Subculture Anime Blog

The Momoka goes……..wan wan!

Summary:

Yumiko is walking in a peach garden with the young purple haired girl, Touka. She picks a peach to show her, but finds that she has disappeared shortly afterwards. Yumiko wakes abruptly from this dream to find Touka next to her in bed. She describes the dream she had to him, as they embrace each other. The next morning, the butterfly triplets enjoy eating peaches. As they suggest that they would like more, one of the sisters comes up with an idea. Momoka finds Touka outside while he is looking through a cookbook, and suggests that they go to get peaches with everyone. The regular group approaches the butterfly triplets afterwards, and upon asking about the condition for picking peaches for themselves, they find that they must pick a large amount for the triplets as well. After exiting the elevator to their destination, the group finds themselves in a very large peach garden. Momoka starts munching on a peach right away, but when Touka tries to pick one, he finds that the peach breaks in his hands. He tries to pick another one more gently after Momoka’s advice, but a dark aura surrounds the peach which makes him throw it away in pain. When Momoka asks Touka if he hates peaches, he declines and tells her that he has been to a peach garden before. However, this makes him wonder when that was. Later, Makoto panics at the sight of a very large peach floating down the stream. She gathers the rest of the group to help her, but Touka stays where he is because he is tired. Sensing something, he makes his way to a small building where he finds the triplets waiting. The triplets express that they expected him because of his being the stone sword. They comment that he is the same as them, but find that he won’t accept a statement like that. Touka tries to leave, but he finds himself trapped as the world shifts.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group gets ready to cut open the giant peach. Yumiko screams after Haruhiko slices though it, but it is only a coincidence. The triplets talk about Touka, a different Touka from the one standing in the room with them. They then tell Touka that they need his power, through the stone sword. When Touka asks them where it is, they tell him that it is inside his body. Touka is confused by this, but he looks down to find the sword piercing through him. Outside, the group searches for Touka. Haruhiko sees the image of the small girl behind a tree, and feels a slash on his back after remembering who she is. Elsewhere, the triplets make Touka realize that he isn’t bleeding. They tell him that he was created a long time ago, and that the stone sword is not something meant to hurt him. THe stone sword starts glowing after he realizes this, and he then finds himself outside in the peach garden. He sees the image of Yumiko calling out to him, but he is stopped by the small girl when he tries to approach her. She tells Touka that he is only a replacement for her, and won’t give him the stone sword or Haruhiko. She then forces a peach into Touka’s chest, which causes him a great deal of pain. He sees the image of Yumiko finding the young girl before passing out, only to find Momoka in front of him when he opens his eyes. As everyone returns home, Kikyou discovers that Touka has realized that he is not human. That night while he is with Yumiko, Touka asks if he was born from her. Yumiko tells him that he was born from a big peach, before assuring him that he is her child. She then suggests that he can enter her again if he would like.

Impression:

Last week I assumed that this was going to be a Momoka centric episode but I was wrong. The title “momo” was referring to actual peaches. However, the episode did explain a bit more about Touka’s existence as I suspected. I think I remember doubting that the young girl was actually Touka, but it looks like I was wrong. It is confirmed that Touka’s existence is that of a doll, just like the butterfly triplets. He was created as a replacement for Yumiko’s child, also known as Touka. Yumiko seemingly joked about Touka’s being born from a large peach, but I think it is safe to assume that it is actually true. The pain Touka experienced from the peaches could probably prove that. We have also found that Touka has the ability to summon the stone sword because it is actually a part of him. We still don’t know how the young girl ceased to exist, but it seems like she can still appear in some kind of form to interact with Haruhiko and Touka.

Now, I know questions about Touka’s gender will be brought up once again. Now that we have learned the small girl’s true identity, it brings us closer to believing that Touka is actually a girl. Things like him wearing a two piece bathing suit and having long hair also point to that, but then again, the rest of his actions make us assume that he is male. I think it is quite possible that he is actually both male and female. He is now confirmed to be a doll after all, and that might explain how he is able to have long hair at random. Coming from this show, would it really be that surprising? I think my previous joke statement about Touka Gettan taking shoujo ai to the next level might actually be true. Looking at the rest of this series and the previous work of Yamibou, this isn’t really that shocking at all. There are still quite a few more questions and details left unanswered, but it looks like we will start discovering them soon enough!