English Dub Review: TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy- – “Eat or Be Eaten”

Well, looks like some interesting things happened during “Eat or Be Eaten”. Things always seem to be a little different when going through an episode of Tsukimichi. Let’s get into it.

There’s a level of sublety that we get in Tsukimichi that really doesn’t get a lot of attention…no pun intended. A lot of the flow is pushed along with slight pokes and prods, not really getting very deep into the nuances of what’s going on. And “Eat or Be Eaten” is no exception.

Tsukimichi has done wonders in developing two worlds and creating two very similar, yet different worlds. They both come with different clientele and problems, creating a lot of opportunities to expand the plot when needed. For instance, we got a bit of a push in Makoto establishing his storefront, with Beren tending to it. However, we don’t get to actually see the store yet.

Seeing that Makoto has been practicing his archery was different. I like when these characters who are more powerful than god have moments of being an every man. This every man feeling goes really quickly because Tomoe and Mio explain that when Makoto focuses on hitting the target, he dies and comes back through…things. It’s convoluted, and I didn’t get it. However, that constant dying and coming back to life has brought his mana level to the point where he’s now on the same level of The Goddess. The nuance is there, but I am waiting with baited breath to get another confrontation with The Goddess.

And then, we get the latest trip back to Tsige, where Makoto is walking, and a demi-human drops their bag, and Makoto finds a prostitute. Depending on where your thought processes are, Makoto could have lucked out here by being able to sleep with Mio and Tomoe. I’m a little unsettled, because to “grown” adults got as close to rape face as they could have gotten and spooked Makoto. This poor lad disappears back to the demi-plane, where Makoto gets new gear to further control his mana. The new gear looks great, and comes into play when him and Mio get confronted by the two who ended the episode last week.

There’s a lot to unpack here. The ongoing mystique of this shop finally coming to fruition will be great…if it ever happens. There are more hitches with Makoto’s power, making it almost impossible to practice the one thing he actually likes. There’s still no Goddess, who will probably be the big bad of season one. I just want some of these loose ends to get tied up, especially Tomoe’s end game with spying on Rembrandt, as well as his shady practices. We have four more episodes, and a lot of plot to uncover. However, “Eat or Be Eaten” is a great episode to continue building. We just need progress on the plot.