He is wielding a bow and after picking an arrow, fires it into the space over the cliff. The arrow flies for a distance before coming to a halt in the air, meeting an invisible barrier.
What is going on?
After the opening song, we see Yukiya and Koume flying into the Center on a horse. They arrive but as Yukiya argues with one of the port ravens about the stabling of his horse—the price seems too outrageous for our thrifty protagonist—Koume heads home without his notice.
At first, I felt she was up to something nefarious but that wasn't the case.
She searches the house, seemingly surprised that her father is not home. She is sad, and slides to the floor in disappointment.
When Yukiya catches up, panting, she starts sharing her story. Koume and her father are water peddlers, selling special water from springs on the Central Mountain. The water can cure illness and grow crops. The well in the middle of their home gave them access to the water and they sold it in the countryside at great profit.
That is, until the well dries up.
Before she can continue her story, a group of men enter the house. They identify themselves as “Jihei's buddies”. Jihei is her father.
They want her to come with them. The duo refuse, of course, and the situation escalates into a fight.
As they struggle in vain against the group of four, one of them grabbing Yukiya by the throat, Koume announces that Yukiya is the servant of the Prince and if any harm comes to him, the perpetrators will be heavily punished.
Interest piqued, they let the duo go with a message (more like a warning) for the Prince.
“Tobi of the Underground will be in touch soon. When he finds you, you'd better have a good excuse for breaking our agreement.”
What does that mean?
Angry and frustrated with their narrow escape, Koume collapses to the ground, venting her hate for her father, and shouting to the universe that he shouldn't return.
Yukiya is understandably appalled.
Aren't you worried about your father? What about the monkeys? Who knows when they'll be back? What about Taruhi and the state of the emergency?
He is angry and demands answers from her, telling her to put her selfishness aside.
While I understand Yukiya's anger, I don't necessarily agree with it.
Koume is right to be frustrated. All her life, she's been stuck cleaning up her father's messes, hiding from bill collectors, and lying to protect herself from his unsavoury companions.
This is her chance to start afresh; to settle in Taruhi, to live and work honestly. And her father, even absent, is about to ruin it. She is right to be sullen.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Yukiya's reaction is unfounded. As the second son of Taruhi's ruling family and the Prince's (former) attendant, it is unsurprising that Yukiya is looking at the bigger picture. He is looking beyond Koume's father and Koume herself to the rest of the kingdom. He is thinking of Taruhi and the Prince and the monkeys and the sagecap and Yamauchi as a whole.
Things Koume can't fathom (at least, not right now).
Still, it would have been better if he'd tried to see things from her perspective. Then again, what is a character without flaws?
Koume, however, is up to the challenge. She doesn't let Yukiya's verbal flagellation deter her. She stands upright and gives him a lashing of her own. Completing the story she should have told earlier in the house. She tells Yukiya about how hard she had to work, day after day, night after night, just to make ends meet. She talks about how her father clung to the dried-up well, hoping for a miracle and when none came, gambled away what little money she'd earned.
As she speaks, we are shown the shabby state of her clothes and sandals and the calluses on her hands.
“I want out of this hell,” she screams. “Can you blame me for feeling that way?”
No, Yukiya, you cannot.
The next scene is at the Sunrise Palace.
Yukiya is here to report the situation to the Prince (he left the girl with the Yamauchi Guard). The Prince isn't around, though. Just Hamayu/Sumi, who is humorously dressed as Nazukihiko.
You know, they actually look alike.
Yukiya passes the message across but stops to ask Hamayu and Sumio for an explanation of the “agreement” the Prince was said to have violated.
Hamayu explains:
The court and the Ravine have a secret treaty. The Ravine was formerly a place of bloodshed and lawlessness before being rescued by a mysterious man, King Saku, who unified the ruffians under him.
King Saku, and the Ravine, arrived at a non-aggression pact with the kin’u, and the court.
Stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours.
Now, Tobi of the Underground is the new ruler. And while the pact stays intact, for some reason, he is feeling slighted by the kin'u.
Hamayu reasons that Jihei must have done something to rattle the Underground, leading to the altercation with Koume.
