This episode started off really cute with an introduction to Gugu and his story. And then from there, it was quite the trip! By this point this anime has made me aware that all cute things must come to an end, but I’m really never sure exactly how they will go about doing that!
I was actually pleasantly surprised how quickly Gugu warmed up to Fushi in this episode. In fact, he never really had much apprehension towards him in the first place. From last week’s preview I thought that Gugu was going to be more of the nervous kid who eventually warmed up, but instead he was ready to show Fushi the ropes as soon as he arrived. This of course makes sense when we get to see his back story. He’s working hard selling fruits so that one day he and his brother can live together in the mansion they look at every day. And that’s pretty admirable, but it seems like his brother might have got caught up in the wrong crowd. But if I’m honest, I really don’t understand what was going on with the brother. What was he up to? What did his letter say? Why did he just run off with all the money? My hope is that we will revisit this in the future, but at this point I’m definitely more invested in his relationship with Fushi and the Boozeman rather than his brother.
I feel bad for Gugu too! He seems like a well-meaning kid! He wants to take Fushi in and be a family together and in general has a pretty good heart. It’s just unfortunate that he might be ending up with a broken heart soon. I have to give him kudos for saving Rean from the falling log, but I do feel bad for him that no one saw him and came to his aid. But even more, I’m impressed he was able to survive the fall and a massive log falling on his face. As a side note though… I think Rean might want to get her hearing checked out. She didn’t hear Gugu when he went to return Meer and again when he was yelling at her to save her life. But, at the very least, both of them survived and they get to see each other in the future, even though Gugu has to wear a covering and Rean’s already fallen for Fushi.
I’m really looking forward to seeing more of their relationship grow and to see what new stimulation Fushi can get from this relationship. Gugu is already fully willing to act as a big brother to Fushi despite being much smaller than him. I love his spirit and love that he’s able to talk openly with Fushi about the things that he’s feeling. I think having Fushi join the home is something that he really needed. He can act like a stubborn kid, but I’m sure this whole time he’s been lonely. It’s also a really interesting way to understand his story, so I’m excited to see what his story will add to the overall narrative. And with an episode preview like that, I bet you we’re going to go through another emotional roller coaster. What is the secret within Gugu? How is he another monster?
At the end of the day, I think this was a pretty solid episode. It gave us a nice introduction to some new characters and gave us some laughs along the way. I feel like it’s been a little while since this anime focused more on the lightheartedness, so it was nice to have the breather. And even then, there was still some heavy stuff. The absolute crushing of the log and disappearance of his older brother are not exactly positive or humorous things, but on the other hand, we have Fushi learning the word for ‘ugly’ and learning the hearty laugh of the Boozeman. All around, I think it turned out to be a fun episode! I can’t wait for next week and see how else the two monsters can learn from each other!
