Side: Harumi
Harumi constantly felt like her lack of aggression was holding her back, so she felt a pressing need to cultivate some.
“Okay, let’s start with this...”
She pressed a button on the remote in her hand and the disc in her player began spinning. She gulped nervously as the video started to play on screen. It was a famous film she’d rented at the store as reference material: Mad Dax 3: Thunder Mountain.
The story centered on a duck named Dax who travelled the land after civilization had been destroyed in an apocalyptic war. It was a legendary action movie that made the viewer question what it meant to be alive through Dax’s journey across a harsh world soiled with violence and corruption. This third installment was widely regarded as the best in the series.
“Hyahahahahaha! There’s no medicine on this mountain!”
“What?!”
“Spreading rumors like that was all a ploy to get boobs like you to gather here! And we caged all of the little birdies that showed up!”
“What about the birds who came here two weeks ago?!”
“Who cares?! Do you remember the faces of everyone you eat?!”
“YOU BASTAAARDS!”
The vile actions of the bandits on Thunder Mountain forced Dax to relive his dark past, causing him to erupt with anger. After a fierce fight that left everyone unclear as to who the real villain was, the bandits of Thunder Mountain were destroyed. But alas, the dead can never return. Dax squawked loud enough to overpower the thunder. The end.
“...Huh?”
As the end credits began rolling, Harumi regained consciousness.
“It’s already over?!”
Dumbfounded, she stared at the names scrolling by on screen. She’d actually passed out five minutes into the movie, unable to stand the shocking content. Two hours later, she finally woke up.
“Maybe it was a little too soon for this one...”
Harumi quickly pieced together what had happened to her as she ejected the disc and returned it to its case. Afraid something like this might happen, she’d rented a second movie just in case.
“But this one should be fine!”
She put the second disc in the player and hit the play button again. Unlike the gritty action movie from before, this one was more colorful. It was a cutesy looking anime called Up and at ’Em, Haniwamaru: Princess Sparkly of Falling Star Castle.
The protagonist of the movie was a brave haniwa warrior named Haniwamaru. Born the prince of haniwas, he set out on a journey to make the world a better place. Everywhere he went, he put a stop to the evil ambitions of his nemesis Great Emperor Totem and the wicked clay figure Dograska.
“I said I’ll marry you, so please stop making the stars fall!”
“You fool! I never intended to keep that promise!”
“N-Nooo...”
“Not so fast, Great Emperor Totem! Return Princess Sparkly and the power of the stars at once!”
In this story, Great Emperor Totem stole the power of the stars from Falling Star Castle to blackmail Princess Sparkly. Prince Haniwamaru happened upon the treachery by coincidence and decided to save Princess Sparkly. There was a fight that led up to Haniwamaru using his special move to send Great Emperor Totem flying before eventually disappearing in the distance.
“Hmm...”
Harumi was somewhat unsatisfied after watching the movie.
“I’m not sure what to think about resolving everything with violence... He should’ve tried talking things out with them.”
She was unhappy with how swiftly Haniwamaru had resorted to force. She worried that would set a bad example for the children.
“Looks like you should give up on being more aggressive.”
Theia—who’d joined in on the movie tutoring session about halfway through Mad Dax—shrugged at Harumi’s mumbling.
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