Kure-nai 09, Cute AND Pedo
June 2nd, 2008 by Shirukii
I find it slightly disturbing that for someone who denied his pedo status so readily didn’t say anything when Murasaki decided to lay one on him. It’s entirely possible that the kiss was platonic, like a sister kissing her brother, but then why on the lips? And that still doesn’t explain why Shinkurou didn’t even question it. *cough*pedophile*cough*
Having been discovered by the Kuhouins, Benika moves Shinkurou and Murasaki along with Yayoi to a random hotel where she has a little talk with Shinkurou. He begins to question his ability to carry out this job, to protect Murasaki. Having seen the type of people he is up against, he believes himself to be too weak for the task.
Additionally, going on what Ginko told him, Shinkurou asks Benika if Murasaki really is a child of the Kuhouins, as she doesn’t show up on any existing family tree. Benika explains the plutocratic system of the Kuhouin family, how the Inner Sanctuary is where Kuhouin women give birth to subsequent generations, impregnated by their brothers to keep the family blood line pure. Basically, the Kuhouins inbreed. The existence of the women of the Inner Sanctuary are completely erased so that their secret remain hidden. The men of the Kuhouin family marry to outsiders, powerful families looking to establish ties with the Kuhouins, and the inbred child is raised by her outside mother. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
Shinkurou, remembering his promise to Murasaki, to protect her against any harm, reaffirms his will, based largely on the fact that Murasaki herself wants to be free. He asks Benika for permission to take Murasaki back to Samidare for one last night to properly bid farewell to Tamaki and Yamie. A stupid move by all logic, given that the Kuhouins know of the place, but Shinkurou believes, as he always has, that experiences like this are too important to pass up and are worth the risk.
Yayoi takes up her old spot outside the apartment for one last night as Shinkurou and Murasaki have yakiniku with Tamaki and Yamie, along with some high class meat, before saying their goodbyes, Yamie getting a striking feeling that something is odd about their suddenly welcoming mood.
Murasaki and Shinkurou pack in preparation to leave the next day, Murasaki talking about her mother while doing so, reminiscing about how she died confined in the Inner Sanctuary and not wanting to share the same fate. Shinkurou shares his past as well, recalling how he lost his parents and how it was the turning point after which he decided to turn his body into a monstrosity in order to gain power and along with it, the ability to protect those important to him. Two lonely souls who, in the presence of each other, comfort each other’s solitude.
Meanwhile, Benika has sneaks into the Kuhouin household to confront Renjou, giving him one last chance to walk away from the situation at hand. Despite the fact that Murasaki is not the same person she was when she left the Inner Sanctuary, having experienced the outside world, his answer remains unchanged, as reflected by his permission of Ryuuji’s actions. And so the two bet on their respective horses, Ryuuji vs Shinkurou.
Ryuuji’s extraction team shows up at Samidare soon after, lead by a yet unnamed crazy bitch who plows effortlessly through Yayoi, the lesser cronies working their way upstairs, easily subduing Tamaki and Yamie. Shinkurou puts up a bit of a fight, but once crazy bitch comes on stage, it’s all over. Ryuuji approaches Murasaki, who is clearly afraid of her brother and the influence of the Kuhouin family in general. Despite her vow to live together with Shinkurou, to be free and see the world, when confronted by her past, she cowers and gives in. In a particularly evil move, Ryuuji makes Murasaki move on her own will, forcing her to recite her duty as a Kuhouin woman and walk herself back to the Inner Sanctuary, on threat of Shinkurou’s death.
And so Shinkurou lays beaten and powerless as the child he swore to protect from harm’s way is forced from her newfound freedom back into the birdcage that is the Inner Sanctuary…
Thoughts
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE.
Holy crap, I nearly put a hole in my monitor when Ryuuji gave that line, 10/10, would raeg again. The guy is a bastard, making Murasaki recite her duty as a Kuhouin on her own “will” with Shinkurou watching on. But the worst part of it is, I don’t even think the guy is doing it out of sadism, he seems like he truly believes in the system of the Kuhouin family, or at the very least doesn’t see anything wrong with it. It’s one thing to be a bad guy, fully aware of the malice of your actions, but it’s completely different being undeniably evil while earnestly believing that you’re not doing anything wrong. Ryuuji surely sees the evil in his methods, but it seems to me that he believes his overall goal is just.
