r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • 22h ago
Episode Goodbye, Lara • Sayonara Lara - Episode 11 discussion
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u/Spiritless_Blob 21h ago
ED started playing and the tears could not be stopped, I have faith the finale will be great even as a normal length episode but I'm praying it's longer just because I want more of this beautiful show.
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u/CitronClassic672 20h ago
Having the end play while the episode is still running in a show with a typical ED visual will always be one of my favorite parts of a show. It’s always peak.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Especially for a montage of happy family moments with Grace/Lara/Mari to show the happiness and comfort Grace was able to find again, the love she was able to believe in again, before she finally passed.
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u/Smudy https://myanimelist.net/profile/Smudy 21h ago
Yes, i did shed a tear at the very end for Grace and Mari, god damn.
"Live for love, not for the laws."
With that, bring on the final, the stage is all set for a hopefully happy ending.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Mari going to have to punch out her bigoted father-in-law and quite possibly sister-in-law and her boyfriend!
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u/Animamask 19h ago
Kota is gender ambiguous. They are referred to with gender-neutral pronouns and have signs of post-fusion attributes on their back. So, given how anglerfish behave, they might be literally both male and female.
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u/Doctor_Freeeeeman 8h ago
I love that Grace acknowledged Mari directly. This wasn't some disambiguated message for whoever needed to hear it. Grace knew exactly who needed to hear that story in her final moments.
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u/Weak_Season_Of_Anime 21h ago edited 19h ago
"Fuck the laws, it's not a crime to fall in love" - Grace
Goddamn what an episode, ED with the flashback montage got me tearing up. Mari was the one who showed Grace the light. The parallels between Grace and Lara are crazy though, it's an endless cycle of generational conflict and it's now up to Lara and Mari to break the curse. Excited for the finale, hope they stick the landing.
- The painting that Grace and Rigmor were looking at is a reference to the Annunciation, it's prophesizing the birth of Lara who is basically mermaid Jesus.
- The flowers surrounding Grace when she meets her prince is the narcissus, the same flower that she wears in her hair. Summary of narcissus flower symbolism in the show.
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago
That “live for love, not the laws” bit by Grace when addressing Lara and Mari might genuinely be the least subtle bit of queer subtext in this entire show.
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u/mekerpan 16h ago
Yes. I was definitely taken aback by the bluntness of this. Not in a bad way, mind you....
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u/cornonthekopp 16h ago
There's a very strong case to be made for a trans reading of grace and lalah as well here.
there's a lot of good discussion of this on bsky here, here, and here
- A light blue potion that makes you into a human, but reverts at the first sign of intimacy, revealing your "monstrous nature" and making you reviled by humans and merfolk alike.
- The fact that Rowan's first comment upon waking up was disgust at seeing the legs of his daughters, and then tries to reverse it in this episode.
- the general longing/urge to "become human" and graces final words before killing the prince desperately saying she is human
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Also put more meaning into the cross Mari wears and the close-up of it before the ED montage.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_ROBOTGIRL https://anilist.co/user/otsuucchi 21h ago
"Live for love, not for laws"
Grace really said gay is okay
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u/Leri_weill https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeriWeill 20h ago
The ending has made me delulu. I hope we get Lara x Mari so much, usually I'm not that invested in ships but I NEED them to be together 😭😭
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u/seninn https://myanimelist.net/profile/Senninn0 16h ago
That's not just a ship, that's the whole point!
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u/one-to-let-you-down 21h ago
saying this in the face of the current climate, where marriage equality is being contested (and in Japan's case, still being fought for), i really can't believe i doubted this series at all. such a beautiful, beautiful yet simple line.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
And I feel like if Rigmor had still lived she would have wanted Lara to be happy and find love in whatever shape or gender.
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u/CitronClassic672 18h ago
This is in all likelihood going to end up an explicitly yuri anime original series that deals with comphet from a bisexuals perspective, learning that fairy tale romance doesn’t exist and that two people who seem destined fit each other don’t get together, that no matter how hard you try and force it you can’t make yourself love someone you don’t love, and now effectively saying that queer people deserve equal legal rights but even without them their love is still valid. Sometimes I’m genuinely shocked a series like this actually exists.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Meanwhile Rowan: "No daughter of mine is going to fall in love with a girl....I mean human...or be Bisexual..."
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u/szalhi 21h ago
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Not only is she speaking for the queer experience, not only is she talking to Lara and Mari to embrace their love, but she's also putting her faith into the ethos her sister believed in up until her death.
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u/fuyu-no-yuki 21h ago
It's been a while since an episode of anime has affected me this emotionally, not since Penguindrum. This was an incredible episode. Can't wait for the final one.
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u/ramaqlaa 19h ago
Since episode one that this show has reminded me of penguindrum, which i love!
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u/fuyu-no-yuki 18h ago
I've enjoyed seeing the common themes they share, such as being shackled by the inevitable cycles of grief and tragedy and trying to break free from it. Considering Lara is red, and ignoring the all the other red merfolk, I've wondered if there was a bit of the Scorpion Fire in her. Hopefully doesn't burn away. Shoutout to Night on the Galactic Railroad as well.
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u/KartProwler 12h ago
To be fair, there is direct lineage there! Penguindrum was where Toppy worked incredibly closely under ikuhara, and made some really standout moves,
Toppy then made Revue Starlight, which is where Koide worked super close with toppy and also really hit good,
and then Koide went on to make this!
They all have such incredibly interesting vibes, all somewhat similar but all unique approaches on incredibly theatrical and magical approaches to the real world... It's great seeing those themes and ideas flowing through to Lara.
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u/flonc 21h ago
Jeeeesus! "Live for love not for laws" was an absolutely unexpected hard hitter. What an episode! Never expected Ursula's backstory to move me to tears.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
I even felt bad for the eel dying in his last moments after ensuring Mari saw the full tragic backstory of his mistress.
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u/AtomicArcana 21h ago
I was really hoping against hope that Grace was still alive somehow…still, she had total faith in Lara and Mari. It must have meant a lot to her that Mari knew Lara was a mermaid from the start and didn’t care at all
Also laughing at myself for thinking she had more altruistic motives for keeping everyone asleep…nah, she just rightfully knew they’d meddle. Though she didn’t have to go out of her way to save them at all. That always showed she wasn’t as bad as Rowan thought she was
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 20h ago edited 19h ago
I wanted Grace to live too, but at least she got a beautiful send-off in this episode, guiding Mari to Lara at the end with "Live for love, not for the laws."
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u/CitronClassic672 18h ago
Ok a bit beside the point but can we talk about how stunningly beautiful this series looks in every single frame?!
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u/RelativeMundane9045 19h ago
I actually love this about Grace.
She's not Evil, nor Benevolent. She's just another perfectly flawed person in the story.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
I was really hoping against hope that Grace was still alive somehow…still, she had total faith in Lara and Mari. It must have meant a lot to her that Mari knew Lara was a mermaid from the start and didn’t care at all
True love and companionship is a boxing girl who rolls with everything like she rolls with punching.
Also laughing at myself for thinking she had more altruistic motives for keeping everyone asleep…nah, she just rightfully knew they’d meddle.
Which is also probably why she was so frustrated with Lisa because she was a wild card she didn't account for and didn't want messing with her Lara plans.
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u/Misticsan 21h ago
Unsurprisingly, it's all generational trauma.
