Meiji Tokyo Renka Episode 3

Looks like Meiji Tokyo Renka has finally found its stride because this episode was hysterical. It was great seeing Mei’s character break out of her shell. Ever since she has made her resolve, it pleases me to see her embrace her unique abilities to the fullest. Syunso’s character also grew on me quite a bit. Even though he’s a quiet guy, goodness, he is a precious boy. It was so sweet how when Mei sat on the floor instead of the couch, he joined her, and then when she fell asleep he put her on the couch and let her sleep on his shoulder.

The event today was simple and sweet between Koizumi and his childhood ghost friend Jane. When Koizumi was young, he was able to see spirits, and befriended a ghost named Jane. She always played with him and took care of him when he was sad and lonely. In more ways than one, she was like the older sister he never had. However one day, when Jane revealed she had no face, it spooked Koizumi and feeling embarrassed about it, she disappeared. Not long after he was involved in an accident result losing one of his eyes, and hadn’t been able to see spirits ever since. The shame and guilt he felt plagued continued to play him until this day, when he finally sought out help from a Tamayori to help him apologize and appease what he had misunderstood to be Jane’s anger.

Although it was a simple and sweet story, I loved it a lot and even felt emotional about it because of the bond the two shared. It was the perfect task for Mei to take, with her eagerness to get involved at the moment the opportunity was dumped onto her by Kyouka who was previously being sought out by Koizumi.

As I suspected, the quest of locating the Black Cat is going to take at least a couple of episodes, if not the entire series, and will have to be done at night since that’s apparently the only time the spirits will appear. Mei quickly learned this when Syunso explained it to her, and understood that when she noticed the white rabbit that is usually seen perched to Kyouka’s shoulder was absent. This was also the moment Kyouka acknowledged that she was in fact a Tamayori like himself, which is why (adorably) he capitalized on the opportunity to use her to get Koizumi  to leave him alone.

What’s also interesting was how Fujita, the one who is always going around and about on patrol and chasing spirits to slay seems to only be able to see them through the sword he wields. But I’m not entirely sure if that’s really the case since Mei taking his hands to lift the blade so he could see Jane crying was simply a symbolic way to present the scene.

Another curious discovery that was made today was how the red moon had supposedly “empowered” the spirits. When Jane felt the power surge through her, she thought this would allow her to communicate with Koizumi, but unfortunately it went out of control and not only gave him the wrong impression, but put him in danger instead. This makes me wonder more about the kind of effect the red moon has on the spirits, and how Mei can help them “subdue” their power. While Jane claims Mei was able to do such a thing, it was terribly vague, so I’m left to assume Jane was likely referring to Mei releasing her from her distress of being unable to reach out to Koizumi by serving as someone to help communicate with each other.

I also appreciated how Syunso asked Mei about how she felt about about Ougai referring her as his fiancee. While I’m glad he brought it up, her response was… surprising to say the least. I thought she would at least be a bit frustrated about it, but nah, apparently she really likes it, haha! However we later learned through Koizumi that Ougai (probably) established that as a means to protect her, so people know she shouldn’t be trifled with. Needless to say though, Ougai’s undeniably strong attachment to her certainly raises a lot of questions. In the matter of fact, as someone who had suggested she look for Syunso’s missing cat, I was surprised how Ougai had actually tried to refuse the job offer in her place, claiming it was too dangerous. Luckily for us, since Mei has made her resolve to make the most of her time in this era, she eagerly accepted the opportunity to prove her worth as a Tamayori.

It also puzzled me to see him trembling when he embraced her, wishing he had been there sooner to protect her (not that she needed much protection in the first place). Of course the meaning behind his action was kind of watered down when he rushed over to Syunso and hugged him too, but it’s something I will definitely be keeping in the back of my mind as the series progresses.