Kaori finally conveys her resolve to stay by Hajime’s side in episode 6 of Arifureta season 2. Kaori faced a difficult question from Hajime after realizing the harsh reality around her. It really took some time before she was able to get to her senses. This is also the first time conquering a labyrinth for her. On top of that, she is not a combat-type person so she had Hajime protecting her. Of course, she is feeling down since she cannot do anything on her own.
Simultaneously processing Hajime’s difficult question, facing the harsh reality, and accepting that she is weak was already too much for her. In fact, she might already be on the verge of breaking down, but she can’t because it would only make more trouble for Hajime. That said, it only took a single sentence for Kaori to be able to overcome her feelings. During the battle inside the labyrinth, an enemy took advantage of Kaori. As a result, Hajime didn’t kill the enemy. Instead, he tortured it because, for him, death is too easy for the beings that try to harm someone important to him. Of course, he is referring to Kaori.
Hearing Hajime’s words might have been the best moment of Kaori’s life so far. It is the first time that she felt important for Hajime. This is the first time Kaori smiled genuinely since the moment she joined Hajime’s party. Because of those words, she climbed from the depths of despair and finally came up with an answer to Hajime’s question. She replied to him through a kiss on the lips. It is a sign that Kaori will be by his side forever, whatever it takes and whatever happens. Looking back on the final episode of Arifureta season 1, Kaori told Yue that she would make Hajime fall for her too. Now that Kaori knows that she is also important to Hajime, she aims to make herself someone special to him.
Kaori’s feelings of despair from when she wasn’t able to save Hajime were replaced by hope. She is now confident and can look Yue in the eye without feeling inferior. She’s not even ashamed of telling Yue, Shea, and Tio that she kissed Hajime. The whole party is even happy when they hear it because they know that she is now stable. Based on my understanding, it seems that Yue, Shea, and Tio, along with Hajime, knew from the start that Kaori was being hard on herself ever since the time she joined their party. Well, it took 6 episodes for Kaori to become truly happy.
I think Kaori must be confident because she is the one who knows Hajime the most among the members of his harem. They’ve known each other since middle school and they are close. When they were still on Earth, Hajime was always being bullied and the one who always came to his rescue was Kaori. It’s just that Yue was the one who saved Hajime on the brink of death.
Surely, Kaori’s mental fortitude improved while they were inside the labyrinth. Seeing the gruesome events of the past war between demi-humans and humans made her mind stronger. In the previous episode, just having the thought of her killing a living being was enough to make her vomit, so this was a good experience so that she can get used to the sights of the battlefield since she joined the party of Hajime, who is always rushing into fights with monsters. With that in mind, while they were trying to go out of the labyrinth, they had a battle against one of the primordial monsters in Erisen, and even their party couldn’t fully defeat it. This is where a friend of Hajime came in.
Leh-san the handsome fish made his appearance to help Hajime defeat the monster. If you are wondering why Leh-san is there, his first appearance in the anime was in episode 11 of Arifureta season 1. He was imprisoned in the city of Fuhren and Hajime was the one who freed him. According to him, he wants to travel the world. He can’t stand staying in one place, and that is also the reason why he was captured by people. He is always arguing with his wife because his wife wanted him to spend more time with their family.
Now that Kaori and Hajime are finally out of the labyrinth, it means that they can interact with real living beings. There’s also a possibility that the news of what’s happening in the capital will reach them. What will Hajime and Kaori do if they happen to learn that Aiko was kidnapped in the castle? The episode ended with the students being suspicious because they haven’t seen Aiko and Lily for three days already. If you are curious about the next turn of events, stay tuned to the anime. Episode 7 will air on February 24, 2022, and you can watch it on Funimation.
Lastly, if you loved seeing Kaori’s character development in episode 6 of Arifureta season 2, you can vote for the anime in our weekly poll.
Screenshots via Funimation
©Ryo Shirakome, OVERLAP / ARIFURETA Project
