Curse you Vadigor, were it not for your insistence I would have been able to happily skip over this week’s Kure-nai in lieu of a day’s rest and some time to contemplate my Anime North Con Report. But I suppose it’s my fault for mentioning it and one of my key mission statements is to listen to reader feedback, you wanted it so you’ve got it.

Life continues on at Samidare Apartments, but now under the watchful eye of the Kuhouin family. As news reaches the Kuhouin head Renjou, he tries to take a sympathetic approach to the ordeal, most likely because Murasaki is the daughter of his late beloved, Souju. His wife, however, doesn’t take kindly to his lax mindset with regards to women of the Inner Sanctuary, since she was brought up with the mindset that such people don’t deserve sympathy.

Back at the apartment, Tamaki and Yamie are over in Shinkurou’s room mooching food, corrupting Murasaki and generally disturbing the peace, which seems to be commonplace at this point. Turning to the TV, Tamaki remembers that it’s almost Shichi-Go-San a holiday for children of ages 3, 5 or 7 in which they go visit temples to pray and stuff, pretty much like every other damn festival in Japan.

The surveillance continues on Samidare apartments, Kuhouin cronies making note of Yayoi guarding the entrance and taking care to switch patrol cars so as not to get caught. Shinkurou’s attempt to find out about the enemy doesn’t prove very fruitful, Ginko still not coming up with much on the Kuhouins, who seem to have their personal information safeguarded quite well.

Back to the plan to celebrate Shichi-Go-San, after another one of Yayoi vs Benika discussions about the idea of letting Murasaki out in the public, Benika agrees to it, but conceding to Yayoi’s condition that they go to a small, secluded temple. And so they find themselves at a pathetic excuse for a temple in front of their local train station, without so much as a crowd, let alone shopping and event stands.

Nevertheless, the festivities proceed, which apparently boil down to taking a bunch of pictures (1 + 1 = niiiiii), formal prayer, fortune drawing and buying good luck charms. I fail to see the difference between this and New Years festivities.

Afterwards, the group heads to a restaurant to drink, alcohol for the ladies and juice for the student and loli. Yamie and Tamaki head to Shinjuku afterwards, not even having had enough alcohol to give them a buzz. Murasaki apologizes for not being able to accompany them, and promises that she’ll tag along once she’s old enough to drink. Then, on the way back, Murasaki pledges to Shinkurou that she will become a woman fitting of him one day, to which Shinkurou responds that she’s fine just the way she is.

Elsewhere, at the Kuhouin household, it seems the Murasaki has dragged on far too long for comfort, despite Renjou promising to take care of things. His son Ryuuji steps in and declares his intent to take matters into his own hands. With stern words vowing to take care of the issue promptly and discreetly, he tells Renjou to prepare the Inner Sanctuary.

At school the next day, Ginko has finally collated all the information she’s found on the Kuhouins, when Shinkurou leafs through the documents and family bios, he comes to the startling realization that Murasaki isn’t there, she isn’t registered as a member of the Kuhouin family. Shinkurou knows that Murasaki can’t be lying though, she’s only 7 and the manner in which she acts is truly reminiscent of a rich sheltered girl, there’s no foreseeable gain to Murasaki for lying. The only alternatives is that Benika is scheming something, or the Kuhouins are responsible for this lapse in documentation.

That night when Shinkurou returns from school, he is greeted by two Kuhouin cronies who ask him if there happens to be a small seven year old girl living at his apartment. Shinkurou’s face is answer enough and the cronies, for lack of a better phrase, beat the shit out of him. Luckily, Yayoi is quick to jump in and scare them off. Shinkurou rushes up to the room to check on Murasaki, who is thankfully fine and oblivious to the danger she was just in. Yayoi calls Benika and tells her what happened, she’s surprised that Murasaki was discovered so soon and rushes over to help with the cleanup, which most likely entails Shinkurou and Murasaki moving out of Samidare.

Thoughts

Good episode, even though it was merely a lead up for things to come. The balance between slice of life and plot elements was good, even with the focus constantly jumping back and forth, which I usually am not fond of. It looks like we’ll be going into full on plot exposition and action from here on in though, Murasaki and Shinkurou being ripped away from Samidare greatly lessens the chance that any more random outings or lounging around will occur.

I’m intrigued as to where the plot will go from here, what the Kuhouins have planned, how Benika plans to respond, Benika’s motives from the outset, and how Shinkurou will fit in to the whole mess, given his vow to protect Murasaki and the fondness he’s developed for her (parental fondness, of course).

One character who I’m really interested in is Renjou, the current Kuhouin household head. Given his ties to Souju, he clearly wants the best for Murasaki, causing him to waver, as he knows that the Inner Sanctuary is far from “the best” treatment. However, he is the leader of the Kuhouins and as such has an obligation to protect their traditions and way of life, which apparently necessitates Murasaki’s position in the Inner Sanctuary.

The thing I love most about this guy is his voice. I usually don’t heed much attention to voicing in anime, unless it’s Kugimiya Rie, Mamiko Noto, etc. we’re talking about. But this guy’s voice really grew on me, strong when it needs to be, but soft spoken and calm otherwise. It’s bassy and powerful, commanding attention at all times. A very fitting cast.

The other point of interest in this episode was Shinkurou getting his ass handed to him by Kuhouin lackeys. I was surprised he got beat as badly as he did, although they’ve probably received comparable training to Shinkurou in the past, so I suppose it’s not much of a stretch. I’m guessing this will throw Shinkurou into a bit of an “I’m powerless, weak and worthless” angst pit for a while, from which he will emerge and ask Yuuno to teach him how to better use his bone thing, mist likely spurred by the inevitable kidnapping of Murasaki. Rescue arc, here we come!

Next week gets us down to action, with a shot of Yayoi flying through the air towards an equally batshit insane looking woman on the Kuhouin’s side. While I’m sad to see that our slice of life days are over, I’m about ready to see some action.

I’M THE GODDAMN BATMAN!

~ Shirukii ~