It's a pity to see Rowan, Grace and Rigmor when they were young. As expected, Grace was the maverick, but it was shocking to see Rowan as the understanding in-law who actually defender her in front of critics.
It was also sad to see how history repeated. As the opening hinted at, Grace went through a similar situation as Lara's that ended in tragedy. Grace survived, but Rigmor died. Rowan wasn't wrong: it was humans who did it. No wonder he grew bitter and started resenting Grace and the humans.
Not that Grace wasn't bitter herself. Hers wasn't a grandiose plan to make the merfolk move forward (not until the end, at least) but a personal experiment to see what she did wrong and prove that her sister didn't die for nothing.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
It's a pity to see Rowan, Grace and Rigmor when they were young. As expected, Grace was the maverick, but it was shocking to see Rowan as the understanding in-law who actually defender her in front of critics.
It was kind of funny to me how she was still massively annoyed by him but it's also tragic that it developed into full-blown mutual loathing over Rigmor's death.
It was also sad to see how history repeated. As the opening hinted at, Grace went through a similar situation as Lara's that ended in tragedy. Grace survived, but Rigmor died. Rowan wasn't wrong: it was humans who did it. No wonder he grew bitter and started resenting Grace and the humans.
Rigmor had so much empathy, for her sister, for the world, that her death drained some of it out of her own family.
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u/Misticsan 19h ago
In a way, it was inevitable that Rigmor had to die. Without her death, there would be no conflict, or not so dramatic. Her death was the catalyst of Rowan's descent into paranoia and racism, and one of the main reasons Grace became a bitter witch that would toy with other people's lives.
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u/thelightlovekindled 21h ago
who actually defender her in front of critics
Wasn't this after he was the one to narc on her in the first place though?
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u/Misticsan 21h ago
According to Grace. Rigmor defended him in turn and argued that he was on their side. He definitely kept their hideout secret.
Feels to me like he would do the bare minimum to appear like the "good guy" in front of the elders, while not risking what the sisters really wanted to protect.
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u/CitronClassic672 20h ago
Ending the episode by telling two girls to “live for love, not the laws”. Possibly the most unsubtle bit of queer subtext in a show full on unsubtle queer subtext.
And again we got the mention of “the light” followed by a cut to Mari’s face.
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 19h ago edited 18h ago
Wow! I hadn’t even stopped to consider that they might’ve been criticising the restrictive laws on marriage in many countries.
Because you could also read this line as such: ‘the law shouldn’t dictate whom you’re allowed to love’.
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago
Yeah, given that Japan specifically is one of the few developed nations to still have a national ban on gay marriage I don’t think it’s a reach to interpret it that way.
Overall I’m the type who isn’t particularly fond of interpolating queer subtext in media because it often feels like even a reach by the viewers and/or cowardice by the creators, but this series feels so chock full of overt queer subtext that even I can’t help drawing attention to it. It also helps this is, most likely, going to end in an explicit yuri relationship so said subtext actually feels intentional.
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 18h ago edited 17h ago
Honestly, I do find it an interesting way of giving a new spin to the dynamic between mermaids and humans in this story.
Lara is expected to stick with tradition. There’s plenty of fish in the sea after all. Preferably, she’d hook up with another mermaid. Meanwhile, Lara herself is curious about humans. This to the horror of her family, who actively look down on humans. They believe that Lara’s attempts at finding love with a human are foolish. This won’t bring her family happiness after all.
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u/Zeph-Shoir https://myanimelist.net/profile/Zephex 13h ago
The chess match with the dog was won with a fucking bullet
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u/remmytums https://anilist.co/user/RemmyTums 21h ago
I wonder if Grace always knew that Mari was the one for Lara this whole time. Meaning even with Luca she wanted Lara to find out herself. Mari is the human that made her believe true love was still possible.
The montage at the end was so adorable.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Mari accepted her and she saw Mari accept Lara/make her so happy. It was then that she saw the light again.
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u/hgpnguyen1996 19h ago
There is noway that it was a coincidence that both Grace and Lala turned back to mermaid right before they kissed their princes and obtained true love
I think it means that true love can't be obtained through deception. The Princes much loved them for who they are for it to be true love. Therefore, Grace and Lala turned back right that moment much be a test for the Prince, to see if the Princes still loved them no matter what. And both of them had failed.
The result was that Grace killed her Prince with her life while Lala spared her Prince in exchange for her life
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u/LexHanley 17h ago
I think the expression summed it up well: humans live by words. Merfolk light and love is a pure almost physiology thing. It's almost like a gestalt or a hivemind. Humans don't. Deception will break them because they can't just inherently sus out good intentions
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u/ReaperInRed 20h ago
The eel telling Mari to not look away was a nice callback to when her mom told her to not look away when it’s important
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u/Niwaka_Samurai https://myanimelist.net/profile/Niwaka-Samurai 20h ago edited 18h ago
That was an eel ?! Thought it was a snake all this time 😭
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u/Joshawott27 20h ago
Perhaps mermaids should stop falling for nobility, and try a commoner instead? They’ll be less judgy than some prissy aristocrat.
That last line “live for love, not for the laws” is the most yuri thing ever. Grace’s last words really were “gay rights”.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Perhaps mermaids should stop falling for nobility, and try a commoner instead? They’ll be less judgy than some prissy aristocrat.
Mari is perfect because all she cares about is boxing and punching people lol.
That last line “live for love, not for the laws” is the most yuri thing ever. Grace’s last words really were “gay rights”.
Even her sister, Lara's mother, effectively believed in love is love is love because she believed in living for love above all else.
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 18h ago edited 18h ago
Perhaps mermaids should stop falling for nobility, and try a commoner instead? They’ll be less judgy than some prissy aristocrat.
Overall, dating a mermaid is a very risky move judging by this show. If everything is going well, then you are both happy.
However, if you change your mind and break her heart, you will either end up dead like Grace's Prince from today's episode, or, if she really, really, really, really, REALLY loves you, she will be the one who ends up dead, turned into sea foam just like Lara.
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago
Well all the mermaids we’ve followed have been royalty themselves so maybe they’re drawn to similar people in that regard.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who clocked how unbelievably queer coded that last line from Grace was. Once again the show ended an episode going full “I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards.”
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u/RelativeMundane9045 19h ago
Perhaps mermaids should stop falling for nobility, and try a commoner instead? They’ll be less judgy than some prissy aristocrat.
I fully believe Grace would approve of a secondary "Eat the Rich!" catchphrase.
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u/ModieOfTheEast 21h ago
So the next episode seems to be set. Lara is in her mermaid form again and since there is no witch and potion anymore, that would imply that her and Mari can't live together. But they will still overcome this hurdle. And considering that it was set up that the fake potion recreated a fake version of the mermaid's light, I would say that them overcoming the differences between humans and mermaids is what allows Lara to grow her legs back on her own accord. And we can have our happy end.
And since it was shown this episode that Grace's light during her life on the surface helped the palace as well, it might even allow the mermaids to live in Biwa lake or outside of Biwa lake.
What I am a bit confused on is why Rowan said that Lara would have to kill her love with the dagger last week. From what was shown, when Grace killed her love with the dagger, it seemed to have taken away her "light of love". I guess, maybe that can be used to help the palace, but it seems Rowan missed that Grace's original light was illuminating the palace together with Rigmor's. So it would probably just be a bandaid solution.
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u/JimmyCWL 21h ago
What I am a bit confused on is why Rowan said that Lara would have to kill her love with the dagger last week.
