10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 12 [END]

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 12 [END]



Michael delivers his judgment over Maria the Witch. Maria joins the village with Joseph. Season Finale.

Heh.

The title of the episode was "Love Conquers All." No kidding.

 

God intervened twice with Michael during Maria's trial. Instead of letting the Church of the World handle it, the Church of the Heavens took it over. And it was still in a way that didn't interfere with the actions of the world. Michael just asked witnesses what they thought about Maria. Jeez, why didn't Gilbert think of that?

 

It was obvious Gilbert was just telling Michael what he thought he wanted to hear, but Bernard went mad from heresy. He committed the sin against the Holy Spirit. Even God can't forgive that Sin. You can't tell an angel to his face that you believe in God but you reject Him because you don't need Him anymore. Willful separation from God Himself. That's supposedly how Lucifer was cast down from Heaven.

 

Ezekiel was cast down too, but that was because she developed Free Will. Only human souls are supposed to have that, not an aspect of an archangel. But God's Mercy lets Ezekiel choose her mother.

Hahaha! Maria isn't ready to settle down yet. She's still a wild and crazy teenager, or looks like it anyway.

 

I liked how Michael said that he took Gabriel's job in announcing an upcoming birth. The Annunciation, indeed.

 

In the third episode, what stopped Michael from smiting Maria after Joseph shot him was God's Mercy informing him that Joseph had acted out of love for his neighbor. At the end of Maria's trial, God's Judgment pronounced Maria a Good Neighbor, thus part of Natural Law. Even better was how Michael asked the Ancient Beings and the Forgotten Ones too. Even though some didn't like Maria's actions, they all claimed it was not for her own selfish gain. That was good enough for Michael.

 

I wonder if these Ancient Beings once forgotten were no longer considered Good Neighbors, thus stopped being part of Natural Law under God's Eyes. Quite a tolerant outlook on powerful beings once considered deities, but I guess God never considered them as competitors, just some of His wonderful creations. Those other witches should learn that lesson.

Maria's owl familiars were quite protective of Ezekiel, even if it meant that her future birth would mean the end of their personalities and magical gifts. But that's a detail left outside the story, which was only how a witch from a nearby forest came to live as a new neighbor in a small village.

Hmm.

I was quite surprised at how Bernard fell to heresy, but there was plenty of foreshadowing showing the steps to his inevitable fall. From using witches' alchemy to make new weapons and medicine while concealing their origins to employing a disguised Moor to rape a virgin, he was already choosing which sins to ignore, placing himself as the Judge of God's Laws. That was Pride at work and the ultimate expression of that Sin is against the Holy Spirit. He received his punishment, turning to salt after looking into the Face of God with sin in his heart.

 

I'm not quite sure what to make of Galfa. Perhaps he was there to show the messy side of this material world, where personal motivations can align with many different sides temporarily, illustrating that people aren't just members of certain factions, but their own complex selves. He was certainly a driver of a lot of tension and drama throughout the season.

 

I liked how Maria's character never flinched in the face of Michael, which I'm sure affected his Judgment. She told him that even if she loses her powers, she would still try to stop any suffering near her, in her own way, which was what she was doing all along. Her intent never wavered, no matter if the Church of the Heavens opposed her, or the Church of the World, other witches, England, France or mercenaries. She was pure.

Final Thoughts.

I quite liked this mishmash of medieval history during the Hundred Years' War. Using many of the same names, places and military technology, it was almost a game to see what or who they were referencing. Beyond that, it was still an entertaining tale of a young powerful woman who did what she could to stop suffering she saw. Add in a chaste burgeoning love, cute familiars, powerful beings in Angels and old gods, set during a long war with many sides and political calculations, and we had a fun story upon which many themes could be hung. The main theme, very Catholic, was to be a Good Neighbor and Love your Neighbor as Yourself. An Ancient Being passed that on to us almost two thousand years ago, and He is very far from being forgotten, even today.