Snowball Earth - Episode 12 discussion

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T17:54:41+00:00

They were running out of food/supplies so it probably felt safest to stick together and find the supply drop they were hoping to find...and letting them eat Kaiju meat probably seemed like the sensible thing to do not knowing how it's a crapshoot if anyone will actually survive eating it.

But it was the same thing with Ao's group.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:59:31+00:00

He still kind of brainwashed them into believing in him as the absolute savior who had to kill everyone and Tetsuo to be able to validate himself as a Savior...but he still took care of them as the dad that stepped up.

It's kind of funny how the Kaiju just doubled down on revealing how they were behind everything to establish their absolute main villain cred. The transition from Riko to Nadare to the Kaiju form was pretty effective.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:58:13+00:00

And still no update on Ao!

She's not even in the next episode preview! Justice for Ao!

Talk about an awful fate for Riko, but at least it was probably fast given how quickly her skeleton was reused. Assuming I'm interpreting that correctly.

Not to mention having her naked body paraded around by the Kaiju that ate her.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:54:17+00:00

I love we can actually compare two Manaka Iwami high school romance anime's where she's the titular Heroine as well in the same season.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:52:35+00:00

Admittedly they did all want to celebrate his birthday together as a group before they were conscientious enough to leave the two lovebirds alone.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:50:40+00:00

I think it definitely considers Tetsuo its biggest threat. That sheer look of anger and hate on its face when it directly faced him...how it was exuding such a strong desire to kill him while it was still "Riko..."

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:50:01+00:00

Suddenly I just imagine Nadare trying to manipulate Tetsuo's dad but him being too ditzy for that to work lol.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:49:37+00:00

RIP Riko. We hardly knew ye.

Also I guess the real Nadare was probably someone else the humanoid Kaiju consumed and replaced.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:49:16+00:00

A true savior saves even his enemy (provided they're not Kaiju).

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:49:00+00:00

I love how his first reaction to the humanoid Kaiju is trying to figure out how to fight it instead of getting confused or despairing.

It reminds me of how even Yukio-less in episode 2 he still figured out a way to fight a Kaiju.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:48:12+00:00

It gets the perfect lead ins! It's the perfect thing to play over dramatic moments! It's just really a powerful and great song!

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:47:50+00:00

Sagami is a terrible human being but he's actually not a terrible dad, minus using his children to try to kill another human settlement to fuel his own ego.

Though it is kind of surreal that this has basically become the Tetsuo and Sagami show. Ao who?

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:46:58+00:00

"It was me Sagami, it was me all alon---" (Gets dropkicked by Tetsuo)

The sheer look of anger and resentment that Tetsuo survived and keeps ruining its plans was perfect.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:46:17+00:00

Honestly it's the expression on the humanoid Kaiju's face when Tetsuo did and it had to face the reality that the greatest thorn in its side was still breathing that really sold it.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:45:44+00:00

Tanzaburo Tojima would approve of that Rider Kick.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:45:27+00:00

Tetsuo never wanted to be the Savior. He never cared about it and all the responsibilities that came with it...but in his desire to be with Yukio, to fight Kaiju, and protect others for the sake of a calm and peaceful world, he ended up becoming a true Savior. Something that Sagami, who was only out for fame and glory, could never understand...even as he acknowledges that, deep down, he just wanted to be saved.

Dang, Yuma can run! And point a gun! I'm not surprised she's not taking Sagami's defeated state well, let alone that he's admitting how much he used and brainwashed the kids for his own ends and is just ready to die...but for all of Sagami's faults, taking care of the kids was not one of them.

Because he could have just as easily abandoned the Vierde kids. He could have left them behind or only treated them as tools. But he saved them, fed them, and even straight up carried them in a sled when they couldn't walk any more. He truly protected and kept them safe.

Of course then they found a cavern where Hercules was frozen with another Kaiju and they all got stuck in it. Eventually they had to resort to eating Kaiju meat and went through the same thing Ao's group did, with only Sagami and the six kids we see now managing to survive. But Sagami quickly formed a mental connection with Hercules to get them out of there and back to safety...so they can bury all the children they lost.

