Oh, the irony. The beautiful irony. The troupe stayed together for all these years because of their desire to take revenge. Now that Nakaiya Juubei has been killed, the troupe has no more reason to be together, so they’re threatened to split apart. Then, it seems that Juubei wasn’t dead at all, and the troupe just happily picks off where it left. This means that as long as Juubei is alive, the troupe will be together. They’re actually dependant on his existence. Brilliant!
Okay, it had it indeed coming that Juubei still lived somewhere. After all, he did it before, why couldn’t he do it again, no? But the way the creators brought this couldn’t have been better. Soutetsu actually sends them a message about this with the help of Oryou in the form of a new script of a play. In there stands that Juubei still is alive, and we actually see the troupe find out, before we see him in person again. It’s the opposite of what most anime attempt.
Akizuki, meanwhile, was oblivious to this, as he had his own problems. The scene when Okita died was a surprisingly touching one. Great scene, especially combined with the mysterious black cat which keeps wandering around. The last quarter of this episode was definitely great to see, but I have to say that the first three quarters were rather confusing to watch, due to the extensive use of dialogue.
Still, I did manage to pick up that the army that’s been mentioned a few times, actually came to Yokohama to defend it against another army of westerners. The first three quarters of the episode showed a considerable amount of battles, tactics and aftermaths regarding the attack and defence of the city, though somehow it felt like scenes had been left out. Either that, or we saw some unintroduced flashbacks.
I’m surprised about the lack of interest about this series. When the subs first started, a few posts did spawn, though I’ve lately not seen any posts about this series except for the one I made myself. It’s strange, as you would expect this series to be rather appreciated.
What happened was that in Ueno, war had broken out between Tokugawa loyalists (the Shogitai) and the Imperial Army. At first the Shogitai were winning, but the Army turned the tables when some Armstrong cannons (courtesy of Glover) arrived and were put to use.
Later we find that Masumitsu Kyuunosuke (one of those two guys who went to deliver the letter) was killed in battle, as Yamaoka Tesshuu tries calling out for him and Katsu is looking on sadly. (It is explained in the narration.)
Yokohama itself had nothing going on besides Oryou leaving from it, the troupe about to break up, and then Oryou returning with the scripts. She told Kakunojou that she felt a little similar to Akizuki in some way.
But next episode the Troupe is heading towards Edo, where Akizuki was (and still might be hanging around). All written in Soutetsu’s script… they’re so easily manipulated by him, heheh.
so soutetsu now is the baddie. hmm … wonder what he is actually up to. there’s still parts which i don’t fully understand. and okita died T_____T can’t wait to watch that scene. i think this would be the first anime i’ve watched which would show his death. sad.
anyway, thanks for blogging this anime. it reallie made it easier for me to understand this anime better. it’s kinda confusing for me. but i’m still sticking to it cause i always love samurai animes ^o^ and i’m kinda sad to not many people is paying attention to this anime. it’s so “artistic” ^^;
thanks for taking the time to review this anime. it’s sad that nobody’s talking more about it – well… prolly b/c it’s so confusing!
so, basically, soutetsu is evil? damn… that’s sad… oh well. it makes for an interesting show.
about the music: i actually kinda like it – and am keeping an eye out for it. but you’re right, at times, like when the box is doing its wham-bam thing, the music is kinda… too big for the show.
oh well… maybe it’s just other artists trying to one up the classicism of Mancina and Zimmer in Blood+???
Just putting my support in for the show! It rocks! The mystery around each character and the story, both historical and supernatural makes it such a gripping watch!
The animation of Akizuki has dropped abit last 3 episodes or so as when he is actually displaying emotion, the art looks abit unfinished and the scenes come across as less ‘touching’ than it should be.
Iam, also really interested on how the Soutetsu character will play out and how he will fit in with the overall story arc and the ‘changing of history’ that he seems to want to accomplish.
Not to mention the “Squee!” factor! Squeeeeee!