Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved flowers more than anyone…

Yes, that’s our premise for this episode.  Yes, it is very sappy.  No, I don’t care that the title piece is sappy, too – this is just a bad episode, quite possibly the worst in the series.

Kudos to the storyboarder for this episode, Kiyoko Sayama, for making the episode look great even if the script is lacking.  It feels like someone just gave them a rough plot outline and no one bothered to actually fill it in (or just filled in the blanks with unfunny jokes and recapping what happened in the last episode).

Okay, there is some funny stuff with Fakir, and even a little character development, but he doesn’t even show up until well past the halfway point.

Anyhow, the only truly new development here is Uzura (that baby with the green hair).

Fakir: Her name is Uzura. Karon – he made her from the wood from Edel that didn’t burn up.

Uzura discovered how to unduckify Duck, and frequently embarrasses Fakir thereby.  Yes, she can be a little annoying sometimes, but she ultimately earns her keep.  Her theme is “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks”, which is fitting for the “child” of a non-living puppet.

And then comes another frustrating aspect of the episode: Fakir doesn’t tell Duck what Kraehe told him about Mytho.  It does kind of make sense for his character (he’s starting to treat Duck a little like he treated Mytho last season, telling her what to do and expecting her to do it without explaining anything), but it’s a transparent attempt to create drama.  It doesn’t even have any impact on Fakir and Duck’s relationship.  Kraehe gets a chance to gloat, and that’s it.  Speaking of whom…

Princess Kraehe: The Raven’s blood still hasn’t soaked you through? Hurry up and become my Prince and mine alone, the Prince who loves me and me alone.

Honestly, there’s nothing new with Kraehe, either, just that image of her and Mytho. This episode uses much more suggestive imagery both for her and for Freya than normal for this series.

Maybe they just wanted an excuse to animate a really pretty ballerina dancing, but they still could have given her more personality than “loves flowers”.  Seriously, that’s her only conflict, and in turn almost the only conflict in the entire episode.  She’s too perfect and wonderful to actually turn her back on the world and hate everybody.  If you’re going to make the “gimme your heart” plot the backbone of an episode, at least make the damsel compelling.

Mytho: Why won’t you love me? Why?

You can always count on hammy Mytho for a smile!

At least Episode 2 had substance outside of the formulaic plot.  And was memorable.  This one just sort of blurs together with the other episodes in this arc and make it feel like the arc’s been going on forever. There’s not even the slightest reflection on the story at large or any of the characters (except maybe Fakir).  I promise they actually use this device well in future episodes.

Duck: Mytho is Mytho, right? Even with Raven’s blood in him, Mytho’s Mytho. He’ll go back to his old self, right?

Until next time…