Endro! – Ep. 5

Bloom Into Yusha…I regret nothing.

 

No, I did not come back to standalone Endro! coverage just for that pun…not entirely. This episode just happened to have grabbed my attention a lot.

For a CGDCT adventure anime, Endro! sure is mean spirited at times. Like, it does make sense for Mao-sensei to disbelieve the gang’s tale of saving mackerels from an evil god but that’s really just one of many jokes taking a jab at the validity of these characters’ heroism. In general, Yusha and her pals are kind of treated as a joke or at the very least, not the first people you’d think would one day save the world. Hell, just after Yusha and her pals are told they need to redo their assignment, Yusha discovers her sword has rusted. Presumably, that has occurred from all the recent adventuring near and at the ocean but the sight does give the impression that Yusha isn’t exactly legendary material.

Naturally, someone needs to validate Yusha as the new Hero, hence the introduction of Princess Rona (Momo Asakura). Although I must say: the actual confirmation happened quickly. Turns out the royal family just has a cartado that detects Heroes complete with the stock dinging sound and red O symbol ripped straight out of a game show. Guess we can’t completely legitimize Yusha as the Hero just yet. The only thing missing here is an Easy Button for someone to press.

Really, the real reason Rona is here is to inject some tried and true yuri into Endro!. It’s the classic princess falling in love with the hero in shining armor setup here albeit the hero obviously being a girl for a change. Does Yusha being a girl deter Rona in any way? Well, she does look confused but rather than get disappointed or confused, Rona just accepts the situation for what it is and tries to fall in love with Yusha anyway. She even goes as far as declare that she’ll legalize same-sex marriage in the kingdom just so that her dream can come true. Talk about commitment…and progress!

The following bit where Rona holds a festival to honor Yusha was great with how ridiculous it gets. You have statues, paintings, figurines, and even food that all bear her likeness. There’s even a play retelling her gang’s adventures and most humorously, the actors are all just Rona’s knights wearing paper cutouts of the adventurers’ faces. Naturally, Yusha is taken aback by all this. All she really wanted and needed was simple acknowledgement that she is indeed the new Hero, not a festival held in her honor. There’s also seeing people rip apart food with her face drawn on it and seeing a whack a Yusha machine that must feel embarrassing and maybe patronizing. Even though Rona means well, it’s undeniable that she is going to extreme lengths with developing a relationship with Yusha. I’d even go as far as to say it’s also kind of obvious that she hasn’t gotten to know the Hero as a person.

Which makes the last scene very important for this character. After Mao-sensei accidentally provoking a carnival animal, Yusha takes action even though Rona points out that it ought to be a trivial manner for a Hero. Even though Yusha agrees, she fights anyway simply because that is the right thing to do. Stunned by how selfless Yusha is, Rona discovers her heart is pounding and it’s from there, she starts to truly be in love with Hero. I really like that Endro! is showing commitment with this character’s feelings.  The writers could’ve easily write off her efforts to fall in love as a phase so seeing that she is indeed attracted to girls makes for a gratifying conclusion. Whether or not the ship will truly sail remains to be seen though. It’s possible Yusha will friendzone like crazy. At least, I’m pleased with how the show is handling Rona’s character as its yuri teases.

There is an interesting tidbit thrown out where Rona appears to suspect Mao-sensei is the demon lord, something which the teacher notices and fears. As funny as it was to see Mao-sensei give up on her world conquering ambitions back in Episode 2, it would be really interesting to see if her past will catch up to her. Besides, at this point, that’s really the only thread Endro! has to a central storyline.

---

Thanks for reading!

Watch Endro! on Crunchyroll & Funimation.

Consider supporting my blog via:

PayPal: 

Ko-Fi: