This episode deals with one of the most challenging parts of having two people who can claim custody of kids — custody battles! Screw just raising kids in another world while adventuring; we’re having custody battles in another world as well! I think that’s the most I’m willing to talk about the actual episode in this pre-review paragraph. I ended up watching this episode later than I usually do. Idk, my mind wasn’t entirely here, and I know that it wasn’t due to anything that could put me under the influence. Maybe I was just sleepy. Let’s get to the point I made earlier and discuss the episode.
But, yeah, this starts with an argument between Takumi and a human trafficker (I know the language used in the show is “slave trader,” which, while more accurate to what is happening in the show, leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so I’m using a term that I’m more comfortable with instead) engage in a verbal fight over whether the kids are the merchandise of the human trafficker or being related to Takumi. Magic is supposed to mark those deemed property; the kids don’t have this mark. Of course, things get bad when the authorities get involved due to the human trafficker demanding that Takumi gets arrested…and Takumi’s just like, “Bet, prove these kids are property then.” This all ends up getting overheard by Vent and the lecturer knight (I forgot his name), who got the human trafficker arrested and testified that the kids are Takumi’s siblings.
That kind of throws a wrench into my referring to this show as the “parenting isekai.” Ah well, I’m still going to call it that because Takumi does have to do what a parent would when raising Alan and Elena. Speaking of Alan, at the time that I’m writing this post, for some reason, Alan’s name is spelled as “Allen” in the synopsis for this episode even though the subtitles and the series synopsis spell it “Alan.” Consistency who?
But the knights’ testimony means that the kids won’t be seen as merchandise anymore, suggesting there will be no more custody battles for now. Ah, well, the fact that we even had one in this series is fun. After one last farewell (and being given an invitation for the lord of Bailey), Takumi, Alan, and Elena finally head out…though the twins don’t exhibit as much energy as we typically see them have in the series. To cheer them up, Takumi goes to the forest where he had his first encounter with Alan and Elena. Takumi brings out the contracted beasts and, after some discussion with them, has him and the twins ride on Joule and Feat, with Bolt flying in the sky. The beasts end up defeating some monsters, and this is also where we learn that there’s a spell for cleaning the beasts.
Is this the fantasy world equivalent of “there’s an app for that”? It seems like these spells can do basically everything.
After a longer journey, Takumi and the kids stop for food. The kids want cream bread, but that’s not exactly a dinner. Takumi decides to introduce them (and the contracted beasts) to some food from Japan, which Joule and Feat shrink to eat. Apparently, eating the food in one bite in the big form is bad? Maybe that’s just me not understanding how animals function. And after a night’s rest, Takumi and the kids make it to the ocean! After a bit of playing, Takumi tells the kids that they shouldn’t drink the water…and then Elena proceeds to ask to drink the water. Takumi decides to let them drink a little from their finger just so they understand how salty the water is.
While out, Takumi also finds a mermaid in the water who needs help back in her village. Only one catch…the village is underwater, and Takumi doesn’t — or at the very least, didn’t back in his previous life — have the athletic ability to swim. Also, he and the kids are human and, as a result, cannot breathe underwater. But that can all be fixed with a special bracelet! After all three put their bracelets on and the contracted beasts retreat back into Takumi’s shadow, the three humans enter the water and follow the mermaid.
We are introduced to some of the monsters in the water and learn that Takumi and the kids can talk underwater, likely because of their bracelets. We get to see where the mermaids reside and the exact issue that is being faced…a shipwreck is blocking the entrance to an important cave. Takumi says that he could put it in his inventory, but because it’s stated to the viewers, it won’t work, right? …right?
Spoiler alert: it fits in his inventory. Takumi’s related to the player character in Animal Crossing. There’s no other explanation as to how this worked. Anyway, the mermaid leads Takumi and the kids into the area where the High Priestess lives, and after a greeting from the High Priestess, the episode ends.
Excluding what currently feels to me like Inventory Ex Machina, this was a fun episode! It seems we’re taking a deport from going to Bailey to help some mermaids, but surely we’re gonna get to Bailey! And I’ll be honest, the fact that Elena asked if they could drink the water after being told to NOT drink the water just seems like a child thing to do. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this series next week, and seeing if we’ll finally see Bailey.
Additional posts about A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring:
Sara Talks Anime 
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