“Everyone possesses the courage to choose their own future” -Aladdin
Summary: With Grandma barely hanging on to life, the Kouga clan argues about wether they should remain faithful to their elders peaceful ideals or if they should go seek revenge for what they perceive the Kou empire has done. Much the same argument takes place in the Kou empire’s camp, and Hakuei leaves with Seishun in order to find out the truth of the situation. Ryosai stays behind and reveals that this was all part of his nefarious plot to get rid of Hakuei and assume her role of head of the army. Hakuei and Seishun have a close encounter with the very angry Kouga tribesmen, but Hakuei’s unflinching commitment to peace and some choice words from Grandma, who is using the last of her strength, set everyone back on the path to peace. With her clan’s future secured, Grandma succumbs to her wounds, but before departing from this world, her spirit reminds Aladdin that he will never really be alone, and that he is loved by many, even though he may not know it.
Meanwhile, Hakuei makes her way back to the Kou army camp, only to be met along the way by Ryosai, who plans to kill her and then wipe out the Kouga. Since, as it turns out, Hakuei is a dungeon capturer, she uses her djinn to transform and wrecks all kinds of havock along (Seishun fights as well, using double swords that are imbued with some of Hakuei’s Magoi.) Just when they think they’ve defeated Ryosai, more soliders appear, and they are unable to continue fighting as Hakuei’s Magoi runs out. But before Ryosai can kill Hakuei, Aladdin and Ugo show up, and deliver a much deserved beating. Aladdin then uses his powers to call out Hakuei’s djinn, Paimon (one word: nipples), and learns from her the Hakuei is a “King candidate” as chosen by none other than our shadowy other Magi from episode three. The episode ends with everything being sorted out between the Kouga Clan and the Kou Empire, and Aladdin setting out to find Ali Baba.
Impressions: I don’t know if I should say “pass the tissues” or “hurrah, they kept the nipples!” first. I should probably go with the tissues. Yes, Granny hung on long enough to give us one more episode worth of greatness, but this episode she really did die. A little sad, but a least she left on a better note then getting shot in the back in the middle of a field. She also got a very nice last talk with Aladdin that helped him to understand himself better. Because of his connection to the Rukh as a Magi, he is always surrounded by souls that want to support and help him, so even though she might be leaving him in this world, Granny will always be there for him in the form of Rukh. The scene also serves as a good reminder that just because you might not have known someone as long or as well as others, doesn’t mean that you don’t feel the pain of their departure. Aladdin’s crying face is more than enough proof of that.
Leaving the sad stuff behind, let’s move on to the awesome stuff. And by that I mainly mean Hakuei. Yeah girl, you get those bad guys with your magical girl transformation djinn! Not only did she not even bat an eyelash when the guy from the Kouga Clan sliced her face (and her hair ;_;), she also took out half an army, was dead serious about taking on Ryosai one-on-one (and probably would have won), got cut up, shot full of arrows, and was about to be beheaded and still didn’t want to give up without a fight (no crying or whining her), and to top it all off she looked damn good while doing it. Not to mention the fact that she was cool as a cucumber under pressure, and never backed off of her ideals. It’s easy to see why she would be chosen as a king candidate by Paimon. While she may still lack a little bit of authority, and be a tad naive, Hakuei would in all likelihood make a very good ruler. She understands that ruling takes more than just force, which is something that Ryosai just can’t grasp.
Paimon, the djinn that chose Hakuei, is also revealed after Aladdin uses his powers to manifest her. There was a lot of worrying going around over if they would keep her design the same as in the manga or if they would censor it, and I’m happy to report that, yes, they kept her nipples (and their piercings) intact. It’s actually a pretty ballsy move for a “kids” show. Maybe because their blue they don’t really count? Nips aside, we meet our third djinn, apart from Ugo and Amon, and like Amon, she gives Aladdin a couple of little pieces of the greater puzzle that is what it means to be a Magi.
It’s heavily implied that the king candidate that Aladdin chose is Ali Baba, who (compared to Hakuei) has a little bit more growing to do before he can really be thought of as a good fit for the role. Paimon and Hakuei also inform Aladdin that he isn’t the only Magi in the world, and we see Hakuei’s brother (Hakuryuu) who is training at a palace with none other than our mystery evil-doer from a couple of episodes ago (who they refer to mostly as a “priest”.) With such unique character designs, Hakuryuu and Mister I-wear-crop-tops-and-have-a-long-ass-braid-deal-with-it are guaranteed to show up again, especially with Paimon’s dropped hint that something is wrong with the world. Could those two have a role to play in that?
This episode also gives us a better look at the way Magoi (this worlds magic basically) is used. Magoi is the power that is produced by the Rukh. Everybody has Magoi inside them, but just like with MP in an RPG, you don’t have an unlimited amount. Which is why Hakuei could only use her djinn for so long before her power ran out. This also applies to Seishun’s two swords. Since they’re full of Hakuei’s powers, it also costs her some when Seishun uses them to attack. So there you go, lesson over (for the time being heeheehee…) Next week’s episode is all about Morgianna, and it’s going to be awesome (if it’s anything like the manga), so get excited!
Final Thought: Yeah, Aladdin was kinda badass in this episode, but we already knew he was awesome, so it’s not that big a deal. He and Ugo use some kind of huge attack that blows away half the mountainside and the remaining Kou Empire forces but other than that, Aladdin didn’t really do too much this episode. I felt like a lot more of the focus was on Hakuei but then again, maybe I was distracted by her sparkly hair pieces…