WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fena: Pirate Princess Episode 3, "Bar-Baral," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.
Episode 3 of Fena: Pirate Princess is as impressive as the premiere, if not more so, as it goes about fleshing out more of the Samurai Seven -- in particular, the twins Enju and Kaede -- while Fena also gets an important clue that may lead her to get closer to Eden. The animation here is top-notch as always, with this episode showcasing more action sequences between the Samurai Seven and another pirate crew they encounter.
The crew's pirate ship-submarine, the Bonito II, nears Bar-Baral, a free city that many pirates use as a docking point, to replenish their supplies and allow Fena to purchase more practical clothes than her long gown. First, though, they have to decide who's going to guard the ship while everyone is out. Unexpectedly, it's Yukimaru who has a solution: amidakuji. However, he loses (for the fifth time in a row) and has to stay behind.
The six of them get separated as Tsubaki, Shitan, Karin and Makaba go to buy medicine while the twins and Fena explore the city. The twins quickly notice that Fena is attracting a lot of unwanted attention with her white hair, so they immediately take her to several shops to change her appearance. One particular shop then catches Fena's attention and inside is a stone seemingly made up of the same material as the one already entrusted to her.
The owner of the shop isn't willing to sell it to them cheaply and even tries to get the trio to sell Fena's virginity in exchange for the stone, but Enju immediately puts a stop to it and even demands that he apologizes to his captain. They discover that the stone was once owned by a royal family and crafted in Libar-Oberstein, Germany.
However, before they can head to their next destination, the three of them find themselves cornered by Fena's former fiance and a group of women pirates. The twins can't go all out in their attacks because they have to also focus on protecting Fena, but luckily, Yukimaru, having heard that Fena was still in Bar-Baral, finds them and slays eight men in their defense.
Yukimaru drags Fena to safety, and she is reminded of how the two were in a similar situation a decade ago. One of the pirates shoots at them with her musket, grazing Yukimaru's arm, but he and Fena, along with the twins, make it safely back to the ship.
One of the surprises that came out of this episode was how unintentionally funny Yukimaru is. He's petty when he loses (even going so far as to calculate the exact probability of him losing) and he's a tsundere when it comes to Fena, panicking at the slightest innocent touch. The twins, Enju and Kaede, also undergo some significant character development, rendering them much more than simply comic relief.
Abel is also an interesting character. The British Empire has sought allies in pirate captain O'Malley's crew, with Abel and O'Malley engaging in a sexual relationship. O'Malley most likely had a role in Fena's father's death since she was seen on the ship, but why she's helping Abel out now is still up in the air. The beginning of the episode opens with him writing a letter to someone, and there are hints that seem to suggest he is in correspondence with Yukihisa due to the feathers that can be seen on the Yukihisa's floor -- presumably those from Abel's messenger pigeon. This opens up the question of whether or not Yukihisa should be trusted.
Abel has a heart-shaped necklace identical to the one Fena has around her neck, but it's too early to tell whether or not they're family. What's clear is that Abel knows who Fena is and about her ancestry, although why he wants to recover her remains a mystery.
Abel's subordinate, Cody, says something cryptic near the end of the episode: "Alba Regina and vice versa. The beginning and the end." Alba Regina translates to 'white queen' in Latin, most likely referring to Fena and why Abel is so determined to find her if she's supposed to represent the beginning and end of everything.
