Tactics 25
Kantarou said “Goodbye”, then “Thank you”……to Suzu.
And welcomed Haruka back by his side, back to his heart.
It was quite a shocking discovery to know that Suzu died during the night of that eventful battle against Minamoto Raikou. And another surprise for us – ‘tis six months since Haruka left Kantarou… When you think about that, both men must have had scars deep within their hearts… And yet they try to live their daily life without each other’s company. However, we know that didn’t go well for them – Kantarou has been disappearing now and then, to the extend that Reiko-san is considering halting his publications and turning to Hasumi for them instead. Haruka, on the other hand, stayed at Sugino’s and was forever spacing out (from Sugino’s own account).
The starting scene was just heart-wrenching. The scenes from Kantarou’s childhood were re-enacted – the two little youkais having this familiar conversation with young Kantarou about a strong creature called the Tengu, and the young Kantarou reacted excitedly and announced that he will be the one who will unseal this strong creature, whom he will name “Haruka”. It’s the same scene, but the Kantarou who replied them was the current, grown-up image. And the conversation drifted off from the familiar – when Kantarou blamed himself for everything that had happened.
It was actually Suzu’s death that bought up the issue concerning Haruka and Kantarou again. Everyone has been living with sympathy for the two while knowing that their resolution/reunion won’t be taking place in a near future – hence the six months gap. However, when Viscount Edogawa visited Kantarou in hope that he might help exorcise the spirit of his daughter (Suzu), everyone was then aware that Suzu’s soul still lingers in the human world because of her feelings for Haruka… or is it? Kantarou wasn’t able to carry out the exorcism because he was too soft-hearted, and in my opinion – his memories of Haruka also played an important part. So… Kantarou…
Dance to the tune of escapism…
And Kantarou chose to let Suzu’s soul forget everybody, and then disappear at her own will, hopefully. Youko shouted at Kantarou for trying to escape reality. Yes, I agree – if Suzu disappear on her own, Kantarou can avoid exorcising her soul and thus escape the pain he might have to bear as a price. Kantarou paid a visit to his childhood friend Yumeyakko (I’ve forgotten the spelling -_-;;) to try to avoid the angst at home. However, she did an evaluation on Kantarou, telling him that he has been very protective of himself, but that in turn will hurt everyone around him. Kantarou has built a wall around himself to avoid getting hurt, but as Yumeyakko said – that is a form of escapism, and it’s doing him no good…
Kantarou took Youko’s and Yumeyakko’s words to heart – very strongly. And after getting so close to Haruka (though they didn’t meet) the next day, Kantarou decided to break down his own wall… and ran for Haruka, who was at the place where he was once sealed. Haruka never forgave himself for trying to take Kantarou’s life, but he decided to talk about it with Kantarou, about his feelings after his attempts to kill Kantarou. Was Haruka afraid of himself? I think so. And Kantarou was afraid for himself. These two men need each other to heal themselves. Kantarou uncovered the fact that the person who sealed the tengu was an ancestor from his own Ichinomiya clan. Viewers might be surprised at this, but it made sense too. I was even thinking further – I thought the person was Kantarou’s past life! Haruka was shocked at this piece of information, but said monotonously: “Kantarou… I will never trust you again.” At that point I thought my heart stopped, for Kantarou’s “Goodbye” and “Thank you” from the synopsis kept ringing in my ears. However, Haruka continued, saying that he had decided to follow his heart (instead of his brain, or instead of his instinct? I don’t know… wakanai…). And then we know – Haruka’s heart had always chose Kantarou, and he (or his heart) knew very well, that his sense of belonging was to be by the side of Kantarou. Yes, that was his only home. So, since Kantarou had asked for forgiveness, Haruka in turn asked for acceptance – for the permission for him to dwell in Kantarou’s heart, even though he might one day recall all his memories and attempt to take Kantarou’s life once again. However, do all these matter to Kantarou? He had said to Haruka once that he’s willing to die for him, and six months ago he had shown that he meant what he said. So what Haruka said was just a formal but unessential gesture – both of you need to trust each other more! Haruka was the most important to Kantarou, so both of them found room in each other’s hearts again. In short, they reconciled as Kantarou gave an informal answer to Haruka in the affirmative. And Suzu, standing by, saw that her wish has been fulfilled and bade farewell to her beloved “family” before disappearing from the faces of the earth. It was at this moment Kantarou said arigatou, and sayonara to her fading soul. The last scene was an ideal picture – Kantarou, Haruka, Youko and Rosalie back-facing us, heading for home.
You know, Kantarou may not have grown stronger when he unsealed the tengu, but now, because of Haruka, he has changed. There might be other obstacles to overcome in the future, but Kantarou had managed to confront his first! Our Ichinomiya Kantarou had become stronger. ^^
But hey! When you thought it’s all over, the ED came up with different footage!! What excitement! The first was Ibaragi with her shamisen, saying that it’s not over for the tengu (the ED is playing as a background music all the time), followed by Minamoto Raikou: “It has only just began, tengu”, then a short scene of the long-forgotten creepy smiling priest before the ED ends with a comical rendition of Kantarou’s daily life back at the Ichinomiya lodge. Lol!! What a fun way to end the series!!
Leave the crossovers alone – I don’t think I picked out any anyway, lol. Too absorbed in tonight’s final episode! Hooray! Honestly, I went through a fit of anxiousness a few minutes before the playing of the episode! But! Tactics is over, and I foresee a continuation of it soon,
posted by empress @ 10:52 AM
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