English Dub Review: Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! “Night at Fort Ritterd”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

On their way to Aristide’s home, the group stop at a fort and try some more monster cooking, though Melphie notices some similar effects happening to Aristide.

OUR TAKE

After sealing the deal and getting fully hitched in the last episode, Melphie (ah, so I only got it wrong by adding a “y” instead of an “ie”) and Aristide get some time to camp in a nearby fort and strengthen their flourishing love. But it’s not just diabetes inducing cuteness and flirting between our two leads (although there is plenty of that this week, don’t you worry), as we finally learn more about Melphie’s monster cooking mother Elise, what led to her untimely death, and what she was getting to the bottom of in her monster meat cooking research that Melphie is committed to furthering. It turns out in this world that both humans and monsters have access to magic, though obviously it varies from being to being. In monsters, that magic can build up and become toxins that make them go basically rabid, as well as inedible when cooked, hence why Elise focused on removing that magic from them. However, that magic present in humans in large amounts simply makes them feel great pain and eventually kills them, which is how Elise eventually died. But because of the stigma against eating monster meat, everyone was quick to assume that it was doing that which killed her. From then on, Melphie pushed herself to continue her mother’s research and prove that it was worth it while clearing her mother’s name.

We still don’t quite know how Elise got so interested in this sort of research, but I’m sure we’ll learn more about it in time. And even if we don’t, this is still quite a lot of new info that expands on Melphie’s motivations, and additionally why Aristide is actually a great match for her. Not only is he a great hunter and able to procure many kinds of monster meat that she would never be able to obtain on her own, but it seems he has an abundance of magic that he is dealing with too, so if Melphie can learn to help him mitigate that while also making monster meat more socially acceptable to eat, it would cover both of her traumas in one swoop. Two traumas with one stone! Though we still have quite a ways to get there, considering the show isn’t even half over yet, and it looks like next episode will be focusing on getting monster fish, which will be its own sort of fun.