What did Nott mean by "Are you prepared to die?" What's this man to man conversation going to entail? This post contains my thoughts about this episode, alongside what I consider noteworthy changes compared to the light novel source material. If none of that interests you, at least check out the news update section at the end of this post.
Episode 8 Thoughts
Wow, there's so much I want to talk about this episode that even I'm surprised myself. Let's get started.
We open where we left off last episode, with Nott asking Mister Pig if he's "prepared to die." Mister Pig doesn't understand where the conversation is headed, so he simply continues staring at Nott. Nott then clarifies by explaining the unknown risks of entering the royal capital, and repeats the question. This time, Mister Pig nods affirmatively; and after witnessing the pig's resolve, Nott gave him two anklets which have blue ristas affixed to them, giving Mister Pig the ability to manipulate the water in his surroundings to some extent. We then get a little bit of man to man talk, with Nott confessing that he's never killed another person (smartest thing he's killed is a hecklepon), so he might not be able to win against Yesma hunters. He then returns to the cave, leaving Mister Pig alone with the words "You can choose whether to sacrifice yourself, or Jess." There are some slight changes from the novel, but the essence of this scene remains the same. It serves to hammer in just how dangerous their last leg of the journey is, and shows off Nott's practical honesty and kind nature underneath. A few things worth noting is that the novel doesn't actually show the scar-eyed man from earlier episodes in the flashback, but rather implies that was the guy Nott wounded; the novel has Nott hide the pig's anklets using a skin-like color cloth (similar to what was given to Jess) instead of this bandage-like white cloth; and Rossi actually shows up at the end for Mister Pig to notice the dog has a ton of battle scars, implying the trust Rossi and Nott have between each other, plus their experience.
After the OP, we cut to another SS adaptation scene with Brace taking a tumble before being helped up by Jess. This leads to Brace making a prayer, and we're given a flashback to when she was still employed. The Prayer Star, also known as Salvia, huh?
The party then arrives at the outskirts of the Forest of Needles, where Nott talks ominously about the glowing mushrooms. It seems the strength of their light is dependent on how much Yesma blood they've absorbed. Despite the similar script, I felt that the novel made this scene much darker, given how these glowing shrooms are basically gravesites for Yesmas who didn't make it to the royal capital...
At the inn, Mister Pig spots a blackened Yesma collar, again reinforcing just how dangerous their final trek through the Forest of Needles will be. As the novel puts it, this is the inn that "serves as the final gathering place for those who are prepared to bid their eternal farewells." Brace interrupts Nott's discussion by retiring to their room early, and we're left with the trio of Nott, Jess, and Mister Pig to have dinner. Here, Nott has a frank talk about prioritizing Jess' life over Brace's, to which Mister Pig agrees with. The conversation in the anime is similar to that of the novel, but I think it was lacking in the emotional department. What I mean by this is that the novel had Nott basically shout in frustration at one point in response to Jess not willing to agree with prioritizing her own life, because Yesmas always act so selflessly; and then there's Jess, who's supposed to have mixed feelings and clumsily smiles at Mister Pig when she's told he wishes to protect her the most, but this subtlety is lost due to the weak animations. Lastly, this could be just me, but I didn't feel the weight of Jess' self-sacrificial nature in her final words of the scene in the anime when compared to the novel.
We then cut to Brace reminiscing about her past, with the following scenes being an adaptation mixture from the novel's vol 1, vol 6, and short stories (the SS used in this episode are actually new unreleased stories written by Sakai-sensei according to his tweet). It's a wonderful insight to her character that we weren't treated to originally if you've read vol 1. It begins with a kid (unnamed in the anime, but you'll know who it is if you've read vol 6) asking her why she prays to Salvia, followed by a scene where Brace is talking to a bereaved family member about a certain rumor regarding the royal capital, then some time later on when Brace must finally depart as she's reached the age of sixteen... I love how it ends with her monologuing "I no longer have the strength to continue my hopes, but they do..." This moment in particular really made me want to reread vol 6.
Cut to nighttime, and Brace wakes up Mister Pig to talk to him. In the novel, everyone is sleeping on the floor and she beckons him over to talk telepathically, but the anime switches out the setting and has them chatting outside the inn. Putting aside the small changes, the conversation as a whole was untouched, and I'm really glad the previous flashbacks scenes were there to help viewers understand Mister Pig's responses without the need to directly have him monologue text from the novel. This really is a heart-rending moment, and I'm happy to see it done well overall. Although I do kind of wish they included Brace's tears flowing down her cheeks as she wishes for the three's safety. Something which was noted in the novel, and was also drawn in the manga.
With this, we've reached the end of chapter 3 in the novel, and the title for this episode is the exact same as the chapter. I'm quite happy with how this episode turned out, as it took the time to slow down and let us delve into both Nott and Brace some more. I also like how this is one of the rare episodes where losing Mister Pig's monologues didn't negatively affect my appreciation for the story's development.
News Update Section
As many of you may know, Sakai Takuma-sensei uses Twitter a lot. I didn't mention this before, but lately he's been using #豚レバ豆知識 to tweet about some trivia regarding the anime. I've been following it to supplement my knowledge regarding some of the SS adaptations, and have gone back to add that info to my past episode reviews. If you're interested, check it out, but don't scroll too far back the timeline as he's also used it in the past for trivia regarding the novels.
Episode 4 of Heat the Pig Radio was released, and we're back to just Matsuoka and Kusunoki. Some very important discussions were had, such as whether Matsuoka prefers to be called "Onii-chan" or "Onii-san," and showing off the bed sheet that comes with the special vol 1's blu-ray/dvd bundle to the two. Please give it a listen when you get the chance, as you'll definitely have a lot of fun.
Also, just like ASCA a couple weeks ago, Myuk got a special ensemble version! Be sure to give it a listen as it's got its own charm different from that of the acoustic version from the EP release.
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