Because GONZO cut so much stuff from this episode, I had to separate my deep frying into two parts for its lengthiness…

I shall say no more and just invite you to partake of this deep frying (and bite GONZO? :p)~ Enjoy~ >3

On Yuuji and Mayumi’s Bloody Kiss

The bL00dy Kiss

In the novel, the flashback with Yuuji and Mayumi (which is supposedly 5 years ago) happened as Yuuji was contemplating on transforming into the golem. And unlike the rather ‘gentle kiss’ scene, it was rather ‘bloody’, well sort of. Mayumi’s kiss was rather ‘forceful’ so to speak, as she ends up headbutting (or nose-butting?) Yuuji and cutting both their lips because of this ‘forceful surprise attack’ ^^;; (refer to the pic above)

After Mayumi tells Yuuji everything she wants him to do for her, she also adds that he doesn’t have the right to disobey her because she already gave him her ‘reward’, making Yuuji think that she’s referring to the earlier “headbutt” as he didn’t quite regard that as a real kiss. Mayumi retorts that IT IS a kiss, a “rare” one at that since it’ll be her first and last, if she will indeed become the sacrifice for the ritual. She also makes this promise with Yuuji that the continuation of that kiss will happen if she ends up being saved from her fate… a promise which Yuuji thinks Mayumi has already forgotten. But despite this, he remained faithful to his pledge as he vowed to do everything to protect her… (and finally transforms into the golem)

On The Return of Cynical Kazuma (and Ayano’s Lucid Thoughts on Him)

When Kazuma appears, Ayano does her usual “Kazumaaa!!”, making him remark “Hey, what’s the matter? You seem to be angry” :p Ayano is infuriated with Kazuma because she’s been wondering where he is as he wasn’t answering her calls, to which he replies that he’s “on the job” and gives this excuse that there’s something wrong with his battery (when in fact he simply ignored Ayano’s calls and messages ^^;; ) Looks like Ayano contacted Kazuma after all, contrary to what she told Soushu in the previous chapters / episodes

Kazuma explains that he’s doing the job for pixie Tiana, which makes Ayano even more infuriated as she once again sees the mischievous creature who brought her so much trouble that one night. Tiana pretends to be scared, saying “Kya! Scary! Help me, Kazuma~”, but Kazuma simply grasps her like he used to, making it clear that he wasn’t hired to become her bodyguard and that he doesn’t care what happens to her since the one who’ll actually be paying him the reward money is the pixie’s clan head :p

Ren has never seen Tiana before, so Kazuma tells him about her being a pixie, a crafty little creature that makes a fool out of people who gets involved with it (referring to Ayano). Ayano was in a ready stance to attack Tiana with her Enraiha, but stops as both she and Tiana harmoniously react to this remark of Kazuma, “What did you say?!”, making Ren burst into laughter at how they are ‘in sync’

Now when Ren asked Kazuma if he will die for the sake of protecting him, Kazuma’s exact words in the novel goes like, “My life is something I own, so I have no intention of laying it down for anyone. And besides, it’ll be tad boring if I’ll die for the sake of protecting you. [If it was me] I’ll see to it that everyone will be happy.” (There’s just a slight difference in how it was mentioned in the anime, and thought this was a little more fun).

As Kazuma was bewildered at the sudden change in Ren, more of Ayano’s thoughts were shown as she stares at Kazuma (who’s staring at Ren) and thinks about how he can never overlook the fact that Ren is in danger (and will certainly come for his aid like he did). Despite Kazuma’s unawareness about what happened to Ren (the incident with Ayumi and the Tsuwabukis), he was able to rid him of the confusion he had just with the words that he uttered. Ayano believes that Kazuma’s skillfulness shows during these times, where he changes from his usual irresponsible self to someone who’s most reliable to handle the situation when the need arises. “Now if only he becomes more like this [frequently]…”, Ayano thinks, then brushes off her thoughts as she wonders why she’s actually thinking about him :p

Ren vs Golem Yuuji feat. Ren’s Quotable Quotes

With the help of Kazuma, Ren was finally able to realize what he found wrong in Yuuji’s mentality about protecting someone, where he actually mentions some rather cheesy yet great lines nonetheless, like “Sacrificing yourself isn’t a proof of your strength; throwing away your life isn’t a proof of your kindness. You’re simply justifying your own weakness!” This makes Yuuji infuriated since someone he considers a brat who doesn’t even have the resolve to taint his hand for the sake of protecting the one he loves could actually say these big words to him.

Ren retaliates with even more arguments as he retorts, “Then what are you doing?! Do you think Mayumi will be delighted to see you in this form?!” He remembers Kazuma’s words and tells Yuuji, “Protecting someone doesn’t [simply] mean not letting that person die; it means making her happy rather than making her grieve! Simply having her live isn’t good enough!”

