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Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8 Review – Best In Show

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Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8 Review – Quick Summary

In Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8, “A Letter to Join Feelings ~Arancini on the Green Hill~,” Kokkoro puts a lot of love and care into writing a huge stack of letters. That’s partly why she was so upset that robbers stole them, right from the post office! What can she do to get them back? Meanwhile, Pecorine worked hard to harvest a field of princess rice. After lunch, she dozed under a tree, and a dream image of herself came to warn her. Is the dream just something fanciful? Or is it a prophecy? And where the heck are Yuuki and Karyl?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8

Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8: This can't be easy on Labyrista. It's even harder on Yuuki.

The situation can’t be easy on Labyrista. But it’s even harder on Yuuki. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Kokkoro’s adventures with Suzuna Minami and Misaki Tamaizumi were light-hearted. Even though they were up against some unsavory characters, I had no doubt that they would be fine. And it was fun seeing Kokkoro in the field by herself being all competent and stuff.

This episode didn’t let us forget what Yuuki’s going through, and the contrast being the light-hearted humor of Kokkoro’s scenes and Yuuki’s just made the sense of loss and pain more intense. 

He’s remembering, and what he’s remembering deeply troubles him. He sat considering his new memories when Labyrista joined him. I’m not sure if she’s an independent manifestation in this time-flow, or if she has to leave wherever (and whenever) she is with Ames to visit him, but to me it seems clear she remembers everything. So it had to be hard for her to hear Yuuki speak in this scene.

“I used to have companions,” he said, the lack of apparent emotion driving home his pain (09:38). “Why did I forget about them?”

Labyrista had no answer for him. Nor did she have an answer when he said what must bother him most of all.

“I couldn’t protect them,” he said (09:58).

This guy has been through a lot. And I’m pretty sure it’s not over yet.

Best in Show Moment for Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8

Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8: Pecorine showed her joy through her tears

She was so happy she could only cry. That’s a really, really bad sign at this juncture… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Jaws of Defeat?

I don’t claim to be an expert in anything. Life’s just easier that way. But I think I have a working knowledge of how stories can be put together, and if I’m right, this story is about to get really, really tragic.

There are lots of theories about how to assemble a plot. The one I have begun to consider my favorite is summed up in Dan Wells the Seven Point Story Structure. Here’re the seven points:

  1. Hook: Get people interested
  2. Plot Turn 1: The world changes
  3. Pinch 1: Force the hero into action
  4. Midpoint: Reaction to the hero’s action
  5. Pinch 2: The Jaws of Defeat
  6. Plot Turn 2: The Power is in you! 
  7. Resolution
Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8: Kokkoro couldn't let Pecorine cry by herself

Kokkoro is crying happy tears! This isn’t the Jaws of Defeat, is it? No, I’m afraid it’s not. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

If you’re at all interested in story structure, check out Dan Wells’ series of five Youtube videos, starting here. His presentation is humorous, and I particularly liked how he described Pinch 2!

What does this have to do with my favorite moment? Just this: Notice Pinch 2, the Jaws of Defeat? It happens about where this episode is, give or take. It makes things look as bad as possible for our heroes. The reason is simple: So their eventual victory can be glorious.

But we didn’t get a valley of despair in this episode, did we? We got a super happy and grateful Pecorine. That’s good, isn’t it?

Not if the story is a tragedy. Then the Valley of Despair inverts. It becomes a Pinnacle of Hope. That’s so the eventual destruction can be all the more painful.

I kind of feel like we’re watching a tragedy.

Delivery: There’s Only One Direction to Go from Here

Pecorine’s noontime dream summarized her deepest fear: That history would repeat itself. That Kokkoro, Karyl, and even Yuuki would forget about her. More than anything, she feared that she would be left all alone, again. 

We found the answer to the mini-mystery of why Kokkoro was writing and mailing all the letters near the end. Pecorine had been harvesting princess rice all day. Yuuki, then Karyl had joined her, but even the three of them could not make a sizable dent in the field. That’s when the entire town showed up to help. That’s what Kokkoro had been writing: Invitations to help!

With that many hands harvesting, they not only made quick work of the field. They had time for a feast. Everyone seemed to have a blast. Pecorine and Kokkoro sat off to the side, under the same tree where Pecorine had dreamed. 

Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8: The sight of everyone enjoying themselves overjoyed Pecorine

Looking at how much fun everyone was having, Pecorine could not believe how happy she felt. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

After a few moments, Kokkoro looked at Pecorine in shock. The usually happy princess was in tears! Not the little tears, either. The big, rolling kind. 

“I never knew… I never knew a flavor this happy existed,” she said (21:26). A moment later, she added, “I’m going to tell Karyl and Yuuki that I’m Eustiana.”

Kokkoro cried with her, also overcome by the emotion of the moment.

That’s when it hit me. This is a Pinnacle of Hope. This is Pinch 2. I like these characters so much that I’ll tell you this for free: I’m scared for what’s about to happen to them.

What did you think of Kokkoro’s side adventure with Suzuna and Misaki? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8: Other Posts

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2 thoughts on “Princess Connect! Re: Dive Season 2 Episode 8 Review – Best In Show”

  1. I viewed this as the moment before the Dark Night of the Soul. I’m expecting everything to go horribly wrong in the next episode. Admittedly, it wouldn’t leave much time for the finale, but I’m holding on to hope that this isn’t a tragedy.

    Reply

    1. Sorry to ruin it for you but what happens now in the anime pales in comparison the amount of horrors that’s about to happen.

      Reply

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