Worlds collide. It is becoming that the 2 finest reveals of the season overlap, with the Ashikaga Clan of Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi make an look in Youko Sengoku. A couple of centuries and extra have handed they usually come out lots higher right here (one in all them anyway). There’s something of a From Yaba–Tengoku Daimakyou dynamic between these two collection, the place one began out as the higher anime, however I at all times felt like the opposite would ultimately surpass it primarily based on the higher manga. Tengoku clung stubbornly, his adaptation was so chic, for the sheer grandeur of BokuYaba’s the fabric from the second season finally prevailed.
Will the identical factor occur right here? I anticipate it would, as a result of as a lot as I like The Elusive Samurai (And Heavenly phantasm) Youko Sengoku is higher. And we’re actually entering into a extremely killer interval, beginning with the Kyoto Arc. And Askikaga Yoshiteru, the man we met briefly on the finish of final week’s episode, is an enormous a part of that. He instantly turns into fascinated with Shinsuke and his group for causes that are not instantly clear. What is What is straight away obvious is that Teru is a little bit of an oddball (and retains attempting to fly like an oddball). He has learn Shinsuke’s letter to Raizou (who was out and about) and has gone into city himself to choose up this crew.
Teru appears most fascinated with Senya, who he can see as somebody who just isn’t comfortable on the planet. Ultimately, he arrives within the morning to choose up the foursome, ordering them to swallow talismans of concealment and comply with him to the dry backyard. There, he asks a rock for passage to the Realm of Darkness, the place they’re met by Hanatora (Itou Shizuka), whom he introduces because the native land god of Kyoto (and with whom he appears to be very pleasant). She thanks Senya for placing down the a part of her that had became a mad god, and asks him to not blame himself for what occurred.
No matter his final aim, Teru takes a eager curiosity in Senya’s existential discomfort with himself. Tsukiko, Nau, and Shinsuke are basically passengers on the journey to the opposite world. Teru and Senya interact in a philosophical debate about many issues, together with the boy’s personal nature. Senya argues that the facility of the World of Darkness ought to by no means be used within the affairs of people, however Teru protests that with or with out these powers, people combat and kill one another—if an arrow pierces your coronary heart, you are useless simply the identical. Senya despairs that he had hoped to shed this energy so he may develop into human, but when battle is human nature, what is the level?
Is there extra to Teru’s curiosity in Senya than simply compassion? Maybe – nevertheless it appears very clear that the compassion he reveals is real. He asks the shirodouji (“pale boy”) when he isn’t the truth is human, when the truth is he appears like one. “I’m a monster,” Senya replies. Nonsense, says the Shogun – you might be only a pale little human with katawara in him. And as if to show Senya’s humanity, Yoshiteru asks Tsukiko into the palace and he or she comes out wearing a ravishing Egyptian gown. As regards to hearts being pierced, it’s clear how Senya feels when he appears at her.
That journey to Kyoto is certainly the happiest we’ve seen Senya (which was undoubtedly Yoshiteru’s intention). In Tsukiko, Shinsuke, and Nau (whose affection for the trio is now unquestioned), Senya has one thing of a household. Tsukiko herself is caught up within the second, thanking Senya for saving her village. When he protests (as at all times) that no, he doesn’t deserve thanks however as a substitute mockery, she insists that he’s a very good boy. “Ii ko, ii ko!” she says firmly. Then she grabs his palms and says, “Iko (Let’s go)!” It’s as Mizukami a scene as they arrive—a mix of deep character dynamics and a dad joke.
Sadly, the magic is shattered when Tsukiko is swept away by one thing else totally (a dragon). Mudou continues to be bent on confrontation, and Tago (together with the daimyo Matsunaga Hisahide) continues to be stirring up bother. Mudou takes Tsukiko to Matsunaga’s villa, the place Tago compliments her wardrobe and Mudou remarks that she reminds him of his older sister. Again in Nijo, Senya rails in opposition to his hated powers, which deliver him into battle, and now he shudders on the considered going through a dragon once more. Teru advises endurance – if it is a combat Mudou desires, he will not simply damage a hostage.
Now, at Senya’s lowest level, Shinsuke lastly reveals the true self he’s been hiding beneath his “senbei” conduct. He has the data to show Senya easy methods to talk with the thousand katawara inside him. Hanatora even reveals that he goes to the spirit realm day by day to coach together with his sword, with out telling anybody. And he advises Senya that whereas he strives to power his katawara to comply with him, the really highly effective spirit warriors are those that develop belief with their katawara (it’s not onerous to think about who he has in thoughts). Senya curses his nature, Shinsuke his weak point—however they want one another, and now Shinsuke is the one who can assist the boy see the trail to his future open earlier than him.
