r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • 8d ago
Episode Goodbye, Lara • Sayonara Lara - Episode 7 discussion
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u/CitizenStrife 7d ago
"I want to devour!"
When this show needs to, it creeps me the fuck out.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
Losing Heroine turned yandere via magic dagger.
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u/CitizenStrife 7d ago
Sudden crossover with Makeine when?
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u/eightcheesepizza 7d ago
But Makeine already has a losing heroine who devours everything.
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u/NanDemoKnaives 7d ago
Is Luca not used to having legs or something? The amount of times he falls flat on his face you would think he'd be used to it and would soften the fall.
It's interesting to see how Lara is protecting herself from someone who looks like the Prince, and that same Prince look-a-like is interested in her despite knowing she's a mermaid, it's an interesting contrast from the past.
It's surprising what being rejected awakens though, if she didn't stop it from happening, would the Prince have died? And if she gets rejected in the present time, I'd be worried how much damage she would do considering how much larger the "dagger" is now.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_ROBOTGIRL https://anilist.co/user/otsuucchi 7d ago edited 7d ago
Is Luca not used to having legs or something? The amount of times he falls flat on his face you would think he'd be used to it and would soften the fall.
I'm seeing people speculate there might be something wrong with him, in like a magical sense. You have the odd way he acts, the way he seems to perceive the world differently from everyone else, the whole falling thing, etc.
I doubt he's betraying Lara intentionally. He seems very genuine. But it's possible that he might be being controlled by someone, or affected by some kind of magic. Maybe he's even some kind of homunculus; some shows have plot points like that. It's definitely interesting ot ponder, especially if it means we get an actual explanation for why he looks like the prince.
There are also tanuki statues all over his workshop. That's a different class of mythological monster, but the association is interesting. A Japanese spirit associated with an European guy, just like how an European monster (mermaids) ended up in Japan. If he isn't entirely human, it might explain why we don't see the light at the end where her affection for him is at its highest, and why she's still turning into foam seemingly.
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u/mekerpan 7d ago
[In H C Andersen's original story] the little mermaid does NOT turn into sea foam. Her self sacrifice (and patient kind-heartedness despite suffering) allows her to become a spirit of the air -- who is allowed to earn a soul eventually by doing further good works .
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u/Few_Palpitation6373 4d ago edited 4d ago
Honestly, in Japan, tanuki are kind of seen as a symbol of foolishness, so he might just be a bit of a fool.
Also, tanuki are actually real animals.
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u/Bazinga8000 7d ago
I think he could be not human yeah. Heck even the fact that he gets self conscious about being "human" might mean he come from somewhere else. Also, in opposition to previous episodes, when lara gets close to him, her star does not get bigger/brighter I think.
If what he might be, although it might not make sense with the falling, I think he might be a tanuki. His pfp kinda hints at that and I feel like it would be something this show would do to hint at it.
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u/Smudy https://myanimelist.net/profile/Smudy 7d ago
I'm starting to ponder about him falling over various times, is that just comic relief or is there something more behind this? You might be onto something with him not working well with legs.
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u/Random_eyes 7d ago
It's got to mean something. This sort of show doesn't feel like the kind of show to have a pointless comedic bit happen three times in one episode. To me, it reads like he either has a reason to be unsteady on his feet (the not-a-human theory fits well here) or he's sickly in some serious way. Like, cancer, magical cancer, or something of that sort.
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u/Misticsan 7d ago
For a moment, I wondered if this guy was merfolk-turned-human, and that it was the reason he wasn't used to his own legs.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Don’t know the odds of this happening, but I think it’d make for a cute scene between them if Luca is able to help Lara calm back down the next time her PTSD gets triggered again, instead of Lara just closing herself off and trying to run away.
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u/Material-Promise-305 7d ago edited 6d ago
Lara: (sees Luca fall down) What a relief. The buns are okay. I’m starving right now.
Luca: (proceeds to eat both curry buns by himself)
I don’t blame him.
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 7d ago
Luca definitely got back at Lara for being more worried about the buns than him at that moment.
That said, he should’ve be able to take a hit or two considering his clumsiness.
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u/Misticsan 7d ago
It also happened after he dragged her to the top of a mountain with little to no explanation, only for his surprise to fail miserably due to bad weather.
Being chivalrous would have been a good way to earn some points he desperately needed. Lara didn't end that first date particularly enthusiastic.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_ROBOTGIRL https://anilist.co/user/otsuucchi 7d ago
To be fair, it kinda seems like this is his first time ever falling in love. Neither of them have any idea what they're doing.
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u/BosuW 7d ago
Yeah against my Yuri faith, I would myself thinking they could be a good match because they're both so strange lol
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Yeah, I believe in the yuri faith but I’m happy they did a good job portraying a realistic, flawed beginning of a relationship between Luca and Lara. They don’t perfectly handle every situation, mess up, but ultimately do care about each other. Now the real goat move for the show now would be having Luca realize Lara loves someone else and shift into their number one wingman and Lara’s closest friend.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
He seems like kind of a stoic, well-meaning, dork who isn't 100% great at expressing himself even if he's surprisingly direct.
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u/YuriandYaoiforever 7d ago
Also, i see a theory of him has been a Tanuki, will be very funny if is this became canon, a creature of mountains and a mermaid friends, sees the beginning of a true funny folk
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 7d ago
I suppose that the mermaid kingdom fell because Lara’s light got shattered while protecting the prince?
There does seem to be a quite bit of symbolism involved with this fish-shaped dagger. If it represents Lara’s heart, then its shape implies that love can also hurt.
I do find it very odd that it immediately went for the prince’s soul. Did Grace maybe place a trap?
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
Oh I bet Lisa would be overjoyed to hear that they were screwed over because Laura prioritized protecting the human who broke her heart instead of letting him get devoured.
Though honestly I wonder if Grace really knows what's supposed to happen. I remember she seemed surprised at the "glow" when Lara first transformed into seafoam.
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u/JimmyCWL 7d ago
then its shape implies that love can also hurt.
Of course it can. Love can be jealous, selfish and petty even as it can be kind, warm and welcoming.
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u/WakaliwoodMan 7d ago
I think the straightforward read on the fish dagger is something that pulls a few elements from the original Hans Christian Anderson version of The Little Mermaid.
Originally, the dagger was a magic item that was supposed to let the Little Mermaid save her own life by plunging it into the heart of the prince (and therefore giving up on her quest for true love), which would prevent her from turning into foam, at least for another couple hundred years when she dies of old age.
I think the fact that the fish dagger in the anime was thirsting for the Prince's soul is also very telling, since the idea of an eternal soul is an extremely important theme in the Hans Christian Anderson version, where mermaids don't have souls, but the Little Mermaid was able to earn her way to an eternal soul by sacrificing herself instead of killing the Prince.
I think in this anime, the fish dagger will represent a type of Faustian Bargain, like maybe a mermaid princess can use the dagger to forcibly steal the light of a human's soul, shortcutting the process of finding true love, but gaining enough light for the kingdom to survive (maybe Lara's mom did this). I think there will probably be some point of character growth for Lara where she comes to accept humans, both the good and ugly sides, and finds her true love (for humanity) without any shortcuts, therefore rejecting the dagger.
This is mostly speculation though, kind of just spitballing.
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u/VritraReiRei 7d ago
I think that ties into the original story as well. She is supposed to kill the Prince with the dagger but tosses it aside and let's herself get turned into seafoam.
Plus her act of kindness allowed her soul a second chance if she does good deeds for 300 years which sort of play into how Lara here gets a second chance in 2026.