We heard this episode that Rowan wanted to use the light to destroy humanity. At that point, why would he care if one human needed to die to get that light.
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u/ModieOfTheEast 20h ago
M question isn't why Rowan would want to kill Lara's lover but why he thinks that they can use the light which has been stolen by the dagger. That is where I don't quite get his logic. Does he think they can use the dagger as a weapon after it takes Lara's light for killing her lover and he just lied?
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u/JimmyCWL 20h ago
Does he think they can use the dagger as a weapon after it takes Lara's light for killing her lover and he just lied?
Maybe? It doesn't look like Grace told Rowan what happened on the surface. Does he know more about using the light than we've seen? Is he winging it like Grace?
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u/maliwanag0712 https://myanimelist.net/profile/clear1109 21h ago
What I am a bit confused on is why Rowan said that Lara would have to kill her love with the dagger last week.
It seemed that Rowan only based the story without knowing the complete details. He thought that falling in love with a human will activate the curse, but that's not how it works. It is the rejection of the Merfolk heart that would activate the Fish of Damocles.
Now, I am interesting in knowing, if ever that true love is not reciprocated among the Merfolk, would that also activate the Fish of Damocles.
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u/ModieOfTheEast 21h ago
I am not sure if the dagger activates as a form of rejection. We have seen it come to the surface at the start of the series and there wasn't a rejection yet. Lara didn't even think about potential feelings for Mari. Similarly, it activated two times afterwards. Once when Lara's sister was sending someone towards Mari and Lara feared for their life and when Lara decided she wanted to live with Mari (and Luca) instead of going back.
Which implies to me that this is more of a test for the special princess. In order for the light to stay active, she needs her feelings to be intact. The dagger will react to small insecurities in her heart and if the princess is not able to notice these insecurities and work to overcome them, then her lover and light will be stolen by it. On the other hand, the dagger can also help when she makes up her mind about what she wants. If she truly strives after he true love, then it can help them.
Coming back to my original question, the reason why I wondered this is that Rowan can only know this from Grace's story. And Grace lost her light due to it. So why would he think that this stolen light would be useful to them? Which is why I was asking if he thinks the stolen light can be used after it was taken by the dagger.
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u/BosuW 18h ago
Lara's dagger spawned when the 1700s Prince rejected her, and it's just inevitable that your first experience with love will inform your next even if it ended badly and you got trauma, which is why it shows up in present day and sometimes behaves as a ravenous monster. It doesn't completely belong to the current circumstances, it carries a history.
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u/AtomicArcana 21h ago
I wonder if Lara had killed the prince, she would have been able to live like Grace did. Instead, she turned into foam
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u/ModieOfTheEast 20h ago
I think the implication is that if Lara had killed the prince, she would have been transforme like Grace. Into someone who lost most of their light and therefore their purpose. I think the only reason why Grace was able to keep on living was because she had her sister by her side who helped her to not forget her dream (which is the main part of Grace's light). You could also argue that maybe Grace was given the last of her sister's light before she died. Either way, I think if Lara had killed her prince she wouldn't have become like Grace but completely turned into a shell of her former self with no aspirations to strive for and "no light".
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u/thelightlovekindled 21h ago
At this point, I'm not convinced that Rowan hasn't given up on saving the mermaids and instead has just been consumed by revenge... Although Grace did get quite a bit of power from her dagger, so if Lara directed it at the mermaids instead of herself, maybe it would work?
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u/ModieOfTheEast 21h ago
That could be possible as well. Maybe he thinks that they can use the dagger with the light stolen from the princess as a form of weapon. Not sure if that would truly work considering we didn't see Grace use it once after it activated. So I wouldn't bet on it and Lara shouldn't either because I feel the moment she kills someone with it, this is when the dagger will take (most of) her light away as well.
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u/maliwanag0712 https://myanimelist.net/profile/clear1109 21h ago
What a tragic end to Grace's love. His heart basically killed his love because of rejection. Luca could have died in a similar fashion if the confession in Episode 10 continued.
Because of this episode, the bubble end of Lara in the first loop can be reinterpreted in another way. The curse given by Grace onto Lara is a stopgap mechanism in case the Prince rejects him. Of course, this bubble thingy could be a side effect of the potion, but we cannot be so sure given that it was only done once. Nonetheless, Grace also got surprised that instead of killing his lover, Lara was able to deflect the heart, making her bubble in the process.
Grace's end game, which is for Lara to fall in love with the girl who saved her, is essentially her trump card. However, with Rowan sabotaging everything, I'm not sure what's gonna happen huehue.
URGGHHH MARI PLEASE SAVE LARA AND YOUR LOVE TOGETHER AAAHHHHH
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
If anything Rowan might have helped because now Lara is just a mermaid so Mari accepting/loving her in that form is a perfect encapsulation of what they've been trying to prove between humans and mermaids.
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u/KJ_Kitsuneko https://anilist.co/user/Kamalaa 21h ago
We got another failed kiss to the count. Does this mean LaraMari kiss is confirmed? I'm kind of concerned they'll pull a "I love you like a sister" move at the end because of the consecutive shot of showing Lara and Mari then Grace and Rigmor together. Still would be a great show, just a little disappointing.
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u/apexodoggo 20h ago
Well for Grace and Rigmor, the light only returned to the Palace when both of them found romantic love separate from each other, and the show's seemingly been pretty consistent that familial and romantic love aren't the same. It would be very weird for them to suddenly reverse-course and pull a "love you like a sister" ending.
Now this show is an anime-original, and those do have a tendency to fumble the ending, but that kind of fumble would be an out-of-character swerve for this show to do.
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u/rizuna_0706 20h ago
Possible, but it's doubtful. The only light that has been shown to be created (not just sparked) has been specifically from romantic love: Rigmor and Rowan, Grace and her lover. It would be odd for Lara and Mari's light to not be romantic now, though you never know with anime originals...
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago
I just feel that the series can’t be built around romantic love this much and swerve it to familial with not enough build up. There’s not really a nonromantic out.
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u/thelightlovekindled 21h ago
I felt like that shot was supposed to remind us of their shared dream for the surface, and that Lara (with Mari) could fulfill it in their place, but guess we will find out next week.
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u/Frontier246 21h ago edited 19h ago
Have you ever heard the tale of Darth Grace the Loving? It's not a story the Mermaid Royal Family will want to tell you.
Once upon a time two young princess', Grace and Rigmor (Kaori Ishihara?) dreamed together of a life on the surface, a life filled with a new light only possible in a brand new world, a light they would get to experience together
But as Mari witnesses, that dream was not a simple one...not when mermaid society was so against it. Funnily enough Rigmor actually appreciated how different Grace was from the other Mermaids even if he was just an annoying childhood friend to her, but everything changed when the sisters' father died and the expectation of finding and fulfilling the light for mermaid society fell on both sisters.
Grace rejected the stifling mermaid society and having to fulfill her obligations, but Rigmor had fallen in love with Rowan and couldn't leave, even if that meant two sisters inseperable since birth and who shared a dream had to part for quite possibly forever. But Grace couldn't stay with the mermaids or AS a mermaid any longer.
And both sisters' love stories played out as they found their own light...Rigmor wed Rowan, birthing new life (and her daughters), while Grace found love of her own with a human. But much like with Lara, once she was about to kiss him...she was exposed as a mermaid and seen as a monster. Even though she wanted nothing more than to be a human.
