Monster Girl Doctor

Episode 5

We open on Glenn and Sapphentite taking a carriage ride up into the mountains. They are accompanied by Tisalia and her two attendants Kay and Lorna for protection – as well as transport as Tisalia is quite literally pulling their carriage. They are heading for the Harpy village at Dr. Cthulhy's request to provide medical aid for the people there. Suddenly, an avalanche ambushes them and it appears the centaurs are hurt. Thanks to Kay diving in harm's way, Tisalia and Lorna are fine with neighry nary a scratch on them.

Once the team arrives in town, Kay is put on bedrest and Lorna is expected to tend to Tisalia solo for the duration. Tisalia also has a task here, namely trying to enlist the harpies to join on with her family's company as part of an aerial delivery service. Between Tisalia's nightly complaints and a run-in with Glenn down by the river, we learn that Lorna is quite distressed and not performing up to her usual quality. She had Kay have always worked together, and now not only is she by herself but she is taking on a lot of additional stress trying to make sure Tisalia is successful. Additionally, we learn that Lorna and Kay were war orphans, taken in to be attendants by Tisalia's family. Tisalia urges Dr. Glenn to check Lorna out as well.

Dr. Glenn finally stumbles on the solution after a bit of research. It turns out centaurs can have posture issues related to bone alignment. This can be quickly remedied with the help of highly-specific leather harnesses and firm tugging, and Glenn gets to work doctoring. Tisalia helps assuage Lorna's fears, telling her she understands why she and Kay made her get her hooves shod and that she loves her.

Not long after, Dr. Glenn goes to check on Kay who expresses a desire to repay him for his help. Before he can scorn her enthusiastic advances, Lorna pincers him in a sweeping maneuver. Dr. Glenn is now faced with that most dire of situations – an infantryman caught between simultaneous cavalry charges. They let him know in no uncertain terms that they would very much enjoy his company, and that hey it's really no big deal since once he inevitably marries Tisalia they will equally be part of his stable harem. Dr. Glenn gives them the old “Heavens to Murgatroyd! Exit, stage left!” and high tails it out of there before any multi-steed dressage occurs.

Lorna being the emotional focus of this episode was an unexpected and welcome highlight. The dynamics at play where Kay is part sister part friend has a fair amount of nuance. I think the interesting note that she feels isolated from Kay but also resents Kay for being so “at ease” with taking a day off was perhaps the most interesting touch of the episode. Additionally, I liked Tisalia admitting that while they may be sisters and friends of a sort, ultimately her relationship with Kay and Lorna is that of a master and a servant – there will always be a distance and separation that she cannot bridge, even if she wants to.

I said way back in episode 1 that I would try not to complain about the same things every week, and I'm doing my best to stick to that promise. As per usual, the ecchi-heavy scenes are infrequent and short, with a sudden increase in the gratuity relative to the tone of the rest of the episode. To my mind, this week's scene with Lorna and the horse gear is not the most egregious but it is largely in the same mold.

I do think however that this week has a particularly illuminating moment during The Scene™. Tisalia quite literally has to remove the bridle from Lorna's mouth to share a deeply emotional moment and tell her that she loves her. These scenes seem to impede the character work that the rest of the run-time is trying to build up. The sudden assertiveness in the follow-up scene with Lorna and Kay making their move on Dr. Glenn feels that much more out of place given Lorna's timidity throughout the rest of the episode.

Visually there is not as much to remark on here either. I felt that the brief moments of the harpies flying overhead during Glenn and Lorna's talk was nice, if short-lived. Perhaps the most intriguing sequence was probably Lorna reflecting on all of the stresses in her life. The background is entirely dark and each of the points of stress for her are illuminated via spotlight, a stage-like framing that I thought fit the tone as a soliloquy to the audience.

In terms of its impact this episode is not much of standout compared to the prior entries, for good or for ill.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Monster Girl Doctor is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.