DAMN THEY REALLY ENDED THE EPISODE LIKE THAT!!!!
For once it does look like the stakes are higher for an exchange. Kasuga got shot while covering for Kiyo, and now she’s in critical condition because she’s been hit by a poisoned bullet. So Oryo, Ginji and Aoi need to find this special Rikodake mushroom in order to make an antidote for her. But they only got three days do so.
However what complicated things further and makes it the whole search process even more dangerous is that while Oryo who’s wandering on her own in search for it after-dark, Ginji and Aoi gotten ambushed by Ice Wolves bandits at their base camp in the village. Now we have Ginji severely wounded by the Ice Wolves while trying to protect Aoi, and in desperate attempt to save him, Aoi (who was also bitten) decides to make herself the bait in attempt to divert the wolves’ attention. It’s a very reckless decision since it doesn’t help that she has found herself in a very precarious spot on the edge of a cliff to be fending herself with only a knife in hand. Good luck Aoi.
But on the bright-side, this does present an opportunity. Hey Odanna, maaaaybbbbeeee now would be a great time to show up? He’s been absent for like, seven episodes now if we exclude flashbacks and Odanna’s calling out to Aoi. She got that necklace on her still— surely… he’d show up right? Please show up, I’m begging you.
…Wait hold up— Would it be too crazy to think there’s a possibility of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast parallel with rescue from the wolves?
I would actually scream if that were to happen!
Needless to say, it was a pretty ballsy move on Aoi’s part to make the decision to run and face the wolves herself despite the fact even Ginji was having trouble dealing with the Ice Wolves. (Honestly I thought Ginji was stronger than this, but I digress…) These guys are basically akin to the evil ogre subspecies due to the fact they too hunt ayakashi and humans alike. Perhaps not as powerful, but they are certainly proving to be dangerous enough to be a legitimate and lethal threat compared to those Ice Sky Pirates. It a lot explains a lot more why Oryo’s village was eventually abandoned if it found itself a target. No point in living in there when there’s a hostile species out for blood.
Though this goes to show that it’s really not safe for any of them to be left to their own devices for that matter. Oryo is probably fine because she knows this place like the back of her hand, but Ginji and Aoi were just simply out of luck in this case. Though it was a bit surprising to see nobody (including Kiyo and Oryo) thought to mention the presence of the Ice Wolves in the Northern Lands. They went on about Ice Pirates, but clearly those guys pale in comparison to the kind of threat the Ice Wolves presents.
Anyways, this was an okay episode. I found the first half to be the weakest. We’re seeing Kiyo being very wishy-washy with Kasuga, which isn’t really fair to her. He’s the one making all the presumptions about what he thinks is best for her without actually consulting her about it. Ranmaru is right about his biggest weakness is that he really is a coward. Unless he gets his shit together, he really isn’t suitable to be a Hachiyo. The responsibility they must shoulder and the amount of enemies that are constantly vying for their head to obtain the position is seemingly endless. And what better target for such than a newly promoted Hachiyo who seems to have no confidence in his own abilities to lead and trust those around him?
But that’s also why Kasuga is trying so hard to support him. She knows this and she’s trying to be his pillar of support that he can lean on. She knows his dreams and the inspiration he drew during their runaway trip to the Apparent Realm. But it seemed as though she was the only one who remembered and held them dear in her heart. That’s why she was so upset when she overheard how Kiyo planned to send her back to Tenjin-ya, where he believed she’d be safer and happier. (Worth noting though, Kasuga cannot return to the Land of Literature because she had been banished after the incident of taking Kiyo to the Apparent Realm). Heck, she had even told Ranmaru that she’d be willing to go as far to elope with Kiyo if he really isn’t suitable to be Hachiyo!
Unfortunately it took Aoi accidentally spilling the beans in the heat of the moment, revealing to Kiyo that he’s Kasuga’s first love. The guy wasn’t expecting it, but it did end up serving as an important wake-up call to smack some sense into him. Though I will say, the scene had me laughing quite hard at Aoi’s spectacular blunder because of everyone’s reaction to it. Aoi knew she fucked up, Kiyo was completely flustered and then you have the others who just like, oh my god why would you do that?!
Well, at least the blunder did help get the much needed communication going between Kiyo and Kasuga, because that guy was not budging the slightest when Kasuga tried to get conversations going.
Naturally compared to the boring first half of the episode, the second half was better because the stakes were higher and it felt like things are finally going to start moving along again. Ever since they’ve arrived in the Northern Lands, it’s been quite feeling quite stagnant. So this is welcomed development. I just hope that next week doesn’t resolve this cliffhanger in a anticlimactic way. This is one thing that this series as repeatedly done in high stakes situations. I know it’s supposed to be a more comfy story, but if you’re going to set things up like this at least make it have a satisfying payoff. So fingers-crossed we get something good out of this. Needless to say, I should temper my expectations. As much as I would like Odanna to show up now, I probably shouldn’t hold my breath for it. Just at the very least, if it’s not Odanna, resolve this cliffhanger appropriately, that’s all I ask for.
