Episode 7: A Boy of Love and Hate
A gang of hyena-folk approach Ilya in order to eat Sariphi. Enraged, Ilya kills the gang. He also tries to kill a hyena child who was not involved in the attack. Luckily, Sariphi intervenes and the innocent hyena escapes. While they rest, Ilya and Sariphi talk. The passionate boy reveals that he’s in love. Sariphi tries to convince him that not all beasts are bad and that the King wants peace. But Ilya has a traumatic past where his little sister was literally eaten in front of him by a beast. He will never forgive the “demons” that took his home and family away.
Guided by Bennu the Phoenix, the Beast King and his Holy Beast locate Sariphi and Ilya. The human boy ties Sariphi to a pole and faces off against the king with his swords. It quickly becomes apparent that Ilya stands no chance against the King, but he thinks to himself that he will just die here and that will make Sariphi see that beasts are evil. But things don’t go according to Ilya’s plan. The King allows the human to stab him, and refuses to fight further. Sariphi escapes the bonds and runs toward the King, crying and begging him not to die.
It turns out the King is fine – beasts are a lot sturdier than humans, and one sword stab won’t kill him. But this turn of events is shocking to Ilya, who realizes that he made Sariphi cry. Although he won’t let go of his hatred for beasts, Ilya agrees to leave the beast country. He will trust the girl’s belief that the King is good. When the two humans say goodbye, Ilya gives Sariphi a kiss on the forehead. The King and Sariphi then return to the palace. Although Sariphi is troubled over the endless conflict between beasts and humans, the King cheers her up with a garden party. At this table, if nowhere else, beasts and humans can get along.
I don’t have very many thoughts this time. I thought this episode did a good job showing the deep-seated conflict between beasts and humans. It’s also interesting that in the human world, the beasts are called demons, and their king is called the Demon Lord. Bennu the Phoenix continues to annoy me and not be cute at all. I still don’t like Ilya, and I’m glad he left the country at the end. However, this episode did succeed in making him more sympathetic by showing his severe childhood trauma. It was a good episode, but for whatever reason, I just don’t have much to say about it.
Episode 8: The Sea God and the Second Ordeal
It’s time for the next step in Anubis’ list of ordeals for the future queen. Sariphi must prove herself a queenly host to an important guest: Duke Galois, AKA the Sea God. He is the leader of the fish-folk. When the big shark-like Duke reaches the palace, it quickly becomes obvious that he hates humans and will not acknowledge Sariphi. At the banquet, he antagonizes her so much that she has to excuse herself.
Later that day, there is a formal dance. Not to be defeated, Sariphi asks Galois to dance with her. He refuses, but instead makes her dance with his short servant, who is old and covered in bandages. Sariphi and the servant get along very well and have fun dancing, until Galois angrily strikes down the old man. The duke draws his sword and would have used it, but Sariphi defends the servant.
While the human bravely challenges the shark-like man, the truth of the matter comes to light. The old man is, in fact, the real Duke Galois and leader of the fish-folk. He made the young shark warrior pretend to be him in order to test Sariphi. The good news is that Sariphi succeeded in impressing the fish-folk. The bad news is that, for tricking the king and insulting the future queen, Galois and his followers must be punished. After a little deliberation, the Beast King gives out the nominal “punishment” – Galois and the fish-folk must swear loyalty to the King forever. The fish people happily agree.
I was completely fooled by the act, thinking that the big shark guy was Duke Galois. It was a nice twist that the Duke was actually the old man, who seems to be a good person overall. I felt proud of Sariphi for being able to dance so well, when it was implied that she had just learned recently. The “kiss” in this episode, where the King licked Sariphi’s face, was incredibly cute. Other than that, I don’t have many thoughts on this episode. I’m impressed with this anime so far and I love the music in it as well as the characters. Although this anime isn’t the most high budget, it’s still very enjoyable and charming.
Ep 9: Recollections of a King and His Chancellor
When Sariphi asks for help finding a library, Anubis guides her there and considers killing her while they are alone. He believes Sariphi is conniving, selfish, and a terrible influence on the king. But in his excitement to kill the girl, Anubis’ fever spikes up and he passes out. Most of the rest of the episode is a flashback of the childhood story of young Anubis and the king. (Anubis’ original name was Sirius before he inherited the family title, and the young king was just called Prince.)
An intelligent, stubborn, and ambitious young pup, Sirius wanted nothing to do with the family tradition of serving the king. But he was made into the Prince’s attendant. Although the Prince was kind and humble, Sirius resented him. When the dog pup fell sick with fever, he was shocked to see the Prince sneak into his room and bring him food. But just then, kidnappers appeared and took both Sirius and the Prince.
The kidnappers were going to ransom the Prince. They decided to just kill off the other hostage. Suddenly, the Prince jumped in and took the sword-strike meant for Sirius. He was bleeding a lot, but before passing out, he knocked the kidnappers unconscious with magic. Being saved by the Prince was a huge turning point for Sirius. He now loved the Prince and decided to serve him. His name became Anubis, and his dedication never wavered after that day.
Back in the present, Anubis is embarrassed to wake up to Sariphi taking care of him. Although he says he will never accept her, the Chancellor decides to move on with the next ordeal rather than give Sariphi grief over the past. From now on, Anubis will judge Sariphi fairly and not use dishonest methods. I’m relieved that he’s slowly coming around. It would suck to have such a cool character be the antagonist for the entire anime. Hopefully, by the end of the series, Anubis will be completely Sariphi’s ally.
As for my other thoughts, I adored this entire episode. The little fluffball puppy versions of Anubis and the Prince were so freaking cute! Besides the cuteness, I also liked Anubis’ personality and how bold and independent he was always been. Additionally, I noticed that young Anubis was voiced by Rei Kugimiya, a favorite seiyuu of mine with a huge list of anime roles. The seiyuu for the young prince sounded familiar too, but I couldn’t place the voice. I thought the prince was super brave and admirable even as a young pup. His faithfulness to his ideals is a beautiful thing. I think that’s all for this episode.
Thank you for reading~
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