Empress : Kaiserin: Tactics 23

Samstag, Januar 07, 2006

Tactics 23

The opening was a recap of what took place last night - Chi da!.

Wash the river with blood, Haruka…

Instead of continuing with the melancholic atmosphere, the start of the episode brightens things up a little, which is a good idea. Even people like me need a break from the heart-wrenching angst sometimes. The snippets of humour helps a lot – with Sugino sneezing, those scenes with Mu and the ermine, which had found a second “home” in Mu’s mouth, and how helpful Mu’s “sucking” powers can be. Lol, that really ease the storyline a lot. Arigatou…!

Yet, the minimal humour wasn’t enough to cover up the gloom of the story… And the plot gets darker and gloomier… Once again, the pain in my chest returned, and so did the lump in my throat. We learnt that three days have passed since Haruka left Kantarou. And the effect on Kan-chan was great… From Youko we know that Kantarou hasn’t been eating or sleeping for those three days, and even Reiko-san sympathized with him… Kantarou had become a workaholic – all that to distract himself from the pain from his heart… Kokoro no Kizu… Kantarou was acting strong, but his cover almost blew when he solemnly told Reiko-san “You won’t understand.” while back-facing her. So Kantarou chose escapism, seemingly. How about Haruka? He chose to speak not. He went to visit Sugino, but then refused to speak up when Sugino questioned him. Haruka’s silence made me wept… We understood later why he did that. While Suzu confronted him, Haruka shouted that he was “after all an Ogre-eater tengu”, and that he will “have no friends”, and “has to be alone”.

Must the creatures of the wild always return to nature? Kantarou questioned as he glanced at the scar of the ermine’s scratch.

And because the name “Haruka” served as an obstacle to the tengu’s complete transformation, Minamoto decided to lure Kantarou into a trap – and we witness Kantarou’s desperation… to confront Haruka and at the same time, his strong desire for Haruka’s return to his side… However, it wasn’t possible… Well, not yet – Minamoto’s aim was to force Kantarou to break the “name” bond between him and Haruka. The episode ends with a cliffhanger – Youko in demise, Kantarou threatened, and Haruka in the middle of his transformation while Suzu stood watching by…