Episode 80: The Maou's Conditions
If you need to watch the episode, check out this post (community locked) for information!
Screencaps from here.
Ulrike is giving her Shin Makoku daily report to the watery walls of the temple's inner sanctuary. Unknown to her, a mysterious boot has been stalking her.
Ulrike, look behind you! She does and... it's just Shinou. Seriously did you think it was anyone else?
Title page - The Maou's Conditions
In the last episode, we left Yuuri in mortal danger battling against a Sandbear. We go back to the scene and Sandbear-san is growling mightily.
Yuuri doesn't look so confident. But if he could defeat this sandbear, he'd be able to win the money for that second-hand sportscar and finally ask Mary Jane to the dance.
Unfortunately, Yuuri is not Spiderman. Fortunately, the ferocious sandbear is KG and it was just a strange Whack-A-Mole game. Everyone cheers for Yuuri...
...except for Wolfram who is suspiciously quiet. Gwendal pointedly studies Wolfram's reactions. (I love Wolfram's expression here.)
KG is dispatched with one blow from Morgif and Yuuri wins 400 Chuckie Cheese tickets that he would later redeem for a plastic decoder ring. Ryan comes out of KG's hole... (that statement kinda sounded wrong didn't it?) and says hello to the king and tells him all about their fairytale wedding and their little sandbear babies. KG wore the dress.
For the next ceremony, Yuuri gets to write his signature in big bold letters.
Next, a ball is gripped tightly.
Oh, it's C-Rad on the mound about to pitch to the demon king. And OMG it's Yozak in full catcher regalia!
Yozak points at his crotch.
C-Rad winds for the pitch, Yuuri swings! Strike!
C-Rad winds again and... sparkles! Edward Cullen is nothing compared to C-Rad's sparkly goodness.
But this time Yuuri is prepared and BAM he hit that sucker all the way down to the backboard. Everyone cheers! Greta meets Yuuri at homebase with a bouquet of flowers.
Yuuri thinks Conrad went easy on him, Conrad denies it.
Yuuri also has doubts about the ceremoniousness of all these ceremonies. Murata assures him that this was a way for the people to get to know more about Yuuri, so's all good even though it seems fake.
Yuuri and Conrad are walking though the halls of Moria (at first I thought they were still at the stadium, under the bleachers where all the concession stands are, but it turns out they're at Blood Pledge Castle).
Conrad tells Yuuri the only thing left is to make his vows as an adult at Shinou's temple. They're having a nice stroll and a nice conversation when Yuuri overhears the three maids and that Evil Effe speaking about what happened before Yuuri came back to Shin Makoku.
Ah, the audience finally gets to know what the big secret was.
It turns out that the first scene in the last episode with the Ten Nobles occurred before Yuuri came back to Shin Makoku. The Nobles had decided to have Wolfram become Maou because Shin Makoku needs a king, but then Yuuri came back and now they have two kings which is a bit of a problem.
We get to see more of that event in flashback as Conrad tells Yuuri what had happened.
We start with another roll call of the Ten Nobles because Yuuri didn't watch that scene and because the audience probably forgot the names already. We get a little bit more info about the Ten Nobles in the bargain. The Karbelnikoff head is Anissina's brother. Wincott's head is Julia's younger brother. Adalbert's father is the head of Grantz, but he hasn't gone to any official meetings since his son's exile. Then there's von Rochefort (whom I mistook for a man until I noticed he had breasts), Legolas von Gyllenhaal, and von Radford. And finally, Wolfram's uncle, Lord Waltorana von Bielefeld.
Stoffel proposes to reinstate Celi as the queen; Gunter reminds him that she's not interested (he seems to enjoy pointing that out to Stoffel - papow, take that you silly little slimy man.) We see a shot of Celi in her love yacht saying she is dedicating her life to the pursuit of love.
Gunter puts the nomination of Anissina forward causing a surprised (terrorized) reaction from Gwendal. Anissina is seen in her lab stating that if she becomes Maou, she will dedicate all her efforts for the sake of women's advancement. *Poof*
Gwendal looks like he has terrible indigestion. Densham isn't too keen on having his sister as Maou either.
