UGH MY HEART! HARUHIMEEEEE!!! Q___Q Protect her!!!!! She is such a darling character, and it was so wholesome to watch her and Bell gush over the their favourite heroic tales. It was the cutest darn thing! It was nice while it lasted, because before long the conversation took a depressing turn. We learned after being disowned by her family when she was 11, she was sold to the Ishtar Familia and became prostitute. The girl who adores these heroric tales now feels she no longer has the right to enjoy them, dream of them, nor wish for hero. She considers herself filthy, and not only did it crush me, but we saw it also hurt Bell too.
Bell’s preciously pure heart is what I love about him. It pained him to hear all of this, and you could see him fighting the urge to invite her to runaway with him when she helped him escape from Ishtar’s Familia territory. It was a painful decision for him to say nothing and leave on his own, but he also knew at that moment in time, she probably wouldn’t have gone with him because she doesn’t feel like she has the right to be saved. But with whatever Ishtar herself is planning with that secret item Hermes has personally delivered to her, luckily for Haruhime it shouldn’t be too long before the two meet again. However the circumstances of course, may not be as kind to them as they were today. There is also fact that Mikoto and Chigusa are looking for their long lost friend, who they have learned is currently working in the pleasures distract. It is extremely likely (aka: probably is) Haruhime herself, given her personality does come off as someone who has been once raised in a noble household. (Actually, I wonder what was it that angered Haruhime’s father to go as far as disowning her?)
The Ishtar Familia is… quite something else. We certainly got a taste of why they are considered among one of the most powerful Familias in Orario. The terrifying part about them however was the tidbit of how they kidnap men (very much like they did to Bell today, who made a narrow escape). Hell, it seems some of them may even go a step further with their idea of “consuming” them, which leaves me under the impression that either some are killed in the process, or they just go through such a traumatic experience that they refuse to step foot into the Pleasure District (Ishtar’s whole territory) ever again.
The most curious thing that comes out of this episode of course is the intriguing tension between Ishtar, and presumably Freya or Hestia. The reason why Freya was the first to pop in my mind was because I can’t imagine anyone else who would consider herself to be Queen as much as she does. I mean this lady always has her hand in the cookie jar, and she has yet to be punished for it. But then again, how many people actually know about her involvement? So based on the context of the rest of the conversation shared between Hermes and Ishtar, it appears she may have actually been referring to Hestia after-all, especially since we know she is absolutely obsessed in love with Bell too, and Ishtar has just declared she will steal him away. DARN IT HERMES, WHAT’S WITH YOU GETTING INVOLVED IN ALL SORTS OF DRAMA?! There is no doubt in my mind that if the word that Hermes was involved in this mess that’s about to unfold, he is going to get chewed up real good.
Overall this week was a fantastic episode. There was a good balance between the humour and progression, so it was was a lot of fun. I found it especially entertaining to watch Bell be overwhelmed by the ladies in the district, bless his heart. He was terrified! I kept on shouting, “RUN BELL RUN!” because those ladies were hungry for him! It was also really cute how Mikoto though she was sneaking out without being noticed, yet Welf and Lili smelled something was up for a while now, and were all set with Bell, ready to trail her, haha! Poor Bell was left to fend for himself and got himself caught by Aisha after having been separated from the group! Welf having been dragged to this place before understood how things work and what to look out for, so he and Lili were able to help bail the Mikoto and Chigusa out. I’m looking forward to this arc, because whatever Hermes had delivered to Ishtar, obviously they aren’t supposed to have their hands on it, so you bet we’re in store for a ride!
Fun fact – the frog-faced Amazon, Phryne, is named after the classical Greek courtesan of the same name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phryne
Also Phryne = toad in Greek, due to accounts of her yellowish complexion.
I suspect they mean consuming men sexually until they’re totally drained and knocked out; to quote from that episode of Futurama – the spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised!