My goodness, this is the third episode in a row where Lapis Re:LiGHTs stays focused on its story. Talk about a record high. Am I watching the same show? Then again, I probably shouldn’t speak too soon as the next episode preview teases a possible return to wacky hijinks. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted (and to be fair, I’m kind of looking forward to the hijinks anyway).
As you can imagine, LiGHTS very much get expelled over their petty bit of parkour during their Orchestra. To think I thought expulsion was just a throwaway detail though to be fair, you never know with this kind of thing in this kind of show. Now that it’s happened, I wonder what the long-term goal will be. Will they eventually try to get reinstated or will they decide to become witches their own way? I wouldn’t mind if they decide not to go back, even if they get offered to. That school sounds pretty lousy if they deduct a lot of points for taking a map.
To this episode’s credit, you get to see how many of the supporting characters takes the news. Nadeshiko wants to object to Chloe on LiGHTS’s behalf. Emilia and Yue act indifferent but are secretly saddened about it; Yue’s reaction is of course more subdued. Ratura and LiGHTs’ partner team during the sports tournament personally checks up on them when they have the chance. It’s a nice attention to detail that makes the supporting cast feel more involved beyond comic relief and simply being there.
Most noteworthy about the expulsion is that as LiGHTs leave and think about what they should do now, Tiara’s servants immediately arrive in town to take her back, having already been informed of her expulsion. The timing is really suspicious and it only further fuels my hunch that Eliza is behind all this somehow. That Lavie actually points out how petty Chloe is as a school director certainly doesn’t help either. I really hope I was onto something because as it would make the story more interesting.
Poor Tiara. She clearly blames herself for getting the whole team expelled and if it turns out Eliza had a part in all this, that guilt will increase even further. On top of that, her friends also find out her real identity as a princess. That Ashley, Lavie, and Lynette never figured that out despite Tiara’s first name being the same is pretty dumb but then again, so is someone’s name being Tiara so I’ll look the other way. It is nevertheless a compelling development as Tiara’s fear that everyone will treat her differently if they know who she is comes true. Honestly, I can see Tiara taking some solace in her leaving her friends, deciding they will be better off without her despite clearly being the linchpin of the group.
The rest of the episode has the rest of LiGHTs temporarily staying in and working at a restaurant, the same one Ratura works for. Along the way, Ashley’s wisdom tooth gets swollen and learns from Angelica, an expert healer, that go figure, magic can’t treat it. Thus, everyone takes her to the dentist for some painful procedures. The randomness of Lapis never ceases to amaze me.
It’s all a fun enough scenario though a point that gets made is that the girls are conceding to working part-time indefinitely and that they may never see Tiara again. In other words, they’re accepting that LiGHTs is being disbanded. Of course, this is a temporary development. Some of their friends help convince them to give up. Most surprisingly, the best advice comes from Angelica who makes a harsh but truthful point to the girls that they’re the ones making the final decision to give up. The episode ends with everyone traveling to reunite with Tiara. At first, Rosetta is the only one to make this decision though the other three soon follow suit.
A peculiar detail arises during Tiara’s trip to her home. She spots a recently devastated village and learns from her maid that magical beasts have been on the aggressive again. I keep forgetting that magical beasts are a thing in this show (maybe it’s because of all the J-Pop). The fact that they’re being brought up again means they’re going to be involved in some way later down the road. Maybe Eliza is going to get called back into action; she is a renowned monster hunter apparently. Maybe this will compel Tiara into learning the same powerful magic her sister wields.
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