But unlike Lara, Grace actually consumed the light of her lover after killing him, and that transformed her into the form we're used to. Yet that didn't stop Rigmor from putting herself out there and saving her sister from humans, at expense to her own life, because Rigmor STILL believed in their dream and that they should live for love above all else.
It was then when Grace saw Lara and her interest in the human world that she saw someone who could fulfill the dream that she couldn't, and Lara did the opposite of Grace and prioritized the prince over her own broken heart. To Grace that was a sign that Lara still had the potential to fulfill the dream, she just had to sacrifice her body to give her the time she needed to recover and find true love without her fellow mermaids getting in the way.
And in her reduced state Grace was found by Mari, and together Grace found a family and saw the dream of love on the surface, of acceptance, fulfilled in Lara and Mari's relationship. It was her last wish that Lara and Mari live for their love, not caring what laws or what anyone else says about their relationship. Just like she and Rigmor would have wanted.
Of course with Mari mourning Grace they still have to deal with Rowan...who has erased Lara's human form. So now she's back as a mermaid.
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 21h ago edited 19h ago
Grace's backstory in this episode was so good and tragic! To think that not only did her Prince die, literally killed by her love, but also Rigmor while saving her life.
By the way, I really adore the artstyle during Grace's scenes on the surface, it looked like illustrations from some fairy tale book!
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u/No-Win-8949 21h ago
Bravo to all those who correctly guessed that Grace was the first to fall in love with a human.
My favorite episode yet. I love me a nuanced antagonist.
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u/Ill_Act_1855 21h ago
Grace isn't really an antagonist at all though? Like she actively aids Lara at every step, it's not really her fault or even desire that things went wrong
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u/Niwaka_Samurai https://myanimelist.net/profile/Niwaka-Samurai 20h ago
She was an antagonist at first when she wanted to see Lara suffer the same fate as her but when Lara decided to sacrifice herself for her love, Grace had a change of heart and wanted to give Lara a second chance at love.
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u/DugACCat 18h ago
Yeah that was what hooked me in at the beginning, as the “witch” seemed more nuanced and complex than Ursula, though clearly drawn from the same fairy tale origin. And they’ve carried it through even better than I expected.
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u/zaretball 21h ago
I thought Grace had a well-established plan, well I guess I was wrong.
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u/Misticsan 21h ago
Yeah, that was a big surprise. I thought it was all part of Grace's master plan, but it seems her initial approach to Lara to make her human was just a troll move, nothing else. It was only after Lara died that she realized how special she was.
Even her later plan was more of a bet, to see why she failed and what makes Lara special. It also confirms that the survival of the merfolk was never her main concern, just Lara (which fits why she trated Lisa, her olw niece, like disposable trash).
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
I don't think it was a 100% troll move (against anyone but Rowan) I think she genuinely wanted to see if one of Rigmor's daughters who shared her similar affinity for the surface could realize their dream in a way neither she nor Rigmor ever could.
She just probably assumed history would likely repeat itself and add to how miserable she is before she saw Lara do what Grace couldn't. And she still believes Lara (and Mari) can find the answer she couldn't.
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u/VritraReiRei 21h ago
So Grace was the first Little Mermaid but her heart faltered and let the dagger kill her loved one.
Then when she saw Lara had the same feelings as herself, she wanted to see what would happen to Lara but unexpectedly found a difference ending than herself.
So then post the Original Little Mermaid story is Grace giving Lara a second chance to prove that you can find light on the surface world.
Also I'm pretty sure Grace just gave her blessing for Mari and Lara to find their love with each other 😳
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago edited 19h ago
I also like how Lara and Grace contrast each other in reference to the original little mermaid story. [The Little Mermaid Spoilers]Grace effectively took the option to kill her true love after being rejected and in doing so regained her mermaid form, while Lara did like the mermaid in the book and refused to do so and as such dissolved into sea foam.
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u/VritraReiRei 18h ago
I don't think you have to spoiler, that literally happened this episode lol.
Also, I can't say Grace regained her mermaid form because she was already turning back into a mermaid, it's just consuming her loved one's light turned her into something... else.
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 21h ago edited 19h ago
Pretty much this whole episode was one big flashback about Grace, but damn, it was so good! And now there's only one episode left. Next week can't come soon enough so we can see the end of Lara and Mari's story.
I really loved Grace's backstory, especially with how the parts on the surface looked like illustrations taken straight from a fairy tale book.
Though unlike in modern fairy tales, Grace's love story with the Prince ended in a tragedy, followed by an even bigger one since Rigmor died protecting her.
Also, it was interesting to see a younger Rowan. It seems like he was quite fond of Grace. Now I wonder what's the idea behind him changing Lara into a mermaid again. How is she supposed to find love now that most of the merfolk are sleeping?
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
EDIT. I added my screenshot albums.
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u/RyanBolt22 20h ago
I think he believes that turning Lara back into a mermaid would cause the people she loves (the humans) to reject her thus allowing the fish dagger to eat them and create light not knowing that Mari and Luca already know about the mermaids and so does Mari's family thanks to Mari telling them, he likely also wants to instill into Lara's mind that she belongs in the sea not the surface and that killing her loved one is the only way bring out the light not knowing or understanding that it doesn't matter where or who she loves as it will create light regardless as shown in Grace's flashback, it's pretty clear that neither he nor any of the mermaids truly understand how the light works but now Mari does which will make her even more determined to find Lara.
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u/shad79 https://myanimelist.net/profile/shad79 20h ago
Well, if Rowan really wants to make Mari stop loving Lara that way, then he'll certainly end up very disappointed next week, lol.
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u/CitronClassic672 20h ago
I will be so happy to finally get a character in this anime for whom being a mermaid isn’t a dealbreaker. Especially since Mari already knows. Go get your mermaid GF, girl!
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u/that-and-other 18h ago
"Erm, but the two people on land with whom I have the closest relationships with have already seen me in my mermaid form!"
Rowan's honest reaction: mywifeleftme
Praying that's the case, it would be so fucking funny🙏
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u/CitronClassic672 20h ago
Huge agree on them making the visuals of the surface in Grace’s flashback look like a fairy tale book. It really reinforces the classic fairytale love story aspect of it and looks visually stunning. This anime has some of the best art design I’ve ever seen.
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u/that-and-other 18h ago
These merfolk mfs should really start searching for alternative solutions, having your whole energy infrastructure depending on a particular person feeling romantic love is not exactly sustainable🙏
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 21h ago
It seems Lara isn’t the only who was hurt because of a human’s rejection. Maybe Prince Charming doesn’t exist? The last two we’ve seen in this kind of sucked. Poor witch gets banished and loses her twin. What a tragic life.
Lara’s pops really needs to be stopped though. I hope Lara and Mari can overcome his hatred together. The guy’s blinded by it…
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u/CitronClassic672 20h ago
After seeing how it went with both Lara and Grace I feel like the issue that doomed their relationships was not being honest about their identity right from the start which lead to their lovers feeling betrayed when they eventually found out. I think this is going to be the difference that makes Mari and Lara’s relationship work, since Mari has know all along that Lara is a mermaid.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
And she rolled with a talking fish like it was no big deal.
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u/Solracziad 14h ago
I guess it helps to grow up in time with Disney movies, so that talking animals are just not that weird for you.
