10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 5

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 5



Bernard uses Maria's power behind the scenes. Galfa faces death in a duel and Joseph is conflicted in asking Maria to save him.

Heh.

I don't think this Ezekiel person is taking her job very seriously. Either that, or she is as naïve and credulous a newborn babe. There's a difference between trusting in the good in people and just being totally ignorant of their darker nature. Ezekiel just believes Maria and her familiars and doesn't even suspect they may be lying so that Maria can use magic. Maria even gets to sneak out at night like a naughty teenager.

 

Tied to the above points, Artemis points out to Ezekiel that the world is not as pure as heaven is, which is the point of it. Free will means nothing without the existence of temptation.

 

Speaking of pure, Maria acts like the whole forest is in her realm of privacy.



She just greets the forest naked as if there isn't even a possibility of shame or embarrassment.

 

Cernunnos looks like a dirty old stalker peeping at her through all the horned beasts of the forest.

 

That Galfa guy is pretty sneaky. Faking a broken arm so he can beat a nobleman with the hilt of his own sword.

 

Bernard appears to be sneakier, getting his uncle, the Count of Burgundy, to petition Maria to harass the English. There actually was a Count Guillaume who lived near the time of Bernard of Clairvaux who also came from Burgundy. They weren't related though, but Bernard was born to nobility.

 

The Latin title of the episode is sapere aude, which means "Dare to know." I think the phrase refers to both Joseph and Maria trusting in Galfa and the outcome of the duel. Sapere Aude was Aquinas' inspiration for using Reason to know Enlightenment. In this show, reason and logic, or at least opportunism, are the traits of the witches, so this Latin phrase may be turned back on Maria and Joseph to discover Faith and not interfere in a fight.

 

 

Hmm.

This was a smaller, more personal episode. Perhaps the production company is saving their money for bigger battle and action scenes later, but the writing didn't suffer. The main theme of interfering with Natural Order is still here, but we see Maria struggle to explain her "willfulness" to Joseph, and even Joseph is tempted to ask Maria to intervene. The three little birds were as frustrated with Maria's answer about "not liking the things you don't like" as Michael and Cernunnos appear to be.

 

There was movement in the romance department though. Joseph and Maria had a real conversation when Joseph was asking for advice in whether to tell Galfa to just run away and start over somewhere else. Also, we saw the thing that teenagers do when they like each other, but normal conversation falters - awkward pause and then question out of left field just to keep their meeting going a little longer. Even Ezekiel thinks they should jump each others' bones. Ahem. I mean, she thinks they should start courting. The owls, of course, don't like that idea, because then they would disappear along with Maria's magic.

I wonder if this Eugenie girl was a British witch trying to cause morale problems between the mercenaries and the noble knights. Her disappearance after the duel and the knight's suicide was pretty suspicious.

 

Bernard continues to work for an end to the war behind the scenes and he sees something useful about the Galfa's cleverness and use of subterfuge. I have a feeling Bernard is going to make a lot of confessions to his abbot before this show is over.