Meetings and Bonds Prayed For

Last week we discussed what the “footsteps which stalk the witches” were, and it seems like we finally have our answer — sort of. There’s not anything literally stalking the witches, and it doesn’t even really apply to all the witches, just the head librarian Isolde Nebsolv.

I had mentioned that the secret which was following the witches probably had to do with the disappearance of humans from the continent. This turned out to be the case, although not in the way in which I predicted. I figured the witches either participated in the human genocide, or simply watched on as it occurred.

The truth isn’t quite as dramatic. Instead, the secret of the witches is the fact that Isolde blames herself for the destruction of the humans, even though she did nothing to directly cause it. All she did was write down a story passed down by her ancestors about the humans.

So, why does Isolde think this story being written down caused the destruction of the humans?

When her ancestor, Feodora first encountered humans, she learned that they both fear and hate anything unlike themselves. She then passed this story down to her ancestors because she thought the knowledge of humans wasn’t something to be forgotten.

However, Feodora didn’t think the Grotesques and humans were ready to accept one another. To solve this problem, she told her ancestors to wait 1,000 years before writing it down — Isolde broke this rule.

And so, the reason Isolde thinks the eradication of the humans is her fault is because the other Grotesques first learned about humans from her book. That’s what they formed their opinions of humans based on.

Witches’ Crest Library Alarm System

And here’s the part where rather than continuing the discussion of the humans, I take a detour and discuss the first part of the episode where Somali and Golem further explored the Witches’ Crest Library.

Before they met Isolde and learned the “truth” about the witches and humans, they had to get to her. Isolde’s chambers are located at the very bottom of the library, which is more like a labyrinth constructed around a massive ventilation shaft than anything else.

It’s basically the library from Halo.

And just like the library from Halo, the Witches’ Crest Library has an automated alarm system which alerts the librarians of intruders. The only difference is that instead of Sentinels, this alarm system is made of drone-like creatures which spot intruders, and birds which act as the alarm.

Once the alarm sounds, the librarians (strangely enough, not the guards) jump into action. What’s the point of the guards? We were originally told they protect the library, but apparently only the outside of it. And the only guard we actually saw do anything was one who operated a ferry.

Anyway, the librarians are led by Senior Librarian Leigle, who I assume is going to take over as Head Librarian now that Isolde has died. It just makes sense to me that the Senior Librarian would be next in line, but perhaps I’m wrong. We haven’t seen anyone else higher ranking than Leigle though.

And, as a final note on the witches of Witches’ Crest Library, we learned that normal witches live to about 150, but Head Librarian witches live until about 300. Is it the role which makes the Head Librarian live longer? Or is it the longer life which designates someone as a future Head Librarian?

Haraiso Village

I don’t really have too much else to say about how Isolde may or may not have caused the eradication of all humans on the continent. Except, that it likely would have happened anyway based on what we see through Feodora’s flashback.

The humans were never going to get along with the Grotesques, so it was only a matter of time before their worlds collided in violence. Even if the Grotesques left the humans alone, as we know from the legend told back in episode 1, the humans would have been the ones to start the war.

It’s possible that the legend we were info dumped back then isn’t factual, and the Grotesques were the ones who started the war after reading Isolde’s book, but I doubt it. From everything else we’ve seen of the Grotesques, they’re a very peaceful society. It’s just humans they hate because the humans wronged them first.

But, there are a few pieces of information we learn from the Feodora flashback that I think are more interesting than whether or not the war with the humans could have been avoided. The first is the simple confirmation that witches do, in fact, count as Grotesques in the eyes of the humans.

However, something somewhat contradictory is that the humans don’t view golem — or at least Haraiso — as Grotesques. Golem look much less humans than witches do, and yet the villagers have not only accepted Haraiso, but named their village after him and view him as a pseudo-god.