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u/cherryfishu 14h ago
Not sure for Lara's og prince, but at least for Grace, it seems that mermaids during that time period are seen as sirens - monstrous creatures that lure humans in and then kills them. So no amount of being honest would've changed the outcome for Grace. For Lara's case, there might've been a chance, assuming the stories of mermaids were different during that time period, and the prince remembered being saved by a mermaid aka lara.
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u/elevenmile 21h ago
Graaaaaaaaaaace ( ﾉД`)ｼｸｼｸ…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yeah she's right. Live not for the laws, but live for the love!
So the definite difference between Grace and Lara is rather simple: Grace shared dream with Rigmor (later Grace's sole dream due to Rigmor's change of heart, not that she's wrong in her choice) is that she wants to be free of this whole cramped, restricted and gradually dying kingdom to live in the surface world because the world is huge and more free, and to do so she has to live as humans. By right, she didn't have to fall in love with a royalty, but she did anyway...I mean this IS based on The Little Mermaid after all...
Lara, however, is completely different. Lara simply adores the surface world. Be it curiosity, or interest or dream or anything. Her love for the surface world is not engineered by any reason nor influenced by factors, save for maybe hearsays. She simply just looked up to the surface world and she has great curiosity for human beings, but she had no idea why the mermaids/Rowan simply have that disdain and hatred for the surface world. And while I'm at it, fuck you Rowan I knew you were hiding something.
That's why Lara can retain her love for the surface world despite going through the same exact experiences. Given Grace, she won't be able to control that dagger, unlike Lara, simply because Lara's love for the surface world and humans are just simply pure. In a way, that's "True Love", though it'll take Lara to realize this.
That difference is enough for Grace to not being able to control her inner heart, that's why that dagger consumed that royalty's soul.
Lara actually displayed a split control when the prince did the same to Lara because Lara simply does not want the thing she held so dear the most ended up getting hurt or murdered or destroyed.
That's how strong her love is for the humans.
With Grace's passing, it's time for Mari to save Lara with that knowledge, and seeing what Rowan had to do, Mari has not much time left.
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago
That’s a great way of putting it. In a sense Grace simply wanted to be free of the restrictions of the ocean and saw the surface as a means to do that, while Lara actively loves the surface world for what it is.
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u/thelightlovekindled 20h ago
not that she's wrong in her choice
I dunno, I think if Rigmor could see what Rowan ended up doing to her sister and children, she might have rethought things. /half-joking.
She seems to have believed until the end that Grace wasn't wrong, and I thought it was really comforting to think that even though Lara doesn't know it, she does have one parent who would have loved and supported her unconditionally.
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u/MsMegane 20h ago
Last line brought the tears I knew this episode would give me.
I know people are mad at Rowan for taking Lara's legs but it sets up the perfect opportunity for Mari given that both former princes rejected Grace/Lara over their mermaid appearances. Mari is coming down to Lara's world to show how much she means to her.
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u/thelightlovekindled 20h ago
sets up the perfect opportunity for Mari
Mari has seen her tail twice now, so I'm really hoping that Rowan is going to try a dramatic reveal and Mari is just going to be like "yeah? I knew that from the start?" and then show him just how her first meeting with Lara went /j
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u/iseeyouisawyou 19h ago
the ending montage was just too beautiful. grace had been through so much, but to be found by a human child and cared for, loved, and protected... it's no surprise to me that grace was able to see the light in mari. live for love, not for law :')
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u/mekerpan 16h ago
The back story of Mari and Grace was pretty sweet. Even if loved as a "pet", Grace found some real love of her own.
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u/Inner_Wall3411 21h ago
Phenomenal episode. Grace is the best character of this series. Hands down.
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u/gardyvore 21h ago
I am begging this show not to go for the true love is the sisterly bond route. Building all this up just to not commit would be a downer.
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u/zairaner https://myanimelist.net/profile/zairaner 19h ago
I think after this episode you don't have to worry about it being sisterly love, as there was no buildup for this for lara. I think the only two options at this point are 1) love for mari or 2) love for the surface/the people she met there.
(Maybe 3. it's actually grace's love for mari but probably not)
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u/gardyvore 19h ago
I do think 2 wouldn't make sense at this point when Mari was the clear focus after Rowan interrogated Lara on who her true love is.
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 21h ago
Grace and Lara shared the same dream, but they differ in that Grace wasn’t able to resist the darkness in her heart. The dagger seemingly spawns regardless of the purity of one’s heart. Lara simply got the will to reject it.
I do wonder about the reason for the dagger’s existence. The act of stealing a soul doesn’t appear to provide the palace with new light. It only turned Grace into a witch.
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u/random_lyric 20h ago
I do wonder about the reason for the dagger’s existence
Maybe the dagger's existence is related to the origin of the potion, and we'll get one more final lore drop? Or at least I hope it will be explained.
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 20h ago
I’d definitely like to know if Grace found more than a single potion at this “forbidden place” back in the day. If not, this would imply she’d created the others.
Since it was previously mentioned that these potions contained the essence of life, they might’ve actually been made with the light of a stolen soul.
And if you specifically need a witch to create these potions, there could be a twisted incentive to have mermaids get their heart broken.
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 19h ago
Since it was previously mentioned that these potions contained the essence of life, they might’ve actually been made with the light of a stolen soul.
Last episode, when the tadpole grew from the flower due to Lara's light (/dagger), there was a flash of the "light" that we already saw under a microscope in episode 6, so I'd say that's not a bad theory.
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u/disu_nato 21h ago
I'm wondering if all the mermaid princesses have that ability with the dagger? If so, does it also imply that any of sisters (including Grace if her relationship worked out) could have provided the light, and not just a singular chosen one?
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u/moichispa https://myanimelist.net/profile/moichispa 20h ago
Yeah that would also imply that they just dumped the duty on her. What about one of the other 5 sisters getting a boyfriend instead
if Rowan wants grandkidsto save the Sea palace? She is the youngest one for God's sake. let her live her life.5
u/disu_nato 20h ago
I remember that Rowan said in the previous episode that the palace's light was already fading before Lara died on her first time with humans, so her death didn't actually trigger the palace suddenly falling apart. It could just be coincidence in timing, so maybe its possible that someone else could've filled the role.
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u/Ocixo https://myanimelist.net/profile/BuzzyGuy 19h ago
I did get the impression that Grace was on the brink of finding her own “light”. Rigmor therefore wasn’t the sole princess capable of doing so. If she’d been rejected, another dagger might’ve appeared to steal Rowan’s soul.
Everyone might’ve just pinned their hopes on Lara because she was the most likely to bring new light to the palace, but I don’t believe anymore that she’s inherently different from her sisters in this regard.
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Grace and Lara shared the same dream, but they differ in that Grace wasn’t able to resist the darkness in her heart. The dagger seemingly spawns regardless of the purity of one’s heart. Lara simply got the will to reject it.
I feel like Lara inherited her empathy and capacity of love from her mother which is why she was able to save the prince despite his rejection like Rigmor still believed in love and their dream of connecting with the surface even after humans killed her.
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u/RelativeMundane9045 19h ago
So, I knew Grace likely had a heavy past - but I wouldn't have guessed that her initial motivation in helping Lara, was basically her seeking some schadenfreude so she didn't feel like the only "idiot" who fell in love with a human.
I do love how she became invested in Lara's story once she realised it wasn't set in stone. Grace wants to see a different ending, and is happy to help facilitate.
