After last episode’s pretty disastrous adaptation in which the anime changed the entire pacing of the story; which in many ways was just so they could make Brace’s death seem more impactful by leaving at the end… I feel like had the anime stuck to the novel’s approach where she would’ve died early in the episode and not been drawn out, it would’ve hammered in how dire the situation was when they were caught by the Yesma hunters, as well as how unrelentingly cruel the world was. Anyway, with the release of PV3 and a new key visual, I’m hoping these final 3 episodes do the novel justice in its adaptation, as we’re back to just our two protagonists as they near their destination.
This post will contain my thoughts on this episode as a source reader, and at the end, there’ll be a news update section detailing any new info regarding the series I find noteworthy.
Episode 10 Thoughts
We open with Mister Pig and Jess having just left Nott and Rossi behind, as those two were preoccupied with the Yesma hunter gang’s boss, and there was no telling whether there would be reinforcements or even how long it would take to defeat just the boss. The dialogue here was modified quite a bit from the novel, mainly as a result of last episode’s major scene changes, but I do want to point out an addition that I liked which was an anime addition: Mister Pig explicitly claims Brace’s death was his fault but doesn’t regret making that decision as to not let Brace’s sacrifice weigh on Jess. As for what was cut, there were a few lines of jokes, and more importantly, based on the novel’s scene, Mister Pig remarked that Brace’s death should mean they won’t have any further pursuers due to her being mistaken as Jess and having died. And finally, Mister Pig telling Jess she has an obligation to reach the royal capital even if she’s the only one left is such a good line that I’m glad Matsuoka was able to capture that same feeling I had when reading the novel.
After the title card is the OP, and I just want to bring back up something I mentioned back in my ep 2 thoughts post. The scene where all the others characters are overlooking Jess and Mister Pig as they play in the water really does represent the cast’s hopes and prayers that there’s a happy ending waiting for these two at the end of their journey.
Our two protagonists resume their trek, and we get a flashback with Nott explaining the tools he gave Jess earlier during the day. Not much to say here, just that the novel had this exposition done via Jess relaying the info Nott had told her to Mister Pig, but the flashback works better for the anime medium.
When the two reached the side of the rocky mountain, they found out there was no entrance. Relying on what Brace told him, Mister Pig told Jess to try shouting at the capital to let them in. I do like how the anime made Mister Pig sniff the place first to see if any Yesma hunters were nearby before making that request.
We get a brief time skip as they continue walking along the base of the mountain, repeating this over and over again until the sun had set. Just for a bit of novel context, they’re actually supposed to venture a little ways back into the forest as they walk along in order to retain some cover. Also, I’ve given up hope on the animation department, but just this one last time, I want to say I really do wish it was better, as another part of why Mister Pig asked Jess to ride him was because her gait had started to become unsteady from walking so much.
As time approaches midnight, the two are suddenly attacked, with Jess being wounded by an arrow. I would’ve liked for a pig vision scene in the anime as depicted in the novel, but maybe that would’ve been a little too confusing? Anyway, despite the story beats being mostly the same as the novel’s, this scene is weirdly more action filled and not quite as solid with the story flow. I think it all has to do with most of Mister Pig’s monologues being cut, resulting in him feeling less of an intelligent strategist, so the anime tries to salvage this slightly by having him be more active in the fighting department. It’s still not great, but I think that’s the idea behind what the anime was going for. I won’t go into the details comparing this part to the novel, so if you want to find out, go read ch 4 of vol 1.
After the action scene comes the real highlight, which is when Jess tricks Mister Pig and conceals them both with the last remaining tool Nott gave her. The heartfelt dialogues between these two in the anime have always been the best, and this is no exception. Not much animation is necessary here as their voices do all the heavy lifting.
After some time, the two are able to leave their hiding spot and continue their never-ending journey around the mountain. As this is again a heartfelt moment, I don’t think there’s much to say aside from the anime adding an SS scene in which Jess asks Mister Pig what he would like to become if he could reincarnate.
A hecklepon shows up to disrupt this moment, and the puzzle pieces finally click into place for Mister Pig. One thing worth noting that was left out from the novel is that this animal constantly sways its body, and during Mister Pig’s deduction, he notes that it’s a way to distract/draw attention away from the true purpose of hecklepons being observers.
As dawn arrives and Jess appeals to the hecklepon with a threat at Mister Pig’s suggestion, a rumbling is heard as stairs appear around the mountain’s base near them, and we cut to the ED.
Given how the anime has been, this is probably as strong of an episode as I could hope to expect. Much of the heartfelt moments were untouched, and besides the poor action scenes, we were finally treated to some of Mister Pig’s much needed monologues. There’s just two episodes left, so stay tuned as the mysteries regarding the Yesma race will be revealed!
News Update Section
It seems the release date for the final light novel volume of Heat the Pig Liver 「豚のレバーは加熱しろ（ｎ回目）」 was pushed back to March 8 and will depict the story after vol 8. It will cover the situation in Japan 1 year later, and in Mestria 4 years later…
Sakai-sensei tweeted about the Drama CD bundled with the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD releases, and it was also teased in this episode’s preview.
An AR camera sticker webpage was created which you can play around with on your phone.
A Jess figurine is available for preorder until Feb 15, 2024. It’s being made by FuRyu under their Tenitol line, is being sold for ¥5,940 (tax included), and is slated to release in August 2024. Based on the preview images at least, she looks quite good considering the price tag. Note that this is not the swimsuit figurine that I mentioned back in my episode 6 anime post.
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