Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 25

Short Synopsis: What I suspected to be a Kanna-episode turned into a plot-based episode in which the castle Enomoto has built takes off in the air. Good: As solid as usual. I liked the direction a lot. Bad: The deaths are getting a bit too frequent. Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10 One thing that irked me during this episode: an awful lot of people have died in the past few episodes. This time, two more characters suffer this fate: Kanna and Taiyou. The creators are really trying to eliminate everyone apart from the main characters. I’d rather see them bring something in at the climax, but I’m glad to see that my favourite ones (the troupe) still remain alive for the final episode. Especially Shiranui has to have some kind of role left, after seeing Taiyou die like that. Anyway, one thing I liked about these final episodes is how solid they’ve been. Okay, some plot events were a bit too much (the flying castle), and I’ve yet to be blown away by the events, but there haven’t really been any weaknesses so far. Bakumatsu seems to have chosen to prioritize solid storytelling, and I can appreciate that. I also really liked how this episode didn’t have a common theme. It’s a bit of everything. Kanna’s death, Taiyou’s death, Akizuki’s background (which was really appreciated, by the way), Enomoto, the Lord’s Head’s plan, Kakunojou, Akizuki’s quest and Kuroda Ryousuke all played a small part in this one. And then, with only one episode left, the usual question to ask is: will this end right? Will this series end too abrubt? Well, it would be a huge shame if it did, as this series has been building up and up, even in this episode. I’d love to see every side-character play a role in this. The fact remains that Akizuki is the only one who can seal the lord’s head, and he’ll definitely fight Kakunojou. I’m hoping for the others to take care of Soutetsu for some reason. (Still, there has to be a reason why Soutetsu took the trouble of inviting the troupe to Hakodate, hasn’t it?) (On a side-note: did I misunderstand this, or did Kakunojou also spend a bit of time with Shouten-sama? See the scene about the child-version of Akizuki? All of his friends get picked up by their parents, while he is the only one to remain. One of these friends looks an awful lot like a young version of Kakunojou)]]>