Episode 16: Maou's Investigation Note

Mar 27, 2008 08:19

Episode downloads can be found here.

The Brief Summary: Yuuri: slave by day, procrastinator by afternoon, discovers that yet another treasured item has gone missing and manages to convince Conrart to let him help investigate. Through Yuuri's propensity to help those in trouble, the Maou and Co. discover the Maseki is in the possession of a down-on-their luck family. Yuuri, being Yuuri, let's them keep it for a while in order to earn money to keep themselves going. Of course, there's a kidnapping attempt, a show of faith, and another appearance by Maou!Yuuri.

Plus, a brilliant display of lightening.

A More In-depth Summary (with screencaps): Our show begins with a tantalizing view of a guardsmen guarding a horse with a delicately sealed box on it's back. Someone watches from the roofs above...




See Conrart walking down the Hall:




See Wolfram Pouting:




Wolfram is pouting because Yuuri is studying. There's no fooling Conrart because Conrart knows all.

ConWolf: +1

Yuuri takes a break to play catch. After all, Gunter is forcing Yuuuri to pack in the study hours since Yuuri could be sucked back across the inter-dimensional gap and away from Gunter's adoring arms. ♥ Yuuri deserves a break now and then, right? However, Gunter expects Yuuri to be ready and able for his afternoon lessons in Etiquette and Deportment. To bad we already know Yuuri has other plans...

Wolfram, however, has plans of his own and verbally abuses poor Yuuri for always spending time alone with Gunter.

See Wolfram pout again.




Wolfram is so adorable. Especially when he tries to force Yuuri into choosing between himself and Gunter. Of course, we never hear Yuuri's answer because Conrart 'loses' control of his pitch and sends it flying straight for Wolfram!




*gasp!*

Of course, Yuuri catches it just in time and completely ignores Wolfram's accusations that Conrart deliberately tried to kill him in favor of cooing over Conrart's pitching abilities ;p

WolframYuuri: -1
ConWolf: 0
ConYuu: +2 for wowing yuuri so much!


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Cue randomly milling about soldiers! And of course our dear Yozak who always seems to appear out of nowhere. I wonder what his thoughts would be on the whole catch thing and whether Conrart did it on purpose with the intent of showing Wolfram Yuuri cares, with the intent of distracting Yuuri from potentially saying he choses Wolfram over Gunter, or because of clumsy fingers or to put Wolfram's attention back on Conrart.

*ponders*

I have a feeling Yosak would have the most insight on the situation ;p




Apparently the above rare stone has disappered and Gwendal has men searching in the town! Yosak waslikewise on his way to dig up intel when he ran across Yuuri and the others. Yosak comments on Yuuri's study sessions. Apparently, they're quite famous now.

Yuuri of course, is not happy to be reminded of them.




Just look at the poor chibi face!

Of course, Yuuri is definitely not happy to find out he's the last one to hear of this mysterious stolen artifact that can "fix broken magical items and restore magical strength.". For a Maou, he's really left out of the loop...Wolfram of course, calls Yuuri "Carefree" and Yuuri protests because he's been held prisoner by Gunter!

I'm more inclined to side with Yuuri here ;p




For an afternoon of freedom, Yuuri is not above begging. *points to above cap* And the following conversation ensues.

Conrart, ever the voice of reason: "No, Your Majesty. You'll be reprimanded by Gunter."
Yuuri: "But I've been stuck in here for days! You can't imprison a baseball boy!" (sounds like the lyrics to a bad 80's remix). "It's not like I'm going for fun! I'll be searching for the Maseki! That's part of being a god Maou, right? I'm begging you! I'm desperate! Please!"

With much sighing, the group concede defeat.

Cue frantic searching by Gunter. For some reason, he expects to find Yuuri in Gwendal's office. Has he found refuge there before? And if so, how did Yuuri manage to convince Gwendal to let him in the office to begin with? I can't imagine Gwendal would advocate procrastination, unless, perhaps, Gwendal feels some kindred spirit where Yuuri --> Gunter is concerned? Especially so if one considers his relationship towards Anissina...




Gunter is dismayed when Gwendal goes so far as to suggest "Maybe he returned to that Earth place. Right now, that's not our main concern --".

Poor Gunter.

Flash forward to the village Where Yuuri is about to become entangled in other people's business again. It's a good thing Conrart has him pegged however since a touch to the shoulder and a minibow is enough to get Yuuri to allow him to take care of things. I think that business on the pirate ship taught Yuuri a thing or two. Namely that Conrart always knows best! Or at least so far he does.




Mmm...Undies.

ConYuu: +3




After being saved, Rosette invites Yuuri and company into her family's business henceforth dubbed "The Spoon and Fork."


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Why is Josak the only one drinking on the job? Rosette tells us her sob story and how she found a mysterious artifact that "can fix magical tools and resotre magic." Furthermore, Rosette was assaulted because she wanted to start a new business. But those men came soon afterwards and... "of course, I am not a thief. I said that if they could prove it was theirs, I would give it back."

