WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 6 of Lapis Re:LiGHTs,"Ruin Explorers," now streaming on Funimation.
Stage fright is a natural feeling that people have to struggle with, and many develop techniques to avoid feeling extremely nervous. Introverts struggle even more with opening up to crowds. By the end of the latest episode of Lapis ReLiGHTs, there's reason to believe that Maryberry might overcome her anxiety and open up to her friends.
Maryberry is a girl who has talent with magical equipment, along with being one of the cuter members of the cast. While she has this charm, she often struggles to be straightforward with what she feels. With her abilities, Maryberry produced a board that has the ability to verbally communicate the user’s thoughts. By using this device, she is shown to often rely on it as her voice.
Maryberry doesn’t really like the idea of opening up to the girls from other groups that joined the forest investigation. This is shown in the moment when one of her groupmates suggest picking straws to decide who handles certain obligations. The shock on her face is very apparent, but regardless she remains reserved and doesn’t voice any strong complaints.
Once these roles are chosen, Maryberry still does her best to contribute. However, what happens in this period of time quickly leads to a catastrophe. While Maryberry was collecting fish with the other students that accompanied her, she ended up tripping and falling over a small cliff. She doesn’t get hurt by the fall, but this situation results in the board that she constantly keeps around her neck sinking to the bottom of the water and being damaged.
Without the board, Maryberry was obviously distressed. The members of her group only grow concerned when they see her in such low spirits. In fact, the very reason behind picking straws was partly because of the fact that her companions want her to make more friends.
While this trip took away her mechanical voice, it’s through a supernatural coincidence that Maryberry may find her own voice. While roaming around one night Maryberry encounters the ghost Garnet, a sight that spooks her so much that she faints on the scene. Rather than leaving her out in the forest, Garnet decides to take Maryberry to her home and care for her.
Garnet herself never brings about any harm to Maryberry, and despite this ghost’s somewhat clingy nature the two of them are able to have a natural conversation. The episode doesn’t provide any specifics on the exchange that happened, but after the other girls of Flora Girls’ Academy realize that Maryberry is okay the ghost provides a hint at one of the things that they talked about.
Garnet tells Maryberry to remember their conversation and to expose her feelings or they’ll never be heard. In this moment she serves as a source of encouragement for Maryberry, showing how their time together could possibly pave the way for Maryberry’s official debut on stage.