“Is Mayumi-san the kind of person who can be happy at the thought that she lived in the expense of someone else’s life, someone who only thinks about saving her own life?! If not… if Mayumi-san values you even a little, then you can’t just lay down your life and die!”, exclaims Ren. This irritates Yuuji even more, thinking that Ren doesn’t have any right to interfere with his plans. Ren however doesn’t know how to back down and continues, “What you’re saying is, ‘It can’t be helped because there’s no other way’; Since there’s no other means to resolve this without involving a sacrifice, you simply fool yourself into thinking that this is ‘strength’… I, however, hate this way of thinking!” “I… I will never afford to sacrifice anyone! I’ll protect everything without losing anything in return, and save Ayumi!!”

(I understand why the anime cut off most of these… because it’ll turn out to be battles in other animes where there’s more dialogues than action ^^;; but still, it’s nice to see how Ren could utter all these cheesiness, shows how idealistic he is (but of course taking into account the reality as well – this certainly sums up the title for this chapter in the novel “Ideal(s) and Reality”) :3 )

On Kazuma’s Cynicism cont.

Kazuma is awed by this sudden change in Ren and asks Ayano why he suddenly became all with his opponent golem (or rather, why Ren exudes this “A Youth’s Idealism” aura :p) Ayano first explains that the golem he’s fighting with used to be a human… and Kazuma interrupts her with a side comment, “That [used to be a human]? Whoa, what a rough skin it has. Perhaps I should teach him a few tips on skin-care” (making Ayano remark on how Kazuma is certainly good at ruining the serious atmosphere ^^;; )

Ayano continues her telling Kazuma about Ren, how he fell in love with the girl to be sacrificed and decided on saving [her from her fate]. Kazuma’s sardonic humor once again shows as he says, “Ooh, so Ren is already in that age (in the springtime of youth)…” It took a few more seconds before Kazuma was able to realize that the girl Ayano was referring to is no other than Ayumi, who Kazuma refers to as “that [thing]“. Ayano then reminds Kazuma not to address Ayumi as “that [thing]“, especially not in front of Ren (showing Ayano’s sensitivity to these kinds of issues).

Ren and Yuuji’s battle continues, which ends up the same way as in the anime, where Ren’s flame purifies him. With Ayano’s astonishment at how Ren is able to perform such an advanced technique, Kazuma gives a different remark since Ayano didn’t go on attacking impulsively like she did in the anime. He actually cautioned Ayano that if she doesn’t act fast, Ren might take away her position as being the successor of the Enraiha, considering that Ren proves to be stronger than her if she’s without this weapon. Ayano denies this, but her confidence was actually shaken by Kazuma’s comment (since there is some truth about this, and also because it’s Kazuma himself who told her this )

Ren however is such a kind little brother and denies what Kazuma said, believing that he still can’t match up with Ayano’s level (making Kazuma pat him on the head for being such a nice kid :p)

On Kureha’s Appearance (and Ayano’s [less] impulsiveness)

Kureha’s gloomy appearance (pun intended)

When Kureha appears in front of Kazuma, Ren, and Ayano, there was some conversation that happened and Ayano didn’t just attack her carelessly as was shown in episode 11 o_O She asks them what they came there for, to which Ren says that he came to save both Ayumi and Mayumi since he intends on defeating the majuu. Kureha could simply laugh at this absurd idea as he tells Ren to take a look at reality (and see that he’s no match for the majuu). Seeing how Ren is really determined to do put an end to the sacrificial ritual of the Tsuwabukis, Kureha prepares for battle. Both Ayano and Ren join forces as they commence their attack by hurling a fireball, which proved to be ineffective against Kureha. This makes Kureha throw an insult at how weak this legendary flame of the Kannagi is…

(so there, no scene of Ayano just throwing some fireballs out of nowhere TT___TT)

On Ren and Mayumi’s WAFF Moment

Ren brightens up Ayumi’s life (scene from episode 10)

Unlike the holding hands scene shown in the anime, the novel actually showed that Ren embraced Ayumi really tight to the point of not wanting to let go of her (but eventually lets go of her of course :p). But instead off giving us that sweet and really WAFF moment, ugh… the anime showed us a mere holding hands scene, where they even added Kazuma’s comment on how they’re simply dillydallying T__T That was a wasted time in my opinion… since they could’ve just shown the embrace scene and not have Kazuma give out that comment any more o_O

(Oh and just an additional info about what Kazuma said when he introduced himself to Ayumi. He actually said, “I am that[person]’s older brother”, instead of saying “I am Ren’s older brother…” It was actually stressed in the novel as well… Kazuma also tells Ayumi that he wouldn’t mind if she also calls him “oniichan” :p )