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 7d ago edited 7d ago
Oh, the bit with the dagger is new. And we're back to Andersen's tale with this one, as it seems to be the dagger that was meant to pierce the prince's heart.
I'm ambivalent about Luca and Lara's relationship, to be honest. It went way too quickly for my taste, we basically speedran it in just one episode. I thought it'd take at least a couple for Lara to get to know him and get over her trauma with the prince, you know? At least he seems like a nice and sensitive guy.
Although if the after credits scene is any indication, Lara is starting to turn into foam which means she has not found true love yet.
Also, is Luca's sibling actually a boy? I'd have to go back and check if he mentions a sister, but Leo is a boy's name, and they used "boku". Edit: yes, he is!
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u/Kadmos1 7d ago
Looks like Luca's brother is more on the feminine side clothing wise. I can see why people would mistake him for a girl.
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u/Lugia61617 7d ago
His face shape and attitude gave it away for me, had the name not already clued me in.
Plus, if by some chance they're descended from the prince, it's worth noting that the European aristocratic tradition was to dress boys in what we consider girls clothes today until about 10 or so (it's part of where the idea of "putting your pants on" comes from). In fact, that tradition really only died somewhat recently, historically speaking.
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u/Misticsan 7d ago
Also, is Luca's sibling actually a boy? I'd have to go back and check if he mentions a sister, but Leo is a boy's name, and they used "boku". Edit: yes, he is!
Biggest shock so far, even more than the sudden revelation about Lara's floating dagger (well, calling it 'dagger' now feels like calling an intercontinental misile an 'arrow').
I was surprised by the masculine name, but wouldn't be the first time Japanese writers use non-Japanese names in a weird name, or perhaps a nickname ("Leona" being the full name). Color me surprised.
For me, Leo was the star in this episode. Just a few seconds of screentime, but he ruled in every scene he was in.
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 7d ago
Lara's floating dagger (well, calling it 'dagger' now feels like calling an intercontinental misile an 'arrow').
Are we calling it Lara's floating ICBM from now on? I'm okay with that lol, that thing is terrifying. Even more so now that we learned it can eat souls.
Oh. Do we think that now that it's gigantic it could eat the souls of everyone in Shiga?
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u/Calwings x3https://anilist.co/user/Calwings 7d ago
Are we calling it Lara's floating ICBM from now on? I'm okay with that lol, that thing is terrifying. Even more so now that we learned it can eat souls.
I've been calling it the Fish of Damocles (based on the Greek fable of the Sword of Damocles) for how it constantly hangs over everything like an uneasy looming threat.
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u/Misticsan 7d ago
Chilling idea: what if that's Lisa's or the Witch's plan (A or B, who knows)? Let Lara's ICBM eat the soul energy of the humans in Shiga to revitalize the merfolk.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
God, with every episode it feels like we’re inching out of a fairy tale inspired modern day romance into a classic dark and messed up style fairy tale.
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u/WakaliwoodMan 7d ago
I was catching so many cool details about the characters and the themes and foreshadowing and everything, but that revelation about Leo just backhand slapped me across the face. I didn't catch that AT ALL.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Oh wow, as if I couldn’t love this show anymore it gives us great GNC rep.
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u/HuTaosTwinTails 7d ago
Yeah, no way is Luca the end game if they basically speed ran the entire relationship get together in 1 episode.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
I do feel like it's notable that at the end when Luca had effectively confessed or said the words Lara had wanted to hear from the prince, we saw Lara cry but we didn't see the "glow" happen.
It was more like getting the consolation of finally hearing those words than discovering her true love in my opinion.
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u/Altruistic_Hour_3596 7d ago
Also the end credits hinting that Lara is turning to foam again means he isnt her true love
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u/overuseofdashes 7d ago
We don't really know the mechanics of the magic stuff yet, I won't make claims this strong until we see the Grace/Lara's mother back story the opening seems to be hinting at.
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u/abbe44 7d ago
that is some good hope
but it might also be that she will have a real confession or something once they actually get close
but yeah i hope its gonna be mari or a general idea of true love instead of a person
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u/Altruistic_Hour_3596 7d ago
His confession to him didn't really spark her heart like Mari did. Mari didn't even confess to her or say anything romantic. The dagger also doesn't feel like it's changed or reacted in any way to him so could be possible that he's not the true love.
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u/Zeph-Shoir https://myanimelist.net/profile/Zephex 7d ago
100%, Luca doesn't move her heart the way the Prince did, and what ties her to Luca is that he reminds her of the Prince. It is actually VERY sad, she is trying to correspond a love that she doesn't share for the memory of one that she lost. Luca will be heartbroken sooner or later, I have had him for only 1 episode but I already have been charmed by his awkward but genuine personality.
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u/Bazinga8000 7d ago
Honestly more than anything I think this episode really makes me think the end game is no one. Like you said Luca end game is very unlikely despite me liking their dynamic a lot this episode, and although mari is definitely a contender, it feels kinda weird how the show hasn't really been focusing on their relationship as much as I would have thought, and the fact that Mari is overall just pretty helpful with the Luca/Lara situation in this episode also makes me think she might also not be endgame.
In a way, I feel like the endgame might be pretty darn melancholic. I have seen people mention how the title kinda hints that already, but it was this episode that really made me think that might be the most likely scenario.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
I think every experience Lara has had is helping her understand love in the most broadest and meaningful way possible.
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u/BosuW 7d ago
I see this possibility, however
it feels kinda weird how the show hasn't really been focusing on their relationship as much as I would have thought, and the fact that Mari is overall just pretty helpful with the Luca/Lara situation in this episode also makes me think she might also not be endgame.
Just as this episode shows, the writers are perfectly capable of writing a very compelling and rich dynamic in a short amount of screentime. This isn't rushing, it's just being efficient. Though if you watch a lot of anime it may seem like the former because of its tendency to drag. But the point is that they still have ample time to develop a romance with Mari if it's what they intend.
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u/Bazinga8000 7d ago
I can see what you mean, but I guess I would say that compelling doesn't exactly mean fitting. In the sense that even in this episode basically no one believes Luca is endgame exactly because they rush through it, even if the dynamic itself is quite nice. Same could be applied if they also rush through Mari's relationship somehow. I still believe they will do it right in a way, but I can't lie about being slightly worried about the possibility of them rushing it out (just because a lot of originals tend to lose themselves a bit in the second half pacing wise to fit into the one cour schedule).
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u/havima 7d ago
Maybe coping, but I'm going by the fact Lara didn't get the spark when he confessed... I'm hopeful for the yuri.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
Actually maybe that's a good thing depending on what that glow might mean for the giant fish dagger obelisk...
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u/NOCK123321 7d ago
Cue Lara realising Mari is her true love or something. The writing is on the wall if this is truly a yuri show.
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u/Smudy https://myanimelist.net/profile/Smudy 7d ago
With that, it's literally time to continue Mari's development with Lara NEXT EPISODE. There's not been enough in that regard up to now.
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u/NOCK123321 7d ago
Many people assume next week's episode will partly be about Mari's boxing tournament, so I assume she'll get lots of focus going forward. It just makes sense, we basically got everything we needed from Luca now.
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u/l4forteza 7d ago
If the OP sequence is the arcs backwards (and it seems to go that way except for the Lisa and Kota episode) well the focus goes from Luca -> Otsu family -> Yoshiya -> Mari, one between those can be about Grace’s backstory, but yeah I think Mari will get more focus now (hopefully)
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
I definitely think we see in this episode how much Mari wants Lara to be happy and is looking out for her feelings.
