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I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 8 – Quick Summary
In I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 8, “The Demon Lord’s Daughter is Tending to Customers in a Swimsuit,” Raul and Fino arrived at work to find Nova passed out. But it wasn’t the work of some vicious creature, as Raul had assumed. No, the air conditioning had just broken. While Loa fixed it, the manager Seara August had a great idea: the girls would sell the summer merchandise while dressed in swimwear! How did the women react to that idea? The men? And what did the customers think?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 8
Seara seemed surprised that Loa wouldn’t want to wear the cooling and comfortable bikini. Capture from the Blu Ray.
Seara is a manager worthy of respect. She looks after her flock. She tries to make sure that everyone’s healthy and everyone’s hooked up. Well, that last part might be borderline-not-so-respectable, but hey. She’s trying to make sure Fino doesn’t get out of hand and Raul’s not lonely, so there’s method to her momentary lapse of respectability.
Anyway, Loa had been working hard to fix the air conditioning while the other Women of Reon wore swimsuits and frolicked in comfort. Seara stopped by to check on her status. She had brought a sun umbrella with her.
Seara apologized that Loa had to do all of the work by herself.
Glancing at the manager standing there in a white bikini, Loa turned back to her work and said (12:07), “At least I don’t have to wear that.”
It was at that point that I think Seara decided not to reveal that she had been holding a bikini for Loa behind her back.
Favorite Moment from I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 8
Lamdimia Do Aximemor understands sales – and human nature. Capture from the Blu Ray.
Anime and Serious Social Reflection
Lamdimia Do Aximemor seized control of circumstances in this episode. She drove Reon’s sales through the roof. And in doing so, presented a problem in the form of my favorite moment.
Let’s start with two statements that appear contradictory, but from my perspective at least, are complimentary. The first statement is that objectification is harmful. The second is that Fino, Nova, and Airi Ortinet rocked their swimsuits.
Now, let’s throw in my favorite moment, then talk about it a bit.
My favorite moment is just after Elsa and Raul complained that the small stuff was selling, but not the higher price margin merchandise like cameras. Lamdimia Do Aximemor (and I don’t dare shorten the name!) basically said they didn’t know what they were doing. Specifically, all Elsa wanted to talk about was the camera’s features.
Fino seemed to enjoy her role as a model. Capture from the Blu Ray.
So Lamdimia Do Aximemor decided to show them how it was done.
“Attention gentlemen!” she called to the crow (15:29). “Today only, anyone who buys a camera can try it out by taking photos of our salesgirls!”
Setup: Lamdimia Do Aximemor’s Insight
Of course, the cameras flew off the shelves at that point. Astute marketing, I could say. Taking advantage of the assets on hand might be another way to put it. But, you know, it kind of feels like Lamdimia Do Aximemor was objectifying the other women folk, doesn’t it?
Or does it? Honestly, this is a question that occupies a lot of my idle mental cycles. I became aware of this in college, actually. And yes, I had to dodge dinosaurs to make this observation. I participated in track during high school, so that helped. My point is that I made two observations that have stuck with me.
The first is that I saw college guys shoving their attention on women who clearly didn’t want it in ways they didn’t want. I think we can all agree that’s a bad thing. Noticing that someone is attractive in an aggressive and obtrusive way just isn’t good.
Airi showed she was more than willing to define her boundaries. With force. Capture from the Blu Ray.
But I noticed something else, too. I was on my way to class one late spring morning. While walking up the stairs to the main academic building (it was a small college at the time), I glanced back to the grass oval and noticed one of the young women from my class. She had changed her hair, or had dressed differently, because I did a double-take. Not a leering sort of thing. But an “wow didn’t expect that” sort of thing. She smiled, obviously pleased.
Delivery: Stalking versus Appreciation
I don’t recall ever talking to her. I think it was near graduation. But I’ve thought of those two observations. And in my slow, plodding process that I call thinking, I’ve come to a conclusion. There’s unwanted attention (which I’d classify as objectifying, though it’s not limited to that) and there’s appreciation. I’d like to add more about some behaviors that seem to be hard-wired into the human brain. Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse magazine, said in an interview for the Chicago Tribune that “Women in general are exhibitionists; men in general are voyeurs.”
Was he right? Should I listen to observations on human nature from a man who founded a porn magazine? The answer to the first questions is, “In many cases, yes.” The answer to the second is, “Sure, if he was right.”
I should probably be concerned at Lamdimia Do Aximemor’s willingness to profit from Airi’s reactions. Capture from the Blu Ray.
I think it comes down to consent. In this episode, Fino was very comfortable being called “our arrogant princess” and having her picture taken. Nova was cool with it. Airi? Well, she was comfortable kicking people who annoyed her, so that worked out. And Loa got her wish not to wear a bikini.
Objectification is obviously reprehensible. But affirming that Fino, Nova, and Lamdimia Do Aximemor looked good in the swimsuits in a way they wanted to look good in is a very different thing. And I gotta say that I wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings!
What did you think of the post credits scene? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 8: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 1: I Couldn’t Be a Hero, so I’m Working the Register
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 2: The Demon Lord’s Daughter is Going to Learn How to Speak to Customers
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 3: We Should be Careful When Handling Weird Products Sent to Us by Corporate
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 4: Episode 4, “The Daughter of the Demon Lord will be Working at the Convenience Store
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 5: I Couldn’t be a Hero so I Snuck into a Rival Store with the Daughter of the Demon King
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 6: She Couldn’t Become a Hero, so She Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job, Too
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 7: The Demon Lord’s Daughter Visits a House
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 8: The Demon Lord’s Daughter is Tending to Customers in a Swimsuit
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 9: How the Demon Lord’s Daughter Spent Her First Paycheck
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 10: I Wanted to be a Hero, but She Didn’t Want to be the Demon Lord
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 11: I Couldn’t Become a Hero, but now I’m Going to Rescue the Demon Lord’s Daughter
- I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job Episode 12: I Couldn’t Become a Hero, so I Decided to get a Job