Gwendal asks who are the other candidates as if he would rather have just about anybody as long as their name does not start with Ani and ends in destruction.
Waltorana proposes Wolfram and dares anyone to disagree.
In the hallway where Daikenja's and Shinou's portraits are hung, Wolfram runs after Waltorana asking what the heck was all that talk about him becoming Maou. Waltorana told him that yes, he was to be king and to go get his stuff ready. And Wolfram was like, but Uncle the king is...
Oh no, you didn't! Did you just talk back? Your mother may let you get away with that but not me, not while you're under my roof....
Waltorana gives Wolfram the parental death stare and Wolfram backs down quickly. He tells him in a cold voice that King Yuuri has returned to the other world, he's not here anymore. And we get more of what Waltorana really thinks of Yuuri. Someone who was raised in another world would never be able to fulfill the role and duties of Maouship. Shinou is gone, they should pick their own king. And as he stares at Shinou's picture (who if you hadn't noted look very much like Wolfram), he says that there is no one more suitable than Wolfram.
Conrad continues with the story saying that Gunter and Gwendal after much discussion agreed it was for the best and were just about to announce the decision to the public when Yuuri returned.
Yuuri acts as Yozak predicted, all sadface.
Conrad reminds him that the decision was made in case Yuuri didn't come back. Now that he's back there is no need for a new Maou.
Yuuri is concerned. If it was something that everyone decided, they shouldn't just ignore it as if it didn't happen. What about Woflram's position, didn't his uncle really want this?
Conrad says they decided that without him, but if Yuuri doesn't want to go back to being king, he doesn't have to. Yuuri didn't grow up wanting to be a king, he grew up with his own dreams -- of becoming a baseball player. Conrad tells him that he doesn't have to be king. If Yuuri wants, he has an out. He can do anything he wants and Conrad would support him.
Conrad expresses his love for Yuuri and his hatred for footwear. Really, this is the second time that Conrad proposed to run off with Yuuri barefoot. I think perhaps he's read too many bodice rippers while he was on Earth. (Or maybe he read too many of Gunter's novels).
Yuuri laughs...
...and Conrad gives him a frighteningly serious look.
Yuuri stands up and asks for more time.
The camera pans down from Blood Pledge Castle to the city below where we are about to see the Thanksgiving parade. Kids are excited to catch a glimpse of Yuuri. There he is! There he is!
Yuuri is riding with his harem of good-looking men and all the yaoi fangirls and fanboys cheer him on. Yay for the Ultimate Seme of Justice!
Yuuri stares at the serious-countenanced Wolfram as he waves to his subject and wonders how Wolfram would be like as Maou.
He is the former queen's son, he is one of the Ten Nobles, he's a FINE young man... heck, he's so much more suited to be Maou...
Wolfram interrupts Yuuri's train of thought and reminds him that the people have waited for Yuuri and that Yuuri is their king.
At Shinou's temple, Yuuri kicks everyone out so he could think. Including the female guards... and Yozak. This must really be some serious thinking.
Conrad seemed surprised that Yozak was there. Come on Conrad, what happened to your spidey sense?
Yuuri sits and thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks. Then he hears a noise which he follows. A cape flutters at the end of a corridor and Yuuri chases after it. Yuuri finally corners Shinou at the light at the end of the tunnel and tells him to just give it up, Yuuri is not that stupid, you know. (Conrad, in the meantime, is knocking at the door of the vacated room.)
Yuuri: WTH are you doing here, didn't you say that you were going to go skip the light fandango?
Shinou: Oh come on, I suffered through enough, I think I deserve the right to mess with you.
Yuuri: But you're dead already.
Shinou: Don't look at the details or you might uncover plot holes. By the way, are you confused Yuuri?
Yuuri (gasp how did he know? It's like he's a god or something.)
Shinou: It's okay to have feelings for boys, I had a harem too when I was king. Though one of my bishonens turned out to be... well that's another story.
