Subculture Anime Blog

Uh….hello Itachi.

Summary:

When Miharu leaves his house in the morning, he is surprised to see Raimei and Kouichi outside waiting for him. The three soon leave for school, but unknown to them, Yamase watches from above. At the school later, Raimei expresses the surprise that she had that the Banten village was actually located inside the school. This was revealed earlier as the group left the Fuuma, while Kumohira warned Miharu to worry about his health among explaining other plans. Raimei is further surprised to find that even Kouichi does not know where the village’s hidden kinjitsu scroll is hidden, but the group is assured that it would be safe through Kumohira’s methods. The group leaves their room after Kouichi destroys some of the Banten’s secret books, as Miharu notices that not all of his eyesight has returned despite its healing. Recalling that his previous wounds healed properly, he wonders if the Shinrabanshou has already left his body.

While the group walks through the halls, Kouichi asks if Raimei’s studies in Tokyo would be okay. She assures them that it is fine, even when Kouichi asks about her relatives. Raimei explains that she may be the type that is always alone, but Miharu contradicts her by implying that he and Kouichi are her friends. Taken back a bit at this statement, Raimei makes an excuse to leave the boys for awhile. Recalling the word “friends”, Raimei remembers when she first obtained her katana and her duties as a young child. At the time, a boy named Raiko was also with her. When Miharu reaches home, he finds that Yamase is there waiting for him. Yamase explains that there is no real place for him after his failure as a Kairoshu, wishing to use a bit of Miharu’s power. When Miharu explains that he cannot use his hijitsu, however, Yamase threatens his life. After Miharu escapes to the outside, Raimei and Kouichi quickly appear to assist him. Kouichi is ready to kill Yamase, but Raimei stops him.

Raimei finally takes the chance to ask if Yamase knows a boy named Raiko, her brother that holds the same sword as she. When Raimei was a child, Raiko slaughtered everyone in his clan but Raimei. Before leaving, he claimed that he was going to leave to the Kairoshu. Yamase admits that he ran into Raiko five years ago, but he does not know his current location. When Yamase is finally able to talk again, he claims that those close to Miharu only want to use his power. After Yamase escapes, Raimei finally tries to admit her true intentions to Miharu. Miharu already knows that she was only using him to get closer to the Kairoshu, however, suggesting that what Yamase said was right. Raimei holds on to Miharu’s hands afterwards, claiming that although she will not stop looking for her brother, she believes she is Miharu’s comrade now.

Kumohira meanwhile prepares a meal for Juji and Saraba, explaining to them how he came to learn the ninja arts in Japan. The group is interrupted by Kotarou, however, who takes a bit of the meal in one of his disguised states. The Fuuma later show Kumohira files of information that they gathered about current situations, but Kumohira is more concerned about the amount of ninja that have died in order to gain this knowledge. Unable to agree with Kotarou’s methods, Kumohira states that he has his own nindou. He will protect Miharu without having to kill. Kotarou of course cannot believe the way Kumohira is thinking, quickly challenging him in the room. Transforming into various appearances in the process, Kotarou finally makes Kumohira realize the situation he is actually in. As Saraba drives Kumohira back to the Banten afterwards, Kotarou recalls that he once thought like Kumohira. Elsewhere, Yoite gets to Miharu in his room despite Kouichi and Raimei being inside to protect him.

Preview: Yoite takes Miharu hostage or something.

Impression:

Okay, I’m sorry, but who wouldn’t draw that parallel? Although this episode did have a bit of action, it was pretty much more initial plot development for a lot of the characters. Raimei’s backstory came a lot faster than I thought it would, and although I will laugh at it for obvious reasons, I think it will provide for a very interesting plot in the future. I also loved her belief that she was “tengai kodoku”, or a person that is always alone. It seems like this is a strong theme that is being played on constantly in this show, especially with characters like Miharu. Seeing Raimei blush was fun too, and the development between her and Miharu was really great. Kumohira’s fight with Kotarou was pretty entertaining with all of the transformations, but there’s really not much to say about that. Dragons are badass? After the end of this episode and the preview, it’s obvious that the next episode will deal a lot with Yoite. It’s going to be very interesting to see how he and Miharu interact with each other, especially since they are similar in a few ways.