Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!

Episode 4

This week we have the vegetarian option of MM, seeing as how there's not really any new form of monster meat. Still, Melphiera has accepted Aristide's proposal and is now off to live with him, so it's progressed the story considerably, so I'd say it's satisfying enough all the same. I think the most noteworthy thing we learned was that it was Melphiera's own father who started spreading the Voracious Villainess rumors, so as to prevent Melphiera and her mother's research from falling into the wrong hands. Simply put, bull-word-that-rhymes-with-fit.

While we haven't seen it elaborated on as much as last week's episode made it seem, the people around Melphiera's family's land believe in animism. More or less the only thing we know about animism at this point is that it prohibits the consumption of monsters. So in their case, it's not so much that they're disgusted by the idea of eating monster meat because it just doesn't seem appetizing, as much as it is more of a religious or spiritual thing for them. As I said last week, this casts a very different light on the idea that Melphiera wants other people to learn about the culinary joys of monster meat. It also kind of implies that eating monster meat is something that other people—even if they were in the past, distant or otherwise—have already at least considered, and possibly have done. So suddenly, Melphiera and her mom's research looks less like some revolutionary new approach to food, and more like a mother and daughter getting into vintage recipes/cooking techniques. Still cool, but not exactly the huge taboo this series has been framing their research as.

The obvious thing at play here is that just as Melphiera doesn't need a tragic backstory that explains why she loves monster meat, her peers don't need a reason to be disgusted by it. It can, in fact, just sound gross, because that's still very compelling and understandable—see Delicious in Dungeon. The series is massively overthinking things. I'm onion hater supreme, and I don't hate onions because they killed my entire clan, and when I asked them why, they said, “To test my abilities.” I hate onions because they taste bad and I don't like their texture. It doesn't have to be deep.

So by giving the villagers not just a reason, but also frankly, a very good and justifiable reason to not want to eat monster meat, it only makes Melphiera come off as a jerk. This is something the series very obviously doesn't want us to think about her, seeing as how it's framing her more along the lines of being quirky and misunderstood. She doesn't seem to be forceful about showing others monster meat, and she doesn't ask the villagers to help her hunt because she knows it'll interfere with their beliefs so that's something, but still. Either something else is at play that we're not privy to just yet, or this is some super clumsy and poorly thought out writing.

And looping back to Melphiera's father spreading rumors about the Voracious Villainess, 1. I don't think he needs to worry about someone using her research for evil in a community where eating monster meat is forbidden 2. Wasn't his first time onscreen talking about how desperate he was for his daughter to be married? Sounds like he bears a lot of the blame for her social struggles. So the whole thing ends up making no sense. Again: It feels like the series is massively overthinking things, and this is even more clumsy writing.

But on a more positive note, I must say, I like the dynamic between Melphiera and Aristide. More specifically, I like how quickly Aristide and Melphiera have warmed up to each other—no surprise there, they've both largely been shunned by their peers—and how Aristide went from aloof hunter to wifeguy pretty much instantly. Maybe it's because both shows also have ginger female leads, but Aristide and Melphiera remind me somewhat of Kyros and Marie from last season's Betrothed to My Sister's Ex (which ANN's own Rebecca Silverman recently reviewed here).

Speaking of Aristide's wifeguyification, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the last two or so minutes of the episode, where Aristide goes to pick her up and burns all her trash with one of his dragons. It's very intentionally show off-y, and it gave me a good laugh. Loved it.

On a closing note, I watched an episode of this show's dub this past week. Immediate impressions have me thinking so far so good! In fact, while it's still very early, I'd say that at least as of right now, the dub and sub are about on-par with each other, and your general preference for dub or sub, more than anything else, will probably be what has you deciding between the two. I think right now, I prefer Katie Welch's tooth rottingly sweet Melphiera in the dub, but also Taito Ban's softening Aristide in the sub. Still, their counterparts in the opposite language are both doing well as their characters, too. Which one, if either, I have a decided preference toward by the end will probably boil down to side characters (in particular the ones with the most dialogue) or any big moments—comedic, dramatic, or otherwise—that happen later down the road.

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Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.