Shinou tells Yuuri that he earned the title of king and if he anyone says otherwise, Shinou will punish them... Yuuri stops him. Yuuri can fight his own battles thank you very much. However, Yuuri hesitates to be king because he has no confidence, but he has goals he wants accomplished. Shinou says he is the past, if Yuuri was meant to be king, people would follow him.
Conrad finds Yuuri and wants to know why Yuuri is eloping without him. =D
Wolfram starts scolding Yuuri but then stops when he sees the determined look on his face.
Murata smiles to himself as he knew all along what the outcome would be. Which of course he does because he is Muraken.
In the inner sanctum in front of the three boxes and Ulrike, eight of the Ten Nobles wait for Yuuri's entrance.
Yuuri enters, faces them and declares that he vows to do everything he can for Shin Makoku and its people with all his strength.
Meanwhile, Shinou and Murata talk. (Shinou's hair seem to have gotten longer. Do ghost hair grow?)
Shinou toots his own horn and Murata calls him out on it. But then he says, 'welcome home'. Awwwww... that is such a cute exchange.
The populace is celebrating...
except for Dakaskos who really really wants to eat a manju. Life sucks... unless you've got Gisela for a boss. She relieves him and his love overflows.
There are fireworks and we see Gunter holding to the windowsill assuming the position while Gwendal... what? That's not on the script. Drat! Foiled again.
Gunter and Gwendal are discussing Yuuri's position as king. Gunter is confident that his position is secure, but Gwendal doubts that Waltorana would back down so easily.
At the banquet, Stoffel is ingratiating his way to Yuuri's heart, but Celi undoes him. No, no, really, Yuuri-Heika, I was all for you from the beginning. No worries, Stoffel, I'll always think of you as that one creepy uncle that shows up unexpectedly during holidays.
Raven and Anissina are mingling. Yuuri asks about Anissina's candidacy and she tells him she thought the position would be useful to her goals. But it really doesn't matter because Anissina can achieve her goals based on her talent alone, she doesn't need additional rank.
Conrad mourns the fact that he won't have to carry Yuuri and run away with him. Yuuri sweatdrops. But then remembers he hasn't seen Wolfram in a while.
An empty corridor. An empty room. Wolfram's painting of Yuuri. An empty desk except for a letter.
It's a letter from Wolfram breaking the engagement.
The episode ends with Wolfram and friends riding in the dark towards...
My thoughts:
Argh, so many thoughts about this episode.
Let me start with ConYuu vs WolfYuu relationship. Conrad lets Yuuri know that Yuuri can choose whatever he wants and Conrad would support him. I think he is serious when he said he would run away with Yuuri (barefoot XD) if Yuuri chose that. Wolfram, on the other hand, reminds Yuuri that Yuuri is king and that he should think about his people. I think this is the main difference between these two characters' love for Yuuri. Where Conrad dotes on Yuuri and would sacrifice anything for whatever Yuuri wants, Wolfram frames his within what is best for Yuuri and for the country. It's like two different ways of parenting -- being indulgent and letting the child do whatever he wants to be happy, or being stricter and making sure the child achieves his best because that is how he would be happy. Neither approach is wrong of course. And Yuuri kinda needs both. Though I feel that as he grows older and more sure of himself, Yuuri gravitates less towards indulgence and more towards discipline and hard work.
This episode, IMO, is full of ConYuu love. I mean most of the episode is Yuuri being followed by Conrad. And their conversations are just lovely. You can really feel how important Yuuri is to Conrad and you can really see how Yuuri cherishes Conrad's support.
I love seeing the Ten Nobles and I love that we get to know more about them. This is one of the things I liked about Season 3 - getting to see more about Shin Makoku's society and back story.
And now, I'll fangirl about the Yuuram. I LOVE Yuuri's thoughts about Wolfram. It shows how much this relationship has grown. Starting the season with a Wolf-centered plot is fulfilling my Yuuram dreams. And I love the fact that Wolfram broke the engagement because the king and the kingdom are more important than personal affections. This makes me just adore him more.