Here's something to note:
The Underground had an issue with Jihei, not Nazukihiko. When they couldn't find Jihei, they tried to get Koume. They would have, if Koume hadn't brought up the fact that Yukiya is the Prince's attendant.
Dropping the responsibility into Nazukihiko's lap.
Did Koume know that mentioning the Prince at that moment would change the outcome?
Yukiya feels so. And he tells Hamayu and Sumio of his suspicions.
Hamayu considers it and tells Yukiya to leave Koume to her. Smart lady.
Yukiya then heads to the North where Nazukihiko is shooting arrows into space. Things are coming full circle because this is the same cliff where Yukiya fell with his little brother in the first episode.
Yukiya sees the “ghost fires” and then sees Prince firing arrows. The arrows stop at some invisible barrier and grow into a mass of trees and branches.
When Yukiya asks the Prince what he is doing, Nazukihiko says, “I’m patching tears.”
What tears, you ask?
The tears in the boundary between Yamauchi and the “outside world.” The boundary is a fearsome thing, it seems, as the Prince says that any Yatagarasu that leave can never return.
The Prince then goes on to say that he initially believed that the monkeys had slipped through these tears but upon his arrival and inspection of the boundary, he finds the boundary only frayed.
Not breached.
So where are the monkeys coming from?
I guess that's a question for the next episode as we are taken from the cliffside and given a glimpse of the ladies in the Cherry Blossom Palace, reacting to Koume’s entry into the palace under Hamayu's orders.
From there, we return to the Prince's palace where he receives an invite from the Underground to discuss. Nazukihiko plans to go, seeing the meeting as a no-brainer. According to him, there is no need for the Center and the Underground to be feuding at such a time. Additionally, he sees the meeting as a chance to gather clues into the monkey business.
He doesn't see it as a coincidence that Koume is the only survivor of the massacre and the same Koume is being targeted by the Underground.
As expected, not everyone is chill with the ruler of Yamauchi going for a meeting with shadowy Underground leaders.
Sumio, Natsuka and Rokon disagree with the plan, with the latter going as far as pulling a sword on our Prince (on Natsuka's orders, of course).
The episode ends with a terse declaration from the older prince. Yukiya will go in his brother's stead.
Really? Natsuka, really?
My thoughts so far
Another great episode from the masterful series.
More and more details about the inner workings of the kingdom are being revealed.
Yukiya's argument with the port raven at the beginning of the episode was cute. Our protagonist is stingy and quite unwilling to agree to the rate of the stables.
I love that the series can still be a little light despite the gravity of the circumstances. I also deeply appreciate the discussion between Yukiya and Koume. It was nice to see Yukiya's stubbornness as a flaw and not just a virtue. He was right to reproach her after she wished her father would never return. But he failed to take Koume's feelings into consideration; an act many of us are guilty of.
Koume told us her story and while it was pitiful and made Yukiya aware of his short-sightedness, it failed to clear his suspicions of her.
I was thinking we would have another of those scenes when the writers use pity as a weapon but no. Yukiya acknowledged his harshness but kept his guard up.
Our protagonist is smart.
I love Hamayu and the confidence she displays in her role as future Empress of Yamauchi.
The way she talks, the way she carries herself, and the way she speaks on behalf of Nazukihiko (even wearing his robe) radiates confidence.
Although we only got a glimpse of them, I appreciated the nuances in the discussion between Masuho-no-kimi and her lady servant. As Koume settles into the palace, Masuho's maid is confused, disapproving of Hamayu's choice. Apparently, a woman with such a troubled past should not be allowed into the palace.
Masuho-no-kimi, as majestic as ever, reprimands her. Do not blame the girl for her father's crimes.
Yes, I like Hamayu as Empress but I can't help feeling Masuho-no-kimi was robbed.
All in all, I enjoyed the episode. I feel things are heating up as we reach the finale.
Questions remain, though.
What is the outside world? What are the ghost fires? Why on earth did Natsuka say Yukiya should go in Nazukihiko's place? What's the deal with Koume? Where are the monkeys coming from?
Questions, questions, questions.
I have faith we will all be satisfied at the end of the season.
P.S
I'm catching up. I am. I think I'll be able to finish the season this week and hopefully have all the reviews posted. Thanks.
