Not sure if other people have caught this before but:
Qifrey thinks his joy isn't as genuine as Olruggio's. He's therefore further away from the panels of happy memories, overlapping Olruggio.
BUT irt also the specific panel they're in front of here..
It's the same fucking field as Chapter 2!!! The two of them set up an entire permanent link the Windoway to this seemingly otherwise seemingly useless flower field in their house as adults.
The place that represents magic bringing happiness to people and reignites Coco's hopes and passion for magic after the opening chapter.
And it's the last panel on the 2 page spread other than the looming tree that's cut off. The last bit of untouched joy Qifrey has.
people creaming their pants over easthies menacing two kids meanwhile im waiting for my goat to show him who's the biggest au naturale aurafarmer next week
random thoughts about changes from the manga I've noticed in today's episode:
post kind of got away from me so its under the cut. not spoiler free, beware
we (a)gott more agott scenes in the beginning here, a really interesting change for an episode that's otherwise a pretty straightforward adaptation of the manga. overall I can see that they're trying to soften agott's edges in the anime a bit early since her really obvious changes are probably going to be for season 2+. (wonder if this means the arc about coco getting sick is going to get moved around at all?) the bird and light is some cute extra foreshadowing though.
they removed the carapace yam scene getting reversed by the magic cookpot- a pretty straightforward retcon, since counterclock spells are better defined and have a strict time-limit.
(side note: I've got to wonder if the limit for counter-clock spells being a full day has anything to do with positions of stars in the sky, stars being connected to magic repeatedly and all)
here, agott in the dub at least, comes across a bit softer in general, thanking coco for the offer.
the anime adds in a line from qifrey about the storm coming in- connective tissue for the rest of the staircase stuff.
anime olly is also more visibly & obviously caught off guard by coco being an apprentice, in my favorite bit of the episode. not a huge change but its funny so thumbsup
they cut out the stable of apprentices line here for another line thats similar in meaning, not something super noteworthy by itself, BUT! it was present in the dub trailer which is interesting. after some more digging it looks like the line in the jp trailer and episode are the same- so it looks like a dub-only change? i'd imagine its a translation/timing thing but I dont know any Japanese so I'm just speculating here.
Not the first to notice this, but RIP to this cunty manipulator pose Qifrey hits before just brushing off Olruggio for Coco exposition. Makes up for though by putting some extra sauce on the guilt-trip itself though.
This line got cut which, overall not a huge deal but I do kind of miss it since I've seen people be confused + it ties into the next change
The change I have the most mixed feelings, why I wrote this long rant to begin with, is from this line from Olruggio. Saying the glowstone path is the invention he's most known for VS. the anime where in both sub and dub where he says its his best work feels like a pretty significant change.
I think he probably does believe it on some level, considering its the one invention of his that has seen mass adoption and has materially helped a lot of common people. Compared to the rest of his commissions we see him doing generally being luxury items for rich patrons, it makes sense.
But, I just find it hard to believe he would just outright say that it's his best work to Coco without having a complex about it lol. Olruggio in general is such an interesting character of a working artist and former child prodigy. He's always pushing himself to help more people- to admit his best work is past him seems like he's resting on his laurels in some way.
(also for silly reasons I think its funny if they establish it early that Olruggio is a celebrity. here's your kind and patient teacherparent and his dog mandated reporter, Steve Jobs*)
Overall, I don't think it completely sours my enjoyment of the episode, I think its overall a good adaptation and more than competent in its own right. But I do love being annoying about Olruggio! <3
olly recieves weed brownies as a gift from some patron and shares it one night with qifrey. olly gets normal high but qifrey gets panic attack anxiety trip 9000. cue qifrey freaked out of his mind having to deal with olly helping him and doting on him through the torment episode
both of them wake up next morning to the girls freaking out because the brushbug accidentally got into the stash
wha episode 8 adaptational changes + general ramblings
manga spoilers + long post so its under the cut
adapting two chapters this episode with a lot of dialogue means we we're going to cut stuff no matter what so its a interesting one to look at this week
this episodes productions was noticeably a bit more variable which makes sense considering how much juice we got in episode 1, 3, and 5 especially. not a strict downgrade but just an observation. curious how the start of the romonon stuff is going to go in terms of animation therefore.
small detail but the bit about not wanting to forget her mother is so heartbreaking and I'm sad they cut it. having the memory spell keep wiggling was neat in terms of keeping the tension though. richeh goat still though
the tetia bit got cut, and it is probably correct since its not super critical but still. my daughter:(
I feel like the decision to have Qifrey's voice cut in before we see the blade at Easthies is strictly a downgrade imo? feel like there could have been a beat between seeing the blade and the voice, especially since this is the Qifrey is Sus ramp-up arc. and there's some time I would have cut later which ill get to.
the rest works pretty good, the dialogues been changed in parts but nothing thats shifts the meaning that much. the olly cut in in the dub was awesome also. no notes.
the dagda scene was pretty straightforward but still hits what I wanted. dagda custas ill miss you....
some minor changes but works well overall, I laughed out loud when I saw they kept the olly and qifrey hating your vibes shot.
the big change is having qifrey's hand come into the shot when easthies inspects Coco's hands. Really chewing on it, cause its interesting as a throughline since we are going to see Qifrey's metaphorical hands get dirtied here irt Nolnoa. I think its one of those things that works better for a single season of anime but feels a bit weaker for Easthies character longterm, as I think this bit to let go Coco on his own terms really stands out in the manga as the few bit of humanity from Easthies. I gotta chew more on it to really come down on a judgement but it is an interesting choice if nothing else.
On the other hand, the decision to highlight the footprints in sand during the Qifrey memory speech was just a real highlight for me. really works with the new medium and I'm not even mad they cut the cheeky "i'd rather not see anyones memories gone" even though I do love that line
I do miss the line at the end from Qifrey though, I think the genuinely incisive teaching insight + how Qifrey is going to literally do what he says here, isolating himself in haste for his goals isn't communicated enough with the wishywashy line in both sub and dub.
even the fanservice tassel shot isnt enough to tide me completely over, even if it does make me a little crazy looking at it.
the scene with the knights flying is fine I mostly just got jumpscared with the accent in utowin, not a brit so I cant judge how fitting it is against olly's
Searwire ??? wand ?? why even change this??? also not sure we even needed the explanation for the wand at all if it cuts into runtime.
rip the cunty heart symbol. almost wish they had cut the entire bit since they cut off the punchline anyways and the episode already cuts a ton. feels blasphemous for me to say but that is my truth.
skipping ahead
wish they'd done more with the light explosion framing wise to show more of the power of it. it's fine? I think im spoiled by the creativity of the manga paneling there
overall the qifrey nolnoa scenes kept that tension that feels true to the tone. they chose to focus on the glasses but it does still work. even though I did want to see them at least attempt to adapt this panel, since the type of light/dark background here is such a running motif in the manga
I do wish we some kind of shot of tartah at the window here at the end, since it sets up the whole larger window panel as something more diegetic + i like how it shows more a of a divide between coco outside as a full apprentice witch and tartah looking but unable to reach. since I assume we're still going to get more tartah irt the hospital scenes, I'm hoping
overall, not the strongest episode, but i dont hate hate any of the choices made here. theres bits I wish could have been framed in more interesting ways but they were up against a bit of a rock and a hard place when it comes to pacing in this episode.
Curious to see how they handle next week. We're definitely getting Coco's nightmare + Qifrey getting owned but interested to see if they'll keep pacing at 2 chapters an episode or go back to about 1.5ish like before
