Junketsu no Maria – 04
Yeah, this trick will keep on working, won’t it?
Welcome back to the Hundred Years War. At first I thought this episode to be long in the proverbial tooth, what with all the dialog, but fine points are made as to what has happened, and what could happen in near future
Same Old Song and Dance
I do wonder if there is a Monster Summons of the Week subscription out there. No, not in the storytelling, but in Maria’s habits. You would think she would settle on a signature style by now. The dragon she used towards the beginning of the show could have fit the bill. But I think she’s trying to find out which suits her best. Last weeks Tarasque was quite cool, as was this weeks Wyvern. I’ll not be happy until it’s a Gryphon. This illustrates the point though. Maria isn’t giving a rat’s ass about Micheal orders, Ezekiel or not. I have to admit, I’m cheering for her. Fight the Authority! Given that they’ve established a straight line from Micheal to Ez about the over-use of magic in public it does beg the question about whether or not the virginity or chastity issue will have that much weight.
Momento Mori: Remember (you have) to Die
I thought this was the most important scene (or collection of) thus far…We would be excused to see it as Maria’s first and great failure. Only it very very much isn’t that at all. Despite everything, come rain or shine, by Anna or by her familiars, Martha gets her medicine.
This is a powerful testament (relish that word) to Maria’s own sense of faith in herself. A faith that was ultimately trumped. The juxtaposition of Maria reverence to this site, and the old man’s was palatable. One affirmed the fight for life, the other resignation towards death. Memento Mori….but that isn’t the only thing!
This also ties in rather chillingly to Bernard’s future plans. As stated, he felt it a right and just way for the poor soul to pass his time and to ultimately, pass on (in two respects of the phrase). So what does the confessor have in mind? Will he broker a wider peace, or is it something closer to the la Pucelle d’Orléans? Or will he strike a third option?
Shooting off the Lampshades
If the Memento Mori scenes delved into Maria’s past, and therefor her present mindset, the Virginity Scenes dived square into her present and future. There has been quite a lot of stock given to the concept of chastity in the show. As a matter of fact, to put a fine point on it, the show in the original Japanese is The Virginity (or Chastity) of Maria; witch need not apply. It’s in these following exchanges that the explode the concept not just as a lack of having carnal knowledge, but in perhaps a purity of thought and action. To do the right thing, regardless of personal outcome.
With Vivian we are beginning to explore some of this concept. For her own sense of sexual immaturity, she places little if any value. She’s upfront about that, and impresses that opinion upon all listening. Even Ezekiel! And you know, she had a chance to say yes or no to that line of questioning…nice game there, Ez….
Now, I admire Vivian’s equal opportunity lewdness up to a point. But for her to place no value on virginity, yet to place high value on Priapus’ (a walking conundrum right there) shows, if not a sense of hypocrisy, then at least a flaky, selfish attitude. And it’s a given, she’s a war profiteer that has no sense of why anyone would want to stop it. Perhaps she places a great value on what Cernunnous had said last episode and even adds her own sense of it. You can’t get off this cycle. Hey, it can’t be helped, might as well profit, right?
To this we add Garfa’s take on both the war and Josef’s own virginity. I think the point is made even sharper here between a sense of worldview and a sense of sexual virginity. Garfa seems to take it as an afront, much like Viv, that Josef is unschooled. I mean there was even a sense of payment or gratitude written right into the scene. Sex is a commodity, they seem to say, in as much as war. Is it a buyer or seller’s market? Also, I couldn’t help but feeling that Garfa’s complaint about the war losing steam was a form of gender shaming….
Yes, at first blush, I felt the show to be quite chatter chatter. And it was, but just because you don’t get a tremendous deal of ecchi or action doesn’t mean that the show has nothing to say. Quite the opposite here. By this episode they’ve connect a fair deal of the dots leading up to it; selfishness, self-awareness, and putting a fine point on the many shades of meaning that both virginity and the lack of it can bring. (English has no single word for a lack of virginity…that might show you where the value is in this language)
Going back to the conversation Martha had with Ezekial, I found it awesome that she remember Maria as a child. There was an overwhelming sense of history there, and the fact that the conversation was a defense of Maria, spoken as much to Anna as it was to an Angel’s messenger was impactful; more so when she reveals that Maria was, as Martha well and truly believes, an answer to a prayer. “…one has to keep an open mind to get by in this complicated world”. That’s a point that Ez misses, even when thinking about it more, seeing Maria as a potential “god”.
Next Time
“He who has begun, is half-done. Dare to know, dare to begin”
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
SHOta x LOLi is Fine Too. The Church approves as long as it is not SxS or LxL.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Except one thing: They might argue that they’re not married.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Simple solution: Marry them! 😀
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I now pronounce you shota and loli!! You may kiss the loli!! 😀
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Simply by her appearance and detailed knowledge of intercourse, there’s no denying that Viv is a nymphomaniac. The way she groped Artemis, it’s safe to assume she doesn’t mind girls on occasion. Acts more like a succubus than her, too. To me, she appears the type who’d bed anyone who strikes her fancy. I still pity Priapus. The words he got for being incomplete must have cut deep.