What I find interesting about this, and how Haraiso acts, is that he views humans as creatures which need to be kept in check. He’s a godlike figure to them because he “protects” them from Grotesques. But really, Haraiso is attempting to to keep the humans isolated because he knows the damage they can cause.

Where are the Humans?

The last time we got to see a map in this series was back in episode 3. So when I saw that a new map was included in this week’s episode, of course I had to compare it to the old one. Unfortunately, they aren’t the same map.

Episode 3’s map was a map of the continent, or more likely, just a piece of the continent. This map I’ll call a “world” map, but it too doesn’t actually appear to show us everything. It’s definitely zoomed out farther than the first map, but it doesn’t give us the entire picture.

Additionally, when comparing the two maps I couldn’t determine where exactly the previous map depicts on this one. I previously thought that the humans were from an island (or other continent) off to the West. However, this map clearly depicts them as coming from an island to the South.

So, where are the humans in relation to Somali and Golem right now? Assuming that humans can still be found on the island, they’re either to the South or West of Somali and Golem’s current location.

It’s possible that the previous map depicted the Northern portion of the continent to the North of the human’s island, in which case Somali and Golem would need to travel south. But, it’s also possible that the previous map depicted somewhere along that coast to the East of the human’s island, in which case they would travel West.

We know they’ve traveled West in the past to cross the desert, so that option has some credibility. But the world map from this episode lends credibility to the other possibility. All we know is that at some point they’ll probably have to cross the ocean, and before that some snowy mountains based on the OP.

Conclusion

Where do you think the humans are in relation to Somali and Golem’s current location? Do they need to travel South? West? Or in a different direction entirely? And do you think Isolde is to blame for the eradication of the humans on the continent? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

The Footsteps That Stalk the Witches

Before we get into what happens in this episode, let’s take a moment to discuss the title, “The Footsteps That Stalk the Witches.” What exactly does this mean?

As far as I can tell, there’s nothing physically stalking the witches we meet in the episode. Although they look very similar to humans, they seem to be assimilated into “grotesque” culture just fine. They don’t appear to have any natural enemies, besides potentially humans and the pescafish which I’ll talk about later on.

Do witches also eat humans? Or are the witches on friendly terms with both sides?

But I think it’s fair to assume that the witches aren’t being stalked by humans. And if we’re being honest, “The Footsteps That Stalk the Witches” doesn’t really seem to describe the pescafish either. After all, they don’t even have footsteps. So what is this title really all about?

I have no idea.

Nothing I saw in this episode implied that anything, physical or metaphorical, was stalking the witches. Pescafish are basically the witches’ version of rats, so it’s not those. And we weren’t led to believe that anything negative from the witches’ collective history is sneaking up on them.

However, it wouldn’t be any fun to just leave it at that. So let me make a prediction regarding the next episode. I think that we’re going to learn from the head librarian that the witches had the ability to stop the war between humans and grotesques, and either chose the side of the grotesques or stayed neutral.

That could very well be the secret which stalks the witches.

Out of the Desert

In the first third of the episode Somali and Golem part ways with Uzoi and Haitora after the group reach the western edge of the Osuna Desert. I would have liked a bit more desert adventure. But, since most of the desert arc focused on Uzoi and Haitora, it feels natural to move on with their relationship disputes settled.

Before they go their separate ways, Haitora tells Golem about a nearby settlement which supposedly houses information from all over the world. With the idea being that someone there may know something about the humans’ whereabouts.

Not far outside the desert Somali and Golem reach some grasslands, which we haven’t really seen them explore before. They don’t explore them here either, but that’s probably just because grasslands don’t have all that much going on. There aren’t settlements and there’s no rugged terrain to make for good adventuring.

And not long after they enter the grasslands, they already find themselves surrounded by forest once again.

But, although their journey across the desert may have seemed quick, it wasn’t. In the second episode of the series, before Somali and Golem ventured to Anthole City, the gateway to Osuna Desert, Golem had 477 days to live. That’s about 1 year and 4 months.