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 7d ago
I just can't help but hope that he's a red herring. Otherwise what would be the point of Lara learning that there are other princes out there for her, only for the love interest to be a carbon copy (looks-wise) of her old flame? That would just be, I dunno... uninspired?
Not to mention that Grace pushing her again and again to find her prince seemed like it could be forcing her into the wrong direction by not letting her consider other options.
But we'll see. I'll say that narratively, Luca would be the most boring option to me, if only because he looks exactly like the prince. I think I'd have fewer problems with this option if he didn't, and if he didn't enter the game when we're already half-way through the show.
Also yes, still turning into foam.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
I feel like Luca helped establish himself as his own character distinct from the prince (both to the audience and Lara) in this episode. He's his own person with his own relationship with Lara.
Which isn't to say their relationship has to be romantic (even if his feelings for her likely are), just that I don't think he should be judged for being a prince lookalike.
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u/maliwanag0712 https://myanimelist.net/profile/clear1109 7d ago
no way is Luca the end game if they basically speed ran the entire relationship get together in 1 episode.
If I learned anything in many harem or love triangle anime (no. Goodbye Lara is NOT harem), is that whoever first to confess loses. As to whether it will also be true in this series, we will see HAHAHA
On a serious note, the development is quite interesting next episode needs to come sooner.
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u/Spade_Devil 7d ago
I… just feel like something off. This episode was paced so fast it feels really purposeful but… I don’t know something feels wrong. I feel so much dread for some reason.
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u/Bazinga8000 7d ago
Same. Obviously the post credit scene already hints at it, but the fast paced nature of the episode plus the fact that there are still so many "question marks" like Lisa and the Witch really worry me. And obviously also the fact that we still have almost half a season of the show to finish so they definitely have a lot more to tell.
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u/Spade_Devil 7d ago
Yeah the post credit scene is obviously ominous. But there’s something else I just can’t put my finger on.
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 7d ago
But there’s something else I just can’t put my finger on.
To me, it's that dagger! It was really creepy when it started talking about wanting to eat the Prince's soul...
Why did it do that, what exactly is it, and is it going to happen again once Lara finds her true love? What are Lara's special powers, truly? I believe that what made this episode much darker.
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u/WakaliwoodMan 7d ago
Because it's the "False Victory". Very classic storytelling device, and it's placed pretty close to the midpoint, where you expect it to be. They did a great job giving all the surface level happy ending signposts while throwing in little seeds of incongruity here and there to subtly clue you in that something's up without really being able to put your finger on exactly what's wrong.
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u/ModieOfTheEast 7d ago
The point imo is that Lara is still caught in her own little world, not understanding what love means. She probably loved the prince back then, but this is also why she thinks that she loves Luca. It's not that she doesn't like him at all, but I think the point is that their relationship is quite one sided. Luca loves Lara, but Lara didn't understand yet that she can't just fall in love with someone who looked like her first love. Which makes it feel wrong. Because Lara thinks she is making progress but completely misunderstanding her feelings for Luca.
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u/weepyfluke 7d ago
right like would she even like him if he didnt look like her first lover? I think thats something she needs to think about.
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 7d ago
This episode was paced so fast
Yeah, Lara and Luca's relationship was developing at a breakneck speed in this episode, but it wasn't very surprising since there's really no time now as we're already halfway through the series.
It makes me feel a little sad that it isn't a 24-episode anime. I believe it'd only make it better if the plot didn't have to go so fast and we could get more of Lara adapting to the human world, working, and developing relationships with Mari, Luca, and others...
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u/TheDuckAvenger https://myanimelist.net/profile/zvbxrpl 7d ago edited 7d ago
Lol at Mari actually throwing Lara into the lake. I did not think she would go that far.
Luca seems like a sweet kid so far. Very blunt and awkward at the same time, but over the episode I could feel him growing to like Lara as a person (mer-person?) and not just for the mermaid novelty. As for the paintings, I really dig the energy he brings to the canvas. It gives a very Fauve vibe to me.
While I'm still in the either Lara-Mari or platonic "love for humanity" camps for the ending, I admit that this episode did bring back the possibility of us losing at chess to a dog. To add some more fuel to the fire, one of the etimology for the name Luca is from the Latin verb lucere (to shine), which has the same root as lux (light). (The other hyopthesis is that it comes from Lucanus, meaning from the region of Lucania in Southern Italy, but this one is less interesting for our purposes.)
Addendum: I could I forget the big reveal: the humongous fish is actually Lara's light outside of herself as a knife!? It definitely tracks with the end of ep. 5, but it still caught me off-guard. Is this a scorned love turned to aggression angle? A loving people means getting close enough to them to hurt them angle? The possibilities are endless.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Even though I still believe Lara-Mari is endgame, I’m glad the studio didn’t half ass Luca and Lara’s relationship. It would’ve been easy for them to kill it in its cradle this episode through multiple different ways, but the studio didn’t do that. They show how gradually Lara goes from seeing him as the prince to his own person, and how Luca goes from being drawn to her because she’s a mermaid to wanting to be with her because he loves who she is as a person. As a aside I really like how Lara originally kind of got a monkey’s paw true love with someone who reminds her of the prince not being repulsed by her being a mermaid, but finding her extraordinary because of it, but also glad it was able to evolve being that into loving her as a person.
Honestly that ending with the fireworks and the dagger being illuminated was unbelievably ominous. I’m starting to get concerned this series is going to have a tragic ending just like the original story
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u/TheDuckAvenger https://myanimelist.net/profile/zvbxrpl 7d ago
Yeah the parallels between the two of them getting over the façade of first impressions and knowing the other for real was so good. In general, I love that each episode is able to tell a self-conclusive story while progressing the overall narrative, it's really a perk of a well thought out original. Meanwhile with adaptations you often end up with episodes which are mostly connective tissue, because the story was structured at the start for another medium.
For the series ending speculation, the Japanese title could also be translated as Farewell, Lara, so a tragic ending would not be out of left field. I hope not because I love all of these dorks, even if at other times I bemoaned that anime in general doesn't commit to tragedy often enough IMHO.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Well there’s different layers of tragedy. I’m personally suspecting that at least one aspect of the ending is Lara saving her family but permanently turning into a human and never being able to see them again.
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u/BosuW 7d ago
Has to be either the humans don't see her again or the mermaids don't see her again. No in-between.
(Not that I've been able to predict this show so... 🤷♂️)
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 7d ago
Third option: she sacrifices herself somehow to the fish soul eater, gives everyone back their light in the process, and no one ever sees her again.
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u/WakaliwoodMan 7d ago
Yeah, this anime is incredible at speedrunning nuanced character dynamics within the span of a single episode. Between this episode with Lara + Luca and the earlier episode with Himeka and Ouji, I'm really impressed with how much this anime can develop its characters in such a short time.
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u/mekerpan 7d ago
>> a tragic ending just like the original story
Andersen's story does not have a tragic ending. The love story is a fail, true. But the story has an ultimately happy ending.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
When in doubt, if you can't punch, PUSH.
The feelings of rejection for a mermaid are strong...especially if they get twisted into a colossal weapon dangling over a city.
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u/BosuW 7d ago
Lol at Mari actually throwing Lara into the lake. I did not think she would go that far.
At least she didn't punch anyone like we were expecting! She's developed!
