English Dub Review: Sweet Reincarnation “Apples of Love and Sad Threats of War”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
After strengthening his relationship with Licorice, Pas works on securing both sugar and goat’s milk for his future land of sweets. Meanwhile, there are stirrings of war at the border…

Our Take:
While watching this series, I initially thought Casserole smacking Pastry on the head for his mistakes was the worst thing anyone could’ve done to a minor. Sure, it’s played out for comedic effect, but it was still uncalled for. That is until I watched the previous episode, which made me want to apologize to Pastry’s father for making him the target of my concern. After what happened between Pastry and Count Brioche at the end of episode nine, I would undoubtedly switch my focus to the cunning countess, who trapped Pastry in a hug without his consent.
This week’s episode started immediately afterward, with Licorice seeing them in an awkward scenario and leaving the room upset, amusing Brioche. That marks another reason why Brioche deserves to be hated. However, instead of Licorice being angry at Pastry, she ends up feeling upset for not being able to stand up to Brioche, like how her sister Petra stood up to her bullies. Fortunately, Pastry and Licorice managed to make amends quickly, with Pastry assuring her that she was better off being herself instead of trying to be more like Petra and giving her a particular candied apple he made for her. This leads to a kiss between the young lovers that’s interrupted by Caera, who still doesn’t approve of their relationship going a step further.
So, what about the mischievous countess, you ask? Well, to no one’s surprise, she’s not going to be let off the hook easily, as Pastry decided to give Brioche her “just desserts”. Pas used his Replication magic to put pictures of Brioche hugging him on the wrappers of his sweets and sell them to customers, humiliating Brioche. This would’ve resulted in Brioche having her title revoked from her or worse. Instead, she gets marriage proposals from young nobles ranging from eight to ten. From a narrative standpoint, this made the situation even worse, even though it’s played for comedy. It’s assuming that people are okay with their children being inappropriately touched by an adult, let alone a countess, which sounds more problematic than it was on paper. I understand that the show is not going for realism, but there should be a more appropriate punishment for Brioche, like having her arrested.
Besides that, I’m glad we don’t have to deal with that despicable perverted woman. That means we get another round of Pastry attempting to make more sweets for his dream utopia, with him getting goats and chickens to make milk and eggs. Additionally, he plans to produce sugar from sweet grass, but his attempts to build a sugar-extracting machine become a disaster. Lucky for him, Licorice thought of a substitute to help her future husband get the sugar he needed: a grape press. Unfortunately, the young sweetmaker’s quest is interrupted once again by a rivalry between the two royal families: Hubareck and Margrave Lutoroute. The reason is that Margrave is pissed that Petra is engaged to Squale, so he sends 30,000 men off to war.
With the series nearing its run, it’s unsurprising that Pastry has at least one more political problem to resolve before he pursues his dream. However, with a rivalry this big, it will take a lot more than his delicious treats to settle this dispute. From a critical perspective, “Apples of Love and Sad Threats of War” offers another sweet yet rushed moment involving Pastry and Licorice and a brief depiction of Pastry’s continuous plan to make a bunch of treats. However, they were undermined by its tasteless approach to Brioche’s actions regarding its execution. Regarding Brioche’s current predicament, this won’t be the last time she’ll hug someone younger than her. Hopefully, it’ll be the last time we see it.