Sekai Saikyou no Majo, Hajimemashita Ep.06 - Aries Tear Bluemoon looks almost like us!
Episode 6 of Sekai Saikyou no Majo, Hajimemashita finally introduces a new heroine to the cast, and this time we're talking about a mature woman named Aries Tear Bluemoon, the Guildmaster of the Adventurers' Guild in the city Rona just arrived in. She's a cheerful and friendly woman, but it's clear she is very dedicated to her work and takes her duties seriously.
She's the first true adult among the heroines we've seen so far: Erna is a child like Rona, while Elimina feels more like a teenage girl than a woman. Of course, I could be wrong, since age can be deceptive in anime. My assumption is that Aries is in her mid-twenties, though no specific information has been provided yet.
The city seems to be stuck in a crisis where there are no adventurers available to face the waves of monsters appearing every Wednesday. This is clearly a spin on the "weekly quest" mechanic seen in games, presented from the viewpoint of a world without player characters. It must be brutal to be left on your own, having to fend off fresh hordes of enemies every single week without end!
The locals are desperate for a solution, and apparently, no other adventurers will even come near the city to help. From a player's perspective, these recurring quests are lucrative, but I never really considered what they would look like from the perspective of ordinary citizens living through them.
Thankfully, with Rona's arrival, the situation is resolved almost instantaneously by taking down the zone boss and erecting a massive barrier wall to protect the city from future waves. It does feel a bit rushed, though; after the downfall of her family, we still haven't gotten a new recurring antagonist, so if a major villain is on the horizon, now would be the ideal time to introduce them.
Overall, though, this feels like a brief transition as Rona travels toward her next area of operations. The question remains whether Aries will accompany Rona somehow or remain behind as Guildmaster, though she is featured prominently in the ending credits, so I assume she is a core heroine.
There was no preview, so we don't know what will happen next week aside from Rona trying to put an end to the recurring questline altogether, but I wonder if the twin girls from the ending animation might be involved somehow. They seem to have fins like fish, which fits the aesthetic of this port city perfectly.