Shinkurou was no less raeg inducing as Ryuuji. After his long speech reaffirming his will to protect Murasaki at all costs, he sure didn’t put up much of a fight. Going back to Samidare was a stupid move concerning Murasaki’s well being, but fair enough, the guy was confident in his will to stay by Murasaki and proper farewells are something that shouldn’t be ignored. However, not only did they not really say their goodbyes to Tamaki and Yamie, when trouble came knocking, Shinkurou was pretty quick to lay down and play dead. Sure he was up against an opponent far out of his league, but he didn’t even give it his all, he didn’t use his bone blade thing!
I love the psycho bitch though, she was so over the top evil that you couldn’t help but respect her. She waltzed easily past Yayoi, second only to Benika in terms of fighting abilities displayed in the series, going as far as to kick her while she was down. She then mercilessly laid the beat down on Shinkurou, keeping him conscious to witness Murasaki get taken away, but quick to subdue any retaliation and hope of rescue. All the while sporting that insane smile. I bet she doesn’t even get paid! She probably just volunteers her services so she gets to beat the crap out of people.
Anyways, next episode looks like a buffer before the inevitable rescue arc. So Shinkurou will go through the motions, initial depression -> feigned acceptance and a pitiful attempt to move on -> lamentation -> realization of Murasaki’s importance and the building of a stronger will.
PARTY @ MY HOUSE
~ Shirukii ~
14 Responses to “Kure-nai 09, Cute AND Pedo”
Leave a Reply
Please use [spoiler] [/spoiler] tags for spoilers.
Loading ...
I think Murasaki likes Shinkurou but Shinkurou likes her as a little sister? I don’t think the kiss was a big deal.. isn’t that normal? I used to kiss my brother and no one called him a pedo.. but then again we’re siblings.. nvm = =;
Yeah Ryuuji is… hm. e.e; Poor Murasaki…
The ending was so touching.. Murasaki is really like a grown up.
Both Ryuuji and Shinkurou really made this episode the most RAGE inducing Kure-nai episode around. There’s really nothing worse than a villain who did bad things without realizing that they are wrong indeed. Also, Shinkurou’s action made the first half of the episode worthless. He didn’t even use his sword or prepare an escapeway while Yayoi tries so hard buying him time! And thinking that he’s cleaning his house smiling in the next episode almost put me past the limit. Almost. Ryuuji’s different though. He would made a great last boss, lol.
Oh yeah, forgot to add, Murasaki’s seiyuu’s voice was brilliant in the “Kuhouin task reciting” scene. I can really feel how scared Murasaki is, and it amplifies the RAGE amplitude for Ryuuji and Shinkuro..
This episode was a stretch to the character logic in many ways (Shinkurou and Murasaki returning to Samidare when it’s obviously the worst place to go to, THE KISS OF THE SEASON, etc), yet the way it was packaged makes me can’t help feeling absorbed into the situation and feeling the impact of the parting scene…
Or maybe I was just too busy raging to care about the logic flaws.
This episode was one packed with an intense wave of emotions. I think the loli kiss scene was done quite well. Murasaki clearly explains how her mom says that you kiss the one who you feel is important. I do wonder how Shin takes it in though. I also thought Shin swore to himself that he was not going to use his bone-blade anymore since he wants to use his own strength. There must be some reason why he wasn’t giving his all compared to other encounters he has been through.
Rage indeed, I expected Shinkurou to at least go for a killing strike on Ryuuji with his bone-blade. (is that what we’re calling it now?) It would have made a lot more sense (and would have looked a lot cooler) than just lying in a corner.
The kissing scene was rather innocent and cute than anything else and it makes for a good finisher for the slice-of-life arc I guess.
I wonder what’ll happen next episode though, chances are we’re in for the standard buffer episode, but I’m hoping we get something a bit different.
Well, that answers the question of why Murazaki’s mother died so young. Thoroughly inbred, double-recessive people such as she shouldn’t live so long.
And yes, I was ready for Shinkurou to go apeshit against that Chinese. I’m sure people will forgive him if he used his bone blades to fight instead of his obviously inferior natural strength.