In this episode, Golem states that he only has 301 days to live. This means that roughly six months have passed since the pair left the oni’s residence. And, that means Golem only has 10 months left to live at this point in time.

The Witches’ Crest Library

I don’t believe we learned the name of the witches’ town, but we do know that the main attraction is the Witches’ Crest Library located in the center. Witches travel around the world in search of books to bring back to this library, which is how it’s grown to such a scale.

However, not all witches partake in these knowledge-finding adventures. There are actually three distinct classes within witch society, with those who go out in search of books only being one. There are also those who remain in the town to sort the collected books, and there are those who guard the information housed within.

When Somali and Golem first entered the forest they contracted a mysterious person to ferry them down the river. This figure reminded me of Charon, the ferryman of the underworld in Greek mythology — but it turns out this was simply one of those guards.

The library itself is a massive building which looks like something out of Harry Potter, with its many bridges, but with the aesthetics of the local town. And it’s clear from the many grotesques we see within the library that they’re a very cultured civilization as a whole — it’s not just the witches.

So how different are the grotesques and humans really? We know the war between the two started after the humans came to the continent and acted like they were better than the natives, but were they better? No. And I’m not saying that as if they’re equal.

The grotesques are clearly more advanced. Based on what we’ve seen of both grotesque and human settlements, it’s clear that the humans were on the back foot.

Pescafish vs. Witch

We’re told that the witches are another clan just like the oni, harpies, and allegedly the falcohols (I’m still not entirely sure that’s a real race). This seems to imply that they are, in fact, included within the umbrella category of “grotesque.”

And although they look similar to humans, there are two things which set them apart. The first is obviously their use of magic, which we get to see both Hazel and Praline use. The second distinction is their apparently natural instinct for collecting, maintaining, and protecting the knowledge of the world.

The way Hazel referred to this as an instinct makes it clear that witches are distinct from humans. However, it also implies that she doesn’t know why witches do this. Why do they collect, maintain, and protect the knowledge of the world? Could it have something to do with their past?

I’ve mentioned this in previous episode reviews, but aside from the war against the humans, the grotesque continent is a relatively peaceful place. Sure, there are dangerous creatures such as those found in the cavern under Anthole City or in the Osuna Desert, but there’s no inter-clan fighting.

So who, or what, are the witches protecting the knowledge kept in their library from? Pescafish.

Pescafish (literally meaning “fish fish”) appear to be ectoplasm-based creatures which resemble skeletal fish. Their favorite food is ink-soaked paper, so they aren’t typically much of a threat, more of a nuisance. But even so, these creatures are what the witches spend their days combating in the library.

Conclusion

What did you think of Somali and the Forest Spirit episode 7? Are you glad to finally be out of the Osuna Desert? What do you think is “stalking” the witches of the library? And, do you think the witches are more related to humans or the other grotesques? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

Dying Flowers Look Up at the Birds

Well, this episode was certainly darker than what I was expecting. Sure, Uzoi wanting to kill Somali is pretty dark I guess, but we already knew that was coming from the previous episode. What really caught me off guard was Haitora’s backstory, which I’ll get into later on in this review.

So let’s start off by going over exactly why Uzoi wants to kill Somali.

Uzoi previously stated that she believes Somali’s human blood would be able to cure Haitora’s illness. However, an amount of blood needed for this to work was never given. Maybe all of Somali’s blood wouldn’t have been enough anyway. But, why did she believe this was the case?

Apparently at some point along their travels Haitora and Uzoi visited a fortune teller who claimed that Haitora’s disease was due to his blood being infected. And, the only cure for his disease is to replace the tainted blood with fresh, clean blood.

Now, before the true reason behind Haitora’s illness was revealed to us, this explanation that his disease was due to his blood being tainted  actually reinforced my original assumption about it. But, after some further thinking, I don’t think the fortune teller was referring to Haitora’s illness.

