As I mentioned in my initial review for Somali and the Forest Spirit, this anime series will pull on my heartstrings the more I keep watching it. Somali is fast-tracking her way to becoming Best Anime Girl of 2020…for now, and Golem is also fast-tracking his way to becoming Best Anime Dad for 2020 as well. They both bring this loving and caring dynamic that just melts the heart.
This episode we learn more about Golem, as Golem and Somali find themselves in the brief company of a Dwarf Oni Healer and his assistant Yabashira after Somali scrapes her knee. Realizing that they’re low on medical supplies, Golem asks Shizuno to teach him how to make medicine and ointment while Somali assists Yabashira with the household chores. In exchange for these teachings, Shizuno requests a piece of Golem’s skin so he can study it to further his medical research.
We are just scratching the surface of this story and what’s really stood out to me as a viewer is the father/daughter dynamic between Golem and Somali. Somali is your typical toddler which is just adorable and Golem, a being who has no feelings or emotions, finds himself feeling feelings that he doesn’t quite understand. This comes into play when Golem is asked why he was so desperately in need of learning how to make medicine.
Golem reveals that it’s more efficient for him to learn how to make medicine as opposed to searching for medicine in the cities outside of the forest. During their conversation, Shizuno is taken aback by how much protection Golem is wearing and questions if the reasoning for it is to prevent his skin from falling, and how it was wrong of him to ask for a piece of it for research. Seeing his expression, Golem reveals that Shizuno has the same expression on his face that Somali had when she fell and scraped her knee.
He expresses that seeing Somali saddened and in tears due to her injury, disrupted his thoughts. Most importantly, he felt agitated. And because of that, he wanted to learn how to make medicine because he never wants to see that expression on Somali’s face again. And that sacrificing a piece of himself to ensure her well-being was a small price to pay….cue the tears!
It’s truly a beautiful moment and it hits home because of the literal representation of real-life parents and what they have to do to raise and protect their children. Sacrificing bits and pieces of themselves to make sure their child has what they need. After that exchange, Somali is now resting in bed and as Golem is giving his thanks, he is asked what would motivate a Golem, a guardian of the forest, to leave and embark on a journey with a child he doesn’t know.
As revealed in the premiere episode. Golem has left the forest and embarked on this journey with Somali in order to find her parents. Although she is passing as part of the Minotaur race, she’s actually human. If we go based on the information from the first episode, humans are extinct. But are they?
He also reveals what he’s been hiding underneath all that clothing he is wearing. He is slowly, cracking and deteriorating. Large portions of his body are just opened muscle tissue due to skin loss. Golem reveals that all Golems have a lifespan of a thousand years. All Golems die exactly when they have reached their 1,000th year of living, not a day more, not a day less. He has lived 998 of those 1000 years. Giving him a little over a year to live. One year and 112 days to be exact. And he is determined to help Somali find her parents before he reaches his 1,000th year of life.
There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to both Golem and Somali and more is guaranteed to be revealed. For the time being, Somali is unaware that Golem is reaching the end of his days. A huge bit of information that is sure to crush her precious little heart as Golem is the only father figure she knows.
Somali and the Forest Spirit is only two episodes in and it has already shown that it is bringing a deeprooted emotional story that will captivate all of its viewers from start to finish each and every week. I cannot emphasize enough how beautiful and heartwarming and graceful this anime is! And while nothing drastic has happened as of yet, the series is definitely taking the slow route to the inevitable. Tragedy and happiness is on the horizon, it’s just a matter of who’s story ends in tragedy and who’s story ends in happiness.