A Centaur’s Life Episode 8: Archery and Merfolk

So far, I feel that A Centaur’s Life has been a succession of hits and misses – sometimes even in the same episode. The latter half of the previous episode was arguably the lowest point of the show, so things can only get better now… right?
Let’s take a look at the eighth episode to find out.

Hime shows off her archery skills

We begin with a demonstration of archery from Hime – what would be horseback archery to you and I is something somewhat different for a centaur. Regardless, she’s pretty good at hitting targets whilst galloping.

Ayaka fires an arrow past Hime

We are then introduced to another centaur, Ayaka Wakamaki. To say she is competitive might just be putting it lightly. She also seems to not like Hime too much – there’s a reason for that.

Hime trying to ease Ayaka’s nerves

Kyoko realises that Ayaka actually likes Hime, and she suggests something to Hime that will help Ayaka to relax.
Whilst Hime walks home with Nozomi, Kyoko and Suu, they discuss archery. Apparently the events are used to do some centaur matchmaking, though Hime says she has no interest in that. She does wonder about Ayaka, though.

Shino and her friend Maki go to watch Hime’s competition

An archery competition takes place, with Hime’s friends and family going to support her. Shino is accompanied by her friend, Maki. Maki is scared of Suu, despite everyone reassuring her.

Hime makes a bet with Ayaka

Acting on Kyoko’s advice from earlier, Hime makes a bet with Ayaka. If Hime loses the competition to her, she will go on a date with her. Ayaka seems thrown off at first, but she soon gets her head back in the game.
I’ll let you discover the results of the competition for yourself.

Now we turn our attention to the second half of the episode. I hope you like censorship, because we’ll be getting a lot of it now…

Eri will be playing a lead role in the merfolk’s festival

So apparently mermaids normally go topless, which is demonstrated by copious amounts of light censoring their chests. They cover up when other humans are around, though.
Anyway, the merfolk are preparing for a festival, with the idol Eri performing.

A man-dolphin approves of Eri’s song

The time for the festival arrives, and Eri performs to a larger audience than she is used to. She must do something right, because she gets the approval of man-dolphins. However, the event takes quite a turn.

A fake god rises from the depths

A giant fish rises from the ocean, claiming to be the god Tagon. Eri ends up fleeing, as whatever appeared is not a god at all. It is actually something to do with the Antarcticans, but that is never elaborated on…

Manami’s inner conflict

So apparently all that stuff with the mermaid was a lead in for Suu asking Hime and the others about the existence of gods. Manami even has a religion vs. science inner conflict when she’s dragged into the conversation, but she ultimately settles on a side.

Sue with an imaginary friend, or some kind of spirit? The latter seems more likely considering what we saw earlier on in the season.

We end with some cuteness as Sue plays reversi with her friend – a friend that her dad can’t see. He’s happy to let her get on with it, though.

I definitely enjoyed this episode a lot more than the second half of the previous one. I felt that whole archery thing was actually quite fun, and Ayaka’s competitive, tsundere nature amused me. There isn’t really much else for me to add about the first half of the episode here; it was decent.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of the second half, though. I suppose it’s more world-building stuff, but I have doubts about it being important on further down the line. I’m sure the censorship won’t go over too well with certain people, either. I don’t care either way, though, to be honest.
Perhaps those particular events will tie into something further down the line. For now, though, I’m left scratching my head as to why we needed to see this. Perhaps the Antarcticans have something planned that will impact the lives of Hime and her friends. It seems equally likely that nothing will really come of it, though.
Manami’s inner conflict at the end was pretty amusing. I’ll give it that.

So it turns out I was correct about things only getting better – especially with that first half. The second half wasn’t sending me to sleep, so that’s already a victory over episode 7’s second half. Maybe I’ll be able to make better sense of it after I’ve seen the last few episodes.