The fortune teller never saw Haitora’s face, and so wouldn’t know what his illness was. It also doesn’t appear to even know that Haitora is a human, which is kind of a big deal. Instead, I think this fortune teller was referring to the burden Haitora carries in regard to his and Uzoi’s past. Haitora needs to come clean to Uzoi before he can know peace.

Grotesques

In this episode we also see the word “grotesques” used for the first time to refer to the monsters who live on the continent. This is obviously a term coined by the humans, so it might not accurately reflect how the various monsters are related, but let’s just pretend for a moment that it does.

If the monsters on this continent really are a collective group known as the grotesques, then it would explain why the cities Somali and Golem have visited are so diverse. Previously we only knew that there were various clans, such as the oni and harpy clans, but if each of the clans really are unrelated, you wouldn’t think that they all coexist as we see.

So with that in mind, I think there might actually be some merit to the idea of thee grotesques as one group. The only problem with this is that the only children of grotesques we’ve seen are the same species as their parents. That would imply that these species are in fact separate.

Now, if you’re thinking, well of course the children would be the same species as their parent’s, allow me to introduce you to the fishmen/merfolk of One Piece. You could have two goldfish merfolk who produce a child that’s an octopus fishman — it’s completely random.

Okay, but that’s clearly not how the grotesques work in Somali and the Forest Spirit. Kikila was the same species as both of his parents, and Uzoi looks like her mother. But, what if the child only has to look like one of their parents? What if Kikila and Uzoi had a kid? Under this method, it would either be whatever Kikila is, or a Harpy.

In this sense, all of the grotesques would be part of the same cohesive group, with the species being subgroups within the main group.

Haitora’s Illness

My original thought about Haitora’s illness has to do with that final point about the grotesques in a way. I was pretty sure that Haitora was Uzoi’s biological father. I get that he’s a human and she’s a harpy, but I figured that perhaps the child of a human and a harpy would turn out to be one or the other.

In this case, Uzoi would have taken after her mother and become a harpy. And, that’s where I figured Haitora got his illness from. It was clear from the start that his illness is harpy-related, so I figured it might be some sort of STD that humans contract by mating with harpies (or any other grotesque).

However, the truth is much darker than what I was thinking. Haitora didn’t gain his illness by fathering Uzoi, he gained it by literally eating Uzoi’s mother. Unfortunately, as of this point we don’t know if this illness is specific to harpies, or if humans would contract similar illnesses from eating any grotesque.

I’m assuming you’ve already watched the episode, but in case you haven’t here’s what went down. A group of grotesques attacked Haitora’s village, killing, torturing, and capturing humans along the way. He, his wife, and their daughter managed to escape and seek shelter in a cave.

Eventually Haitora had to exit the cave in search of food, which is when he came across Uzoi’s mother. He beat her to death with a large stone, dragged her body back to the cave, and his family ate her in order to survive. However, his wife and child quickly died of the disease, and Haitora was left alone.

Shortly after this is when he met Uzoi, who was much younger and looking for her mother.

Canterbird Attack

The truth about Uzoi’s mother is a secret Haitora has kept for years. But, Uzoi overhears when Haitora is telling the story to Golem — which he probably should have expected would happen. This leads Haitora to attempt to throw his life away for Uzoi’s sake when she and Somali are attacked by a canterbird.

So, what is a canterbird? Well, first of all, I don’t think I would have included the word “bird” in the name if I had been the one to name this creature. While it’s true that it has a bird-like beak, that’s where the similarities start and end.

The canterbird has a pudgy, crescent-shaped body; six insect-like legs, four insect-like wings, and a large stinger on its tail. It also has some weird tentacle things with mouths on them coming out of its lower chest, which is its most unique feature.

Interestingly, this time around Somali doesn’t talk to the creature that’s attacking her and her friend. I guess that’s not going to be a recurring thing. I sort of figured that was going to turn out to be an ability Somali picked up from traveling with Golem.