Ahhh, I've got so much love for KKM <3
Next episode hosted by mikagechan.
Screencaps from here.
Ulrike is giving her Shin Makoku daily report to the watery walls of the temple's inner sanctuary. Unknown to her, a mysterious boot has been stalking her.
Ulrike, look behind you! She does and... it's just Shinou. Seriously did you think it was anyone else?
Title page - The Maou's Conditions
In the last episode, we left Yuuri in mortal danger battling against a Sandbear. We go back to the scene and Sandbear-san is growling mightily.
Yuuri doesn't look so confident. But if he could defeat this sandbear, he'd be able to win the money for that second-hand sportscar and finally ask Mary Jane to the dance.
Unfortunately, Yuuri is not Spiderman. Fortunately, the ferocious sandbear is KG and it was just a strange Whack-A-Mole game. Everyone cheers for Yuuri...
...except for Wolfram who is suspiciously quiet. Gwendal pointedly studies Wolfram's reactions. (I love Wolfram's expression here.)
KG is dispatched with one blow from Morgif and Yuuri wins 400 Chuckie Cheese tickets that he would later redeem for a plastic decoder ring. Ryan comes out of KG's hole... (that statement kinda sounded wrong didn't it?) and says hello to the king and tells him all about their fairytale wedding and their little sandbear babies. KG wore the dress.
For the next ceremony, Yuuri gets to write his signature in big bold letters.
Next, a ball is gripped tightly.
Oh, it's C-Rad on the mound about to pitch to the demon king. And OMG it's Yozak in full catcher regalia!
Yozak points at his crotch.
C-Rad winds for the pitch, Yuuri swings! Strike!
C-Rad winds again and... sparkles! Edward Cullen is nothing compared to C-Rad's sparkly goodness.
But this time Yuuri is prepared and BAM he hit that sucker all the way down to the backboard. Everyone cheers! Greta meets Yuuri at homebase with a bouquet of flowers.
Yuuri thinks Conrad went easy on him, Conrad denies it.
Yuuri also has doubts about the ceremoniousness of all these ceremonies. Murata assures him that this was a way for the people to get to know more about Yuuri, so's all good even though it seems fake.
Yuuri and Conrad are walking though the halls of Moria (at first I thought they were still at the stadium, under the bleachers where all the concession stands are, but it turns out they're at Blood Pledge Castle).
Conrad tells Yuuri the only thing left is to make his vows as an adult at Shinou's temple. They're having a nice stroll and a nice conversation when Yuuri overhears the three maids and that Evil Effe speaking about what happened before Yuuri came back to Shin Makoku.
Ah, the audience finally gets to know what the big secret was.
It turns out that the first scene in the last episode with the Ten Nobles occurred before Yuuri came back to Shin Makoku. The Nobles had decided to have Wolfram become Maou because Shin Makoku needs a king, but then Yuuri came back and now they have two kings which is a bit of a problem.
We get to see more of that event in flashback as Conrad tells Yuuri what had happened.
We start with another roll call of the Ten Nobles because Yuuri didn't watch that scene and because the audience probably forgot the names already. We get a little bit more info about the Ten Nobles in the bargain. The Karbelnikoff head is Anissina's brother. Wincott's head is Julia's younger brother. Adalbert's father is the head of Grantz, but he hasn't gone to any official meetings since his son's exile. Then there's von Rochefort (whom I mistook for a man until I noticed he had breasts), Legolas von Gyllenhaal, and von Radford. And finally, Wolfram's uncle, Lord Waltorana von Bielefeld.
Stoffel proposes to reinstate Celi as the queen; Gunter reminds him that she's not interested (he seems to enjoy pointing that out to Stoffel - papow, take that you silly little slimy man.) We see a shot of Celi in her love yacht saying she is dedicating her life to the pursuit of love.
Gunter puts the nomination of Anissina forward causing a surprised (terrorized) reaction from Gwendal. Anissina is seen in her lab stating that if she becomes Maou, she will dedicate all her efforts for the sake of women's advancement. *Poof*
Gwendal looks like he has terrible indigestion. Densham isn't too keen on having his sister as Maou either.
