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.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 11

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 11



Maria rescues Joseph from his fight with Galfa. The battle for the town ends soon after.

Heh.

They say love is powerful, but this is ridiculous!

 

Cernunnos thinks Maria just had a crisis of confidence. A magical being needs to believe in itself first before it can have any power. That sounds okay, but I'm not sure it's that simple with Maria. Once she got a big dose of love and happiness, bladam!

 

Shouting from the hilltops that you've found love is such an innocent thing to do! Summoning forth all sorts of forgotten beings, not so much.

 

Joseph is too serious.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 10

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 10



Maria's sentence for crimes against the Church are interrupted.

Heh.

Viv couldn't lay a weapon on Michael during their fight, yet Joseph was able to hit him with an arrow. This must be more of that Natural Order stuff the angels and old gods keep talking about.

 

Ezekiel really doesn't want to hurt anyone. Maria's ways must be rubbing off on her, or living with people is instilling empathy. Still, it's pretty shocking to see Ezekiel used as she was intended - a weapon meant to strike down heretics.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 9

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 9



Maria is captured and to be tried as a heretic.

Heh.

Bernard may not be a totally rational person. That's fine. Theology relies on more than just Reason to arrive at the Truth. Besides what can be known from the senses and manipulated by Reason, Inspiration from the Holy Spirit can also interpreted through Reason. Sometimes that spark of inspiration looks pretty scary.

 

That being said, Maria is still a creature of this World, and while her motivations may be self-centered, there was still Truth in her actions and words. People are incarnations of God too, and the Church of the Heavens under Michael may just not be aware of that.

 

The mysteries to be resolved in this episode are why Maria lost her magic power and what the image of a rebalanced scale meant during the twin battles of faith between Viv against Michael and Bernard with Maria. We saw in the third episode that God Himself intervened on Joseph's behalf against Michael. Perhaps something similar just happened here. As for Maria's loss of magic, I suspect it has something to do with what Cernunnos warned her about - being forgotten.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 8

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 8



The different factions deal with the aftermath of Maria's actions in the last battle. Some grow closer to Maria as others turn away.

Heh.

There are other beings in this world being forgotten, which makes them weaker, much like Cernunnos, as we saw with the visit of this Clan of the North. Perhaps these forgotten beings are the sources of the witches' summons.

 

Bernard isn't acting very holy, asking a mercenary to rape a virgin, even if it is a military act, in a sense, by neutralizing an interfering third party during the Hundred Years War.

 

The inscription on Galfa's box for his weaponized prosthetic, DULCE BELLUM INEXPERTIS, means "War is sweet to those haven't experienced it." Ironic, sardonic and a warning all at the same time for Galfa.

 

Maria and Joseph are turning into a real couple.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 7

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 7



Maria attempts to stop a major battle but chaos ensues, leaving her with injuries.

Heh.

War is chaos. Even when you give people reasonable choices, they don't have to take them.

 

Ezekiel may be Michael's spear, but she still has Free Will. I thought angels weren't supposed to have Free Will.

 

Ezekiel told Joseph that she committed a sin by not following Michael's order. The purest essence of Sin is a separation from God, so here she is admitting that she has created a rift between herself and Michael.

 

Galfa, who has run away from his past, was originally a Moor, according to Yvain. Maybe Galfa didn't just kill him to keep his money and not take the blame for disobeying the Count's orders, but also to protect his secret that he was a Muslim.

 

Interesting that the limb Galfa lost was the one he faked being injured to win his duel against the nobleman. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, huh?

 

Edwina claimed she didn't like the hen party at her house, but she did like all the compliments from Maria.

 

The witches are all about short skirts and hot pants. Very fashion forward.

 

I don't know how Artemis would do in a fight, since her skills lie in more, ah, gentle matters, but she knows what to aim for and when.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 6

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 6



Maria struggles with balancing the contradictory wishes of Joseph and Anne. Michael reminds Ezekiel of her duty.

Heh.

This episode felt kind of like a mini recap. Maria is still putting on a big show. Ezekiel is still two steps behind in seeing her use flashy magic. The villagers still make requests. Michael is still watching over things. So is Cernunnos. And the English and French are still fighting and upset with Maria over not winning any spoils during their skirmishes.

