We get straight into the action as Medhi rages in her dragon form while the deluded Medhimama challenges Mamako to a one-on-one duel. Things, however, don’t always go as planned and we’ll find out just who really has the upper hand in all of this. (Spoilers: it’s Mamako of course). 

Plot & Story

As Masato, Wise, and Porta try calming down Medhi, Medhimama and Masako decide to settle things once and for all. Mamako chooses not to fight, pleading instead for her to consider Medhi’s feelings in all of this. Enraged by her personality and the powerful motherly glow she gives off, Medhimama tries attacking her, but is knocked back by Mamako’s powers. The magic staff cracks and Medhimama begins to question her actions. Medhi overpowers Masato’s group and lashes out at her mother for treating her terribly, to which Medhimama humbly takes in and is knocked out by Medhi’s tail. Mamako finishes the job by destroying Medhimama’s staff, releasing Medhi of her dark powers. Both of them cry and make up as the students at Lover’s Lane Academia have graduated. Their reward is a gatcha game, to which Wise and Masato both end up with countless amounts of elixir. He does end up winning a free apron for Mamako though. As Masato’s party heads out for another adventure, Shirase suspects someone is tampering with the game world and is confident his party can stop any problems that come their way. 

Episode Highlights

Medhimama’s Redemption

Even though Medhimama realizes the wrongs of her actions, I think it still doesn’t fully absolve her of the abuse she put Medhi through. Despite that, having her finally realize her faults brings some well-needed reconciliation with her daughter and I’m glad to see the two make up in the end. 

Mother’s Words 

Get used to seeing Mamako glow whenever she’s happy. This episode gave us more reasons to love her as we see her execute her ‘Mother’s Words’ powers which encourages anyone that hears it. A corny ability for sure, but it’s perfect for this kind of anime. 

Medhi Joins the Party

Masato’s party finally gets their own dedicated healer and a powerful ally. Although Masato has seemingly moved on from his crush on Medhi, the latter is still open to being his true heroine. Perhaps we’ll see sparks fly between the two with Mamako’s help and approval of course! 

Comments 

The title of this week’s episode couldn’t be more relevant with regards to Medhi and Medhimama. In a perfect anime world, their ‘repaired’ relationship is the best result that can arise from what they’ve just experienced. On the other hand, this makes her sudden heel turn in personality a bit unrealistic, even though the anime explains that she was acting this way because of the magic staff she was carrying. The staff supposedly draws out the inner urges of the user; thus, Medhimama’s desire to be the number one mother corrupts her originally good intentions for raising Medhi. Her feelings are conveyed too poorly towards her and Medhimama would have really lost herself if Mamako hasn’t intervened. 

The main theme I got out of this arc is this: what makes a good mother or parent? Is it forcibly putting your hopes and dreams on your child? Or letting them go and do their own thing? These interesting approaches play out from the perspective of Mamako and Medhimama. The latter is a fierce tiger-mom while Mamako has consistently proven to be the ideal mother/waifu/goddess. All jokes aside, the anime gives something to think about when Mamako tells Medhimama about her own concerns raising Masato. She’s raised him with affection and love and believes it’s important for children to experience and figure things out on their own. Granting such independence allows them to grow and demonstrates the true love of a mother. 

Medhimama ultimately redeems herself, but Medhi can’t really forgive her just yet, as she should. Like Wise and her mother in the previous arc, this is only the first step of a long process to fully mend their relationship. While the two have made up, it’s more satisfying seeing Medhimama finally give her daughter the freedom to travel with Masato’s party. She certainly fulfilled her role as the villain in this arc, but I feel there’s hope she can fix the errors of her ways (by deleting past blog posts in the real world, I guess). Thus, Mamako and Masato successfully save another mother-child pairing and the MMMMMORPG world is safe once again. For now, at least. 

Nothing Can Stop Them

Medhi’s introduction to Masato’s party has had its ups and downs, but is a pretty good arc overall. With a powerful new member of the team, Masato’s party can probably handle any new enemies that come their way. There’s nowhere else to go, but on to the next adventure. Hopefully Masato learns to love his mother a little more by the end of it. 

What did you think of the episode? Does Mamako steal your heart once again? Is Medhi also new best girl? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check our other Summer 2019 Anime Reviews on MANGA.TOKYO. 

Up Next: Whoa, There’s a Pressure Plate in a Place Like This. Well, I’m Not Stepping On It. No, I’m Saying I Won’t!

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?

Summer 2019 | Anime Info | Simulcast