Score: B-

While the show is definitely killing time until the next major plot event arrives, this was easily the best episode we’ve gotten in a few weeks! It probably helped a lot that this was a Sora focused episode since she is the best character in the show. And this episode actually developed her character just a little bit. There was some forward progression which I think was lacking from the last episode. Sora is steadily following her path of becoming a hero and is finding that ideal form. It’s nice seeing her overcome challenges and fears only to emerge stronger.

This would be a bit creepy

If nothing else this episode let Sora face her fear of ghosts. That has certainly been an element of her character that’s stuck around. And one could say that facing fear has been one of Sora’s core traits since the start. She was afraid to fight from the beginning and afraid to let others fight beside her. But she’s consistently faced those fears and with help has worked past them. That’s the case here as she had to deal with the uneasy feeling of being around a ghost. Although it’s hard to say if the toy even was a ghost since that would imply someone intentionally possessing that toy and there was no real time spent covering that. It seems more like the toy just gained sentience and some supernatural powers along the way.

Nice bit of growth

I honestly liked where we went with Sora here. She started out justifiably freaked out, but she slowly connected with “Marron” and ended up standing strong to help the toy out. It certainly helped that they could connect via a dream sequence where Marron could explain the whole situation. There was a journey to take to feel comfortable around Marron. I’m glad it wasn’t just instant.

It was also just nice to see Sora holding steady at the end. She did have to basically say goodbye to a friend she just made through this episode. But she didn’t break down into tears and instead was able to say goodbye with a smile. It helped of course that she had Mashiro in her corner. I’m happy as always that Mashiro is that steady presence that understands what Sora is working through and is supportive in a way that isn’t over the top. Sometimes a little shoulder bump is all you need.

Well, they fought a house this week

Despite the fight being unnecessary, I’d say the fight was good here. Though this guy really has nothing better to do. At least it explored a clever little showdown of having to fight inside their enemy with various household objects being used to go on the attack. Though I’d say a giant dresser isn’t that concerning. It’s just a big target XD. They could have gone lazy again this episode, but instead there was some clever elements there. And they even paid off Sora going back to help Marron with Marron being the one to find and rescue her. It shows that Marron also got attached to Sora’s infectious attitude.

Definitely curious about this

I know they kind of had to resolve things quickly here, but I’ve got questions! Where the heck did they move that they couldn’t make a single visit back to the house in a year? I’m no stranger to procrastination myself, but that’s pretty impressive! Especially with the girl looking that upset over it. At the very least didn’t they have any friends they could ask to visit the house, find the toy, and then mail it? I know, this is definitely taking more time to dissect the episode than is a good idea. But there are questions left behind after this episode.

Like when did the stuffed animal gain supernatural powers? This isn’t the first toy with a soul in the series (hey there Mofurun), but that one didn’t start talking until literal magic was brought into the equation. And presumably it took less than a year after the girl disappeared for this toy to gain the ability to talk, fly, and manipulate the environment.

Nice little episode

In the end this was a fine episode. Nothing huge happened, but it did develop Sora a bit more. We are still very much in the “we’ve got too many episodes so let’s kill time until the next plot development” phase of the show. Focusing on the best character in the show is a good way to make for a fun episode. And I can’t say anything bad about the message of treating people fairly. The idea of treating others the way you want to be treated is a good concept and I’d say this episode focused on that. Instead of letting preconceptions about whatever Marron is get to them, they just treated it like the peaceful entity that it was. Thankfully Ellee also got some good moments being the first to reach out without preconceptions. Hopefully the next few episodes maintain this energy.