English Dub Review: Farming Life in Another World “Curry and Surviving the Winter”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
With their homestead completed, they turn their focus to food preparation, and just in time; Winter is coming.

Our Take:
With five more elven girls joining the farming crew, Hiraku and the others needed to make room for them to stay in. This resulted in their house being rebuilt with single bedrooms, a cellar, a communal dining room, and a secret room with a double bed that’s best left alone for now. But, of course, there’s still more work for them to accomplish since winter is fast approaching.
This episode features the characters’ usual farming and cooking routine, with Hiraku harvesting a crop of spices to make curry with nan bread. Additionally, Ru and Tia plan to use cilantro to make protective charms against Hiraku’s wolves so they don’t get attacked again since the wolves don’t like the cilantro’s aroma. While I did find the girls getting mauled by the wolves amusing, I was also glad to see them taking measures to prevent this running gag from being repetitive.
Afterward, the episode moves away from the farming formula due to the winter snowing on their parade. Instead, we’re treated to some unwinding and charming moments inside Hiraku’s enormous house, with him and the girls playing board games and bowling to wait out the snowy weather. Of course, they’re not without their share of laughs accompanying them, with the crew discovering the wolves are professionals at chess and Mahjong. Remind me not to play any of those games against them.
The second half of “Curry and Surviving the Winter” is a suitable change of pace for a series involving expanding the farm and Hiraku’s “harem” in the first four episodes. With winter interrupting their routine, the show allows me to become more attached to the characters when they’re not growing crops. That includes Hiraku, who briefly has self-doubt about him not having magic like his “farming family” until Lea comforts him for surviving the Death Forest longer than anyone else. Although, he does have a magical farming tool with him, so that’s all the magic he needs now. Let’s hope it’s enough for Hiraku to protect his farm from an incoming wyvern.