In the end, the headline of the “Harvest Festival” arc isn’t who wins it (though I think we have a pretty good idea).  It’s that the Misfit Class reverted to form in the end (most of them, anyway).  It just felt a little off seeing them back-stabbing each other even in an individual competition, because one constant since the start of the series has been their “us against the world” camaraderie.  The Agares-Keroli siege battle was kind of the apex of that (and indeed, it seems she kept up that pointless distraction even after the events of last week).

Of course, no matter what else was happening there would never have been any doubt that Azz-Azz would gladly throw away his own chances for Iruma-sama.  And once it was clear he was getting disqualified anyway he decided to get his money’s worth with Orobas, which he did with extreme prejudice – sending a crystal clear message at the same time.  Even if Orobas was being manipulated by Ocho let’s face it, he’s still kind of a DB – I’d say he pretty much had it coming.

I think I was almost as happy to see the three amigos back together as they were – their friendship has always been the heart of Mairimashita Iruma-kun.   Heartbreaking for Azz to have to leave the other two behind for the retiree’s tent but his job was well done.  In his absence Sabnock seems to have teamed up with the Dorodoro Brothers, amusingly – though not accruing enough points to win.  The key matter at hand is the Vase of Endings, crucial to Lead and Iruma’s hopes of claiming the pot on the river with the Legend Leaf.  The vase was seemingly lost – but there were definite hints something was afoot there…

Something was suspicious about that handoff right from the start, and if you’re looking for straight-up grifting from the Misfits, Jazz and Allocer are the logical place to start.  Especially since they already pulled a roughly similar gambit earlier in the festival, it made sense for them to use that fake receiving station trick on Orobas – whom they had a solid taste for revenge against anyway.  Allocer was the driving force here – as he noted, there was no rule stating he couldn’t enter the forfeit tent along with Jazz and come and go as he pleased.   And that place is a hotbed of intel, especially since it’s full of kids who don’t have a horse in this race.

The key here is that Allocer takes the true misfit step of giving the Vase of Endings back to Iruma and Lead – certainly its rightful holders, though he would have been within his own rights to claim the points for himself.  He does it out of loyalty both to his class and his partner, who he doesn’t want to win without.  There’s a good number of points spread out amongst the Misfits, but no one with enough to overcome the Legend Leaf (I suppose Agares would have been closest if he’d actually cashed in all those items his loyal subjects gifted him rather than turn them into a victory hotpot).

The question now is, how exactly do those points – and the title – get divided?  I would say Lead and Iruma have contributed about equally to their success so that seems an equitable split, but Clara is hanging around their periphery now (not that I think she’ll care all that much).  And what about Naphula, who’s not officially part of Team Shota but certainly did their share to help Iruma-kun make it this far, and rather selflessly too?

Su…ki…ma