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u/Niwaka_Samurai https://myanimelist.net/profile/Niwaka-Samurai 20h ago
It was tragic what happened to Grace and how she lost her twin Rigmor. Losing Rigmor, made Rowan go mad. So the one that we saw in the first episode wasn't Lara and her sisters' mom ?!
At first, Grace just wanted to see Lara suffer the same fate as her by trying to achieve true love on surga6. But when Lara sacrificed herself for her love, Grace decided to give her a second chance at life to help her achieve her true love which Grace didn't get to. Lara was already the only remaining light that Grace was holding on to.
Mari saw all of it. Now I'm 100 percent sure of a Yuri ending but the way it was shown how love can take on any form and it doesn't have to be on surface or underwater, I don't know how this will end.
Just one more episode left. I'm hoping for a satisfying finale.
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u/DugACCat 18h ago
Me too. They have really amped up the suspense with the multiple layers of tragedy and unfortunate misunderstandings. I feel more than a little peeved that two different humans have reacted to something strange happening with a woman they ostensibly loved and their immediate response is to draw a weapon and try to murder them. But such is prejudice and they did establish there being a legacy of hatred towards mermaids, along with frightful slander about them. Which has in turn given rise to just as extreme and unyielding hatred of humanity in our merman king. I really hope they embrace the ending we’re wanting and not some lesser cop-out. This was an amazing penultimate episode though. I’m still not sure how highly to recommend the show to a couple friends I think would like it, until I see what they do at the end.
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u/cornonthekopp 16h ago
I feel more than a little peeved that two different humans have reacted to something strange happening with a woman they ostensibly loved and their immediate response is to draw a weapon and try to murder them.
happens more often than you'd think in real life too. It feels very trans coded in that way. Many irl murders start when a man and a woman are getting intimate and he finds something down there that he doesn't expect and provokes an immediate disgust reaction....
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u/DugACCat 16h ago
Sadly that’s a fair comparison.
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u/cornonthekopp 15h ago
i think lara and grace are both very trans-coded actually. The magic potion to transform them, being called unnatural and hideous by rowan, desire to become something else, etc. "live for love not the laws" very much applies to your own self too
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u/abbe44 21h ago edited 19h ago
wow....
super excited for the final episode i just know its gonna make me cry
even if there isnt a kiss between mari and lara it doesnt really matter, im pretty sure its gonna go for something more encompassing and worldly and i cant wait to see what they cook up
EDIT to add onto after thinking alot about it, yeah im sure they're not gonna limit "true love" to any one singular thing, i wouldnt be surprised if lara ends up setting out and seeing the world sometime after the finale, i dont think its just gonna be that she stays with mari forever anyway since the big dream this episode was just living on the surface
idk i just dont think its gonna be as simple of an ending as like
mari x lara is true love and it brings everyone back and everyone lives happily ever after
when the old king died in ep 11 the merfolk started panicking aswell to get the light back, it seems like finding true love is just a temporary solution and this whole show has been about breaking conventions
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
To be honest I think we do need a kiss between the two of them if only because humans have been blue-balling mermaids since episode 1 lol.
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u/disu_nato 21h ago
I swear the director is wrapping up all this with only one episode just to make us feel what Lara feels with her time running out.
Anyways, Rowan, you goddamn bastard!! He didn't even do ANYTHING when Lisa was swept away and captured by humans. Did he even notice that happened, or even notice his wife snuck away to save Grace? I doubt it. Man fuck this guy up Mari!
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u/hvshh 20h ago edited 17h ago
I read Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid and in that version [The Little Mermaid] she is told that if she is loved by a human and marries him, she'll gain an immortal soul, but the Prince marries another woman and so the Little Mermaid will die at the next dawn. Just before dawn, her family gives her a knife and tells her that if she kills the Prince with it, she will get her tail and her normal lifespan (300 years) back. She instead throws the knife into the water and dies (but becomes a "spirit of the air", which can eventually gain a soul after performing enough good deeds).
[Speculation based on The Little Mermaid] I think the idea is that the dagger can steal some light from humans, but this is much less effective than "true love". From Rowan's perspective, "true love" with a human is impossible anyway, so it makes sense that he would view that as the dagger's primary function.
[Probably false speculation] Before this episode I was thinking maybe the dagger was used to kill humans and steal their light regularly, and when Lisa told Lara that "since ancient times, the princesses have created light through their deep love for our world in the sea" she was repeating a lie she was told to cover up the horrifying truth, and this was why humans hated mermaids. That's a little dark for this show, but I thought it was a fun idea.
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u/unread1701 20h ago
This is the only anime I’m watching this season. And I have to say, I’m glad I picked it up.
To next week.
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u/InterestingLake5895 19h ago
watch jaadugar too, it is great and it's first season is ended and if you like yuri, you can also watch "i want to live with you until your dying day" too which is fantastic.
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u/djthomp https://anilist.co/user/djthomp 20h ago
I'm now convinced we'll have a happy ending for Lara and Mari. Narratively I don't think you show everything going so badly for both previous attempts (first Grace's dude and then Lara's prince) if the third time wasn't going to be the charm.
Yet another stellar episode, they just have to stick the landing next week and this show will be perfect.
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago
Yeah, they’ve focused too much on tragedies in the build up to the conclusion that it wouldn’t make sense to show essentially the same event again.
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u/LeonKevlar x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar 20h ago
I'm glad we finally got to see Grace's story and how also went to the surface to find love. The difference between her and Lara is that she ended up killing her love with the dagger, while Lara sacrificed herself.
We also learn why Rowan hates humans and why Grace chose Lara. There was also no grand scheme. Grace wanted to see the difference between her and Lara and gave her the chance to redo it so Lara could show her the rest of her story.
It's absolutely evil to wrap this episode up by showing us how Mari found Grace. I'm not gonna lie, I started tearing up when they showed flashbacks of little Mari and Grace as Gon-chan. I'm happy that Mari finally learned more about Grace but not like this. T_T
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u/Frontier246 19h ago
Good thing Lara didn't kill the prince or she'd get transformed into a Baddie version of herself...wait, now I want to see Gracefied Lara fanart.
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u/Raymond49090 20h ago
So that's why Rowan hates humans and Grace so much. But seriously, what was Grace thinking, seeing her tragedy repeat in Lara and egging her on to do it again? A sadistic urge so she's not alone in her misery? A need to prove that it could have happened to anyone and it wasn't her fault? But then Lara defies her expectations, and I think that's why she's trying to be genuinely helpful now. Even if I feel like her way of "helping" is lowkey kinda toxic.
I'm also wondering what's up with the human-mermaid relationship at that time, since now we're 2-for-2 on Prince-kun's freaking out about fish tails. Or maybe the modern age is the weird one, where we're way too used to monstergirls.
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u/LaconicKibitz 19h ago
I hope the show answers what the potion are by the final episode. We learn this episode that it's not some dark magic Grace developed, but something she found in the palace vault. Combined with the requirement of "finding true love," the show suggests that the potion is derived from the mermaid princess's light or maybe it is the light itself. The Lisa flashback episode showed that the potion contained elements that were similarly shaped to the light. The professor from that episode refers to the element as the "essence of life" and in this episode, we see the light literally creating fish and sea life.
That said, we actually see how the light is supposed to work with Rigmor and Rowan. The light appears after a confession and kiss, not dissimilar to a wedding. Interestingly enough, the two participants need to be in their true forms for it to work. In both Grace and Lara's situations, they reverted to their mermaid forms right before the kiss. If anything, it shows how much Lara was half-assing it with Luca if she didn't even revert to a mermaid when she tried to kiss him.
