Season Two Ep 6 review

S2E6 is out and it’s packed! I slept early and was able to woke up at 4 am AEST without an alarm so that I could watch it. And I love the episode! The animation was generally well done (except for one scene where Aoi's emon was incorrectly drawn again), and it feels more like Season One in the feeling now.

Since my day is also packed today, I’m writing my review here now.

First and foremost, we hear the word “jyaki” for the first time, so the cat (or jyaki) is out of the bag now! interestingly, the translators used the word “ogre-devil” for that. I don’t dislike it, and I actually do admire that word choice. However,  I never use the word “ogre” to translate “oni” anyway, so I will stick with jyaki. It’s a bit weird as well, like translating “onigiri” to “rice cake” or “sushi” to… rolled rice or something else. We also see a revelation from Ginji at dawn, though it departs rather markedly from his own narrative in the novel. There are also some creative licence in scene interpretations from the novel, but I was also surprised that some scenes that I thought would be skipped were actually retained. 

Anyway, let’s start chronologically.

The story picked up from Ep 5 ending where that bastard Raijū (who was slightly better animated than his S2E3 look) appeared at the Yōto Cemetery to hassle Aoi again. Aoi fought back, but of course she was physically too weak for the powerful ayakashi. Raijū was about to shove Aoi to the Silver Pidgeon Squad (who appeared out of thin air) when, as per Vol 7 Ch 4, Byakuya and Sasuke-ku arrived to rescue the girl. Per the novel, Sasuke-kun also used his kunai (the short ninja blade) to subdue Raijū. 

Then Byakuya teleported (well, spirited-away) himself, Aoi and Sasuke-kun to the Silhouette, Shimon’s clock shop at the Yōto underground Ochukubo District. After a short introduction to Shimon (who is Dr Saraku’s older brother), Byakuya narrated Ōdanna-sama’s history. 

Two surprises here for me: first, they actually had the conversation over a dark-coloured drink. I wish Shimon would say that the drink was dandelion coffee and we could see Sasuke-kun trying so hard to drink that thing, haha! (btw, I tried dandelion coffee the last time I was in Tokyo and I actually liked it!). The second – very – surprising thing is that Byakuya narrated the story of Ōdanna-sama in front of Sasuke-kun and Shimon-san. In the novel, Byakuya told the story just in front of Aoi. Shimon might have known the story because he didn’t look surprised there. However, later when Sasuke and Aoi walked the underground towards the exit, Sasuke-kun looked pensive. 

Anyway, so now we know several very important thing: that Ōdanna-sama is a jyaki, and hence he was imprisoned recently by the King because of the bad history between the jyaki and other ayakashi species in the past. Aoi remembered her only encounter with a(nother) jyaki in S1E20. Here we get a nice flashback of Ōdanna-sama fighting off the jyaki who almost ate Aoi in S1E20 (screen shot TBA, but here's the S1 scene for now).

Yet, the first time Ōdanna-sama was imprisoned (sealed away) was actually hundreds of years ago under a castle called “Tenjin-jō” or the Tenjin Castle. Ōgondōji-sama lived in the Castle back then (I didn’t know that! It wasn’t in the chapters I’ve translated), and one day about 500 years ago, she was able to release Ōdanna-sama. It might have been that Ōgondōji-sama purposely lived in the Castle to find out how to break the seal. Shortly after, Byakuya met the young Ōdanna-sama and the former advisor of the King then joined Tenjin-ya as one of its founding members. 

Byakuya also mentioned that Saraku was roped into the gang but didn’t hint of the presence of the fourth founding member (i.e., Zakuro). I think it’s purposely kept for Ep 7 for Hatori to tell per Vol 7 Ch 6.

By the way, regarding the timeline of Ōdanna-sama’s first imprisonment: based on Vol 9 Ch 1, Ōdanna-sama actually had been around during the Heian era (about 1,000 years ago), but his parents whisked him away to our world due to the Great Ayakashi War (I made up the name of the war btw). Ōdanna-sama then decided to return to Kakuriyo (possibly with Sutendōji, the other setsuki who now lives in Asakusa Tokyo). In Kakuriyo, Ōdanna-sama was captured for being a jyaki (while Sutendōji must have escaped), and thus the Master was imprisoned, sealed away, underneath the Tenjin Castle. Hence, he must have been sealed for about 500 years before Ōgondōji-sama rescued him. That's five hundred years in the darkness in hunger...

Also, this is where Aoi realised that she was not the only one abandoned and left to die of hunger. Ōdanna-sama also suffered a similar, if not crueller fate. Here we have the flashback of child Aoi and child Ōdanna-sama got imprisoned, curling up in hunger…

I thought about it the other day, that the scene must have been in Aoi’s mind because Ōdanna-sama was depicted as a normal oni (i.e,. human-like, just with a pair of horns). Turned out, I was right…

Then, per Vol 7 Ch 4, Byakuya asked Aoi to stay with Ōdanna-sama as an ally (“nakama”) even though she might see him in his true form. As per the novel, Aoi hesitated, or at least she didn’t say anything. Byakuya then realised that he couldn’t force her to give her words on that.