Or, it could simply be that the canterbird isn’t a type of animal that would work on. After all, if it was the type of animal that could be reasoned with, you’d think Golem would have tried. Instead, he goes right for the flare rifle, and even shoots the canterbird directly with it.

Also, is this the first desert wildlife we’ve seen? Maybe I’m forgetting something, but I think we only saw desert plants in the previous episode. When is the giant tortoise from the opening going to show up? Next episode, hopefully.

Conclusion

This episode wasn’t nearly as good as the previous one because it lacked a lot of the world building aspects. But, the dark twist Haitora’s backstory took was definitely unexpected, and hopefully there will be more twists like that as the story progresses.

What did you think of Somali and the Forest Spirit episode 6? Would you kill Somali for her blood? Would you eat a harpy? That’s a bit too close to cannibalism for me. And, how do you think Uzoi should have handled the situation with Haitora? I was hoping she’d eat him, but let me know your thoughts in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review despite it being a bit rambling, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And, come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

The Wandering Birds

Somali and the Forest Spirit episode 5 is actually everything I’ve wanted from this series ever since it began. Of all the episodes so far, I think this one does the best job at exploring the world in which we find ourselves. Sure, episode 3 did a pretty good job with Anthole City and the cavern beneath it, but episode 5 is even better.

I love Made in Abyss, and I think that’s currently my highest rated adventure anime. But if Somali and the Forest Spirit continues on like it was in this episode for the rest of the series, it might actually take that top spot for me.

In this episode alone we learned a lot about the Osuna Desert, Winecup Village which is located within it, and a number of races found within the world. Additionally, and potentially my favorite part, was that we also got to see the unique ways in which people live in this part of the world.

Without going into too much detail just yet, we learned about customs, food sources, modes of transportation, navigation, and general survival. And that’s all on top of the geography, wildlife, and plant life we saw. It’s kind of amazing when you think about how much we learned about the world in just one episode without exposition dumps.

And speaking of exposition dumps, was that one in the first episode the only one we’ve had so far? I can’t think of another one, so if I’m right about that, the series is definitely improving.

Winecup Village

Winecup Village is an outpost village located somewhere within the Osuna Desert. It’s name sort of has a double meaning. On one hand, it could be physically describing the caldera holding an oasis as a wine cup, but on the other it references the founding legend of the village.

It’s said that travelers used to seek shelter within the caldera from the sandstorms and tornadoes which frequent the region. And, according to legend, a traveling wine salesman shared his wares with his fellow travelers on one occasion, which resulted in all of the travelers making it across the desert safely.

This legend has even seeped into society within Winecup Village, with travelers treating each other to drinks as a way to ensure safe travels.

But, while we’re told that Winecup Village thrives due to the fact that it’s an important rest stop in the desert, we can see that’s not all it is. From the aerial view we get to see of the caldera (which has some great, vibrant colors in it) we can see there are also quite a few springs in the center of town.

With the village being located in the caldera of a collapsed volcano, we can assume that these are hot springs. And if there’s anything you should know about hot springs, it’s that they’re a major tourist attraction no matter where they are in the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if people traveled from far and wide to visit the Winecup Village hot springs.

Also, we know that corn is a staple of the Winecup Village diet. They have both corn-based alcohol and ice cream. But my question is, where does this corn come from? Clearly they aren’t growing it in the middle of the desert.

Harpies and Falcohols

The two new sentient species we learn about this week are harpies and falcohols, two different kinds of birdfolk. Harpies are exactly what you expect. They look a bit different in this series than your traditional harpies, but overall the concept is the same. Falcohols, however, are a bit different.

Let me first mention that I think the name falcohol is stupid. And now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, falcohols are apparently just humans with falcon (or other bird) heads. I mean, they’re a separate race from humans, but as far as we know their only “non-human” feature is their head.

But, as you’ll know if you’ve watched the episode, we haven’t actually met a falcohol. Haitora is a human disguised as a falcohol, much like Somali is a human disguised as a minotaur. And, at first I thought that because of this, falcohols may be a made up race. However, as a golem, Golem inherently knows a lot about the world, and he didn’t question the existence of falcohols.

