Subculture Anime Blog

Kanmuri

Summary:

Juna, Fuu, and Kikyou gather around a tree somewhere in Kamitsumihara. It has been a long time since they met, but Kikyou informs them that Sei has been captured.

Momoka is tied up in a cave, being held by someone that calls himself Mihashi. Despite her struggle, he puts a crown on Momo’s head, changing her to Sei.

Back at the house, Touka is giving Yumiko a massage. While she watches, Makoto is imagining doing the same thing to Momoka. However, they are interrupted when Nene calls Touka out for a bit. Makoto goes to Haruhiko, asking to let her give him a massage as practice for Momoka. He declines because he has training to do. Upon looking at Haruhiko’s shirtless back, Makoto sees a large scar, but he tells her not to worry about it. As Haruhiko walks out of the room, he thinks to himself that he can’t even remember where the wound came from, but he sees a vision of the small girl.

The crown seems to make Sei follow Mihashi’s orders. Kikyou discusses with Fuu and Juna about Mihashi being the last Shikigami. Touka wonders where Nene is leading him off to, as she tells him to leave it to fate. Upon mentioning Momoka, Nene tells Touka that he is probably the only one that can save her.

Juna, Fuu, Kikyou, and Touka can feel Sei’s pain inside of them. As Touka walks along a path, he is engulfed in darkness, and falls. He finds himself underground, and the sword comes out of his body. Mihashi teleports Sei out. Juna mentions that there is a nostalgic feeling about the situation. Makoto is in the bath, when Kikyou contacts her telepathically about the situation. Touka tries to contact Momoka, but Mihashi deceives him by putting words in her mouth. Makoto begins playing the flute in the bath, as the water starts to swirl around her. Mihashi is walking with Sei outside telling her to kill Touka after getting the sword. However, she stops after he talks about getting married afterwards. A light emits from Makoto’s direction combining with the one Sei is creating, and the small girl appears.

Haruhiko is walking along a path, as he comes across the small girl. The triplets appear as well. Kikyou tells Juna and Fuu that Touka may be at his limit. Touka sees visions of Isabahiko again, as he holds the sword. Makoto loses her energy and passes out in the bath. Nene is there for her, praising her for her good work. Kikyou, Juna, and Fuu think that Touka may share the same fate as Isabahiko with the sword. Elsewhere, the small girl notices that the sword has appeared. She wants it, but the triplets tell her that her orders will not work because she is no longer Juna’s child. She begins to cry, as they fly away. The girl slips and falls, but Haruhiko saves her.

Momoka cannot move as she says Touka’s name, so Mihashi transports her again. Haruhiko notices that he and the girl where at the same place a long time ago. She wants Haruhiko to embrace her, and they do. Although she could not get the sword, she says she is satisfied with this. She begins to glow, and disappears into the sky. Nene, who has walked outside, tells Haruhiko that, although he has forgotten, that girl was Yumiko’s child. Haruhiko remembers things from the past as he sheds tears.

Touka has finally come to Mihashi and Sei. Sei steps in front of Mihashi, but when Touka strikes he only breaks the crown. With this, Momoka reverts to normal. They show Shouko driving off a cliff, as Touka slices Mihashi in half. Afterwards, Momoka embraces Touka and the sword returns to his body. He suggests that they go home. Kikyou tells the same to Juna and Fuu, telling them that it is over. In other places, Shouko is panicking about her now burning car, and a masked person disintegrates into dust.

Preview: Hotoke

Impression:

This episode didn’t really get us anywhere in my opinion, though it was till awesome. We do find out how everyone is connected telepathically, and more about the small girl. Mihashi was more like an annoying villian. He really didn’t have too much of a role, although he may be connected with the masked man that we see at the end of the episode, in the flashbacks, and in the next episode preview. As always, Nene seems to know everything that is going on, while seemingly not directly connected to anything.

After watching through the first four episodes, and looking through some posts in the animesuki forums (thanks for the referal guys!), I think they really will be showing the entire series backwards. After analyzing the episodes, it makes perfect sense. Things are revealing themselves in reverse order, and episode one was a perfect ending to the series. I did some research on the actual game, and I think the majority of the series will be based on the timeframe where Touka and Momoka are attending the school in Kamitsumihara. The “ending” of the series will probably take place in the 2000 years before present era. Like a lot of people said, this is actually an awsome idea. If it really does turn out this way (and I now hope that it really does) it will be very interesting to watch the series chronologically to compare and fill in the gaps.

This show once again keeps its place as my favorite show for the new season. It makes you think. People just can’t get past the “OMG 2 GURLS KISSED” or “OMG HE JUST HAD SEX WITH HIS MOM”. There has been some debate over the number of episodes, but I’m pretty sure it will end with 13. 24 or 26 just seems unrealistic for this kind of series. So yea, the only downside to this series is how late it comes out. I can never manage to write up a post on the day it comes out. Because of my time zone and school, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to write this post. However, I’ll gladly lose sleep to serve the anime blogging community! Haha~ ^.