Always a Catch!

Episode 7

Everyone who's been waiting to see Mimi use her hair pin as a weapon, this episode's for you. Yes, at long last, the pin is out of the hair and on the hand, ready to punch the snot out of some bad guys, some mediocre guys, and one obnoxiously gassy guy. It's pretty much everything you could want out of a girl who wears brass knuckles in her hair. Plus there's a fart joke, so really, this episode has something for everyone, assuming “everyone” means “people who find fart jokes really funny” and “people who wanted to see Mimi use her hair ornament for its intended purpose.”

Beyond that, episode seven shows a remarkable commitment to narrative. We've been building up to this moment for a while now – not only in terms of Mimi encountering the bandits and the distraught villagers on her way back home, but also in her teaching Renato a single move from the Annovazzi family playbook before she left and sending the villagers to Raimondo. It's a remarkably neat gathering of the story's threads, as by the end of the episode, everything has come together beautifully. Renato whipping out and perfectly executing Number 38 also addresses Duke Annovazzi's concerns about his future son-in-law, because it shows that while he hasn't been trained to be physically strong and to protect himself, he's more than capable of learning.

I love the visuals around this section of the episode. Between Mimi's desperately outstretched fingers and the sudden slide and stomp of Renato's foot, everything carries a lot of emotion. It's perhaps not the sort of thing that would stand out in a series like Witch Hat Atelier with its consistently phenomenal animation, but for Always a Catch!, it's a striking departure. Up to this point, most of the animation and art has focused on lighter, sillier elements, like Mimi's “soo-mow” inspired side-stepping, while moments like Mimi putting her hand in Teo's is a bit awkward looking. But the entire sequence of Mimi realizing she'll never make it to Renato in time and Renato preparing himself to prove himself shows a lot of care and attention to detail. It's a good choice of scene to get this treatment, because it really does show how invested Mimi and Renato are in each other. Raimondo may be aghast that his prince punched a man, but to Mimi it shows that her fiancé not only loves her, he's working hard to meet her where she lives. He doesn't expect her to change for him; he's going to change for her.

That's very sweet as well as consistent with this episode's theme of true love. Veronica, the missing villager, wasn't kidnapped at all, she ran away to be with her beloved, the son of a local lord. When Mimi meets them (after scaring herself by walking in on an old woman knitting), they're about to run away so that the lordling's dad can't make him marry a noblewoman. Rather than being upset she's been sent on a wild goose chase (and been made to defend the [false] idea that ladies don't fart), she's delighted to find out that she can now help the lovers escape. Mimi is all about using her powers for good, whether that's punching bandits or protecting True Love™. And that she's protecting another couple when she can't protect her own fiancé makes the scene of Renato fighting back feel even more significant.

Now the only question that remains is whether or not Renato mastering Number 38 will be enough for Mimi's dad.

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