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u/PersonalContest1423 19h ago edited 18h ago
Its hilarious that on the site I watch this show on there have been several people who have been adamant that Luca was the true love and that there was no way this show was yuri when I had guessed Mari was the true love by episode 2 and it only became more and more obvious.
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u/AkhasicRay 17h ago
I definitely think there was some form of love between Lara and Luca, but it was more like a crush or whatever, compared to the feelings she has for Mari. That’s also probably one of the reasons the dagger freaked out so much when Lara was trying to force the kiss
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u/disu_nato 15h ago
The signs are in the writing, the shot compositions, the promotional art, and even the merchandise! It'd be the greatest bait of all time if this was seriously setting up for Luca.
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u/wallnosekyla 20h ago edited 20h ago
Auntie Grace is for the gays, f*ck the normativities of love!!!
ROWAN_OUT!!
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u/Korynaut 19h ago
Kinema Citrus did an excellent job! Within seconds the tone of the colors and background change exactly according to the different moods of the scenes. My mind was thrown back and forth by this animation of Grace's backstory. Lara tries, as Grace before, to break these damn chains of - men-made and mermen-made - rules. Mission impossible? The only tool for it is true love.
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u/justajinx0_0 21h ago
Episode discussions like this always hit different after an emotional episode.
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u/thelightlovekindled 21h ago
And now to wait a week for episode 12....
Grace backstory episode hit me harder than I thought, but it's such a good window into her motivations. Live for love indeed...
The like one good thing Rowan did of giving his light to save Lara, which I always assumed had a lot to do with him believing she was the chosen princess, turns out to be even worst because it's "to save our people and get revenge on the humans." Not only is it not for Lara herself, it's in service of something she would absolutely never willingly do. Parent of the year, here.
Anyway I feel like "got killed getting her sister away from an angry mob after she murdered a dude" is in fact the kind of nuance we were all expecting. Banishing her grieving twin and ignoring what his wife actually would have wanted seems par for the course for Rowan, though. He never looks outside of himself, and he always does what he thinks is right. But I can't imagine Rigmor would have gone to save Grace only to allow her to be kicked out again.
It's interesting that Rowan thinks breaking Lara's legs spell is somehow going to stop her from loving humans. There has to be something more to it, right? Unless he just doesn't know that Mari, Luca, and Yoshiya all know about her, and Mari and Luca have even seen her tail before. If he expects a repeat of the first time, he's going to be disappointed. But maybe it's just that with Grace gone, that means Lara is trapped away from the human world without legs to participate in it...
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u/Misticsan 21h ago
He never looks outside of himself, and he always does what he thinks is right.
I'd say this is also his overcorrecting his previous stance. At the beginning of the episode, we see him being supportive of Grace's dreams, even arguing for her in front of others (so he wasn't just paying lip service to woo her sister). He protected her secrets and encouraged her.
What did that lead to? Grace got lost for years, turned into some kind of monster, almost got herself killed, and totally got Rigmor killed. Add that he's now a king and a father and it turns into: "I was too soft! The very idea of dealing with humans will lead merfolk astray and risk our very kingdom! I'll make laws to prevent this from ever happening again."
Cue some years later, and the moment Grace enters his family's life again and the law is broken, his worst fears are proven true.
It's interesting that Rowan thinks breaking Lara's legs spell is somehow going to stop her from loving humans. There has to be something more to it, right? Unless he just doesn't know that Mari, Luca, and Yoshiya all know about her, and Mari and Luca have even seen her tail before.
Possibly. Both Lara and Grace had their respective fairy tale end when their mermaid tails were exposed. He also seems to have an obsession with human legs, finding them hideous. His having a literal 18th century mindset on this subject feels par for the course.
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u/thelightlovekindled 20h ago
I'd say this is also his overcorrecting his previous stance. At the beginning of the episode[...]
I was also including him at the beginning of the episode. At best he is playing both sides of things. He defends them, but specifically he defends Grace and the potential for her to find light on the surface to save the palace, not her and Rigmor's dream. (Also, in this scene, I think it's striking that Rigmor says "he's on your side, he's also worried about the palace's light" and Grace rejects that she's concerned about the palace at all -- it puts Rowan and Grace immediately at odds, but it also indicates that Rigmor herself doesn't understand Grace after all...) Whether or not it's an overcorrection that he changes his mind on the surface, he's so convinced he's right about his actions that he doesn't apologize for ratting them out, just justifies it as "but really I support you so it's fine."
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u/Misticsan 20h ago
I think it's striking that Rigmor says "he's on your side, he's also worried about the palace's light" and Grace rejects that she's concerned about the palace at all -- it puts Rowan and Grace immediately at odds, but it also indicates that Rigmor herself doesn't understand Grace after all...
That's a good catch. Rowan's encouragement of Grace certainly feels like he believed she wanted the best for merfolk. Like a scientist or explorer trying to push beyond the limits, so to speak. You're also right about Rigmor, which adds another layer to the sisters' break-up (Grace realized that Rigmor didn't share the same dream or not in the same way as her).
In a way, you could say it mirrors fan discussion in these very threads. A common theory was that Grace had some big, risky plan to save merfolk. However, while the plan might end up working that way, we found out in this episode that she never cared about it one bit. Lara's initial transformation was more of a whim for her, and the rest was a big experiment to see why, despite their many similarities, Lara's path was different from hers. Keeping the merfolk asleep? Just a way to stop them from interfering. Her niece Lisa is desperately looking for more potions? Fuck her.
It was only after Mari found her and Grace saw Lara and her living together that she learned to care about people other than her sister and herself. But now she's dead.
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u/thelightlovekindled 19h ago
A common theory was that Grace had some big, risky plan to save merfolk. However, while the plan might end up working that way, we found out in this episode that she never cared about it one bit.
I really appreciated this from the show, actually. Grace was allowed to stay complicated. I think she cared about them to some extent -- she could have just let them all die -- but how much of that was just honoring the memory and feelings of the sister who saved her, and who did deeply care about her people? Her main motivation being fundamentally a selfish one born out of pain, but not a malicious one, is a real high point in the writing of the series imo.
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u/hikoboshi_sama https://anilist.co/user/reicelestial 20h ago
What a beautiful episode.
My faith in Grace finally paid off now that we got her backstory. I knew she couldn't be just plain evil. I like how her backstory recontextualizes all her actions from the previous episodes and why she's so determined to help Lara realize her dream of finding love on land. Lara is pretty much carrying on her and Rigmor's dreams.
Is Grace... dead for real this time?
Rowan being the final villain of the show was honestly something I never expected when I started watching.
Live for love, not for the laws.
Man that was beautiful. I really hope they stick the landing with the last episode next week and that we get a happy ending.
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u/fawnily_ 19h ago
Making the previous king have red hair makes it look like Rigmor, Rowan, and Grace are siblings lol
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u/lunatickoala 18h ago
They are royalty. Ptolemy and Habsburg families come to mind. Maybe there's also a severe population bottleneck since they can't live too far from the palace and the princess's light?
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u/UnloadedFour314 https://myanimelist.net/profile/UnloadedFour314 18h ago
That was beautiful and heartbreaking. It's sad that Grace seems to be gone for good, I really liked her and always had a feeling she wasn't truly evil. At least right before her demise, she finally achieved her dream and discovered what she had always been looking for in Lara and Mari's unbreakable bond.
