If episode 16 was all about Galatea, episode 17 focuses on Jean’s fighting abilities. Though the weakest of the single-digits, she manages to be the key factor in the battle against Dauf. This episode concludes The Witches’ Maw arc, which means that the epic Northern Campaign will be next to appear.
Very few cappable shots in this episode. Anyways, have an Awakened Jean.
Some viewers have expressed their annoyance at Clare’s tendency to be saved at the most convenient times. Since this is primarily a shounen anime, that recurring event is a given. However, this time, it is Clare who does a little saving of her own. Finding Jean downstairs, awakened but still conscious as a human, she copies what Galatea did to her last episode. And she succeeds (even though the possibility of turning back from Awakened to human is close to zero, lol).
Galatea is mightily beat up as Clare and Jean arrive. How the fight went is never really depicted, though Galatea is seen with one of Dauf’s tubes stuck through her stomach. It seems like a cheap trick, even though Galatea has the highest strength factor gained through releasing her Yoki, she still looks pathetic after all that bravado. At least she’s still standing and not begging for help. However, she really does little in this episode except for a few Yoki hax here and there, having exhausted most of her strength fighting Dauf one on one.
So the rest of the fight goes like this:
- Clare, Jean, and Galatea prepare to strike Dauf.
- Jean readies her spinning drilly technique as the others try to distract Dauf.
- Riful praises everyone’s determination.
- Dauf swats the others away.
- Jean attacks.
- If Jean fails, return to #1.
- If this is not the first time Jean does her attack, Clare does some Flash Sword hax (FOCUS!), and Galatea does her Yoki hax.
- Jean hits. Ouchies.
- As Dauf is disabled, Jean prepares to finish him off.
- Whoops, Riful intervenes.
- Clare attacks Riful.
- Riful considers the cut splitting her head into two as the one strike Clare needed to hit her to cough up information on Easley. She tells them about Easley, the Abyssal One of the North.
- Riful leaves, taking a really smashed-up Dauf with her. (is it just me or is she way bigger than Dauf in her Awakened form?)
- ?????
- PROFIT!
The funny thing is that after everything that has been said and done, Galatea “tries” to resume her original mission: taking Clare back to the Organization, dead or alive. Of course Clare refuses, and Galatea considers taking her back as a corpse. However, Jean rushes to Clare’s aid, and Galatea simply scoffs that the two of them would never stand a chance against an Abyssal One (I refuse to use Eclipse’s icky translation “Dweller of the Deep“), deciding to report them as killed in action.
Galatea leaves, and Clare is stuck with Jean, who decides to stick with her no matter what, as part of her debt to Clare. This is a very interesting angle on Jean’s personality, who would make a perfect knight. Doing all she could not to Awaken despite the taunts and torture she received, and entrusting her life to Clare, it says a lot about her strict code of honor. Predictably, this life debt she owes to Clare would be used as a plot device in future arcs, and let’s just see how it would turn out.
It’s sad that we won’t be seeing Riful and Dauf for a long time (maybe if Madhouse could squeeze a little bit of the new arc before the season ends). Nana Mizuki’s performance as the cruel Abyssal One of the East is great. This show’s seiyuu cast never fails to amaze me. I wonder whom will they get for Easley, Ligardes, Undine and Flora?
Riful liek Dauf
