The cure for sadness is a threesome.
This episode had a lot of changes compared to the manga. Not only did they make the events that happen somewhat different but even made one aspect less darker. On the plus side we do a get a bunch of anime original scenes this time for service.
After hearing soldiers outside they look and see them searching for Keyaru and offering a reward for those with information while also dragging around villagers whom he recognizes as from his village. Knowing something might had happened to his town and worried about Anna he asks Kureha to investigate since she is the only one that can since she has access to the castle still and so forth. In the manga Kureha tells him that the reason the soldiers were able to track down his location is because of the city’s fame for outlaws and having heard rumors about a healer that could cure sickness there.
We then see Leonard at the castle with a flashback to a scene they skipped last week where he burns his face because of his hatred for Keyaru. The big change here though is what happens at the castle. Here in the anime he just gets a report about how no one has seen Keyaru yet and they are still looking as he says he is certain he is hiding in that city as we see Anna chained to the ground. In the manga we get him fantasizing about raping Flare and talking about how he knows she has to still be alive which is skipped here.
The most notable change though is his prisoner. This is just the start of the stuff they changed with Anna but in the manga Leonard is instead beating a soldier that ran away during the ice wolf attack and gets information from him that the person who attacked it also had a strong mage with them which convinces him that Flare is still alive and with Keyaru.
Kureha reports back that Keyaru’s village was attacked and that Leonard had used the excuse that Keyaru is a heretic as well as the whole village to justify attacking it. Keyaru then decides to go gather more information and changes to look like the soldier that they killed in the last episode. In the manga the excuse for attacking the village is still the same but they claim that Keyaru tried to rape some saint woman as well and is the leader of the cult of heretics which the village consists of. The following is completely different from the manga as they utilize that soldier scene from the anime last week to lead into the following scenes instead.
Keyaru spies on the group of soldiers and doesn’t see Anna anywhere with the villagers. He then decides to grab and drag one of the soldiers into the ally as he shows himself as the soldier that fled and tells the guy he wants to return to the army despite deserting. He gives the soldier a letter and tell him to deliver it to Leonard. Before he leaves he asks about the villagers as the solider tells him they are from Keyaru’s village which they attacked while also telling him that Leonard raped the woman that raised Keyaru in front of everyone when they attacked the village as he leaves. Keyaru starts to think how Anna was the only one that kept him sane and took care of him. Leonard then arrives at the house he was told about in the letter where Keyaru disguised as the other soldier asks if he can return to the army if he tells him where Keyaru is. After Leonard agrees he reveals himself as having been in disguise the whole time just as the paralyzing potion’s fumes he setup take affect and cause Leonard and the soldiers unable to move.
In the manga version this plays out differently. Instead of handing a letter to be given to Leonard he instead tells him in person while disguised as a soldier that deserted that Keyaru and Flare are hiding in the abandoned house. When they go there is when he shows himself like he does here. The other change is that Keyaru doesn’t learn about the rape until he is here when Leonard brags about it just before he passes out from the poison instead of learning from a random soldier.
Keyaru uses his powers on Leonard to see what happened at the village and sees that most were killed or raped and that the other soldier was telling the truth about it. They didn’t actually make this as long as I expected them to. Was really expecting them to expand on it but they didn’t. In fact most of her rape consists of just quick panning montages. But the really odd thing is what happens next and how toned down the following is compared to what everyone was probably expecting.
Leonard wakes up and Keyaru shows him that he has now turned him into a woman. It’s not mentioned in the anime but you can still see it visually but in the manga he points out how he changed everything on him but his dick remains. When Keyaru questions him on Anna he brags about how he raped her and laughs about it. This whole conversation is different compared to the manga primarily on what is not revealed here. In the manga this conversation happens right before he turns him into a woman but more importantly are some other details such as Leonard says how everyone was shocked to see his face making it apparent that everyone in the village including Anna believed it was Keyaru doing these thing. The biggest difference though is what happened to Anna. In the manga he says he didn’t plan on killing her but after raping her all night she ended up biting off her tongue and killing herself. This is much different here in the anime where she is still alive and another new scene we will get after this is all done.