Gwendal asks who are the other candidates as if he would rather have just about anybody as long as their name does not start with Ani and ends in destruction.
Waltorana proposes Wolfram and dares anyone to disagree.
In the hallway where Daikenja's and Shinou's portraits are hung, Wolfram runs after Waltorana asking what the heck was all that talk about him becoming Maou. Waltorana told him that yes, he was to be king and to go get his stuff ready. And Wolfram was like, but Uncle the king is...
Oh no, you didn't! Did you just talk back? Your mother may let you get away with that but not me, not while you're under my roof....
Waltorana gives Wolfram the parental death stare and Wolfram backs down quickly. He tells him in a cold voice that King Yuuri has returned to the other world, he's not here anymore. And we get more of what Waltorana really thinks of Yuuri. Someone who was raised in another world would never be able to fulfill the role and duties of Maouship. Shinou is gone, they should pick their own king. And as he stares at Shinou's picture (who if you hadn't noted look very much like Wolfram), he says that there is no one more suitable than Wolfram.
Conrad continues with the story saying that Gunter and Gwendal after much discussion agreed it was for the best and were just about to announce the decision to the public when Yuuri returned.
Yuuri acts as Yozak predicted, all sadface.
Conrad reminds him that the decision was made in case Yuuri didn't come back. Now that he's back there is no need for a new Maou.
Yuuri is concerned. If it was something that everyone decided, they shouldn't just ignore it as if it didn't happen. What about Woflram's position, didn't his uncle really want this?
Conrad says they decided that without him, but if Yuuri doesn't want to go back to being king, he doesn't have to. Yuuri didn't grow up wanting to be a king, he grew up with his own dreams -- of becoming a baseball player. Conrad tells him that he doesn't have to be king. If Yuuri wants, he has an out. He can do anything he wants and Conrad would support him.
Conrad expresses his love for Yuuri and his hatred for footwear. Really, this is the second time that Conrad proposed to run off with Yuuri barefoot. I think perhaps he's read too many bodice rippers while he was on Earth. (Or maybe he read too many of Gunter's novels).
Yuuri laughs...
...and Conrad gives him a frighteningly serious look.
Yuuri stands up and asks for more time.
The camera pans down from Blood Pledge Castle to the city below where we are about to see the Thanksgiving parade. Kids are excited to catch a glimpse of Yuuri. There he is! There he is!
Yuuri is riding with his harem of good-looking men and all the yaoi fangirls and fanboys cheer him on. Yay for the Ultimate Seme of Justice!
Yuuri stares at the serious-countenanced Wolfram as he waves to his subject and wonders how Wolfram would be like as Maou.
He is the former queen's son, he is one of the Ten Nobles, he's a FINE young man... heck, he's so much more suited to be Maou...
Wolfram interrupts Yuuri's train of thought and reminds him that the people have waited for Yuuri and that Yuuri is their king.
At Shinou's temple, Yuuri kicks everyone out so he could think. Including the female guards... and Yozak. This must really be some serious thinking.
Conrad seemed surprised that Yozak was there. Come on Conrad, what happened to your spidey sense?
Yuuri sits and thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks. Then he hears a noise which he follows. A cape flutters at the end of a corridor and Yuuri chases after it. Yuuri finally corners Shinou at the light at the end of the tunnel and tells him to just give it up, Yuuri is not that stupid, you know. (Conrad, in the meantime, is knocking at the door of the vacated room.)
Yuuri: WTH are you doing here, didn't you say that you were going to go skip the light fandango?
Shinou: Oh come on, I suffered through enough, I think I deserve the right to mess with you.
Yuuri: But you're dead already.
Shinou: Don't look at the details or you might uncover plot holes. By the way, are you confused Yuuri?
Yuuri (gasp how did he know? It's like he's a god or something.)
Shinou: It's okay to have feelings for boys, I had a harem too when I was king. Though one of my bishonens turned out to be... well that's another story.