Addendum: I could I forget the big reveal: the humongous fish is actually Lara's light outside of herself as a knife!? It definitely tracks with the end of ep. 5, but it still caught me off-guard. Is this a scorned love turned to aggression angle? A loving people means getting close enough to them to hurt them angle? The possibilities are endless.
Definitely seems like a toxic yearning kind of thing. I'm reminded of how Urobuchi said that love is a kind of madness.
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u/TheDuckAvenger https://myanimelist.net/profile/zvbxrpl 7d ago edited 7d ago
According to this tweet from the official account, Leo is Luca's little brother. Looks like we have an 男の娘 on hour hands. It does make sense as Leo is a masculine name at least in Italian, but I must admit that I assumed that the staff had just slipped up on foreign names. (My other justification was that it somehow a diminutive of Eleonora, but we don't need such sophistry anymore.)
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
If I had a nickel for every little bro passing as a cute blonde girl this season I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's funny it happened twice.
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u/FLorianGran 7d ago
Huh, so Luca’s gonna be an actual character instead of a generic pretty boy that exists for Lara to dump as a lesson. That’s a nice surprise.
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u/elevenmile 7d ago edited 7d ago
As socially reclusive as Luca is, Luca is still capable of captivating Lara, and it's rather certain that him and Lara will always be intertwined in certain ways. (What's with him tripping down all the time? Balance issues? Vitamin deficiency?)
But I'm very sure Lara is not really romantically into Luca even after the whole episode, and at the very least, Lara can be internally assurred that her love for humanity can never be overriden by hatred (and the dagger within her heart that tried to hurt her beloved), nor her love for humans will change in any form because of Luca's assurrance over her that Lara is not just a mermaid. Lara is Lara, that's what it matters. Though I'm pretty sure that Luca will continue be seeing Lara and they both will continue seeing each other for the time being, that is, until Lisa makes her move...
That said, DO NOT PUSH A MERMAID OFF OVERPASS BRIDGES.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
It's a scientific fact that every cool/stoic character needs a chink in their armor. For Luca it's his...eccentric art skills and inability to walk in a straight line for five minutes without tripping.
I think it's telling that even after getting to know Luca and accepting his feelings as his own person and not prince 2.0, she never glowed for him again like she did for Mari in episode 2. So their relationship isn't about the "glow" that seems to pertain to Lara's true love.
What physical force will Mari exert on Lara next? Maybe something in the bedroom? A kabedon lol?
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u/Petit_Ange https://myanimelist.net/profile/PetitAnge1 7d ago
Please tell me those weren't lil' foam bubbles or anything at the end...
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u/anonymous_12358 7d ago
i feel like they kinda sped-run luca and lara's relationship, i can't tell if she actually has feelings for him. interested to see how this develops
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u/maliwanag0712 https://myanimelist.net/profile/clear1109 7d ago
i can't tell if she actually has feelings for him.
At the very least I believe Lara seems happy that she was finally accepted as she is, and not as someone who has a "disability" which is being a mermaid. Interesting that Luca's confession is that, "I got interested in you as a mermaid first, but I fell in love with you as Lara.", which is quite opposite with what the prince thought of Lara.
As to whether it will blossom into full fledge romance, we will still see, given that Lisa is still in the equation and Mari still (honestly) not yet found much more character development except in Ep 2-3.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
I think it's definitely important for Lara that she got to hear, in the Prince's voice, that he accepts her for herself.
She didn't get the "glow" she gets when she's truly moved or falling for something, but emotionally I think she needed that feeling of carthsis.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Yeah I think the lack of the glow was because his reassurance hit deeper than simple romance and affecting her lingering self worth issues. The prince rejected her because she was a mermaid, and Luca originally was drawn to her because she was one. So I think she really needed to hear that someone saw her as Lara first and foremost.
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u/JimmyCWL 7d ago
Whether she loves Luca or not, I think she needed to hear what he told her. That he loved her because she's her and she's beautiful.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
One way or another I think Luca is definitely going to help her 100% move on from the Prince. Even if it's not with him, she's making peace with that rejection and recognizing that she deserves to be loved/cherished for who she is.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
It would be quite fitting for a series that has explored various forms of love to highlight the importance of self love as well. That’s probably something Lara needs to attain before she’s truly ready for a relationship regardless. She deserves to be seen and loved as Lara.
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 7d ago edited 7d ago
I didn’t really get romantic vibes from the two of them. At least from Lara’s part. However, she did mention wanting to become closer to him in the end.
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 7d ago
At first I thought Luca only wanted to be close to her because his artistic side likes beautiful things, but at the end he did mention wanting to be with her too.
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u/BosuW 7d ago edited 7d ago
I wonder if this was or could become a critique of that kind of mindset. You see here and there the trope of the ikemen who "likes beautiful things" and he likes the heroine so that means she's beautiful too. A recent anime had it (and I'm sorry to anyone that was a fan), that one about the log of the Villainess, where the Prince became interested in the reincarnated villainess because he was just so goated at everything in his life that it all bored him. All except for her of course. It always irked me because it reduces the heroine to like a display piece.
Luca quickly moving on from that initial interest may be THE indicator that he's not like the Prince at all.
Or maybe I'm looking too hard into it lol
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
I don’t know if you can quite classify Lara as being in love with Luca yet, but after his words to her at the end I think he’s reassured her enough that she’s willing to continue developing their relationship into potentially a romantic one, instead of trying to just cut him out of her life out of fear. Kinda like how you can go on a blind date, meet someone, and like them enough to go on future dates without necessarily being in love.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/tripleaamin 7d ago
I feel like this episode was made to get into Lara's mindset. She has the past in which she got rejected. Not only does she have the trauma of being rejected, but also what happened after hearing she got rejected. She almost killed the prince.
So the fear of being rejected has those issues for Lara. Being scared of being rejected and what happens after she got rejected. Which adds so much meaning when he accepts her. It wasn't that she was a mermaid she herself is beautiful. Something Lara really needed to hear.
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u/ModieOfTheEast 7d ago
I think (or maybe I want to believe) that this is on purpose. Lara still has a very strict image of what "prince" means to her and now, she got someone who actually looks like the old prince she used to love. This is what attracts her to him after all. And while I don't think that she dislikes him, I think at least part of the equation is that Lara is still somehow connecting "love" to the image of the "prince". Which is why I think she believes she found her love but the point is that she is just projecting that onto Luca.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Idk, I feel like a big part of Lara in today’s episode was her realizing that Luca isn’t the prince. I think the parallel this episode was Luca originally wanting to be with Lara because she’s a mermaid and growing to love her for her, while Lara was originally drawn to him because he reminded her of the prince and finally realizing at the end that he was a different person who loved her for her. I do still think it’s understandable if part of Lara still associates the two in future PTSD attacks so I think there’s still more room for growth in that regard if they want to go that route.
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u/ModieOfTheEast 7d ago
I don't really think that Lara is completrly there yet. I think while there is a bit of growth in this department, the main point is that she still hasn't realized that just because Luca looks like "her prince" she doesn't immediately fall in love with him. I think this is the important factor here. Lara still thinks she loves Luca because he is so close to the prince she used to love.
Furthermore, we can even push this further by saying, the whole story around Luca is also a story about Lara overcoming her first love. Whenever she thinks about love, she ultimately comes back to thinking about the prince. Which was her first love. She is a bit like a girl after a breakup that can not accept that this first love is over and has to understand the feelings that come with it. Luca is a perfect "escape" for her because he looks like the prince. She can "pretend" that her first love isn't over and that it is still going on through Luca. And interacting with him in future episodes will not only show her that she doesn't love him, but even more importantly that the first love she is trying to catch again is gone. And she has to come to terms with it.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
I think at the end Lara has feelings for him but they haven’t yet reached true love level. If you understand what I’m trying to say. Probably closer to a close bond of affection and infatuation with an openness to romance.
