©Edelwaisu/”Tenho no Sakuhime” Production Committee
Of all the expectations I had for the show at this stage, none of it was anywhere near perfect. text Example of Deus Ex Machina.
Following last week’s cliffhanger, Sakina and the others are ambushed by Ishimaru. He threatens to take Kaimaru hostage and instill in him the same hatred he feels. However, Kaimaru’s body suddenly begins to glow, forcing him to retreat. Umimaru and the rest of Sakuna’s human companions somehow begin to transform into gods. Presumably this has something to do with their time on the island, but the mechanism behind it is unclear. This is also how we learn that Sakuna’s mother was once human before acquiring the clothes Sakuna carries and ascending to the sublime, which feels like something we should have known sooner. Maybe this is all explained in the game, but it almost comes out of the blue here and it took me away from things a bit.
It’s a shame, because the rest of the episode was pretty strong. In between this divine intervention, we learn more about the compelling shared history between Ishimaru and Toemon. Ishimaru once lived a peaceful life as a carpenter or some other type of worker until everything was stolen from him by samurai and forced into banditry to survive. This gave him a deep hatred for everyone and everything around him until he started taking things from others like a samurai. He especially hates Toemon for becoming a bandit because he can’t hack it as a samurai. Tao Meng, on the other hand, regrets many of the choices he has made in his life and briefly thought about ending it, but has since decided to live in the hope that one day he will find happiness. Even though it feels like it’s last minute to some, its power more than makes up for that. A lot of work went into making Tauemon one of the most interesting characters on the show. While this isn’t the first time the show has addressed his former life as a gangster, his clumsiness largely defined him. Learning how much of his gentle nature comes from not trying to simmer in hatred like Ishimaru does is a lot more than I expected from him at this point. This is the most subtle difference we’ve seen in the show so far.
Interestingly, seeing the past still haunting him, Toemon begins to feel responsible when Ishimaru begins using the spirit of the fallen Ashin to wreak havoc on the island. This leads him to reveal the fact that despite everything he’s said, after everything he’s done, he still regrets being alive. Fortunately, Saki manages to talk him down, reminding him that he still has to live for the many small pleasures in life, and decides to face Ishimaru himself with the help of Ashin. But before their battle can begin, Ishimaru merges with the soul of the fallen Ashokumo into a powerful monster and proves to be more than a match for the two of them. This leads to Toemon somehow becoming the one to save the world, and he manages to defeat Ishimaru, claiming that Ishimaru died a long time ago because he allowed himself to be consumed by hatred. Under different circumstances, this would be a pretty lame writing choice in itself, but the fight doesn’t matter because what matters here is Toemon telling Ishimaru that it’s not too late to give up hatred and seek forgiveness. Despite his words to the contrary, this seemed to affect Ishimaru to some degree, and he managed to achieve some semblance of inner peace in his final moments. While this episode would undoubtedly have worked better if Ishimaru had more buildup as an antagonist, it still manages to land well and hit harder than it should.
While things are good for Toemon and Ishimaru, they are not the only ones affected by this week’s events. Sakuna is forced to deal with the current deterioration of conditions on the island. As things stand, Lady Kamisuki may intervene, and Kodama warns Saki that if that happens, she may destroy the entire island in her attempt to defeat Kosuzu. Sakuna didn’t want to lose everything she and others had built together again, so she was determined to defeat Xiao Shui herself and prepare for the decisive battle. I didn’t have high expectations for what was almost certainly going to be a video game final boss scene. Still, despite some weird issues, the show handles Ishimaru’s stuff well enough that I’d like to be optimistic about it. Here’s hoping the show can throw in at least one surprise for the finale and end everything on a high note.
grade:
Sakuna: rice and ruins Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
