Gorilla God's Go-To Girl

Episode 12

The real tragedy of Leohart is that he's not wrong. People in The Gorilla God's Go-To Girl's world are guided, if not forced, onto a career path by their blessings. If Leohart's patron hadn't suspected that he'd have a strong one, he never would have been taken out of the slums. If Sophia hadn't been chosen by the gorilla god, she could have lived her life under the radar like she thought she wanted. People in power do use them to force others into the places where they want them.

But then there's Louis and Araignée. As a spider-blessed, I'd think that the knights would have been interested in Araignée, too, because that spiderweb she can spin is impressively strong, and she'd be great for defense. Her exclusion from the junior knights speaks to the blindspot(s) of those in command, because she's a real missed opportunity for them. And Louis is in the opposite position – he's squirrel-blessed. Squirrels are better known for picking fights with traffic and losing than anything else, so we can only assume that he joined the knights against their inclination and had to prove himself. That he did, and impressively well at that, shows that blessings can be “overcome.”

That means Sophia's decision to remain with the knights is a decision that she came to all on her own. When she was first recruited, she was told that she didn't have to become a knight in the end if she didn't want to, although I daresay there'd have been some major upset if she'd gone that way. But they can't make her stay. And it's not necessarily even being a junior knight that made her want to stick with the program; it's that she discovered that she likes helping people in the ways that only she and her god can. There are many things she could have done as a gorilla-blessed (she'd be an amazing stevedore, for one!); that she opted to become a knight is because she genuinely likes helping others.

In his twisted way, that's what Leohart was trying to do, too. But where Sophia is privileged enough to work within the system, Leohart fought against it. He had good reason to do so – the system certainly did its level best to crush him and everyone he loved. I can't blame him for not wanting to work within it, even if that had been an option to change things for the better. But he allowed his pain to overwhelm him, and I think that more than getting Phantom of the Opera'd by the chandelier, that's what ultimately broke him.

He's right – the system needs to change. Why should anyone be ashamed of their blessing, especially someone like Carissa, whose mole blessing turned out useful? Just because it's a funny little insectivore who tries to marry Thumbelina doesn't mean it's worse than any other animal god. Moles are great for the soil! (And eat slugs, but Carissa may not love that.) And maybe the gods choose who to give their blessings to based on other traits – the gorilla god chose Sophia because she was someone who would help others, not because he wanted her to fight, for example. Maybe people should keep their preconceived notions to themselves. That might have been better for Leohart.

But by doing the same thing to Sophia as was done to him, Leohart loses sight of his purpose. He's just perpetuating the cycle, which is why it's significant that Louis is the one to stop him. He and Sophia work together, which is also important, but there's a symbolism to Louis dealing the final blow – it's proof that the system can change.

This may not have been the best series. It frequently didn't look great, and it rushed to the finale. But it was still a fun ride, and the gorilla god has my vote for best character of the season. The Gorilla God's Go-To Girl is a fluffy series that reminds me to vary my viewing habits, because not everything has to be “outstanding” in order to be a good time.

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The Gorilla God's Go-To Girl is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Sundays.