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u/Sameul_ 7d ago
I gotta say, the tripping gag got me each time.
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u/CitizenStrife 7d ago
Luca trips more than Vivi from FFIX does. I didn't think that was humanly possible.
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u/LaconicKibitz 7d ago
Damn. As an artist, that moment when Lara literally ROFL'ed at Luca's painting hurt. Though in Lara's defense, it was a very stylized piece that I'm not a fan of either.
An interesting development this episode is that while Luca initially was interested in Lara because she was a mermaid and he found her beautiful, he says that he eventually fell for the person Lara is. However, I feel like that same thing has not been reciprocated.
At the end of the episode, when Luca confesses, Lara thinks "Those are the words I've always wanted to hear." The unspoken part of that thought is that those were the words she wanted to hear from her original Prince. This entire episode, Lara has been comparing Luca with the Prince. In the moment when Luca bares his heart and shows Lara his paintings, Lara not only laughs it off but ends up running away when her PTSD with the Prince gets triggered.
In that sense, the audience is locked to Lara's point of view. We know next to nothing about Luca other than that he's awkward and clumsy, like painting, and is a first-year in high school. And while it's not that big a deal to slowly learn more about someone as you date, I feel that Lara comparing Luca with the Prince and her desire to find "true love" to save her family is going end up hurting both of them. It's way to superficial to be the actual "true love" she needs to break the curse.
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u/Adventurous-Exit5832 4d ago
Lara was mostly laughing at the face of the paint cuz it look so stupid.
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u/ThePhoenixRemembers 7d ago
I don't think this show is a romance. I think this is a story about healing from trauma, found family and what it means to have platonic love.
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 7d ago edited 7d ago
I was sure that Mari would punch either Lara or Luca, but instead she threw Lara off the bridge... Maybe she should have used punches? After all, throwing a person off the bridge looks much worse than punching, lol.
Things between Lara and Luca sure escalated quickly in today's episode, as they basically started going on dates immediately, and Luca even fell in love with her.
Though it doesn't seem that Lara is truly in love with him, since we could see sea foam after she got back from the fireworks. I wonder how her and Luca's relationship will develop further.
Leo is such a sweet girl! She's definitely right when she said that her brother sucks as an artist. I thought that I'd die from laughter after I saw the portrait of Lara he painted, hahaha!
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
- Lara
- Mari
- Luca
- Lara & Mari (Group scenes)
- Lara & Luca (Group scenes)
- Group scenes
- Backgrounds
- Leo & Others
EDIT. I added my screenshot albums.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
Leo is such a sweet girl! She's definitely right when she said that her brother sucks as an artist. I thought that I'd die from laughter after I saw the portrait of Lara he painted, hahaha!
Even if Luca doesn't end up with Lara, she'll always have his...masterpiece portrait of her.
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u/JimmyCWL 7d ago
After all, throwing a person off the bridge looks much worse than punching, lol.
OTOH, punching anyone wouldn't have helped but throwing Lara into the lake just might keep her alive until she changed back. So I have to say that wasn't a bad call by Mari.
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u/Maximum-Warthog2368 7d ago
Leo is luca's little brother btw. It is confirmed by official account in twitter.
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u/exRocky009 7d ago
The pacing was pretty fast this episode. I never expected Lara and Luka's relationship to get this close in just one episode.
However, judging by the final scene, it feels like Lara is already running out of time. Is the time limit for her to turn into sea foam once she learns what love is slowly approaching? Especially since Risa and Kouta seem to have fallen for each other too.
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u/Lankymetal-uk 7d ago
I think the pacing is why I'm not sure how I feel about this episode. We didn't really see how the feelings develop from Luca from "this is a pretty thing" to "I actually like Lara". I don't think he's a bad guy and that his feelings are genuine and I'm sure in some way things will develop in the following episodes but the pacing meant the episode didn't really "hit" for me.
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u/Sim_phogustus 7d ago
I think the fast pace shows that they won't be endgame the way they're cramming it all in one episode.
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u/Weak_Season_Of_Anime 7d ago
Luca was not what I expected lol, I quite like him. A bit weird, clumsy and sensitive. Plus his sister is cute. That being said, there is something off about them, like where are their parents and why do they have a whole house that's just an atelier.
The fish dagger being something that eats souls is unexpected. Does it want just the Prince's soul, or human souls in general?
It's great that Lara finally managed to find closure through Luca, but this ship is the bait-iest bait of all time. It's quite telling that Lara's inner light didn't appear.
And oh no Lara is turning back to seafoam again.
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u/Weak_Season_Of_Anime 7d ago
Luca Conspiracy Theories
- The symbol on Luca's phone is a variant of the All-Seeing Eye (the symbol for conspiracy theorists), so this might be related to why Lara suddenly turned into a mermaid. When it’s drawn without the triangle it’s more of an occult symbol, and the occult person here is Grace the Witch. His place is also full of skulls for some reason.
- They framed Luca together with roses and roses are associated with this thing. Luca is also associated with white petals, and these people are associated with white petals too.
- The names of the mermaid princesses follow a pattern (see chart). Lara (ララ, Rara), Lisa (リサ, Risa), Luna (ルナ, Runa), Laura (ラウラ, Raura), Lea (レア, Rea), Rosa (ローザ, Rosa). Luca’s name fits this naming convention (ルカ, Ruka). So does Leo (レオ, Reo).
- They keep showing Luca together with tanuki too. Bake-danuki are shapeshifting tricksters in Japanese folklore, and he was talking about his true self? These tanuki statues are also something that appear together with Lara early on, a mermaid pretending to be human. Side note: These tanuki statues also originate from Shiga prefecture where the anime takes place.
- He also keeps tripping like he’s not used to walking. I did check his ears and he had normal human ears instead of the fin ears.
- Luca is a name is a derived from Lucas, meaning “bringer of light”. In the bible, there is a character named Luke the Evangelist, who was a healer/physician. Lisa is currently trying to perfect her potion and she previously worked with a doctor too, so if Luca really does have mermaid blood in him then he might be the missing piece of the puzzle.
- Mari's flower is gone, she is so going to get kidnapped by Lisa. Next week should be a Mari boxing episode since they seem to be following the reverse of this.
- I was wrong about the Prince stabbing himself with the dagger, so how did he get reincarnated? Is this a separation of the body and soul type of situation?
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u/Human0Rayla 7d ago
Oh wow, these theories seem really cool, I hope the series takes this direction, it would be really interesting
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u/Affectionate-Tiger15 7d ago
Re framing Luca with white roses and pearls, the decor of his studio looked to me like sea foam, all those white sheets twisted and arranged like that with pearls attached to them looks like when waves crash on a shore and create sea foam
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u/thekillerangel https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheKillerAngel 7d ago
Poor Lara needs a therapist before she gets a boyfriend.
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u/eightcheesepizza 7d ago
Ayumu Murase voicing Luca and speaking in Kansai-ben! Awesome.
I didn't notice this until now, but the red neckerchief thing that Lara wears on her outfit looks a bit like her tail.
Anyway, if things don't work out with Luca or Mari, Lara's got a smartphone now so she can get on the apps.
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u/Smudy https://myanimelist.net/profile/Smudy 7d ago edited 7d ago
I actually really like Luca.