Though I hate to admit it, Viv does raise some valid points on Maria’s views. Idealistically, it’s an admirable idea to want to bring peace but it’s forcing ideals on others if only one person desires it and rest does not. Whether something is right or wrong doesn’t mean it will bring a unanimous agreement. It’s simple self-satisfaction. Maria would get point across if there were more people who want the same thing she does but right now, the majority vote is on continuing the war and she’s vastly outranked being a single person.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The ‘forcing ideals’ idea is bullshit, self-serving, specious argument. It is in no way valid. The “ideal” she’s forcing on people is “Don’t Murder Them.” That’s hardly a controversial point. In fact, it’s one of the basic rules set down by this god that they all supposedly revere. The moral turpitude of the whole church and war machine (and even god himself) is laid bare in their arguments why they should be allowed to continue their war unmolested and uninterfered with. That’s marginally fine until you see that Anna’s father, and Joseph, and thousands and thousands of other innocent people are being pressed into battles that they don’t want to be in.
Maria is on the side of the great majority of people. All those people in the villages? They don’t want to watch their husbands, sons, and fathers go off to a stupid war. But those are the people who don’t count. They’re not the Lords and Nobles and Kings. They don’t have the power. Maria has the power, and she wants to do something with it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A handful of soldiers apparently want war as well because they’re looking to profit and get pissed whenever Maria intervenes. Those there don’t care about peace in the slightest. Instead, they want fame and glory. Much like Joseph’s friend who has social status ambitions, believing the best outlet for such is going into battle which can’t be done because it’s always being interrupted.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yet, that’s no better than saying “I’m going to become rich and famous by mugging people.” It’s far worse, because it’s “I’m going to become rich by killing people.” How is the interference in that plan anything but a good thing?
There are always people who want war, because they believe they’ll be the winners of whatever war there is. And there is profit to be made in war. It’s just at the expense of others. But that’s a broken window fallacy. Maria is right when she says those people could be doing something else. That they either cannot or do not want to think of something else to do is *their* problem, not Maria’s.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I was looking for an angle to bring up the Broken Window…thanks!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Well, the moral turpitude of the church during that time period was calculated. They had tons of cloistered monks praying 24/7; for the nobility, basically constantly begging forgiveness on their behalf. Interestingly, the church had a ton of influence to gain when England started the war, and a ton to gain with France gaining more traction. If you were on the right side, you had a lot of win-win…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I agree with Highway. It’s only the ones who stand to profit from the war, such as the nobles, mercenaries and witches, that want the war to continue. The vast majority of people don’t. The Church’s position on the war may be more ambivalent. “Thou shall not kill” is a commandment, but at the same time the Church would think everything is by God’s will. So right now the war is God’s will and when He wills it the war will end. So a witch interrupting battles is going against God’s will. Another reason besides just being a witch for the Church to hate Maria.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
As Priapus says to Ezekiel, “god’s will” is an awfully facile argument. What it boils down to is “People just do what people want to do and excuse themselves by saying it’s god’s will.” It’s not a moral basis. And as Ezekiel and Michael have made plain, god doesn’t actually have any will. If it did, it would interfere in one way or the other with their battles (unless you consider that the priests and bishops actually DO get Divine Instruction… for both sides). Is this the same god who commanded “Thou shalt not kill”? You can’t even use the pathetic excuse of “they are killing non-believers”. These people all believe in the same god.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
The scenes of Maria as a child and already a witch make me wonder. Is there someone who taught her witchcraft or are witches born with an innate power that grows as they grow? And if it is the latter, where did she learn about the medicines she makes?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I was actually wondering if Martha was her mother, or maybe grandmother.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
That will be an interesting wrinkle to explore…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I doubt anyone can just go along the years and suddenly know how to make médicine. Someone must have taught her then later something happened and she got amnesia. Maria doesn’t even remember how she got her name in the first place. If she doesn’t know that, then she doesn’t even know her own parents.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Yes about not knowing her own parents. Which is part of why I was wondering if witches are born, not made through studying magic. But you’re right that that doesn’t explain how she learned to make medicines, and at such an early age as when she tried to save the village from the plague. But so far there’s been no mention of anyone teaching her magic. Did she learn how to make medicines from a book? These are some questions I’d like answered even if they might not be important to the story.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I would like these details as well. But…what if witches are born? What if they are all part of the created order? That dovetails back into the main thrust of the show….
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I absolutely LOVEEEE hanazawa Kana’s character for once she is the “butt monkey” character I don’t recall her playing that role before or has she? LOL
LOLi Maria = GAHAPFOGAIEFHAIAH OMG AAGAAGAG Cuteeee
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Well, she has played plenty of second girls…does that count as a butt monkey?
=she was darn cute….
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
who is this kana hanazawa? >_> Apparently doing some dub of a Chinese animu.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I saw that article on ANN today. Hanazawa sure is getting around lately. Already starring in her 1st Live-Action Feature. And her birthday is toward the end of the month.