WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fena: Pirate Princess Episode 5, "Coordinates," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.
We knew we were in for an adventure when Fena: Pirate Princess first premiered. How could we not when there are pirates and samurai and a mysterious destination all rolled into one? Last week, Fena discovered that she had a secret connection to Joan of Arc through the stone that will lead her to Eden. This week, the crew travels to France, where the stone will unlock a missing piece of the puzzle for Fena. But as more mysteries are revealed, the more convoluted Fena gets.
By the time the crew reaches France, Fena's hair has grown out to her shoulders. When they arrive on shore, they're faced with two entrances -- none of them are sure what they're looking for, so they don't know which path to take. They have to rely solely on Fena's gut instinct. The entrance they pick leads them straight into an enormous mine chamber, reminiscent of the mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings.
Upon reaching another fork, Fena suddenly gets the same feeling she felt in her dream. She enters a trance-like state as she guides the crew deeper into the cave without a word. Fena is acting strange and Yukimaru is worried, but he's quick to deny that it's because he's in love with her. They enter a dark cavern with a basin full of glowing blue light in the middle. Inside the basin is a ring of symbols surrounding two clear slabs, identical to the stone Fena has. She slides it through the gap and it reveals a set of coordinates.
The latter half of the episode starts getting trope-heavy. Even though they're a group of highly acclaimed and accomplished warriors, which includes Yukimaru -- who has a Fena radar and realizes that that Fena isn't acting herself -- they somehow don't see her wandering away alone. Fena finds the tombstones of Joan of Arc and Robert des Armoises, the husband of Joan of Arc. Inexplicably, a tear rolls down her cheek, and she asks why Joan has called for Fena specifically.
None of the crew notices any of this or even made sure they were not being followed, even though they must know that the group of pirate women is after them. Another cliche soon eventuates: Fena is turned into a damsel in distress (again) when she is kidnapped by O'Malley's crew. The Samurai Seven have no choice but to give up the coordinates in exchange for Fena's safety. Obviously, O'Malley's crew isn't going to let Fena go free; they need both the coordinates and Fena to find El Dorado.
We already have a Joan of Arc connection, but we have yet another legend to slap on: El Dorado, the lost city of gold. The legend makes sense given the context of the story, but it's hard to see the connection between El Dorado and Joan of Arc. Furthermore, yet another lore is revealed near the end of the episode, this one concerning the Samurai Seven: they're the descendants of the Goblin Knights, who killed 3,000 Spanish soldiers at the Battle of Dunkirk and were "feared as the incarnation of Lucifer himself." How does everything relate to each other?
What's more, Shitan gets a message from a pigeon similar to one we've seen before. Yukihisa reveals that Shitan's penchant for getting attached to people will be an advantage, as that will protect him from falling under the "witch's spell" -- which he suspects Yukimaru has already fallen under. Could this possibly mean Fena?
There's some speculation that El Dorado and Eden might be referring to the same place. They're both mythical paradises of sorts so there's a connection there, but with so much going on and each legend having its own historical ties, it feels like a mishmash of mythologies stitched together by cliches and tropes. It looks like Fena is still trying to find its footing as a shonen-shojo hybrid, but we'll have to wait and see if it succeeds.