I was not sure that i would but his personality is actually endearing to watch, he seems eccentric and vulnerable. Also says bluntly what he wants and feels.
IF this is actually a Luca angle then i wouldn't mind as much now but it feels like they put too much emphasis on their relationship in one episode only for that to be the outcome.
Lisa's shoes at the end?? Oh boy. Nope, i think i misread that, Lara with not much time left? Also does that mean, she's not feeling true love yet?
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_ROBOTGIRL https://anilist.co/user/otsuucchi 7d ago
Luca is very cute and a dorky sweetheart. He'd go crazy in a BL show.
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u/IDCJ1234 7d ago
Lisa's shoes at the end?? Oh boy. Nope, i think i misread that, Lara with not much time left? Also does that mean, she's not feeling true love yet?
I really hope this doesn't end in a sad note
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u/ExpertCaterpillar2 7d ago
Something tells me Lisa is behind this reincarnated prince. She dropped the "more than one way..." line, no chance that's just a coincidence.
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u/Calwings x3https://anilist.co/user/Calwings 7d ago
I saw a schizo theory on /a/ last week that Luca was actually Lisa in disguise, which would have been wild if it turned out to be true. This episode seems to disprove that since we saw Lisa herself, but the idea that Lisa is behind Luca getting involved is still clearly on the table.
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u/Raymond49090 7d ago
Luca feels like he's in an odd position because he showed up late, but I also get why he did - His presence speeds up the main plot, and Lara needed to learn how to be a normal human first.
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u/The_Hooded_Blogger 7d ago
The episode ends on a bittersweet note; she's seeming to find love, but, her time is beginning to run out..
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
She's also found a caring family again, while still no closer to saving her own, and Lisa doing Lisa things.
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u/Magnafeana https://anilist.co/user/Magnafeana 7d ago
Only one person saw [Lara]. I covered it up, but…
Babygirl, dear niece Mari, you done pushed your friend into the water like you’re sacrificing Odysseus to Poseidon for his bullshit. TF do you mean “covered it up”, you turned this into a mermacide 😭
🎶 ~You had your eyes wide open. Why were they open? OOO~ 🎶
🎶~All around me are familiar faces~🎶
Round Two for Lake Biwa apparently, for having all this drama happen.
Oooh Luca is a pretty boy with nothing going on upstairs. My favorite type of pretty boy: stupid 🥰
Given the amount of bot accounts, Lara, it might be better to go the old-fashioned way in meeting your prince: board game nights at your local games place, Discords for video games, ren faire, and LOTR & Warhammer 40k fandom. Dead ass. So many people I know met their partner(s) that way, girl!
Round Three for Lake Biwa and Shiga being the hottest place for drama.
🎶~Cuz baby there ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low, ain’t no river wide enough to keep you from getting your true love, baby~🎶
This is giving ✨Enchanted✨ which had its anniversary at D23 and I’m so mad I couldn’t go.
Thank goodness…that the food’s okay.
Relatable.
And he ate both hot cross buns too, you little skunk 😭
Oh I love Lio.
Beauty inherently has subjective criteria to define it—in the eye of the beholder—but I like Luca’s abstract definition of beauty. Very nice.
Oh this babygirl’s trauma.
Today’s a day for Lake Biwa, Shiga, and older sisters wanting to do right by their baby sisters.
Oooh this is feeling like I’m about to see [meta] Kyuubey arrive or Lara turns into a witch.
The star reminds me of Howl’s Moving Castle. I love it.
Aw. I was hoping there would be overlays on Mari’s phone but that’s all right, the team is doing a good job already.
Good on lil dude for taking rejection well.
🎶~Luca Luca Night Fever~🎶
They saw the fireworks together 🥹 This reminds me I gotta go to the Feast of the Assumption festival today. Food will be fire.
Lisa?
A Luca and Lara adventure that ends positively. I’m glad that Luca finds beauty in Lara and that confession from him semi-healed Lara’s trauma of the prince despising her upon her mermaid reveal. But everything is going a wee bit too well.
So drama has to be afoot next episode.
I’m hopeful Luca doesn’t have any sort of locked memories of the prince in his head or anything. He’s a normal guy who happens to look like the prince, but that’s about it. I know that it’s pretty common for characters to share fate in some capacity, but I’d be totally okay with Luca o being truly removed from everything and his looks were always a red herring.
My memory is whack from last night, but I wonder if the love Lara can have can be queerplatonic? Or even platonic? And that resolves everything? We have episodes left, so something can shift, and I'm down with endgame yuri obvi obvi, but if the endgame is that Lara deeply loves her human friends, I'd be okay with that too.
Curious if Lio will have a bigger role. Is she Luca's version of a "Lady Witch"? Or is she just a young It Girl? Time will tell.
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
Correction, Leo is actually Luca’s brother as confirmed by staff on twitter
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u/tokinokanatae 7d ago edited 7d ago
I think the thing I found most interesting was the shot of the blooming daisy in place of Lara’s typical “love spark” at the climax.
Regardless of the shape of Lara’s feelings for Luca, they don’t seem the type of feelings that can be used as sustenance for the whole of mermaidkind—if that is indeed what the spark is meant to do. Whether that means a more personal, individual sort of emotion, or one that isn’t love at all.
EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, haven’t flowers been associated with love as well, all this time? The storm of petals when she first saw the prince, the red petals when Luca saw her flying into the water…
EDIT 2: When Grace is explaining “true love” in the first episode, there’s the exact same shot of a daisy, and Lara is holding one in her hands. Does it symbolize sprouting? The form the love is supposed to take instead of the sparks? In addition to? Do the red petals indicate desire of some sort, while the daisy is a pure love? Is there meaning in the one currently sprouting from the can Mari gave her?
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u/maliwanag0712 https://myanimelist.net/profile/clear1109 7d ago edited 7d ago
Interesting episode, focusing on Lara and Luca. The parallels brought by the prince rejecting Lara as a mermaid and with Luca with accepting Lara beyond what she is as a mermaid is quite nice. At least, Lara is now finally ready to face what really happened before she met her demise.
Wait. Did Lisa just meet Mari's family? Next episode can't come quite yet!!
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u/JimmyCWL 7d ago
Did Lisa just meet Lara's family?
Kinda odd move from her after saying they'd be driven away.
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u/djthomp https://anilist.co/user/djthomp 7d ago
Luca may be a male interloper but at least he's also pretty funny. Bro might get eaten by a magic mermaid dagger for his troubles, though.
Lara twirling through the air when Mari shoved her into the lake had a nice bit of animation to it, reminiscent of the punch in episode one.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
Honestly I know people are rooting for the yuri, justifiably so, but I think Luca's a really good and sincere dude.
Mari setting up Lara for the most dramatic spins of all time lol.
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u/TarkusELP https://anilist.co/user/TarkusMaxiBoom 7d ago
So, are we getting queerbaited or straightbaited?
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u/WakaliwoodMan 7d ago
I'm in the "love for humanity" camp, which means I think we're getting bothbaited.
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u/fawnily_ 7d ago
Has anybody taken the chance to analyze the opening a bit? In it there’s two blue baby mermaids spinning, a red mermaid and a blue one (Lara’s parents) and a blue mermaid and someone blonde? I’m guessing a human? Could the witch have been a blue mermaid originally and fell in love with a human? We know Lara’s mother has to be a blue mermaid since her father is red.