Shinou tells Yuuri that he earned the title of king and if he anyone says otherwise, Shinou will punish them... Yuuri stops him. Yuuri can fight his own battles thank you very much. However, Yuuri hesitates to be king because he has no confidence, but he has goals he wants accomplished. Shinou says he is the past, if Yuuri was meant to be king, people would follow him.
Conrad finds Yuuri and wants to know why Yuuri is eloping without him. =D
Wolfram starts scolding Yuuri but then stops when he sees the determined look on his face.
Murata smiles to himself as he knew all along what the outcome would be. Which of course he does because he is Muraken.
In the inner sanctum in front of the three boxes and Ulrike, eight of the Ten Nobles wait for Yuuri's entrance.
Yuuri enters, faces them and declares that he vows to do everything he can for Shin Makoku and its people with all his strength.
Meanwhile, Shinou and Murata talk. (Shinou's hair seem to have gotten longer. Do ghost hair grow?)
Shinou toots his own horn and Murata calls him out on it. But then he says, 'welcome home'. Awwwww... that is such a cute exchange.
The populace is celebrating...
except for Dakaskos who really really wants to eat a manju. Life sucks... unless you've got Gisela for a boss. She relieves him and his love overflows.
There are fireworks and we see Gunter holding to the windowsill assuming the position while Gwendal... what? That's not on the script. Drat! Foiled again.
Gunter and Gwendal are discussing Yuuri's position as king. Gunter is confident that his position is secure, but Gwendal doubts that Waltorana would back down so easily.
At the banquet, Stoffel is ingratiating his way to Yuuri's heart, but Celi undoes him. No, no, really, Yuuri-Heika, I was all for you from the beginning. No worries, Stoffel, I'll always think of you as that one creepy uncle that shows up unexpectedly during holidays.
Raven and Anissina are mingling. Yuuri asks about Anissina's candidacy and she tells him she thought the position would be useful to her goals. But it really doesn't matter because Anissina can achieve her goals based on her talent alone, she doesn't need additional rank.
Conrad mourns the fact that he won't have to carry Yuuri and run away with him. Yuuri sweatdrops. But then remembers he hasn't seen Wolfram in a while.
An empty corridor. An empty room. Wolfram's painting of Yuuri. An empty desk except for a letter.
It's a letter from Wolfram breaking the engagement.
The episode ends with Wolfram and friends riding in the dark towards...
My thoughts:
Argh, so many thoughts about this episode.
Let me start with ConYuu vs WolfYuu relationship. Conrad lets Yuuri know that Yuuri can choose whatever he wants and Conrad would support him. I think he is serious when he said he would run away with Yuuri (barefoot XD) if Yuuri chose that. Wolfram, on the other hand, reminds Yuuri that Yuuri is king and that he should think about his people. I think this is the main difference between these two characters' love for Yuuri. Where Conrad dotes on Yuuri and would sacrifice anything for whatever Yuuri wants, Wolfram frames his within what is best for Yuuri and for the country. It's like two different ways of parenting -- being indulgent and letting the child do whatever he wants to be happy, or being stricter and making sure the child achieves his best because that is how he would be happy. Neither approach is wrong of course. And Yuuri kinda needs both. Though I feel that as he grows older and more sure of himself, Yuuri gravitates less towards indulgence and more towards discipline and hard work.
This episode, IMO, is full of ConYuu love. I mean most of the episode is Yuuri being followed by Conrad. And their conversations are just lovely. You can really feel how important Yuuri is to Conrad and you can really see how Yuuri cherishes Conrad's support.
I love seeing the Ten Nobles and I love that we get to know more about them. This is one of the things I liked about Season 3 - getting to see more about Shin Makoku's society and back story.
And now, I'll fangirl about the Yuuram. I LOVE Yuuri's thoughts about Wolfram. It shows how much this relationship has grown. Starting the season with a Wolf-centered plot is fulfilling my Yuuram dreams. And I love the fact that Wolfram broke the engagement because the king and the kingdom are more important than personal affections. This makes me just adore him more.
Ahhh, I've got so much love for KKM <3
Next episode hosted by mikagechan.