It’s finally time for Yuzu to meet Reiya’s parents! And as expected, it went smoothly for as one could expect, but it was nice to see Senya and Sara actually act like adults for an exchange. Their gooey way of clinging onto Reiya and dotting on him had always put me off due to how cringe it was. I can understand why Reiya can’t help but wonder if he had been adopted with just how different he is from his parents. They really are… uh… a unique duo. It was funny and understandable though that even Yuzu wasn’t fully convinced they were his parents, probably due to how youthful they look and behaved. After-all, you could easily mistaken them as Reiya’s younger siblings.
It was also good to see Senya in particular (whom Reiya had described as someone not to be judged based on his aloof cover) cast in more serious light when it comes to exercising their authority. Sicne Senya is still the head of the family, he was the one who lead Yuzu inside the banquet halls and introduce her to others. The reason was to send a simple message: ‘This is my daughter-in-law. Mess with her, and you’ll deal with me.’ It’s the best way to protect her and keep the demons in-check.
Speaking of power of authority, the one that tails right behind Senya is actually Nadeshiko of the Kogetsu Fox Clan. She’s also much older than him, but you’d never guess that much with how long it takes for Demons to show any age of seniority. She has introduced herself to Yuzu to formally asking for forgiveness for (Youta’s) hurting her. Yuzu forgave her immediately, and this did earn favour in Nadeshiko’s eyes, as she has recognized Yuzu’s a good-natured girl, and identified how selfish Karin is. Frankly given how the entire clans looks at Karin with contempt, Nadeshiko is probably looking for any opportunity to get rid of her for good (and really, for the benefit and safety of their clan). She was not wrong to liken the whole ‘demon bride’ thing to be sometimes akin to a curse.
Which finally brings us to Karin and Yuzu’s confrontation. Reiya told Yuzu it was because the Kogetsu family are second in power, so it’s not out of place for them to bring their bride. But truthfully I’m not buying it given Youta and Karin were notably absent from it last week, and took advantage of the fact Reiya wasn’t going to be around to protect Yuzu to strike. It feels more like an excuse to cover up the real reason why Karin’s here, and that for her behaviour and Youta’s being tested on whether he can stop her from messing with Yuzu. Still, that’s not really great for Reiya if that’s the case, since he’s technically lying, but at the same time he can’t really reveal to Yuzu that this is a judgment trial. The whole point of this is to put Karin to the test on whether she can get her act together, and whether Youta has any hopes of actually keeping his bride in check, and refuse her orders.
So I’m sure it was certainly no accident that Reiya did not send the little retainers with Yuzu when she said she’ll go to the washroom on her own. (I mean, they could’ve been posted outside of it for privacy’s sake after-all). While Takamichi had discouraged it, I still wouldn’t be surprised if one of her hair assortments was fixed with a mic. And I’m sure Reiya will be flying in to rescue Yuzu from the fall because of it, unless he just so happens to decide to go and check-up on her and happens to walk in the moment she’s been shoved down the stairs. I think I’d be more surprised if nobody catches Yuzu and she ends up taking that fall.
Unfortunately for Youta, they were doomed to fail this test because the world revolves around Karin. She’s never in the wrong, if it’s anyone fault, it’s not for her own actions but instead she projects it onto others. She straight up viciously attacked Yuzu, not only drawing blood (which forced Yuzu to strike back out of self defence), but now Karin’s just straight up trying to murder her!
Good grief! There’s no hope for this psycho-bitch, and there’s certainly no room to be lenient with the consequences for her action. Yes, Youta will suffer being separated from her, but he’ll be far better off without her. Karin only cares to use and exploit him for his power and influence. Love? Ha! Karin most certainly does not genuinely love him. She loves the wealth and power that his family holds. If this girl truly loved him, she’d be heeding the warnings and putting their love first above her own ego.
For that reason, in more ways than one, Karin is as much of a greedy goblin as her parents are. She’s been spoiled rotten, she’s been dotted on to believe the world revolves around her, she’s always been told she’s ‘better than’ Yuzu, and looks at Yuzu not as a sister that she is, but an eyesore that is “unloved and can’t be loved” by anyone. It’s truly appalling the amount of shit that comes out of this girl’s mouth. Credit to Yuzu to counter back by saying she doesn’t care about that anymore, she has put that behind her. She has long accepted that her biological family has and will never treat her as one of their own.
Speaking of which, I do hope that she doesn’t turn around and ask for her parents to be spared/safely escorted out of the woods. In-fact I was kind of irritated when Senya even mentioned that in front of her when his aid told him that they were lurking around. Needless to say, it’s truly mind-blowing just how delusional her biological parents are. They are readily convinced that Yuzu will forgive them, the Kiryuin will give them financial support to riches after they had just been cut off by the Kogetsu for stirring up problems with the very Kiryuin family they are trying to curry favour with. They deserve to be lost in those woods, because I don’t know what else it’s going to take to get it through their thick skulls that they are forbidden from ever making contact with Yuzu again.
All things considered, I think it would be probably fair to say this was the most solid episode to date. Notably this was the first episode where Reiya and Yuzu were actually together for the vast majority of it, which was very nice to see. We’re finally seeing them actually have conversations and be together! So once this mess is resolved, here’s to hoping we get see Reiya and Yuzu go on at least ONE DATE before this ends!