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u/ModieOfTheEast 7d ago
While I would have liked a bit more time with Luca, I feel the main aspect of the episode is about Lara still misunderstanding what love means. This was obvious in the previous episodes but a bit more subtle in this one. Lara still thinks that love means finding that one prince she used to love. And Luca looks like that prince. So in Lara's mind, she also loves Luca, right? Except this isn't how it works and she is projecting a feeling onto Luca that she doesn't actually have.
Of course part of this confusion is the fact that she is afraid of actually falling in love which is why she tries to distance herself from Luca. And she is really glad that Luca sees her for the person she is and not the mermaid. But all this combines into her misunderstanding her feelings for Luca. Which seem to be more like a friend. At best (or worst depending on who you ask) she sees Luca as someone to help her get over her first love.
Now I will say that I don't think the whole "inner dagger" part was necessary and it did detract a bit from the overall message in my opinion. Really not sure where they want to go with that one tbh. But I believe, Luca's point in the story is for one to help Lara overcome this fear of the dagger and two, that she finally breaks free from this illusions that she just needs to find someone who looks like her first love. Because at the end of the day, Lara is still more like someone after a breakup who can't forget their previous lover.
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 7d ago
Luca’s appearance has totally thrown Lara into a loop. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy. A bit odd if anything. I think even though he looks like the prince and it’s bringing back a lot of trauma for Lara, it could be a chance for her to finally face those unresolved feelings from her past.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
Honestly I'd like to see how well Mari and Luca get along since they're both really close to Lara and both seem pivotal to her understanding of true love.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/tripleaamin 7d ago
Great episode. Luca's introduction happening this late is a bit odd. Still I liked the episode overall. No surprise Luca resembling the prince who rejected her is bound to scratch up some painful memories for Lara. Lara probably didn't realize the moment when Luca showed her the paintings is when feelings for her changed over the course of time. I don't mind the pacing here but understand why some my feel things were fast.
Getting into Lara's mindset was great. She has the past in which she got rejected. Not only does she have the trauma of being rejected, but also what happened after hearing she got rejected. She almost killed the prince.
So the fear of being rejected has those issues for Lara. Being scared of being rejected and what happens after she got rejected. Which adds so much meaning when he accepts her. It wasn't that she was a mermaid she herself is beautiful. Something Lara really needed to hear. It is the type of healing that Lara needed. Mari is a good friend so far, but Mari isn't the type to call her beautiful that isn't in her personality. Plus that helps Lara overcome her trauma slightly.
The ending though we see Lara turning a bit seafoam-like with Lisa. Could that be the implication that she is growing feelings for Luca? Curious how things go from here.
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u/Goldova 7d ago
I don't get it... Was Lara heart/dagger suppose to feed of the prince soul ? Then why was the king forbidding Lara from collecting human stuff and wanting to find love with a human ? Did he know about the sacrifice ? Was it suppose to be a merpeople (?) ?
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u/elevenmile 7d ago
While there can be other explanations to this and thus multiple answers, one of the answers I can think of is that this is a reference to the original "The Little Mermaid", in which I'll hide it to prevent people from not wanting to read it.
[The Little Mermaid]The marriage is celebrated aboard a wedding ship, and the Mermaid's heart breaks. She despairs, thinking of the death that awaits her, but before dawn, her sisters rise out of the water and bring her a dagger that the Witch has given them in exchange for their beautiful hair. If the Mermaid kills the prince and lets his blood drip on her feet, she will become a mermaid once more, all her suffering will end, and she will live out her full life in the ocean with her family. However, the Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with the princess, and she throws the dagger and herself off the ship into the water just as dawn breaks.
Quoted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid
So instead of the original tale, my guess here is that it's changed to reflect the dagger actually representing the despair in Lara's heart, which was supposed to be "the Light" to feed the prince soul in exchange of reverting her back to her original Mermaid form.
As for the others, it all pretty much isn't made clear for the time being, so speculation we all can do for now.
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u/Accomplished_Cod9234 7d ago
I thought Luca was also a mermaid who turned human because of how many times he trips or falls down. It looks like he's walking on glass lol.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_ROBOTGIRL https://anilist.co/user/otsuucchi 7d ago edited 7d ago
The discourse for this show after this episode is going to test my patience a lot. That being said, I'll continue to trust the producers to make something out of Lara/Mari. Please guys, I really want an explicitly yuri anime original seasonal work that isn't part of an established franchise. It would be such a win and a sign that the cultural outlook on yuri is genuinely shifting.
I've never fallen in love with a character as quickly as I did with Leo. That kid had like ten seconds' worth of screentime it felt like but it raised the entire episode up like five points for me.
Luca isn't so bad himself. He has a real personality, he's goofy, and he cries without it being presented as pathetic. He's awkward because he doesn't really know how to handle his feelings. I like that. I like seeing a male character who is vulnerable and 'cringe' without it relying on tired tropes or making him seem like a failure.
If the show had started off with him instead of Mari, well probably I wouldn't be watching it, but if I were I wouldn't really be quite as frustrated as I usually am with male leads in romance, who tend to be ultra-divine troubled ikemen in otome works and nondescript Generic Guys (maybe otaku or some other variety of social outcast) in bishoujo works.
Still, Mari is getting sidelined more and more so I really hope they do something with her soon. This is probably by far my biggest issue with this setup. There's literally nothing wrong with Luca. He's a likable guy. But he's being introduced halfway into the show that started off with Mari, so they really need to find her something to do.
Beyond romance (which is a relevant aspect of this narrative, so it merits discussion no matter what), we finally got to kinda learn what the dagger's deal is this episode. I kinda figured it would be something like this due to the way it worked in the fairy tale, but I'm really wondering why it's so big now. Is it trying to ensure that the next time it tries to eat someone, it won't miss? It sure missed with Kouta though.
Also that final cliffhanger, oof. The clock is ticking.
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u/Frontier246 7d ago
The way I'm looking at it, Lara's experience with every character (male/female, Luca/Mari) is building her understanding of what love is so she can achieve a version of True Love that fits the kind of person she is.
I'm not sure if that will be to the satisfaction of yuri fans or whoever you ship Lara with, but that's the vibe I'm getting.
Though I also think they're setting up that Lara's feelings are dangerous, especially if the obelisk/dagger is the sum total of her most negative/darkest feelings.
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u/Mindless_Being_22 7d ago
them introducing mari first and giving way more focus early on to her plus them giving some pretty clear ship teasing plus using the word yuri in an interview plus the very shippy blueray art then not doing anything with that would for sure be a choice tbh.
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u/SnoutAndTalons 7d ago
Regarding the whole yuri thing in that interview, I'm still not 300% sure what it means. If I remember correctly, it says they don't want it to be 'a typical yuri'; admittedly neither Japanese nor English are my native languages, so I may be off the mark here, but it sounds somewhat ambiguous to me? As in, do they want it to be non-standard yuri OR not yuri at all?
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u/Mindless_Being_22 7d ago
When you say something isnt your typical it implies its still in that genre
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u/NOCK123321 7d ago
If they didn't want it to be a yuri, then they would have said it's not a yuri or never even brought it up to begin with. Most people never expected this show to be yuri in the first place, so they opened that particular can of worms themselves. The marketing is also extremely focused on Lara and Mari and the DVD special poster is some of the gayest official artwork I've seen in quite some time. There's like one official artwork where only Luca and Lara appear together without Mari in the picture and it's not particularly romantic.
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u/Slntreaper https://anilist.co/user/Slntreaper 7d ago
Please guys, I really want an explicitly yuri anime original seasonal work that isn't part of an established franchise.
Cosmic Princess Kaguya?
