This week’s episode was much slower than the last few, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t anymore important lore drops!
Let’s start with southeastern Hachiyo, Zakuro of Daikokushi Confections! Back in episode 5, we had been briefly and indirectly introduced Zakuro, where we learned that among all the Hachiyo, they are Odanna’s biggest threat due to their hatred towards Ogre-Devils. Now thanks to Hatori who popped by while in town, we learned that Zakuro had actually once worked at Tenjin-ya in the distant past, and in-fact the tea-house Aoi took over was in-fact originally hers! And perhaps the wildest thing– there were rumours at one point that her and Odanna were set to be engaged! (I highly doubt it, but you know how gossip goes~, but I digress.) Prior to working at Tenjin-ya, she worked as Imperial Confectioner, but she not only left the job because she was sick of the posh confections, but also renounced her status to run a teahouse with Tenjin-ya. It was said she loved working at Tenjin-ya deeply, and even their customers would praise her confections for giving them good dreams. But eventually she left Tenjin-ya, claiming that she wanted to pursue her ideal confections. However what shocked everyone was the fact she chose to resume working as a Imperial Confectioner, built up her status and became a Hachiyo, her confections turned into the thing she loathed that emphasized tradition, and worst of all, her attitude towards Tenjin-ya turned into scorn, and refuses to do any business with them.
Whether that has anything to do with her discovering Odanna’s true form, that is up in the air. Zakuro specifically aside, the bean-washing ayakashi harbour deep hatred for Ogre-Devils because their kind had been among many of the ayakashi that had been eaten by them. For that reason, despite their history of once working together, Zakuro and most certainly Daikokushi Confections are not their allies in this situation.
Unfortunately time is working against them, and Odanna’s true identity is about to be made public. This will not only cause tremendous problems for him, but it will also drag down Tenjin-ya’s reputation. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the Ministers of the Left’s and Right’s faction are set to make their moves, and this can potentially lead to a fight that’s throw the Hidden Realm into an upheaval. So now it appears this is more of a race against time not to really persuade them to change their mind right away, but to potentially buy more time to not only protect the Hachiyo system, but also to put together Odanna’s defence as to why he should be left alone. Otherwise if things really do escalate to the point shit hits the fan, then that’ll be quite a turning point in this series in terms of actual drama considering how chill the first season was, for most part anyways.
And it’s quickly becoming more and more apparent that they are losing grounds. As it stands, it appears the King has lost trust in Nuinion and Ritsuko, so poor Takechiyo was forcibly removed from Nuinoin’s and Ritsuko’s care and dragged back to the palace. And when Aoi and Sasuke finds him, much to their horror, he seems to either have shut-down entirely (which would be a natural response given his abandonment issues), or someone may have potentially bewitched him and appears to have lost his own autonomy in order to keep him cooperative. So Aoi delivering those macarons she made for him is more important than ever!
And because things are going south so fast, this is also why despite Sasuke’s protests and valid concerns, Byakuya’s willing to act more recklessly than usual. He’s determined to confront the King as soon as possible to get to the bottom of what’s leading him astray and fulfill his role as a hakutaku. Needless to say, the present development doesn’t bode well for Byakuya either. For all we know, he may be the next one to be cast into prison unless he’s strong enough (and he probably is) to avoid such. In-fact it’s very likely that Byakuya and Sasuke will have to consume them too, as she left two extra she had brought along with her in case they need a boost of power to get out of a sticky situation. Otherwise, perhaps Byakuya will attempt to have the King eat the macaron instead in attempt to clear his head of the manipulation he’s being subjected to.
But man, I said it last week and I’ll say it again: It’s really rich to hear how Raiju’s supposedly the one behind the “script” (as Nuinoin puts it) of orchestrating throwing the Hidden Realm into chaos and ruin for the shits and giggles. The abolition of the Hachiyo system would result throwing the Hidden Realm into destruction and disarray. After-all, all the power and wealth going straight the nobles and the ayakashi King would not be taken well by the ayakashi of these regions. While it may not be one for one comparison to what had happened a thousand years ago during the ancient violent times when Ogre-Devils ran amok, this certainly does feel like it’s drawing some parallels.
So here’s a crazy theory that’ll probably go nowhere: What if Raiju isn’t really what we think he is? Considering his wicked personality and cruel heart, what if he were to be an Ogre-Devil who disguised himself as what he is now? Or, given his cowardice towards Byakuya: What if it’s not actually Raiju who’s “scripting” these events, but instead is someone above him giving him the directions under the promise it’ll keep him entertained? I’m very curious as to how he came to discover Odanna’s closely-guarded secret. Was it when Odanna threatened to devour every fibre of Raiju’s being after the ceremony? That’s the only thing I can think of off the top of my head at the moment.
Needless to say, the whole script of throwing the Hidden Realm into chaos leads me to another curious point, and I do wonder if there’s a correlation to this: Byakuya described Odanna as someone who has the potential to be King. And bearing that in mind, it is rather mysterious that someone like Odanna (from what we know of so far) who possesses the qualities of a pure heart, and his awakening leading to the hellish lands flourishing into something beautiful and inhabitable after being released from the seal. I’m ever so curious about the true depth of Odanna’s backstory! Could there be more going on than meets the eye?
Okay I’ll shut up now with the speculations– though I really can’t help myself, I’m so curious! Even if I end up completely off the mark, I don’t mind because in the end, it’s still fun to imagine the various possibilities this could branch out to, ahahaha!
All of that development stuff aside, there was an unexpected reveal about the graveyard Aoi was led to this week! It actually belongs to Byakuya, and there lies in rest in his late wife Suzume. She was a sickly Human, which sadly meant her life was a short one. It honestly doesn’t surprise me to hear Byakuya is the devoted lover sort, to the point he remains loyal to her as he will never take another wife. It’s actually quite endearing to see how much he cared about her. The two of them had been married before Tenjin-ya was established, and it was only after she had passed on that Odanna had extended the offer to work with them instead.
But truth to be told, I felt they didn’t do a very good job with how they plugged in the lore about the grave. It all happened very abruptly, and the way it was arranged just came off as super clunky. It literally went from ‘Takechiyo’s been taken away!’ to Byakuya visiting Suzume’s grave, and a super quick montage of him continuing to be loyal and holding their memories dear to his heart, then suddenly back to Nuinoin, Ritsuko and Aoi, where THEN they conveniently mention who the grave belonged to. It felt like a total whiplash. But given the tight time constraint, I’m inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt that this part of the story was (hopefully) led up to and presented better than it was here. It’s all the more reason why I’m reallllllly hoping we’ll get an announcement for the novels being localized when this is over! I know there’s bound to be countless things that’s been left out that would help flesh things out further!
With that all said and done, unless Aoi can stealthily sneak back out of the palace, I can only imagine things may get potentially lively next week! After-all, Aoi’s not one to turn a blind eye to those in need, especially those who are suffering of hunger and feeling abandoned!