A very promising start to the climax of this series. Like expected, it’s all about Yaichi and his past, and the creators did a really good job at building up to it so that they can now start dropping hints as to what exactly caused him to shut off his past. By now, it’s clear that certain things have happened that he has yet to digest, and at this point, there are a ton of people from the past, coming back to bite him. And then there’s also Masa, who is getting closer and closer to him as well.
Yaichi in his teens was… scary. He really had this air around him that didn’t care about anyone or anything. While he killed without remorse in this episode, it’s probably something else caused him to break up with his gang. It’s now interesting to see whether the creators will also be able to give this series a good closure. I mean, I know that the creators are able to do this, but the manga it’s based on complicates things by being way longer than something you can just put in 12 episodes. But still, Ristorante Paradiso did it a year ago, so why shouldn’t this series be able to do it?
Still…. I am missing something here, though. I can’t put my finger to exactly what, but the past number of episodes have lacked a certain something, that prevents it from becoming a masterpiece. I wish I knew what that was, though.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Perhaps it’s not that it’s doing anything wrong, but just not doing anything extraordinary.
A masterpiece shouldn’t just push all the right buttons. It has to do something you think is awesome.
In other words, it’s not missing a particular thing other than that “above and beyond” factor.
I believe this series is a masterpiece in that the characterization is so rich for most of the characters. I also enjoyed the slow pacing. It permitted an in-depth presentation of the characters and allowed you to savor the atmosphere. I found the combination of characters, atmosphere, and character design compelling; it had me on the edge of my seat, especially from episode 6 onwards.
I still enjoy this anime, but am also disappointed…
In the original comics, Ichi is getting more and more fragile mentally in the latter half, and this makes relations among goyo members very tense, so Masa’s role to desperately try to help Ichi is moving.
After all, 12 episodes are not enough.
In the end, I enjoy yojo-han more than goyo.
Just curious, for someone who reads manga, how much of the manga is the anime covering? Wikipedia says the manga is still ongoing…
I have to disagree. I thought this episode really was a masterpiece. The setting, the animation, the lighting, and the acting was mesmerizing, especially during the flashback murder scene. The emotion that the voice actor puts into the elder swordsman speaking the name of the younger one just about to be killed was just amazing. It was incredibly subtle, showing shock, dismay, sadness, and resignation almost all at the same time. Combined with the brilliant visuals of implying a horrendous act, showing the consequence of the act, but never actually showing the act itself was brilliant and really fit the mood of the series.
This scene is so powerful because, despite this series being a samurai show, we have no directly scene many fights or any deaths or murders to this point. This makes the scene all the more powerful and a perfect semi-climax for the story.
It’s the direction. Something is missing from the direction. There isn’t any scene where the combination of the visuals, the music (or absence of music) and what is happening create something really really unique and memorable.
The story is interesting, the show relies on that. Everything else is just decent.
@Johnson
Saraiya goyo of original manga will be completed with one more episode this month. The 8th volume of Tankobon will be published in autumn.
The final episode of anime covers a part of 7th and the whole of 8th volume of manga. It must be very hard to write a script.