Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Season 2

Episode 15

Traditions, like anything else, can get stale. When that happens, it's time to pitch them out, the same way you would a loaf of stale bread. Of course, you could also repurpose those things that have outlived their freshness; recipes for bread pudding have their origins in needing to find something to do with food that's no longer edible in its regular state. That's essentially what Anne is trying to do with the Paige Workshop and its traditions: find a way to soak the stale bread in custard to make it delicious again.

She's got her work cut out for her. We knew going in that Glen Paige had some…less than equitable ideas about who could become a sugar crafter, and I'm very conflicted about the way that Orland tries to frame his reasoning for crushing Bridget's dreams. According to the younger man, Glen was opposed to Bridget learning the craft because as his daughter she'd then have to inherit the entire workshop, and he didn't want to put her through the sexism she'd face. But that doesn't quite survive the sniff test – isn't she marrying Elliott so that he can take over as head of the workshop? Why would she, knowing how to make sugar confections change that at all if the only thing Glen's worried about is sexism? It screams of him trying to cover his ass by making it sound as if it's all about Bridget's well-being rather than his own misogyny, and the fact that she's so plainly miserable puts the lie to his supposed motives. There's also some underlying tension in the way that he (and Elliott) treat Anne – they've brought her in and hired her, but it looks much more like that was to get Challe away from Bridget than because they wanted her skills. They'll use her now that they have her, but neither of them expected Anne to actually, you know, try to do her job as Head of Artisans.

A large part of the problem is also that the workshop is incredibly insular. Everyone is quick to tell Anne (well, quick once she starts expressing disapproval) that they're all there because of how the kind and wonderful Glen Paige took them in when they had nowhere else to go. And he does seem to have been kind to young men and boys, but that just makes it more striking that he's so much crueler to his daughter and dismissive of his new Head of Artisans. Only men seem to merit his kindness, which further underlines the fact that he's willing to leave Bridget alone in her room for days on end while still managing to drag himself out of bed to go talk to his crafters. The man is mired in tradition, and he's convinced his workers that his way is best. They may feel they don't have any choice because of what he's done for them, but they all truly seem to like Glen and are at least a little conflicted about the ways Anne wants to change things.

Fortunately for us, Anne isn't going to just roll over. Orland seems like a potential ally since he's the one who got Challe's wing away from Bridget, but Anne seems prepared to do whatever she has to fulfill her contract. Her first step was to get Glen to agree to enter the Selection, and that's done, although whether it was Anne's shock at his reliance on one past insult to chart his course or something Elliott said after he bodily removed her from the room isn't clear. Now she has to get everyone to work together to create a spectacular sugar sculpture, which actually might not be as difficult as it seems – the show has gone to great lengths to show us that all of the artisans have different strengths, so the biggest challenge will be to help them to combine their powers.

Elliott returning home bleeding could set things back, but we won't know until we find out what he did to get hit and/or stabbed. (It looks like he's got a wound in his side to go along with the head injury.) At least that'll give Mithril Lid Pod some time to figure out how to get Challe and Anne together without being a third wheel.

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Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.