Afterwards, Byakuya left the Silhouette while Shimon took Aoi and Sasuke-kun to another underground exit, through the underground wasabi field that Shimon’s wife is taking care of. Shimon also gave a basketful of fresh vegetables (including fresh wasabi) to Aoi and Sasuke. 

(fresh wasabi is actually quite nice! I think we need to eat it over Japanese rice made, preferably made with Japanese water though, for the flavour to really come out. I’ve made Japanese rice with the Japanese donabe – clay pot – many times in Australia. Yet, although the rice is delicious, it cannot surpass Japanese rice I’ve eaten in Japan. I guess water in Japan is different, after all…)

Then Aoi and Sasuke-kun went back to Tenjin-ya, for Aoi had to prepare for another Nighthawk cruising dinner. Onboard of the airship, Aoi realised that if she can find another door to open with her Obsidian Key, she might be able to find Ōdanna-sama. Another important thing that she realised is that her camellia hairpin has bloomed. We then got a nice flashback of when Ōdanna-sama put the hairpin on her chignon for the first time during their first Yōto trip. I still miss the S1 visuals of Ōdanna-sama back then… but at least this scene was also properly animated (screen shots TBA).

Upon returning to Tenjin-ya, Aoi was greeted by Ginji and Ai-chan, but Chibi was nowhere to be found. Since Ginji said that he saw Chibi just now (around the bamboo groves, Aoi and Ginji went to find the kappa). They found the kappa alright, but there was no mention that Chibi actually ran away because he thought Aoi was abandoning him (per Vol 7 Ch 5). There was also a missed opportunity here, because in the novel, while walking towards the bamboo groves, Aoi actually asked Ginji if he knew about Ōdanna-sama being a jyaki. Ginji confirmed it, and that he knew about it because the Master himself told the Nine-tailed Fox about it. 

Come to think of it… the reason why the other – currently unnamed – founding member left Tenjin-ya might be because Ōdanna-sama told her about his real identity, and she snapped and left in a scurry of anger. The very reason for Ōdanna-sama to inform his closest circle is because he didn’t want to deceive them. It backfired once, thus I think A Sprinkle of Anime is correct in deducing that Ōdanna-sama didn’t want to tell Aoi about his secret identity because another ayakashi once left him because of that. However, I think Ōdanna-sama also thus once again realised how much hatred the general ayakashi folk has for jyaki in general, hence he didn’t tell Aoi about his secret…

Anyway, upon locating the runaway Chibi, Aoi and Ginji brought him back to the Moonflower, where they started making temari-zushi. 

They then distributed the temari-zushi to all Tenjin-ya staff. 

Later, Aoi and Ginji had wasabi donburi (gimme that! I’ll add a heap of myoga ginger!), when Ginji blurted out how every time he goes home, seeing Aoi’s smile and eating her food, he always felt better. Then Ginji turned beet-red and suddenly collapsed on the table, exhausted.

A few hours later, Ginji woke up to find himself sleeping on the counter of the Moonflower. A few seats away, Aoi was sleeping as well on the counter. Her hair was undone, and she was holding the camellia hairpin. She also uttered Ōdanna-sama’s name in her sleep. Ginji carried her to her room and left. 

Outside the Moonflower, Ginji saw the dawn sky and recalled what his brother Ranmaru said to him. Being the observant (although foul-mouthed) brother, Ranmaru saw that Ginji loved Aoi. He warned his younger brother of the pain brought by loving a girl whose heart is for someone else. 

This is where it departs from the novel. In Vol 7 Intermezzo 1, Ginji was just pondering about his unrequited love to Aoi. There was no resolution there. Here in S2E6, he has arrived at the resolution that he would keep loving her and supporting her so that she smiles again. 

I don’t know which version I like better. I guess, due to the lightning speed of S2, Ginji has to made the commitment now for the story to move forward…  One thing is for sure, although I am in love with my Setsu-Aoi pair, I do feel Ginji’s pain. He’s such a lovely kitsune… 

Anyway, another thing is for certain: the animation is getting better now, and I hope it stays that way. I think Ep 4 and Ep 5 have the same animation quality. I need to check the end credit titles to see if there are changes in the team. I know "New Animate Studio" is still in charge, but maybe the bad animators are assigned to colouring trees now... though the bamboo grove background was actually lovely; its perspective changed as Aoi and Ginji walked by. I also appreciate the short shamisen tone when Byakuya and Sasuke-kun rescued Aoi. 

Episode 7 next week will be another packed episode where Aoi infiltrates the Imperial Palace to give macaroons to a certain young prince (and Byakuya tagging along to give the King an overdue lecture). However, first, I think she will meet Hatori onboard the Nighthawk, where Hatori tells her of the presence of a certain someone who was rumoured to be Ōdanna-sama’s girlfriend in the past. Can't wait to see Aoi getting jealous!