Keyaru tells Leonard that he needs to suffer the same way others did as he has his soldiers which are now mind controlled from the potion rape Leonard. As he cries for help and forgiveness Keyaru tells him he is empty inside now thanks to him and has fully been lost as Keyaru lights the place on fire to kill all of them including Leonard while he is burnt and raped alive. The scene here is really short and doesn’t show as much as probably everyone that has read the manga would had expected. The manga version shows a bit more but when you also factor in how much they expanded on Flare’s rape in episode 2 you would think they would go all out with Leonard’s here especially since way more people would be cheering to see him brutally raped and killed. Here are pages of his scene in the manga.
After this we get a new scene which is the result of them changing Anna’s fate in the anime version.
 Grey Fox apparently got here first.
Keyaru finds out where Anna is at and goes to rescue her. As he is running towards her she sees it is him and then dies right after as he tries to save her using heal but it doesn’t work since he is too late. They really made this entire ordeal much less darker with this change. In the anime Anna has obviously become aware that the Keyaru that attacked the village wasn’t really him especially since she was in the room when Leonard was talking about finding Keyaru so she certainly knew and seeing him come to save her confirmed it fully which is why she smiled before she died knowing he wasn’t evil. However in the manga she never knows this. She is raped and then kills herself out of shame fully believing that Keyaru has become evil and did all that since neither she nor any of the villagers would have any idea about his ability to change appearances or anything about Leonard. This is far more morbid and makes Keyaru’s change into becoming fully crazy after this make way more sense.
As for how Anna dies in this they don’t even say. You could speculate various reasons but it almost feels like they realized “oh shit she still needs to die otherwise Keyaru becoming more crazy after this won’t make sense” and just had it happen randomly. I can think of one possibility though they could use but who knows if they will go that route especially since a scene later on is changed which almost makes me think a scene that will occur next episode which would be relevant to possibly connecting to her new death here won’t happen. In short something else was done to the villagers which we learn about next week assuming they don’t change that and it is possible they could link this back to Anna’s death next episode as well.
In the end though she still dies but they made her death less dark. One thing I really wish they would had did was take advantage of this change to give us more service content of Anna. Since they already changed what happened to her anyway making this change wouldn’t hurt. But if it had been up to me I would had made Anna live a small bit longer. Maybe make it that she tells Keyaru how happy she is it wasn’t him that did those things as she then having realized she is close to death asks Keyaru to help her erase those memories. Make it that he thinks she means erase them like what he did with Flare only for her to kiss him instead as they have a consensual sex scene there. Afterwards have her tell him thank you for giving her a happy memory to leave on as she dies after. This still would had resulted in the same effect on Keyaru going crazy but in the process we would had got more service of her which we obviously won’t get anymore of and this time it wouldn’t had been rape. Highly unlikely this will happen either but would be nice if they have an original dream sequence with her at some point to maybe get us more content of her that way since as the next scene shows they are willing to add original sex scenes in. Alternatively would had worked if they had made Keyaru temporarily change Flare into looking like Anna for this next scene instead.
Keyaru returns back but is sad over Anna’s death as Flare and Setsuna try to help him. He then decides to fuck both of them there in an effort to calm himself as they accept since they belong to him. This entire scene wasn’t in the manga and is the first instance we really had of an actual long sex scene added in. Though it could be debated this might be a scene from a bit later moved here instead and changed a bit. When they head to the next city we get a threesome scene between both of them in a tent. And though the context in that scene is different from the one here since obviously they changed the story around to make this context possible in the first place it could be that they simply took the concept of the next threesome scene and moved it here with different context instead. In short until we actually get to that part which in theory should be in the next episode to see if they keep it or skip it we won’t be able to tell if this really could be considered extra or if they just put this here because they plan on skipping the upcoming threesome scene instead.