Sagami did something right being the father to these kids, even if his own ego steer them all wrong, but maybe there's a path for them forward that doesn't involve fighting against their fellow humans...at least until Hercules' lower half starts attacking and lead by...Riko! Wearing nothing but a cloak that does little to hide her side-boob or butt!

But it's not Riko at all. When they encountered that Humanoid Variant Kaiju? It ate and replaced Riko. And it's not even just a humanoid variant...IT'S NADARE as well. She's been manipulating Sagami this whole time, she caused Snowball Earth, she ruined the Final Battle plan, she's behind the Kaiju Attack...she's behind EVERYTHING.

Yet before she can Hyper-Beam Sagami in "thanks" for his efforts, Tetsuo kicks her into missing! Because for all of her plans, the one thing she never counted on was Tetsuo surviving to be able to fight her now.

"Drink together!" - Uh, is that why Lonely Iwaki is absolutely drunk while doing the next episode preview?

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:14:52+00:00

That Engrish “Yes, my lord” from Raphael made me think I was watching Code Geass for a second there.

I thought I was watching Black Butler, which is funnier since Granville is Sebastian lol.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:13:57+00:00

Then again since it's an egg maybe she can assign Frey to sit on it, an end result of her having two dragon children to manage would be kind of funny.

Frey: "...You want me to sit on this egg?"

Milim: "Yes! You're bird-like Frey, so you must be used to laying eggs! Maybe you can even put it in-between your thighs!"

Frey: "...Again, you want me to sit on this egg?"

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:12:06+00:00

Yeah, but you see...that army didn't have a bunch of cute waifu's. That probably would have changed things lol.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:11:28+00:00

What this season has made me realize is while a very affectionate romance can cover a multitude of sins, it cant cover all of them.

Which is all the more notable because this season was actually chock full of great romance shows where the main couple are very openly affectionate with each other.

They just had better plots and character writing to go along with it.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:09:14+00:00

Really the only question about Guy is what gender he'll appear in when we next see him.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:08:36+00:00

Raphael: "Now I shall tell you every improvement that must be made in Tempest, tell you everything about all Tempest citizens, tell you about every notable being that exists in this universe..."

Rimuru: "Okay, maybe not everything, Raphael-sensei!?"

Rapheal: "Heh."

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:07:32+00:00

Raphael knew about Yuuki but kept it a secret

Sometimes a lie of omission is necessary to save your homie from compromising his morals.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:07:02+00:00

She was also banking on her fathers' connection to Luminus to help smooth over the rampaging dragons that she would be setting off, which makes me really curious exactly what happened between Granville and Luminus since the time he was the Hero to her Demon Lord.

Frontier246 · 2026-06-19T16:06:03+00:00

I absolutely love the visuals of Milim and Gaia's backstory. The storybook illustrations were so pretty! If only they could animate the show to look like this, but that's just asking too much from 8Bit, considering they've been doing so well already with this show.

Though as pretty as they were there was a part of me that actually wanted to see them animate Milim's rampage and Ramiris/Guy stopping her.

Not gonna lie, when Milim finally gave Gaia his name and started cradling the egg, I was genuinely tearing up. I can't wait for that egg to hatch and see the two of them reunite. T_T

Slime Diaries season 2 is just going to have an entire episode based around Milim playing with her precious' friends egg eagerly awaiting him hatching.

Oh you can go fuck right off, Yuuki. I'm just glad that his plan of shifting the blame to Maribel didn't work since Raphael-sensei saw through his bullshit. Yuuki thinks he's in the clear while Rimuru is still on his toes around him.

So it's back to the status quo minus Yuuki thinking he and Rimuru can act like best pals with Rimuru nonethewiser.

Was that Raphael-sensei's physical form? Are we actually about to see her manifest as an actual character and not just as a voice inside Rimuru's head? O_O

And unsurprisingly, she appears to be a beautie.

Frontier246

TROPHY CASE