Poor Rosette. All she wants to do is earn enough money to feed her poor father who is ill and Rissotto, her brother.

Josak, of course, is absolutley shocked with Rosette pulls out the Maseki.




It would appear the Maou is good for something ;p

Sadly, Yuuri just can't take it away from Rosette. So instead, he tries to hawk her new found buisness! To an empty street. But at least we have another ConWolf moment ♥

ConWolf: +1


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Cue scary girl standing in the shadows. It's particularly scary when her doll undergoes a transformation extrodinaire!


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Cue scary looking men rushing enmasse to take back the precious stone! It's a good thing Wolfram is there to save the day!


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And he might be showing off just a little. Especially with the hair flip which makes ALL the women swoons.

*swoons with them*

+1 to all Wolf Pairings and -1 to all others.

Current Tallies: ConWolf = +2; ConYuu = +2; WolfYuu = 0

And because Yuuri has worked hard pimping the new magic repair store, he decides to take a bath in a drum can with Conrart's aid. Conrart is full of useless information: A drum can bath is a 'simple bath that the civilians use during the summer.'




That's always a good thing to know.

Yuuri, quite casually, tells Wolfram that "There's a lot you don't know about your city, isn't there? I thought I understood this world a little. But I don't know anything about it at all."

Methinks Yuuri is poking a dig at Wolfram here... WolfYuu: +1

Wolfram replies, "The bath is small and the house is small. But the family can work together. This kind of living isn't too bad either." Is Wolfram lamenting his relationship with various family members? *pokes Conrart*

ConWolf = +3

Night descends and our travelers return home to a crying Gunter.

Just when Gunter is about to come out of his bad humor, Conrart dashes in and drags Yuuri away!




+1 to Conrart for a total of 3 points.




See Wolfram pout again! I think Wolfram secretly wanted to be the one to drag Yuuri away. Alas, Conrart won that round of Rocks, Papers, and Scissors.

However, the real reason for this midnight rendevous isn't for molestations as Sangria, Doria, and Lasagna might bet, but rahter because Risotto has been kidnapped for being so yummy in exchange for the Maseki and Rosette has done a foolish thing and gone after them!

Thankfully, they Kohi followed them. Except, to his shame, he lost track of them. So much so, he can't bear to look at Yuuri and loses his head.

But what's this! Yosak is here to save the day!

Yay!

Trust a man who crossdresses to track down nefarious evil doers!

After a tussel in a graveyard, our lovely KKM cast start to play a game of 'keep away' from the thieves, non-chalantly tossing the Maseki from hand to hand and combating the thieves inbetween bouts of catch.

Josak is particularly talented. Just look at the nummy caps.


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Until, that is, Yosak loses his balance. "Carelessness is your worst enemy, Yozak."

Conrart catches the stone after Josak drops it and gets cornered while Risotto hangs by a thread to a captured Kohi! Yuuri, standing at least a floor above Kohi, tells Conrart, "Battery needs trust between two people! I believe in you. I can catch any pitch you throw at me! Believe in me and give it all you've got!"

Conrart winds up the pitch, throws it, and manages to dash in and catch Rissotto before he becomes yesterday's side-dish. And thus the day is save! Until, of course, we find out that Rosette has been captured by the thief boss. Thankfully, Rosette has a pair of perfectly good teeth and isn't afraid to use them!

However, Yuuri doesn't like it so much and brings out the uber Maou!Yuuri, who, I have to admit, is absolutely dreamy.

*sighs*




Isn't he pretty?

Maou!Yuuri kicks all their asses ^_~

In the end, it would 'appear' that the stone Rosette found really isn't the Maseki after all and so Rosette is able to kep the stone and food on her table. Now wasn't that nice?

The End.

Reoccurring themes:

1. Underwear: Through the admirable skills of both Wolfram and Conrart, we get to see that all the thieves have a propensity for boxers rather than briefs. However, is this a personal choice or is it a mandate by the ruling aristocracy that only the Maou is allowed to wear a g-string? It IS the official underwear of the Maou.

If so, is this law adopted from a desire to always be able to identify the Maou’s body even if his face is horribly disfigured beyond all imagining and recognition? I wonder how this tradition began. Thoughts?

2. Yuuri - The Detective: Yuuri once again uses the excuse of 'lost treasure' in order to avoid studying more than he has to, although I think last time it was in an effort to avoid his paperwork. However, this time Conrart, Yosak and Wolfram stick close to Yuuri rather than giving him an opportunity to run off on his own. Of course, one could also argue that there wasn't enough time for them to split up and search considering it wasn't long after they entered the town that Yuuri wanted to help a stranger from getting robbed by thieves.