Assuming this really is extra and they still have the other upcoming threesome scene then I really wish they had used Kureha instead for this. To me original service should first offer content for those who either have none or very little originally before giving already heavily utilized characters more content. Flare and Setsuna already receive a lot of scenes and still plenty more to come as well. Meanwhile Kureha is really lacking in them and though she does get more later on it most likely won’t be in this season. She is even about to disappear from the story for a while as well so it feels like a missed chance not to have had her in this scene instead especially since she is love obsessed with Keyaru so it would had worked even better with her wanting to comfort him herself. But also like I said we still don’t know if this scene is being used as a replacement for the tent threesome yet so that could explain using them if it is. Hopefully though this entire thing indicates we will get more original sex scenes later on as there are some parts coming up in the story I could see them expanding on.
Norn gets a letter about how Leonard has gone missing as she throws it away saying how she isn’t surprised someone that worked for Flare was worthless. She then gives the order to have all the villagers executed in order to draw Keyaru out and says she will need to contact Blade to help her.
Kureha reports back that the villagers will be killed in 5 days at the arena and that Norn has returned from her studies to take Flare’s place. Hearing this Flare starts to get sick but doesn’t know why hearing that name made her worry as Keyaru starts to panic as well. Keyaru makes plans to save the villagers at the arena as Kureha tells him that it has magic barriers around it to prevent people from leaving and ones to prevent magic from being used in it. After making plans on what to do he then starts to think about what he remembers of Norn knowing they might have to deal with her.
We get a flashback scene which has some original content as well. Keyaru remembers the time Norn came to visit their party when they were camped out at a demon town. When she came to see him for the first time she instantly could tell he was no longer under control of the drugs and that he was faking the whole time. She then agrees not to tell the others if he agrees to do what she asks and she tells him to keep watching her sister because of the secrets she has. She then asks Keyaru to do to her what Flare makes him do as she learns about how Flare makes him eat her out while acting like a dog. She has him do the same to her as she then pisses in his face after. When Keyaru finishes remembering this stuff he says that so far Norn hasn’t one anything to him in this timeline and so he has no reason to want revenge against her yet as it goes against his belief. But then he mentions that should he discover that she was the one responsible for making Leonard attack his village with the heretic excuse he will make her his target.
A large amount of stuff was skipped in this flashback some of which that was fairly important and it’s removal of one aspect makes me wonder if this plot point we will see in the next episode will be changed. But in the manga the flashback is far longer with Norn arriving as Flare’s party is traveling and then takes them to a demon town she just took over. She shows everyone how she killed everyone in the city except for a few by poisoning the water supply. Not on;y o the others think that was excessive showing Norn is even worse than them but is also shows her reliance on poison which would also explain why she was able to tell Keyaru was no longer under the effect of Flare’s potion because of her knowledge of them. But this also establishes Norn’s use of poisons which will become relevant next episode assuming they don’t alter it and it’s that fact which I think they might use to try and explain Anna’s death in this version assuming they want to actually give a reason for it.
Another part of the flashback is when Norn gives orders to Flare and the others on what to do to the other demons and demon cities such as requiring at least 3 cities be destroyed each day and ordering flare to use her magic to kill everyone regardless of age. It really sets up how insane she is and the flashbacks whole purpose in the manga was to explain why Keyaru fears her so much as he knows how fucked in the head Norn is which justifies Keyaru being scared of her. He even pees himself when she tells him she knows his secret. The scene we got here was used at the end of this flashback in the manga though the context was slightly different inside a building instead of a tent and we didn’t get the part about her making Keyaru eat her out but only her telling him that she knows and will keep it a secret.
Keyaru shows up at the arena where the execution is going to take place while hiding his face. He notes that only 40 villagers are there which means the rest were probably killed. The executioner announces that all the villagers are heretics and that because of the village being devil worshipers they caused Keyaru to be corrupted and caused him to kill Flare. He then says that Keyaru is the source of all the village’s evil and that if he gives himself up and dies then the evil will leave the villagers as well and they can be saved from execution. When he doesn’t show up they give the order to start the execution just as he stands up and gets their attention and takes his hood off showing it is him as the episode ends.
