Uncle From Another World

Episode 7

Kicking off the back half of the season, we finally meet our third and final main heroine: Alicia. While this is the first time she receives any real focus, she's been in the background for a lot of the season (and you can even go back and catch glimpses of her in previous episodes).

What's interesting about Alicia is how she differs from the other heroines in the story. Both Elf and Mabel have personality issues that prevent them from forming a closer relationship with Uncle: Elf is unable to admit her true feelings to him and act accordingly while Mabel is too lazy/self-centered to put in the work. Alicia, on the other hand, has no such hang-ups. She's nice, outgoing, and willing to put a person's actions before their looks.

The reason she is unable to get closer to Uncle is due to his own insecurities, not hers. Uncle has trouble admitting when he makes mistakes, even to himself. (I mean, just look at how he reacts to Takafumi calling him out on his failure to use Golden Axe tactics in a real battle.) The fact that Alicia saw him reconstruct the barrier (which implies he was the one to destroy it) makes him panic and erase her memories. While she and her companions would gladly accept him in their party—they do that twice in the episode, after all—the fact that he has no issue resetting their relationship to zero means they could very well be acquaintances for eternity.

Of course, just because memories are erased doesn't mean that the events they are associated with didn't happen—which has led to some unforeseen consequences. With Uncle removed from the equation, it appears that Alicia and friends defeated the goblin hordes single-handedly—even if they can't remember how they did it. Is it any wonder people started calling her “The Hero”? Now she's being sent on missions way above her paygrade and even she is unaware of her own limitations. Hopefully, she'll keep running into Uncle when things get tough—though if he keeps erasing her memory after each time, I fear we'll all be in for some serious emotional damage.

The other half of the episode shifts focus back to Fujimiya and Takafumi's relationship. After seeing what appears to be Fujimiya being aggressively hit on, Uncle gives Takafumi full use of his magic powers to save her. Even though the impetus is a misunderstanding, Takafumi's newly-gained powers give him the confidence he once lacked when it comes to expressing his feelings. He outright states how beautiful he finds Fujimiya, along with the insecurity he feels at the idea of Fujimiya being with other guys, and he isn't afraid to basically play superhero for her. Unsurprisingly, Fujimiya is down with it, especially as his attempted heroics in the past are what made her like him in the first place. And in this state, he is able to understand (perhaps for the first time) that she might actually be interested in him romantically. Of course, as absolute power corrupts absolutely, he immediately probes Fujimiya's friend for information on all the men interested in her with the intent of crushing them.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite episodes of the show so far. Not only do we get our introduction to our final heroine, but we also get to see why exactly Fujimiya would be in love with a guy like Takafumi. While he's an oblivious nerd most of the time, he will rise to the occasion to protect those he cares about—with or without superpowers.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Elf always tries to act proper in front of others, so it's great to see her do something silly like pick up her necklace with her feet.

• I wonder if the fantasy world really has a destined hero or not. It could just be that anyone who is strong enough is called a “hero.”

• Real talk though, erasing other people's memories without their consent is by far the evilest thing Uncle has done.

• “To modern people, being without your smartphone is like trying to play a game without a controller” ...ouch.

• Seeing Fujimiya's brother and her younger self makes me want to see what her parents look like.

• Fujimiya's brother is not impressed by old man YouTubers.

• Boy, Takafumi sure learns how to use those magic powers real fast.

• That moment when child Fujimiya's voice suddenly becomes cute and girly after child Takafumi comes to her aid had me rolling.

• I hope we see more of Fujimiya's friend. Her outside viewpoint on the whole thing should be interesting.

Uncle From Another World is currently streaming on Netflix.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.