This episode was amazing and sad and I wish it wasn’t the second last one. Reo and Mabu almost had me tearing up this episode. I knew it was unlikely, but I was hoping they might get a happy ending. Although I guess for Mabu, it was as happy of an ending as he had ever wanted. I barely noticed him for most of the series and then he goes and breaks my heart in the space of ten minutes. Who gave him the right? And the shirikodama extraction scene was strangely touching, given that it was probably the most tender moment Reo and Mabu have had in the series (excluding the manga). Poor Reo, though. He deserved better, I thought. Okay, he might have been a homicidal maniac, but you k
now. He’s a wildcard. You need a wildcard. Fuck otters, man. Next time I see an otter I’m going to tell it what for. This sort of behaviour just isn’t on.
In hindsight, Reo and Mabu being former vassals of the Kappa Kingdom makes a lot of sense, but it was still a hell of a twist. I’m curious to know whether they had always been affiliated with the Kappa Kingdom, or if they fell into it as Kazuki, Enta, and Toi did. I’m leaning towards the latter since their kappa forms resemble the main trio’s, but I suppose the differing appearances could also be down to the fact that Sara and Keppi are both members of the royal house. I don’t know why I care so much about the kappa lore but I do. All glory to the Kappa Kingdom.
Enta and Kazuki’s plotline had a lot of parallels to Reo and Mabu’s: the light to their dark (I think episode 9 was also getting at this). While Reo and Mabu are both consumed and eventually destroyed by their willingness to sever connections to fulfill their desires, which is a running theme throughout the series in general – take, for example, Toi’s brother’s death last episode, which really only occurred because he’d let his lesser desires take control until they came back to bite him. This episode, Enta has the chance to go down the same path as Reo and Mabu, but he chooses his connections over his desires. I think this shows a lot of personal growth from earlier on in the series, and I’ve grown really fond of Enta and Kazuki’s relationship over the last few episodes.
Toi’s dramatic entrance at the end wasn’t entirely unexpected (as soon as Reo turned on the boys I knew Toi was going to show up and put him out of his misery), b
ut I’m very interested to see where they take it next episode. He seems so hopeless that I’m really not even sure whether he’ll survive to the end: is he capable of resisting his overwhelming desires? I think it’s a toss-up; he has been portrayed as a “dark” counterpart to Enta, which makes me wonder if Enta’s success and subsequent survival this episode guarantees Toi’s failure and subsequent death next episode. Or maybe they’ll all work everything out and become polyamorous or something. Regardless, there is an awful lot to cover for just one more episode. I really hope it doesn’t feel rushed because the pacing up to this point has been one of the great strengths of the show in my opinion.