A lot was skipped here as well. During the time prior to the execution in the manga we see Keyaru take Flare and Setsuna out for training as he teaches her how to use the ability to see in far off distances and snipe people using her magic as well as how combine different elemental magic to create new stronger spells. In other words more rpg stuff which the anime does seem to just be going past. However there was an important talk with Setsuna here where she talks about how her feelings of revenge have changed some since revenge won’t bring back the people lost as she asks what Keyaru plans on doing when his revenge is complete. He doesn’t answer and just tells her she is a good person while commenting to himself that he no longer is a good one anymore. Feels like a really important character development scene and really shows how Anna’s death has changed him. Maybe they will move this to a later point but it is one of those character important moments that really shouldn’t be skipped.
The other part skipped is when Keyaru goes solid snake at night and sneaks into the arena while it is guarded so he can get to the main magic structure that controls the magic barriers in the arena. He then uses his healing magic to change how they function in preparation for his plan the next day. During this time he also takes one of the necklaces the guards wear to protect themselves from the barrier’s effects. It’s possible they will show this as a flashback next episode but if they don’t it will end up making things look too convenient for him when in reality he actually does do some planning and thinking ahead for what is about to happen.
Anyone watching the show already knows this but the subs for this week were delayed over a day which is why this post is later than normal. Normally I would had just relied on the manga and wing it without subs but this week that wasn’t possible due to the large amount of changes this had compare to the manga adaption. This episode changed quite a bit primarily Anna’s death and the circumstances surrounding it and even gave us some new scenes including some with new service such as Norn’s and the threesome. This episode easily had the largest amount of alterations which makes one wonder what other changes we could be getting later on. The additional service especially the threesome scene was obviously the best part and gives hope they might start doing this regularly even more now in the future episodes.
One aspect of this episode that might have disappointed people though is how underwhelming the rape parts were. Leonard’s especially probably had everyone that had read the manga expecting something major yet here it was rushed through quickly. It’s possible they did this to save time for the threesome scene though which I imagine most would consider a fair trade off. Anna’s scene though it was given more content than the manga which was just like a panel or two was still less than what probably was expected based on the show’s history so far. It doesn’t make it a bad episode or anything like that but considering this was an episode with two different rapes in it most probably expected at least something on the level of episode 2. The only really major worrying part about this though is what this might mean for future revenge scenes. Like I said it’s possible they sped through Leonard’s so they could save some time for the Flare/Setsuna part and hopefully that was the reason because otherwise there probably are others concerned about Blade’s scene when we get to it. Will they go all out for that like Flare’s or will they make it a rush like Leonard’s?
As for when we will get to Blade’s part that is hard to estimate because of the randomness in the pacing. We are now halfway through and funny enough this is around the point that I thought the show would had ended on when it was first announced last year. The stuff that occurs concluding the arena would had made for an okay stopping point and hook for a season 2 or for people to keep reading the LN or manga. Yet we managed to get almost there in just 6 episodes and still have 6 more left. As for what the next episode will contain that all depends on the pace. The title makes it seem mainly focused on what happens at the arena so they could very well be spending a large portion on that. Afterwards would be the other threesome scene as they head to the next city assuming they don’t cut it and maybe we will see some of that city in the next episode. The main thing coming up is Eve entering the story. She is such a significant character though that it would be odd for her episode to not include a title about it which the next doesn’t making me think she won’t show up next week. Though maybe they are trying to keep it a secret. Regardless we should be getting Eve soon either near the end of the episode next week or they will save her for the one after. All depends on how fast they want to go through stuff and if they do any major skips for some other chapters like they did this week.
Though there is pretty much zero chance of this happening I still want it. Since they are adding sex scenes in now it would be nice if they found an excuse to give the dog girl cafe owner one in the next town. I kind of wonder if they will find any way to give her service at some point when she finally appears.
