Will Nott accept Mister Pig's request? What about Celes and her unrequited love? All that and more this episode! As per usual, this blog post will contain my thoughts on episode 6 and will cover any changes that have been mode from the light novel source material. If you're just interested in the recent news, feel free to skip to the news update section below.
Episode 6 Thoughts
One thing I left out last episode for no particular reason but want to discuss this time around was how the anime handled the fact that Yesmas can act as routers in conveying other people thoughts. The anime's approach felt stiff, as Celes had to explain it to Mister Pig during their night time conversation; the novel by comparison waited until Celes directed Mister Pig to "talk" to Nott, and it wasn't until Nott reacted to him saying hello, that he realized it was like a router. The difference is that all the other characters see this Yesma ability as common knowledge that doesn't need to be explained, so Mister Pig (and us the readers) don't learn about this until the situation presents itself. This is an apparent problem for the anime, as small moments like these have been swapped out for explicit explanations multiple times, but I'm also willing to admit that it's a difficult problem to solve due to the novel being monologue heavy (it doesn't help that the anime cuts many of these monologues as well). To put it simply, the world building is done much more elegantly in the novel, and I encourage you to read it as well.
The overall coversation here between Mister Pig, Nott, Jess, and Celes was kept mostly the same, but there's one moment in particular which I preferred how the manga handled it instead. It's when Nott was considering whether to join Mister Pig and Jess, and he silently frowns while staring at the collar on the wall. The manga just has him sitting down with his arms crossed as he stares at the collar; and when he agrees to join them, his pendant glints as well.
The anime cut a bit of dialogue and made it so that he stares at Celes, then later at Jess, before finally at the collar. I would've liked it more if the anime took a page out of the manga and just quietly held a long still shot on Nott contemplating while staring at the collar.
After that, Celes sees them off, but... I'm a little sad they cut out her waving her hand exaggeratedly as noted in the novel. Just look at how cute she is drawn in the manga!
This marks the end of chapter 2 in the novel, and I really like how both the novel and anime takes the time to develop Celes' character for us, only to have her leave the story here. It helps reinforce this idea that the world doesn't revolve around our protagonist, Mister Pig.
We're quickly introduced to Nott's companion dog - Rossi. For now, he's simply a perverted dog that enjoys sniffing Jess' bare legs. The anime also has Nott summarize their journey plan via dialogue, which is fine considering it was originally a somewhat dry and a lengthy monologue in the novel anyway.
We then get a scene that's not in the original novel, but was a limited short story that came with volume 1 called 永遠という言葉を信じるな (Don't Believe in the Word "Eternity"). Jess tries to catch an 永遠の蝶 (Eternity's Butterfly) that she thought she spotted, and Nott reprimands her for believing in legends. That glance he gives to Jess and her turning away implies he's thinking about Ys, and it's a nice inclusion of characterization for sure.
The conversation as they cross the Valley of Oil is basically the same, except they left out the reason for why they're trekking through the stream instead of taking the bridge above. It's for safety reasons, as crossing the bridge will make them more easily noticed.
The party finally arrives at Munires in the evening, and I like that the anime also made sure Jess switched her scarf back as noted in the novel (green scarf to hide the collar when seen up close, and the cream colored scarf for when trying to hide the collar from people watching from afar). It's here that we learn more about the laws surrounding Yesmas, and the truth behind what happened behind the closed door last night. I would've liked for the anime to include a bit more of Mister Pig's self-loathing monologue afterwards from the novel because he couldn't stop himself from asking Nott that question, but I can't complain too much because they included a new scene where Nott reminisces about Ys instead.
The scene takes place five years ago, and comes from the SS 癒えない傷跡 (Scars That Won't Heal) which was released as one of Dengeki Bunko's anniversary bonuses after vol 1's release. I also want to take this chance to praise the soundtrack. Despite there not being that many, the ones I've noticed are pretty good, and they really do help set the mood (like this flashback).
After this episode's title drop, we're back to covering the main story, and we cut to the group having a meal at the inn's dining area. I actually like how the flashback gave context to Nott drinking extra hard here (note the worried look Jess had, and the two mugs of beer). Anyway, we learn more about the functionality of Yesma collars and then Mister Pig asks some great questions. Unfortunately, no one here is able to answer them. Dinner then ends on a somber note, with Nott emptying his mug and going to bed.
Jess then has a heartfelt conversation with Mister Pig, with her apologizing. I believe the anime made a slight mistake here with animating her mouth, as she's supposed to be conveying this to Mister Pig all via telepathy as to not disturb or let Nott hear about this. After a bit of fast-talking by an otaku, the conversation ends on a happy note with Mister Pig being able to hear himself be called "onii-san" by Jess. Personally, the anime lacked of bit of lively animation, and I would've preferred something like what the manga did, where there's a quiet moment with Jess getting into bed and pulling her sheet up before then saying goodnight.
Finally, we can't end a mystery story without a shocking hook. Who's this person called Brace? And why is she repeating this sentence endlessly?
Episode 6 marks the mid-way point of the Heat the Pig Liver anime, and I think this episode did a great job blending in the short stories with the main novel. I have some problems with the weak animations despite the wonderful character designs and visuals, but that's probably more of a budget problem that can't really be fixed at this point and I should just learn to accept it. Hope you all enjoyed my ramblings for this episode, and see you next episode.
News Update Section
Heat the Pig Radio (web radio program) released episode 3 recently, which as usual can be found on Onsen, or Aniplex's YouTube channel. This episode features a special guest, Tomita Miyu (the VA for Celes).
This episode PV was fun to listen to, with Mister Pig using his ikemen voice. One thing that I felt was a bit out of character, at least based on my perception of their personalities, is that Celes rejected Mister Pig's request to call him Onii-chan. I know this was done for the sake of comedy, but it surprised me a little and I would've expected her to at least say it with less certainty and promptness.
Animate & Gamers are holding a promotion where if you purchase the limited edition of the anime's OP & ED release, you'll receive a double-sided A4 clear file with their album arts on it. Additional information and sample image can be found on both ASCA's site, and Myuk's site.
Myuk's song ひとりじゃないよ (I'm not Alone) got an MV release just before this episode aired. As I mentioned last blog post, she's a new talent, so please show your support for her and check it out!
ASCA's song 私が笑う理由は (The Reason I Smile is) also got a special acoustic version posted on YouTube a couple days prior:
Dengeki Online posted the first half of their interview with the authors of ひきこまり吸血姫の悶々 (The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess) and 豚のレバーは加熱しろ (Heat the Pig Liver) to talk about the charms of the other person's work. The second half will be uploaded on the 18th of this month.
Technically some of this was announced on 11/4 (before episode 5 aired) and just got an update. The anime site updated its blu-ray/dvd page to include more goods preview for purchases from the different vendors, namely from the following: AmiAmi, Getchu, Joshin, Toranoana, Melonbooks. The purchase goods for Aniplex+, Seven Net (7-Eleven), and Rakuten still appear to be missing.
And on the subject of goods preview, there's a lot of merch for Heat the Pig Liver that's been announced recently, such as keychains, a nendroid, and even a non-scale figure for Jess!
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