Short Synopsis: Porfy travels.
Highlights: Just when you thought that the background artists couldn’t get any better, they surpass themselves.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Okay, the summary can be very short this time, seeing as this is one of these episodes where hardly anything happens. Porfy travels, and he once meets an angry farmer because he picked up olives that reminded him of home, and he runs into a woman later, who also lives alone just like Porfy. This episode really was all about its atmosphere, and the psychological aspects of travelling, and it did an excellent job at that.
Porfy finally enters France, but at the same time he also lost Mina’s picture, the only thing he had to remind of her. He also gets quite arrogant when he talks to the farmer, and I finally noticed that his development hasn’t just made him stronger. He may have matured, but he throws away all reasons when he’s reminded of his sister, and for the past number of episodes, this still hasn’t gotten better (foreshadowing, anyone?)
Also, was it just me, or was the woman Porfy ran into some sort of subtle revenge for Fantine in Les Miserables, how the creators weren’t able to show her becoming a prostitute due to the censors? It’s never explicitly said, but a lot of hints pointed towards that woman being some sort of prostitute, especially the way in which she wouldn’t let Porfy enter her car. It’s a very subtle addition from the creators: the children are never going to notice it, while it’s a bit of extra realism added for the adults.
And oh my god, I already suspected this, but the background art was absolutely gorgeous in this episode. Especially the time Porfy spent in the forest, and that final beautiful shot of the town at the foot of the Alps was just awesome. In any case, this definitely was the quietest episode of Porfy yet, but its storytelling was wonderfully subtle.
