What a rollercoaster of an episode!!
Before I dig deeper into this episode, I have some assorted thoughts I wanted to share. I usually think of these things after I post a review and before the next new episode airs, and then I’m not sure how to compile them. <_<;
First off, Kaizoku Oujo does a great job with capturing small details. What do I mean? Well, Fena’s short hair has grown out a little by the time the group reaches Orleans in France, showing that some amount of time is passing as she and the samurai travel together. I actually like Fena’s short hair more now that it’s a little longer, to be honest. Oh, another example is Yukimaru being unable to hide his feelings about Fena from Shitan because he couldn’t completely hide his embarrassment. He could keep the blush off his cheeks, but his ears were a dead giveaway! [ evil giggle ] (THAT SCENE OMGGG)
SPEAKING OF WHICH. In re-watching episode three to clarify a couple of things for this post, I noticed that during the scene where Fena touches Yukimaru’s hand ever so briefly because he’s hurt and she wants to help him, Yukimaru instantly zips a short distance away at her touch… and his ears are blushing then too! I noticed this at the time when I first watched the episode but didn’t pick up on what it meant. Now I understand the context. ;D See, minor details!
Second, while I don’t yet know the names of the themes, the music used in the back half of the episode was [ chef’s kiss ] In particular, the melodies that stuck out to me were the “dew drops” that played as Fena was possessed and then unlocked the hidden door in the mine, the quiet theme that played as Fena stood in Joan of Arc’s tomb and read her grave marker, and the theme that played as the pirates held Fena captive in front of the samurai. The latter is a beautiful use of strings, if you ask me.
I like the idea of the pirates hired by Abel being almost entirely female. Well, I guess this updated group is actually all-female since the male members of the group were killed by the twins and Yukimaru back in episode three. Having female antagonists is a nice twist on having a series’ villain(s) being stereotypically male. (Yes Kaizoku Oujo technically still falls victim to this stereotype because Abel’s a man, but you get what I mean. I’ll take having the lesser baddies be female.)
I still am not sure who the traitor is though, the unknown person providing Fena’s location to Abel and the pirates. Is it the blonde beauty from the previous episode, Arya? Is it Yukihisa’s nephew and Yukimaru’s rolemodel, Kei? Wait a minute – could it even be Yukihisa himself?! I have the feeling that if I knew why Abel was chasing after Fena then I might have some clues as to who the traitor is. Sighhhh, so many questions!! /pout
Ok that’s enough randomness from me for now. Onto the episode. ^_^v
Yukihisa’s conversation with his nephew Kei at the beginning of the episode gives me a few things to think about. Kei is very skeptical of his brother Shitan and thinks he has attachment issues with other people. Given Shitan’s rather reserved nature, I’m assuming that Kei thinks his brother has difficulty getting close to other people. Yukihisa sees Shitan’s reservedness as a positive; he thinks it will keep Shitan from falling under Fena’s spell. (Also, note that he calls Fena a witch. At least, I’m guessing that he’s referring to Fena. What does Yukihisa know that he’s not sharing with the samurai?)
Kei postulates that Yukimaru is already “under the witch’s spell,” but we the viewers know that he is because he loves Fena, not because of the use of magic. (I hope!)
We also get some details about Fena’s and Yukimaru’s past via this conversation between Kei and Yukihisa. The old man reminisces that Kei saved Yukimaru’s life (thus allowing him to save Fena’s life) on the night that the Hope sank. As a result, Yukimaru looks up to Kei like an older brother and even went so far as to train in swordplay like Kei had. Perhaps we’re going to get a swordfight between Kei and Yukimaru at the end of the series??
Expanding on the concept of “attachment issues,” there are several relationships in Kaizoku Oujo that either conflict with or complement each other and I’m curious as to how they’re going to play out. One such example is how Yukimaru is willing to protect Fena with his life, but he also greatly looks up to Kei. If there has to come a point where Yukimaru will choose between the two of them, who will he pick? (I think the answer is pretty obvious but I’m posing the question for hypothetical purposes.) As for Shitan, he’s usually pretty quiet and his brother Kei thinks he isn’t close with anyone. Yet we know Shitan’s also devoted to protecting Fena and out of all the other samurai, he looks up to Yukimaru the most. If Shitan had to pick between saving Fena or Yukimaru, who would he pick? If Shitan’s brother Kei turns out to be a traitor, could he turn against his own flesh and blood?
Also, in episode three when the twins were fighting the pirates, one of the twins joked to the blonde pirate Mary that they should go get a meal together sometime. And in this episode as the pirates were leaving with Fena as their hostage, Mary was definitely having some difficulty leaving her crush behind. Is this hinting that perhaps later in the series, Mary will turn against her fellow pirates and instead help the samurai?
A theme throughout this episode seems to be that Fena gets these “gut instincts” about where their group should go to investigate the stone, and then her guesses are usually correct. She was right about Libar-Oberstein being important and now she wants to go to Orleans because of the map she got from the Burgermeister. Fena has no faith in herself, but thankfully the samurai seem to place a lot of trust in her “random” instincts.
Yukihisa called Fena a witch and maybe this is because Fena is supposed to have some kind of latent psychic or otherwise supernatural abilities? Maybe it’s these latent instincts that allow Fena to be “possessed” by Joan of Arc’s spirit in the mine?
The episode ends with the pirates setting off some explosives and trapping six of the samurai in the abandoned mine. Tsubaki was the one left behind to guard the ship, so theoretically if he can find his way into the mine and bring some tools, maybe he could dig the others out. Or perhaps he can help them find an alternative exit? There are seven episodes left so we know the samurai must escape; the only question will be how.
If nothing else, Yukimaru and the other samurai have some time to examine the weird fixture in the center of the cave. Well, more the ability to examine it rather than the spare time. ^^;; Obviously they’ll be wanting to chase after Fena and the pirates as soon as possible.
I’m personally curious about what the writing around the centerpiece stone means, plus the hieroglyphics on the outside wall back where the hidden door was. Are they the same language or different languages?
Ughhh what do you mean I have to wait another week already??
MORE KAIZOKU OUJO PLEASE!! [ *bounces off the walls impatiently* ]
