This was such a cute episode. And a great one as well. It’s a great one this time, and it really reveals some very interesting things about her past with Hansel. She loves her brother because when they were even smaller than they are now, they used to be very close to each other. Hansel was very kind to his little sister. Then, they ran into the house, made of sweets (was I the only one to love the reference in this one?) and met Cendrion, who then brainwashed Hansel.
This episode, Akazukin and the others are in the same forest as back then. Of course it’s nostalgic to both Hansel and Gretel when they found out. Gretel then finds out that Cendrion has been controlling Hansel, as she quickly drives this nostalgic feeling out of him. She then goes to the sugar-house again, and waits for Akazukin and the others, in order to ask for help. Ringo, however, doesn’t trust her, so she leaves, along with the others. Gretel, however, keeps following them, in a very sad way. I can’t believe how cute she was at that time. ^_^
In any case, Souta decides to trust her. Quite a touching scene follows between the two of them, though just when you think that Gretel has agreed to join him, things move differently as she reports to her brother. She tries to convince him that Akazukin and the others can help the two of them, but he’s only interested in Souta. In the end, Gretel tells him the location of Erde’s key. The next morning, Hansel appears in front of him.
I can’t believe how evil Hansel looked at that time. He just ruthlessly charges, and fires a spell which kills almost the entire forest. Gretel’s reaction to this also was awesome. In the end, Akazukin, Shirayuki and Ibara manage to take him out by combining their powers. I’m not sure how they managed to do this, seems like I failed to understand a few sentences. Anyway, Gretel then chooses Hansel over Souta, threatens the latter with her sword and escapes along with the unconscious former. I quite like her case. Especially because she loves her brother, who’s been brainwashed.
We also met up with a new character: a very old, talking tree. I like him. He behaves just like a very cheerful old man. He also saw Hansel and Gretel when they were still young, and he actually protected Souta and Ringo from Hansel’s poison rain. At the end of the episode, he also provides a nice message, regarding the destroyed forest. Things will just recover. Give it a few years, and the forest will be back again. Ibara also presents him with a magical seed.
Randagio also was as cute as ever. He was needed at the beginning of the episode, in order to tell Hansel and Gretel about Souta’s location. Afterwards, he rushes off to find them, though the creators found a very nice way of keeping him out of the main events of this episode. ^_^
Anyway, I think that this episode marked the end of another part of this anime. The next part will probably be even darker, as during the next episode, Raikan will be coming into action. Be sure not to miss it.
(On a side-note: did anybody else notice that when Ibara was sleeping, she had Kyupi wrapped up in her vines?)
Well, it’s kinda little disappointed that Gretel didn’t joined the group yet. But to look on the other side this is still too early for that anyway.
About the next episode, It looked interesting as always but I wonder when will the villain from episode 12 will show up again. I think when they’re fully introduced to the series that will mark the true darker part of the story.