Later on we learn a couple of interesting facts about this harpy and fake falcohol pair — the most important of which is that Haitora isn’t really a falcohol, as previously stated. But two of the other pieces of information we receive may actually be connected to each other.

First, we’re told by Uzoi that she and Haitora aren’t related in any way, but Haitora has watched over Uzoi ever since her mother’s death. Second, we’re told that Uzoi never met her father. And third, we learn that Haitora isn’t only a human, but he’s a human who has some sort of disease which is causing his body to grow feathers, even within his lungs.

I think he’s Uzoi’s father and his disease is related.

Osuna Desert

As we’re both told and shown, Osuna Desert is an extremely dangerous part of the continent. For starters, it’s extremely hot and dry, which alone is enough to make crossing it a treacherous journey. But then you also have to worry about the sandstorms, tornadoes, and perhaps scariest of all, sandsharks.

So, how do people travel and navigate through this region of the world while staying alive?

As far as travel goes, wagons pulled by some sort of desert animal seems to be the go-to. I doubt very many people even attempt to cross the desert on foot — there’s no way they would make it. But, these aren’t just any wagons; they’re upgraded with sand paddle wheels to help them navigate the dunes.

And while I’m more interested in the mechanical solution to traversing the desert that are paddle wheels, I have to say that the navigation instrument used within the desert is pretty cool too. It’s referred to as a crystal-finder, and it’s basically a lamp with a crystal in it that makes a pinging noise.

This sonar-like crystal pings louder as it nears similar crystals, which are solely found in caves (perhaps only in the Osuna Desert). So when the pinging noise gets louder, you know you’re nearing a cave in which to seek shelter. Also, since travelers seek shelter in caves, light sources are important as well. For this, torchflies are gathered and kept in cages.

But shelter is only one piece of the survival puzzle. You also need food, which is where cactus thorns come in. As far as we saw, they’re the only plant living in the desert, and luckily for travelers, they’re edible.

Conclusion

What did you think of Somali and the Forest Spirit episode 5? Would you have liked to explore Winecup Village a bit more? Do you think Haitora is actually Uzoi’s father? Or that his disease is related to living among harpies in some way? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, be sure to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And, come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. For more information on how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

The Wishing Flower and the Promise Request

I’m glad we got to see a bit more of the cavern beneath Anthole City in this episode. I really thought Somali and Kikila were going to be taken back up to the surface immediately based on the end of last week’s episode. But, it turns out that master Muthrica just can’t say no to someone with an adventurer’s heart.

And in case you’re reading this review without watching episode 4 of Somali and the Forest Spirit, master Muthrica is the scary, crossbow-wielding wolf man we saw last week.

So, according to master Muthrica, the caverns are much larger than the city which rests above them — and they’re filled with a bunch of dangerous creatures and terrain. As I said last week, it’s basically the abyss from Made in Abyss, except not literally Hell.

On their adventure to find a yozame flower strong enough to survive the journey back to the surface, Somali, Kikila, and Muthrica traverse ravines, ascend cliffs, jump across rivers, and more. They even get to bounce down some branching mushroom spore puffs — and land face first on the ground.

Although this exploration of the cave only lasted for about half of this episode, we got to see quite a lot of the terrain the cave has to offer. And combined with the information we got in the previous episode, I think that gives us enough content from this cave system. Of course I’d like to see more of it, especially the wildlife, but we do need to move on.

I’m looking forward to when Somali and Golem cross the desert, because I think we’ll get to see some interesting creatures there. Caves are cool and all, but this cave is basically just a bioluminescent forest.

Master Muthrica

Master Muthrica is a pretty interesting character. Last week I predicted that he was actually going to be a good guy, he was going to be someone who fights to take down the slave trade, and that he was going to know Somali is a human. It seems like only the first part of that prediction was right.

