While it is demonstrably true that forgetfulness is a great human weapon, it’s not the first one I would ever reach for if given the chance. I’m glad to see that innocent little Anne feels the same way. It seems that Cern would perhaps like to be forgotten, and feels that is the way of the world. But, as the witches observed that humans were like bugs during the big battle scenes, let’s not forget that we don’t have to be so hide-bound. At the end, Cern slinks away, just when Maria’s power comes back and rebuilds her home. But he does laugh under what passes for his breath. Was he goading Anne on, much like Garfa did to Josef? Was he surprised and happy at Anne’s revelations?
Well, I will be the first to admit that at first blush, this episode came off as just plain odd. It feels like it shouldn’t fit in with the tone of the previous two episodes. Upon re-watching it, the pieces fell into place, and even the most ebullient of all the moments ring true. Even with that, the story isn’t quite over yet, as Maria has been summoned by Micheal to answer for her actions.
Something tells me this isn’t a double date…
But she has a great deal of confidence on her side. It does make me wonder exactly how in line she may be in with Cern’s line of thinking, being forgotten. Or, is there something else? Like a few of the passages that were left unsaid this episode, there might be upcoming, half-finished thoughts that have been hanging around, waiting for the time to come out. This may come from Micheal or god, or it may come from Maria herself. She’s got a plan…
Next Time
What, everything’s gonna end?! Whoops, apocalypse!
Just a bit more from the end cards….
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Next Episode: They all convert to the Church of Om. The Omnian Quisition shall take place. The Cenobiarch shall be pleased.
In other news: See Maria! Run Maria! Run! See Maria run!
A Divine Buster hits the town. More news at 6.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…the Turtle Moves…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
And Fiery Elephant shall rain down.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What an indirect confession from the two lovebirds. So now we have an official Maria x Joseph pairing. Really, it’s about time.
On that point, among the unresolved developments, I wonder what Gilbert thinks of Bernard since in his eyes, Bernard has crossed an ethical line numerous times. I wouldn’t put it passed him to use the knowledge as leverage and usurp his position.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
And their child shall be called: Jesus. 😛 Only this time he wouldn’t have 12 lousy disciples but 12 big, burly bodyguards.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Both Bernard and Gilbert have historical figures they are based on. Gilbert actually followed in Bernard’s footsteps (but I think the former died many years before the later was born), as a theological thinker. What the anime characters think of each other is a different thing.
And for the record I did try to look up information about what Bernard was writing in this episode. A Google search gave me about 5 or 6 different choices based on the words I could make out….obviously “imaginarius” and “deum non” figure greatly into many teleological works…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Nice idea stacking the preview cards atop another. I hadn’t noticed they were all connected.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I had initially wanted to feature these shots as my preview cards, but felt that the other choices I made served the better purpose. Good thing I saved the idea…I didn’t know they would connect so well until about the fifth episode, but by then it was a bit to late to pull the trick…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Manga readers have confirmed the anime isn’t a panel-by-panel adaptation. Events have been rearranged, rewritten or omitted to form a more cohesive plot. (The manga was lacking in that aspect.)
Other differences:
1) Bernard and Garfa are not in the manga. The manga has priests critical of Maria, but they’re more faceless, nameless characters.
2)Priapus looks older in the manga, around Josef’s age. He doesn’t wear shorts, only conveniently placed leather belts. O__o
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Damn the Japanese and their convenient censorship! 😛
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Since Priapus is missing something rather essential there, what does the censorship matter?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
If the rearrangement was made for the sake of the story being easier to comprehend, then the reward was well worth the risk.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
By the time the anime aired, I had read the available scans (up to about chapter 12) and since then, no new chapters have been added. I did see a few raw pages here and there, but nothing that would have given me any hits about where the story was goin.
I like that they added Bernard/Gilbert and Garfa, as they added needed faces to the drama.
Yeah, well, you can’t hide what you don’t have….
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I didn’t expect things to go from witch-burning to adorable marriage proposals so quickly. Not that I’m complaining – it was really cute seeing them get together. Even cuter was Maria’s incredibly exaggerated reaction. Getting a boyfriend is so awesome you just have to fly above the city, announce it to everyone, and produce your own fireworks complete with a parade of demons. Real subtle, Maria. You could have just changed your facebook status like how the rest of us do it!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Facebook didn’t exist back then. Maria needed something with a more personal touch. 😉
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m still trying to convince myself that the unexpected turn is/was complete foolishness. Not very hard mine you…