You know, my prediction might actually come true. It’s quite possible that this has been the last of the quiet episodes for a while. Either that, or the next episode is spent on the transition from the first half of the series to the second half. The reason I believe this is because of two very subtle hints that were given near the end of the episode.
Basically, this episode was about a local festival. It mainly focuses on Chaggumu’s relationship with his new friends, though the more important issue is that lots of people are attracted to this festival, and there’s no way of knowing whether some of these people have something to do with Chaggumu. Barsa, of course, forbids Chaggumu to go there, but in the end, Chaggumu remains a kid, and not to mention that he placed a bet with one of the local village kids. This kid insulted both Chaggumu and Mikado, and Chaggumu challenged him to a fight during the festival to make him apologize. If he were to lose, he and his friend would have to eat slugs.
The thing is, that for the first time in the entire anime, Barsa makes a mistake. There’s actually nothing suspicious about a bunch of kids fighting, but when Chaggumu actually wins (by use of his brains, rather than muscles), the guy refuses to apologize and uses his father, who happens to be the strongest fighter in the village to get out of things. Barsa then decides to teach this guy a lesson, and if you pay close attention to the audience after the fight (she obviously wins), e see one ronin-like person who gets surprised at the huge skills of this woman, who just beat the strongest guy in the village with ease. Something tells me that he heard about the woman with incredible skills who protected Chaggumu before he died, and I suspect he’ll go and investigate.
The second hint backed this up even more. Notice the frog and the snake at the end of the episode? Well, if that isn’t symbolic foreshadowing then I don’t know anymore. I’m looking forward to the next episode to see if my theory on this is correct.
Also, it’s great to see some actual fighting-scenes again. While they weren’t as spectacular as episode three, they were full of detail. Chaggumu may not have the largest amount of strength, he fully utilized the strength of his opponent. I also love Chaggumu’s determination. He’s not scared at all to take risks to achieve his goals, and this episode did a god job in fleshing out his character.]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 12
