The eighth episode of Abilities Average devotes some time to both Mavis and Pauline, as they both have what can only really be described as family issues come up.
Pauline finds herself in a bit of a situation
In this episode, after Pauline disappears for a while, the Crimson Vow discover she is supposed to be getting married. Of course, that whole thing is a set up, and Mile and the others are very keen to prevent that from happening.
Complicating the situation a bit is the involvement of Count Austien, Mavis’s father. He is fiercely against Mavis being a Hunter, and wants her to return home.
No prizes for guessing that Mile came up with these… er… “disguises”
So this episode adapts – actually, that might not be the correct term. This episode takes ideas from chapters 21, 22 and 23 – “The Assault”, “The Counterattack” and “A New Battle” respectively. Pauline does indeed go back to her family, and the events end up with the same result in both the light novel and anime.
Pauline seizes an opportunity
In the light novels, Pauline actually uses a signature magic spell that we haven’t seen in the anime yet. It might end up appearing later, so all I say for now is that it suit Pauline’s personality perfectly. Crossing the merchant’s daughter is always a bad idea.
Seriously, never cross Pauline
The events concerning Pauline wrap up neatly, but there is still the matter of Count Austien, who just wants to take Mavis back home.
Mavis demonstrates just how much she has grown
In both the light novel and anime, there is indeed a fight to decide Mavis’ fate. Actually, there are two in the light novel: Mile vs. Count Austien, and Mavis vs. her older brother. The anime adaptation has chosen to spare us from Mavis’s brothers, which might not actually be a bad thing.
Mavis’s “master” vs. Mavis’s father
The fight in the light novel is actually treated as a huge event, with spectators arriving to watch the match up – and a certain enterprising young merchant taking advantage of the situation. Here, its just the people who were involved in the incident with Pauline’s family.
Again, though, the end result is the same, and watching Mile fight equally with an experienced warrior was fun. She’s still not convincing anyone that she is just average, though…
Another fun episode from Abilities Average, though perhaps we could have got two episodes worth of content from what was here. One for Pauline, one for Mavis would have made sense.
Not that I mind key plot points from the light novel being abridged for the anime adaptation. Perhaps with all that drama aside, the Crimson Vow can actually get back to doing some hunting.
There is certainly some intriguing stuff that has yet to be adapted, but that’s all I say on the matter for now.
Liked the combination of Pauline and Mavis’ character arcs, getting them over with quickly. Pauline’s Mom rules! Like mother, like daughter.