I’ll say it now and i’ll probably say it again, I adore the dynamic that Eiji has with Ash’s gang. I mentioned it in the previous episode in the scene where Eiji wakes Ash up with zero fear when his gang is cowering in the background and it comes up again in this episode when Eiji and Ash get into a fight over Ash’s actions. The reaction of his underlings is like “You fought with boss? You got balls.”, these guys are rightfully terrified of Ash and they just can’t comprehend Eiji who treats Ash like a equal.
It’s not just his dynamic with the gang that’s amazing either, but his dynamic with Ash. How he feels he can be completely honest with him. I can’t speak for the manga, I’ve never read it and honestly until the anime came out i’d never even heard of it but the anime has done a interesting job of keeping their relationship at least at this point in the series very ambiguous. If I did not know the genre was boys love, i’d probably ship it but have my doubts about if it was canon or not.
This episode was a little all over the place in it’s tone, which is about the only bad thing I can say about it. Otherwise, it’s another episode that provides us a slight reprieve from all the deeply emotional content. While it does have some emotional scenes and sets up for what I feel is going to be another couple of heavy episodes coming up. It covers the fight with Eiji and Ash about Ash killing meaninglessly. Which, is really a fight where neither party is wrong.
Ash is wrong in what he’s doing in a sense. In the past, he probably never would of killed people who had thrown down their weapons. Still though, this is war. In siding with Arthur, these other gangs declared war upon Ash. In killing his friends without mercy, they stepped on his toes. That’s the world that Ash lives in and how the world of the underground works. An eye for an eye. It’s wrong and he knows it is, but he’s doing what he feels he needs to to get ahead.
It also covers the meeting between Ash and another one of the gang leaders. One who is basically playing neutral ground in all of this, when he is contacted by Arthur later he reports what Arthur wants back to Ash. All in all, it’s going to come down to a duel between Ash and Arthur, a duel that is clearly a trap. Ash accepts it, even knowing that it’s a trap because in his own words it means that he’ll “Be able to stop killing meaninglessly.”
That’s what’s going to happen next episode. Ash is going in, fully expecting to die with no fear. He has it set up so Eiji can go back to Japan with Ibe, he has it set up with Max that Golzines plot with the American government will most likely come to light even if he dies. He has his affairs in order which is why he can face this duel. Of course, he’s the main character. We know he’s not going to die, if I have to take my guess into what’s going to happen. Sing is going to interrupt the duel and save Ash, if only so he can fight Ash and find out the truth behind Shorter’s death himself.
The best part of this episode hands down though is when Ash comes home to the Halloween party being thrown in his living room. The mass amount of Pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns, Eiji with all of the food he got with the help of the housewives that live in the apartment complex. It’s just adorable, Ash’s reactions and the fun that everyone seems to be having. Even if in a way, it’s Ash’s silent ‘goodbye’ to Eiji when they drink together and talk about the past.
It’s a warm scene and probably the last one we’ll have for a little while.
I’m looking forward to seeing where this is going. I know that Ash won’t die and that Eiji will not head back to Japan next episode, but what’s going to happen? How will these events come to pass? I can’t even begin to venture a guess into the Eiji side of the story and that’s what’s so fun about this anime, well that and the character interactions!