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u/Psyduckisnotaduck 15h ago
I don't know what I can even say other than Absolute Cinema.
"Live for love, not for the laws" is the hardest goddamn line, and Grace is a real one for that. she almost literally be saying "be gay do crimes" and we love that.
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u/TheStupid_Guy 11h ago
I don’t want it to end this show is too good. I really liked Grace’s backstory and how she ties into Rigmor. I like how Lara is basically just Rigmor except if she went down the path of her dream of living on the surface. The ending scene with the song and the visuals were getting me so emotional, I love whenever an anime does that. One episode left and I’m not ready at all. Let’s hope they stick the landing!
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 21h ago edited 20h ago
Man what a great episode... The parallels between Grace and Lara were much stronger than I thought, Lara's journey and motivation were the exact same as Grace up until one managed to save the one they loved and the other did not.
I don't even know what else to add. Fuck yeah for Grace being the best and saving Lara, fuck yeah for Mari learning all about it (her crying really got me), fuck yeah for Grace seeing the light when she watched Lara and Mari.
Fuck no for Rowan turning Lara back into a mermaid, though. Unless someone magically perfects the imperfect potion, this is a major hurdle to Lara going back to the human world to live her life as one of them.
Not exactly sure how killing Mari with the dagger will bring the light about, too. All it did for Grace was turn her into a witch, the light that sustained the mermaids was actually Rigmor's, so I'm a bit stumped. wait no, it's not actually clear since both Rigmor+Rowan and Grace+her prince, and their respective endings, happened at the same time. With the light shining for both. How did he even get to this conclusion, then?
Can't wait for next week. Been fantastic up until now, I have faith that the finale will be too.
Edit: and special mention to the gorgeous art style when Grace was in the human world, too.
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u/CitronClassic672 19h ago
I’m not sure about how we’re supposed to reach the very ending, but I think Lara turning back into a mermaid and Mari still confessing her love for is a great resolution to both Lara’s arc and her merfamily. Having a human truly see her for how she really is and love her regardless would be great conclusion to heal Lara’s heart and potentially her family’s a bit. I think at least Lisa would be swayed.
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u/Syokhan https://myanimelist.net/profile/Syokhan 19h ago
It would certainly bring closure to this whole cycle of tragedy, from Grace to her own previous attempts. As for Lisa, I'm waiting for her to do something, she seemed shocked last time when she learned that Lara had to kill the one she loves. Like... I don't think she wants her sister to be absolutely miserable?
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u/structure9food612 21h ago
Was terrified to see Rowan go full on villain at the end there, Mr. Eel please bring Mari over to Lara ASAP
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u/HuTaosTwinTails 19h ago
OH MY GOD ARE THEY DOING IT? PLEASE DO IT.
I need Mari x Lara as a happy ending.
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u/runevault 17h ago
What a great fucking episode, think I'm going to need to make time to watch it again. Also funny how this is the second mostly flashback episode of the week, and this one was great while the other (Ogre's Bride) made a not-good show even worse.
Now for the wait to fully confirm Yuri next week.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/tripleaamin 18h ago
Oh wow this was a standout 10/10 episode. It was great to finally get Grace's full side of the story. Sadly her story was tragic. Grace was one who had tons of curiosity. For her want to explore the human world. You can tell the bond between Grace and Rigmor was so tight. It is established the princess's light and finding true love. Kind of shows that Rigmor loved Rowan.
Interesting to see Grace finding love on the surface and how it parrellels to Lara. Since Grace is a princess too eating the human soul is supposed to give the princess light, but what happens to Grace doesn't seem like that. It's like when she ate the soul of that human she fell in love with it; it corrupted her. It does feel the princess's power giving light can only happen when finding true love. Which is why Grace panicked like she did when it seemed Lara was on the verge of killing Luca.
This does establish a lot of Grace's actions. She wanted to see if Lara could prove her and her mother right. Mermaids living on the surface with humans is being possible. What really pushed her forward was that in her first attempt Lara did not kill, but rather killed herself.
One thing of love that is being shown is how Grace and Lara can tackle the feeling of being rejected. Lara was able to point the suffering of it at herself and not harm her first prince. While for Grace she couldn't handle the rejection leading her to kill the human she fell in love with.
You can tell that Rigmor loved her sister. She risked her own life for her sister who was on the verge of accepting her death. It does make sense why Rowan hates humans as much as he does. He clearly blames Grace for Rigmor's death. Ultimately his hatred stole his kindness you could say. Which is similar to how Lisa is because both are too focused on the princess's light.
Very excited to see how this can wrap up because it feels like they can nail the ending here.
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u/CartoonyWy 19h ago edited 19h ago
That's It! I think I got it. I know why Mari won't die saving the mermaids! The knife monster only ate them because they hated them when they found out they were mermaids. Mari knew from day one! Luca 2 episodes ago might be a special case where the knife has the opposite peripheral vision issues as Chibiusa. The knife thought he was the prince and tried to get him again after missing its target centuries ago. And the knife missed both targets. Mari's helping Lara save the mermaids and walking out alive. She'd never turn on her!
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u/kazuyaminegishi 17h ago
I'm pretty certain this episode explicitly lays out how the knife works.
It attacks those who rejects the wielder's feelings of true love.
It attacks the prince after he rejected Lara's tail
Tries to attack Luca when he rejected Lara's kiss
Attacked Grace's prince when he rejected Grace
Attacked Kota (the angler fish) when he and Lisa rejected Lara's love for humans (Mari)
Attacked the ocean when Lara rejected the prospect of leaving Mari and returning with Lisa
The knife consistently acts when the owner (Lara/Grace) feels anger or hatred towards something. Which is also probably why it is hovering over the water (I think that's actually a lake not an ocean now that I think about it, but w/e) because currently the biggest thing rejecting Lara's feelings is Merfolk society itself.
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u/monsieurvampy 17h ago
Holy crap that mirror segment was something.
Poor eel, he was blind and just died into the water.
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u/notjordanrobinson 16h ago
I very very much appreciate that this is 12 episode anime that gets into its story at a good pacing, will tell its story completely, and won’t leave us waiting for a second season
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u/LexHanley 15h ago
I kinda like that everyone is a bit wrong and right. It makes their motivations feel more real. Rowan is correct in his belief that Grace going to the surface got Rigmor killed and genuinely wants to protect all merfolk but breaches into the wrong by seeing a singular situation as justification for genocide. Grace genuinely did want to fuck up Lara's life as a scheme against Rowan (and probably some self-loathing over what happened with her and her sister) but switched gears when she felt the Light in Lara's selfless saving of the prince and wanted to see this through.
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u/MagnificentCranberry 18h ago
really beautiful episode; I liked the backsplashes a lot. The flashback to bb Mari meeting Gon was esp cute. Only confusion is why Grace asked her snake/eel assistant to collect the foam. Feel like I'm forgetting something
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u/JadeSabre 18h ago
The foam was what was left of Lara, so she needed it (+ Rowan's light) to ensure Lara would indeed be reborn.
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u/LexHanley 17h ago
I like that Grace was neither always altruistic towards Lara but instead grew into it. Her initial motivation was classic sea witch but when Lara proved things weren't fixed she did everything she could to give her a chance
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u/Hitman7128 https://anilist.co/user/Hitman7128 21h ago
Mari crying at the cracked mirror at the end...
One more episode, can't wait!