And I also think the kiss was perfectly innocent. I have to wonder about the mindset of thos who’d think differently :p
>Well, that answers the question of why Murazaki’s mother died so young. Thoroughly inbred, double-recessive people such as she shouldn’t live so long.
We’ve also heard one of the Kuhounins (I forgot who exactly) say that Muraski was “the only woman the Kuhounin have left” which, given their “breeding program” probably doesn’t imply that there haven’t been enough childbirths, but that most of them didn’t survive, victims of inbreeding depression.
@ Vadigor:
Well, inbreeding does cause loss of fertility, so the practice of the Kuhoins could cut both ways, especially considering the coefficient.
Hells yeah! I knew there was inbreeding involved…i felt shady for writing about it in the last post so i didn’t finish, but i was freakin right (maybe not about the royal blood). Gimme a cookie!
I was mighty miffed with Shinkurou this episode for going back to the apartment block….all for the sake of saying a few goodbyes. What a chump! Him and his ‘gay ass’ principles, theres a time and a place for that….he totally got it wrong.
I do think that it was an innocent kiss, but if it was otherwise, I honestly wouldn’t mind. Shin is too dense to be able to interpret the kiss as something else anyways, so it was indeed platonic for him.
as for Shin going back to Samidareso, I think the anime messed this up a little bit… according to people who have read the novel, the Samidareso is supposed to be a no-fight sanctuary. And from what I’ve read, Ryuuji should’ve met Murasaki and Shinkurou while they were still on their way home.
Shinkurou’s decision in the anime can still be justified however, something which the people in animesuki forums has done a good job with.
@ zefi: Murasaki probably likes him as more than just a big brother figure, but Shinkurou is too dense to pick up on it.
@ albert_2mb: Yea, Shinkurou was far from proactive about the whole thing, it’s as if he was just riding on hope and a prayer that the Kuhouins wouldn’t show up.
Murasaki’s seiyuu was really great in that scene, bonus points since she’s a newbie.
@ issa-sa: It was a touching parting scene, but damn if it didn’t demand some pretty heavy suspension of belief.
@ Dando008: I understand he wants to fight on his own accord, but when the stakes are high, you need to make do with what you have. His half assed attempt at rescuing Murasaki just didn’t cut it.
@ Vadigor: I remember it having a name, but I can’t be arsed to remember it or google it, so I went with bone blade thingy. I’d have liked him to show some more outrage towards Ryuuji rather than pathetic pleading towards Murasaki though, that’s for sure.
@ ItAintEazy: Ibreeding ftl, siscon may be hot in the right circumstances, but the result thereof isn’t so appealing.
@ Seeb: Have an internet cookie, unfortunately it’s invisible and has no discernable mass or taste.
I wouldn’t have minded seeing him waltz back into Samidare, but he did so without a plan, which was just stupid.
@ usagijen: Shin is quite dense, he probably didn’t make much of the kiss, not romantically anyways.
Samidare is a no fight sanctuary in the novel? Huh, interesting, they could have just locked Murasaki in there forever! Though I suppose that would be no different from the Inner Sanctuary in that respect then.
The “psycho bitch’s” name is Lin Chensing and she is pretty much Benika’s replacement in being head of the Kuhoin residence’s hitmen in terms of fighting.
this is one frustrating episode. i can’t accept that shinkurou was powerless to the psycho bitch. i didnt’ get how he couldn’t put up a fight. in the earlier episodes, we see him kick ass effortlessly. i wanted to get into the scene (if only that was possible) and knock some sense into shinkurou and say ‘dude! wtf?! use your power or your what-ever-you-call-that-thing -bone!!!!!’ hmmmmm… this is one mystery. i hope the succedding episodes will explain this. in any case, i still enjoyed this weeks ep. as for the kiss murasaki planted on shinkurou, for some reason i didn’t find it disturbing. it seemed “innocent”. i guess both are still sexually ‘unaware’. by the looks of it shinkurou is a late bloomer ;) . well, just a thought. :)
I haven’t watched this show but…damn…that really looks like pedophilsm. It doesn’t look like the silly loli stuff we all know and love.