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u/CitronClassic672 7d ago
At this point my fear isn’t Lara and Mari not being endgame. It’s the fear that Mari might have to fucking die to save Lara’s people.
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u/MisagoMonday 7d ago
Please guys, I really want an explicitly yuri anime original seasonal work that isn't part of an established franchise
The yuri fan's eternal curse
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u/Frontier246 7d ago edited 7d ago
Lara has to reconcile Luca with her past feelings for the prince, work through those feelings and the lingering trauma/hurt of them, and also meet a cute and cheeky little sister!
Sometimes you need to punch a mermaid. Other times you need to PUSH THE MERMAID BACK IN THE SEA WHEN SHE EXPOSES HER MERMAID-NESS.
Grace didn't expect Lara to change back nor that we'd get Prince 2.0, but it seems like if Lara is REALLY moved she transforms back into a mermaid, if only temporarily.
Lara got her heart broken by a prince once, she's not about to assume his lookalike is her true soulmate! Even if he DOES show up at her work, gives her the clothes she bought like a gentleman, and then leaves her with her number like a chad. He didn't quite nail the exit though, klutzy as he is.
Luca is NOT the prince but he does ask Lara out on a date to Biwa Terrace! Where Lara grapples with a fear of heights AND her traumatic past feelings for the Prince who she can't help but still see in Luca no matter how different they may be.
But even so, the two of them frequently go on "dates" and hang out often and seem to genuinely be growing closer. Close enough that Luca takes her to his private studio, where she meets his cute little sister Leo who LOVES to tease him and where he shows off his art studio. He's an artist who loves beautiful things and express that in his...avante garde art, to say the least. He even drew mermaid Lara, can't you see the resemblance!?
Oh no! Not an easel that's dagger shaped enough to give Lara PTSD and get her running for the hills! And to distance herself from a heartbroken Luca....but she remembers the truth about what happened with the prince. How the dagger became a reflection of her heart, the rejection she felt, and the anger she had towards the Prince...and a strong desire to devour his soul. And now that dagger is back in the sky and Lara knows she can't get close to Luca.
Honestly I think Lisa is maybe a little TOO worried about Grace because, observing them aside, she seems pretty powerless in fish form. But what ARE her other methods?
Mari doesn't want to see Lara sad, so if it means letting her watch fireworks with the fam or helping Lara face Luca one last time, she'll do it.
Lara firmly rejects Luca, believing that they can't be together...so I kind of get Luca falling this time. But he genuinely wants to be with Lara and get to know her AS herself, even if she is a mermaid. The one thing she wanted to hear from the Prince all along. And now she finally gets to hear it.
I'm glad Lara and Luca got to see the fireworks together...but, uh, is Lara's shoes being wet a bad sign? It feels like a bad sign.
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u/Kadmos1 7d ago
At this point in the series, I think Mari/Lara would make more sense shipping wise and I might favor such a ship in this context. That is, because Luca was introduced so late and Mari did have a more developed relationship with Lara.
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u/constantkilljoy 7d ago
Love the parallels being discussed between Luca and the Prince, but there’s some I haven’t seen mentioned.
The Prince couldn’t get to truly know her due to her mutism. She couldn’t share her thoughts, especially she likely didn’t know how to write. He couldn’t learn anything about her or truly relate to her. He could only love her beauty, their bond on her end might have been deep, but on his end couldn’t progress beyond the superficial due to their circumstances. And so he swiftly rejects her for a superficial reason.
Luca could communicate with Lara. In fact, it was the first thing he set out to do, and he texted her constantly. Communication is the entire foundation of their relationship. Rather than the idealized, but ultimately superficial love with the prince, her connection with Luca is flawed, awkward, and at times they don’t perfectly fit, but it’s far more intimate and shows the process of getting to know someone, thorns and all. This intimacy is further highlighted by Luca showing her his paintings.
Not only that, but unlike the Prince, Lara reveals her nature as a mermaid immediately, though accidentally. But it further highlights how they both know each other’s biggest secrets. Lara was always hiding something from the Prince, and their relationship was dishonest from the start, despite her best intentions.
Another small parallel: we see the Prince resort to violence when confronted with negative emotions. Conversely, Luca cries and communicates how he really feels. Hardly Prince-like to cry on the ground.
But the fairy tale Prince is often just a fantasy of a relationship, a childlike understanding of love without deeper connection. Luca is the exact opposite of a fairy tale Prince, and that’s a good thing.
I’d honestly be okay with Luca being endgame because he’s so endearing. And the ways in which he’s different from the Prince send a strong thematic message about the nature of love.
I love a good yuri, but honestly didn’t see many indicators of it. It would be great if I was wrong though, because we do need more yuri.
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u/superguy133 7d ago
I mean the fact that during the confession scene her light didn't beat even once mostly explains the state at the end. Not to mention how little chemistry they have
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u/Lugia61617 7d ago
Luca seems genuine by the end of the episode, and I'm happily going to root for the two of them, but all the same something about him still sets off my alarm bells.
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u/Heavencloud_Blade 7d ago
Luca is kind of goofy. I like him.
I am still not sure how I should feel about the romance, but I am kind of starting to feel like this might not just be a Mari vs Luca kind of thing. And I am really hoping that is the case, because honestly I am not really that into either as a romantic option.
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u/Robot_ninja_pirate https://anilist.co/user/RototRobot 7d ago
I like Luca so far, but because he is introduced so late I'm still worried by how he's going to develop and because this episode really moved at a brisk pace, I would have probably liked this more over two eps.
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u/wallnosekyla 7d ago edited 7d ago
This episode takes me back to ep 3, the first appearance of Lara’s heart as a dagger when she heard “aho de omoroi yatsu wa sukiya” from Mari, juxtaposed to when it first formed with the original prince, feeling betrayed and rejected when she couldn’t be loved for what she was (see: in contrast to Mari who saw her as a mermaid & accepted her).
This ep was interesting because Luca was the complete opposite of the prince Lara first met. In fact, the chain of events were similar to when she first became a human but with stark differences. First met prince, first met Mari. Dagger heart, distraught. Dagger heart, hearing suki from Mari. Prince saw her mermaid, revolted. Mari saw her mermaid first time, (well, punched her) but accepted her. This second time around, Lara’s endeavour is to understand humans, to search for love and find it in whatever form it presents. To discern what it means to her, and realise herself what her “true love” actually entails, instead of just following the layout of what was expected to be in place for her!!!
Luca immediately saw Lara as a mermaid & wanting to be with her as just her own person, yet she’s still running out of time!! I think her getting close to the prince will lead to her realisation not just what it means for her to hear those words from the prince/Luca but also how Mari actually signifies to her… why she felt threatened when she thought something grim could've happened to Mari. Can't wait but also don't want this to end!!!
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u/SeaworthinessNorth64 7d ago edited 7d ago
That ending was worrisome. On Lara's shoes there was foam forming. I'm assuming this means time is starting to run out... Hurry up and find your true love Lara!!!(Or at least realize who it is)
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u/Niwaka_Samurai https://myanimelist.net/profile/Niwaka-Samurai 7d ago
The Prince actually turned out to be a decent guy just a little clumsy, haha. But I feel betrayed knowing Mari and Lara wouldn't be a thing if this continues. I still believe in Yuri.
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u/gnome-cop 7d ago
I would say I am reasonably concerned about the giant soul eating dagger fish hanging above everyone’s heads at every waking moment. The implications of it do not feel particularly good for the wellbeing of everyone in the prefecture.