So, is Yuuri growing and learning to trust his men to do their job or was there just not enough time for his usual enthusiasm to take over? I would argue that he's matured somewhat because he asked to help search for the item rather than taking over completely. He's more of a spectator now, rather than the main character even if he does feel like the Lord in a feudal era drama.

3. Saving the damsel in distress: The first time he tried to save someone (re: the cabin boy), Yuuri ran in and tried to do all the saving himself. Conrart had to step in and save Yuuri's face. This time, before Yuuri could dash in, Conrart placed a hand on Yuuri's shoulder before stepping in to save the day.

I love the growth there because we see that not only does Conrart know what Yuuri has planned without being told, but we also see that Yuuri trusts Conrart enough to handle the situation.

Relationships:

There are several key relationships in this show that I think showed growth. The first, of course, is Yuuri and Conrart's relationship. These were the small clues that showed key interactions.

--- Baseball: Yuuri and Conrart are playing catch out in the courtyard. Yuuri mentions 'battery' which is a baseball term referencing the trust a pitcher and a catcher must have that is built up during practice. Essentially, it's the trust that the catcher will always catch whatever the pitcher throws at him.

What I find interesting is that Yuuri mentions this after he managed to catch Conrart's fast pitch just before it maimed Wolfram. Doesn't this show that Conrart already had this trust in Yuuri to begin with? Of course, this would assume that Conrart intentionally threw the ball at Wolfram, but I'll get into that on my thoughts on Wolfram+Conrart.

We also see this faith tested at the end of the episode when Conrart throws the Maseki to Yuuri just before Risotto loses his grip on Kohi and falls.

--- Mentioned under the reoccurring themes, we see that Conrart and Yuuri have managed to build up a rapport with one another. Without words, Yuuri managed to communicate to Conrart that he wanted to help Rosette and without words, Conrart told Yuuri to let him handle the job. How much better can that get?

Wolfram+Yuuri:

--- Wolfram is still quite possessive of Yuuri's time and complains (quite vocally) about how Yuuri is always cooped up alone with Gunter studying all the time. And, while I don't remember it being vocalized, I don't think Wolfram likes that when Yuuri does have a break, he's playing catch with Conrart.

However, we see there's more here than meets the eye because while Wolfram is basically accusing Yuuri of not caring about him, Yuuri does catch the baseball before it can hit him. So, perhaps, Yuuri does care? At least a little?

Wolfram + Conrart:

--- Again, with that silly little baseball catch. If I'm right, and Conrart intentionally threw that baseball at Wolfram, than it was Conrart's way of trying to let his brother know that what he was saying at the time (that Yuuri doesn't care and seems to prefer Gunter over himself) wasn't really entirely true. Yuuri did catch the baseball. He cares enough to keep Wolfram from getting hurt.

Of course, because Conrart's and Wolfram's relationship still isn't the best, it's not like Conrart can just come straight out and say something. He has to prove it by actions first

--- Wait, Wolfram and Conrart are talking to each other now? Well, they have been, actually, I think, but here's more proof!




The fact Wolfram can ask a simple question about Yuuri speaks volumes from what we saw in the first episode. Perhaps yuuri is having an affect on Wolfram? Yuuri's pacifism is cooling Wolfram's hot temper?

--- Wolfram has to be a show-off and do one better than Conrart. How so? When Cornart slices the clothes off the thieves, he at least leaves them their shirts. Wolfram takes on MORE men AND leaves only the boxers. Go Wolfram! Of course, he might have been showing off specifically for Yuuri

Yuuri + Gunter:

--- No offense to Gunter, but this one still has a long way to go... On the other hand, Yuuri isn't running away at the mere sight of Gunter. He even tries to stop Gunter's crying near the end of the episode by saying, "It hurts to see tears ruin that beautiful face of yours."

I think this might be the first personal compliment Yuuri has given Gunter because Gunter turns around with so much joy on his face ♥ Of course, his hopes are dashed since Conrart in a fit of jealousy walks in and pulls Yuuri out almost as soon as this is said.

Poor Gunter.

Miscellaneous:

--- Did anybody else notice that Yosak almost always is cut out of the frame when the animators show a pan of the full group while in town? I think that's a rather cool touch because Yozak is such a wonderful spy/trained for espionage, he automatically places himself where he can't easily be seen. Of course, I might also be delusional, but it's an interesting thought. Of course, the more likely reason for this is Yosak didn't have many lines so the animators only showed him when it was necessary.

*shrugs*

And, well, that's all I've got for you at the moment. I should be able to reply to comments after I'm off work at 7pm (central) but feel free to discuss any of the above points amongst yourselves! Now that vacation is done, I should be able to participate more. Except, it'd also help if I could get over this case of allergies. So not used to it...

*glares at life*

Friday, March 28th's Discussion on Episode 17 will be hosted by sagemuraken

episodes 11 - 20, week 3, user; parsnip_chan, thursday, season one

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