 

Maria and Joseph went on their first "date." I'd freak out too riding on a flying pitchfork the first time.

 

Maria doesn't have much experience talking to confident men like Galfa. She is a virgin after all.

 

Bernard goes a little nuts at learning all the coincidences about Maria being a virgin and having a man named Joseph in her life.

 

Interesting that Cernunnos' shadow formed a snake right before Michael came down.

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.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 4

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 4



Maria adjusts to Ezekiel's presence. The mercenaries and witches are not adjusting as well to Maria's intervention in local battles.

Heh.

Witches never really died out. They just became lawyers. If Ezekiel doesn't see the magic, then she can't say that Maria did it. Loophole!

The mercenaries are starting to plunder villages, with Maria scaring them away. This is different than stopping a battle from happening, but it is a consequence of not collecting ransom from captured soldiers. I'm not sure why the local lords are tolerating this if the mercenaries are supposed to be working for them.

Ezekiel asked why Maria didn't save the deserted village that died out from the plague. The flashbacks show that Martha's village accepted her medicine while that particular village did not. The lone survivor kept watch over their Memento Mori, their death memorial.

This show is still mashing up everything that happened during the Hundred Years War into Maria's story. Like the introduction of gunpowder and "handgonnes."

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 3

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 3



Michael calls on Ezekiel to observe Maria. Bernard offers absolution to her as well.

Heh.

A short, precocious looking know-it-all girl acts exactly like you think she would in anime.

 

Wow, it's a good thing Joseph is such a pure-pure boy, otherwise God would not have stopped Michael from punishing Maria.

 

That was a neat reference to Jesus' saying that the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. In context, that comes from the "love your enemies" sermon starting at Matthew 5:44, because Joseph said he loved his neighbor Maria, which caused an actual state of grace. Although, sending Ezekiel down may end up more punishment than grace in Maria's eyes.

 

Hah! Talk about obeying the letter of the law. If Ezekiel didn't see Maria use ostentatious magic, then she doesn't know who used it!

 

Of course Ezekiel is a white dove with a cross on her chest.

 

Owls are raptors, right? Time to establish pecking order.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 2

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 2



Maria's overt interference in the battles near her forest draw the attention and ire of the archangel Michael.

Heh.

Bonus points to any show dealing with the Catholic Church that actually uses "Yahweh" when talking about the Holy Father.

 

Oh man. Don't ever debate theology with an archangel. All of human history worshipping all sorts of gods, and Michael tells it like it is: "The prayers of people are not requests, nor are they commands. They are actions of this world, which the Heavens do not mediate." This reminds me of one of the great aphorisms of the Christian apologist C.S. Lewis - "Prayer does not change God. It changes me."

 

Hey, you think it's a coincidence that Maria's love interest is named Joseph? I don't think so. Also, the woman in the village who's known her the longest is named Martha. Martha was the sister of another Mary, who were both sisters to Lazarus. Also not a coincidence.

 

Hahaha! Maria is so innocent she has to make fuzzy clouds to hide Priapus' lack of genitalia. She's obviously taken lessons on censorship from the Japanese media. Artemis feels the frustration.

10 Second Anime - Junketsu no Maria - Episode 1

Junketsu no Maria - Episode 1

"The Chastity of Maria" (English "Maria the Virgin Witch") is the story of Maria, a young witch in France who interferes with local wars and gets teased by her familiars for her virginity.

 

First Thoughts.

Another medieval show with a sexy young magic user showing off Middle Ages battle mechanics and ribald humor? Sign me up! What got me first about the show was the owl familiar Artemis the Succubus complaining about walking bowlegged, feeling like her hips are about to crack, and having a sore jaw. Apparently there's a lot of work for sex demons right before a big battle. The punchline was how innocent Maria was about her own familiar's "services." What's more, she basically pulled a whole dragon out of her cauldron because some young lad kissed her hand. I was agape when that dragon just popped out of there! The kicker was how Maria wanted to avoid the fate of The Pucelle, which is what the French call Joan of Arc. Pucelle means maiden, virgin, etc, and one of Joan's monikers was the Maiden of Orleans. But it wasn't the burning at the stake that Maria was afraid of; it was the test of virginity. Hah! This first episode definitely impressed me.