A night at Ford Rittard leads to Melphie and Aristide growing closer.
Be Yourself
Episode 5 of Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! starts off affirming what we already know: Aristide is down bad for who Melphie truly is. At the beginning of the episode, he assures Melphie that she just needs to be herself. He loves hearing her talk about monsters, and in his land, she can devote herself to her research. Queue me swooning.
I think showcasing this type of support is so important, and I love that Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! has been driving this point since episode one. As the season goes on, this message repeats again and again. And it’s also shown for both Melphie and Aristide, which is always good to see.
Dark Magic
While at Fort Rittard, Melphie has a chance to cook more monster meat and convince the guards it is good! During their cookout, Melphie and Aristide are discussing being less formal with each other, and Melphie calls Aristide by his first name, Roger. This suddenly causes Aristide’s eyes to turn gold, and his magic temporarily overpowers him.
This, in turn, makes Melphie remember her mother and how she ultimately died because of magic accumulating in her body. Melphie swears she will continue her research to prevent Aristide from having the same fate.
Admittedly, this part of the story feels so out of place, even though it makes sense. This “magic taking over” portion felt so thrown in to the episode and the overall story, as a way to have any element. But there’s also the monster-eating element and the engagement element, so it feels like an unnecessary element. I’m hoping the magic portion is expanded on in future episodes.
Where Are We Going
Don’t get me wrong, I am loving this anime. But outside of Melphie and Aristide falling for each other, I feel like the anime hasn’t established what it’s trying to do. It’s been 5 episodes, and I feel like I should know by now. On one hand, it feels like it will be a fun, episodic adventure of two people slaying different monsters and cooking them! But then with the additional layers of magic and the political implications of eating monsters, it gets messy. What is the story that is being told here? Is this a cute little monster-eating adventure or something more?
I am aware this is adapted from a light novel, and adapting a book into a show isn’t as easy as we think. I hope that in the next episode, we get a bit more clarity on where the story is headed. It’s so enjoyable as it is, but a clearer story will take it up a notch.
See you next episode! Xoxo
Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! is streaming on Crunchyroll, with new episodes on Thursdays.
