With Mister Pig's deductive reasoning proven correct, stairs appear around the mountain base for Mister Pig and Jess to climb. What awaits them as they proceed towards their destination?
If you've read my past episode review blog posts, you should know by now that this post will contain my thoughts as a novel reader, although I will take care to not spoil anything in the story beyond what has already been covered in the anime. You'll find any news regarding the series in the update section at the end as well.
Episode 11 Thoughts
We pick up where we left off last episode, as Jess and Mister Pig climb up the newly appeared stairs to reach the top. It's there that they're greeted by a woman who heals their wounds and welcomes them inside after the path they came from was sealed once again.
After bringing them to a private room, the woman informs the two that she'll pick them up later once they've rested, and that Nott was able to depart from the Forest of Needles just fine. The latter part being an anime exclusive which I found to be an interesting inclusion (not good or bad, just different, I suppose).
Left alone now, Jess tells Mister Pig that she'll be heading to the bath before going to sleep, and suggests that he also joins her; to which he inadvertently agrees to before realizing the implications.
Soon after the OP, we're treated to some fan service, as Jess explains this is the only way she's able to thank Mister Pig for what he's done for her throughout this journey. The bed scene that follows, where Mister Pig worries about whether he'll actually be able to turn back into a human, is actually a part of the bath scene as well in the novel. Despite some dialogue and monologue cuts here and there, the overall tone is kept pretty well from the novel. It also seems like a decent chunk of the budget went into animating Mister Pig getting washed, since he was especially cute here.
The two are woken up around noon when, as promised, the woman from before came to pick them up. As they're riding what's effectively an elevator, Mister Pig poses a question asking if she's a Yesma. While she doesn't answer him in the anime, she does respond with "I think you’re on the right track." in the novel. This is followed by an exchange of glances between Mister Pig and Jess, as well as a short monologue that were both cut.
After the two are guided before an old man and a young man at a table, we learn that the old man is King Evis, the young man is his grandson Shulavis, and the woman is his daughter-in-law Wies. Much of the conversation that occurs in this scene follows the novel closely, although some content was cut which were meant to pave the way for future novel volumes. As I'm unsure of whether there'll be a season 2, I'll leave it to you to read chapter 4 of the novel's volume 1 to learn about those details. It definitely pains me to see the lack of strong animation during this lengthy exposition of sorts, since the character reactions are very important here...
At the end of the conversation, we hear Jess tell Mister Pig that she wants to see Mestria from a high up place, before cutting to the title card. Upon returning, we see the two sitting inside a gazebo. The novel does clarify that they had walked to the square located at the top of the royal capital, but the anime cuts this to save time. The heart-to-heart conversations between Jess and Mister Pig are always excellent, and this one is no exception. Even without the cut monologue, I could sense Mister Pig's emotions. And finally, the mystery behind the black rista that Jess bought before meeting Mister Pig was revealed... before immediately cutting to the ED. That's certainly one way to keep us thinking about the implications, and it changes how we think about the ED lyrics too.
Looking at episode 11 as a whole, I think the first half was alright, the lengthy mystery reveal/exposition was weakened by the lack of solid animations, and the final scene with Jess and Mister Pig went as solidly as I expected due to the VA's strong chemistry. I'm just really hoping they stick the landing with plenty of care taken and minimal dialogue cuts for the final episode.
News Update Section
It looks like the delay with episode 9 caused the production to be unable to schedule an air time for next week, so the final episode (ep 12) will be postponed until next year. I hope they take the time to really refine the last episode and maybe give those super important scenes the animation polish they deserve. Side note: I've removed my translations for volume 1 up to chapter 3, and when the anime finishes airing next year, the rest will be procedurally removed (since chapter 4 hasn't been adapted to completion yet).
So... I kind of splurged to get my hands on some short stories (still don't have anywhere close to all of them though), and I recently posted one of them, which is a new volume 1 SS that was inspired by the anime's OP. I may or may not decide to do a few more, but I figured I should at least provide some extra context to this short story release. You can also read about the promotions Dengeki Bunko have been running if you're interested.
The first volume of the Blu-ray/DVD has been released. Did you all receive your copies yet? There's also been some updates regarding the purchase bonuses since I last mentioned them, so feel free to check out the anime page again to see what's been given a new visual.
Retrospect the Pig Liver 3 was released recently, and it covers episodes 7 to 10 from the anime. I'm not sure if we'll get a final one for episodes 11 & 12.
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