At no point in the episode was it hinted that master Muthrica knows Somali is a human. And while he is a good guy, he has nothing to do with the slave trade. Instead, he’s a member of the Tsuchinoko Team — a team of experienced adventurers who serve as guides for those traveling into the cave.

From what we’re shown, there seem to be seven members of the Tsuchinoko Team, and master Muthrica is likely their leader. We also know that the entirety of the cave system has not been explored by the team, which lends credibility to the idea that it’s a small group.

As for master Muthrica himself, we don’t really know all that much about him. We know he used to be a soldier, and because of that he’s seen all kinds of plants, animals, places, and people. It’s very possible that he’s even run across humans before, and this might be revealed in the next episode.

After all, from what we see, this continent doesn’t seem to be one at war. All of the various clans — yes, it’s been confirmed that the Oni clan isn’t the only clan — live in harmony and peace. So what military was master Muthrica a member of?

Well, we know that the war between humans and monsters was recent enough for many of the adult monsters to remember what humans taste like. So master Muthrica probably once fought against humans.

The Tsuchilizard

The only new creature we get to see in this episode is the tsuchilizard. Aside from its appearance — four, green eyes; six horns; and a spiky back — we know very little about this creature. Nothing is explicitly stated about it, and we don’t even get to see it do anything.

But even so, there are a few things we can infer about it.

The first thing we know is its name. It’s a tsuchilizard, which literally just means earth lizard. We also know it doesn’t eat rocks or dirt, and it doesn’t appear to be made of rock. So we can assume the name either alludes to the color of its body or the fact that it dwells within the cave.

The next thing we know about it is that it’s dangerous. It’s not quite an ambush predator, but it is able to sneak around the cave while avoiding detection by its prey. Also, master Muthrica recognizes how dangerous it is, which should be a red flag.

Additionally, because he doesn’t know what to do to make it go away, we can assume the hide of the tsuchilizard is hard enough to block crossbow bolts.

Finally, it’s shown that tsuchilizards are protective of their young — at least for a period of time. We see that there are two baby tsuchilizards riding on the back of the adult. But that’s not the only reason we know they’re protective of their young.

Perhaps Somali learned this from Golem, but she can apparently speak to animals. She can’t understand them, but they can understand her. When she says she wishes to be with her dad forever, the tsuchilizard seems to understand how she feels and leaves her alone. This could also imply this was a male tsuchilizard caring for its young.

Golem’s Promise

At the end of the episode we get a scene where Somali becomes sick due to her constant traveling, and Golem nurses her back to health. During this scene Golem also promises to stay with Somali forever — which we, and master Muthrica, know isn’t possible.

Master Muthrica has met a golem who was close to death before, and so recognizes that Golem doesn’t have much time left. He then tells Golem that he had better not break his promise with Somali, which I took as a more sinister comment than was probably intended.

In all likelihood, master Muthrica was probably trying to say that Golem needs to figure out a way to prevent himself from dying. It could even have meant that Golem needs to prepare Somali for his eventual death and her life without him.

But there was just something about that scene, and how it showed a weakened, sick Somali in bed, that made me think there was an ulterior meaning to his words.

What if he was saying that the best thing for Somali might be to die before Golem does? And by that, I don’t mean Golem lives longer than his allotted time, I mean Somali dies before Golem’s allotted time is up.

Are we going to see Golem commit murder-suicide by the end of the series? Probably not.

However, since Golem is a self-proclaimed logical thinker, that might be something he considers at some point. Perhaps he and Somali get stuck in a bad situation and he sees no way out. Would he consider it then? Surely he could give Somali a better death than say, being eaten by monsters who find out she’s a human.

Conclusion

What did you think of Somali and the Forest Spirit episode 4? Do you think master Muthrica fought against humans in the past? Will we see Somali speak to other animals besides the tsuchilizard in the future? And, what did you think of master Muthrica’s comment to Golem at the end of the episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.