Short Synopsis: A Hijikata-episode. Last episode, we saw him finally realizing that Soutetsu’s up to no good. This gets continued in this episode, while Enomoto masters the power of the Lord’s Head even more.
Good: The past few episodes have been building up quite nicely for the climax of the series…
Bad: …now let’s hope that the next two episodes won’t mess up.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

And there goes Hijikata. Ever since episode 18, Akizuki has been kept away from the main events of this episode, and he’s been in the shadows, walking around a bit while the side-characters finish their stories. This episode, it was Hijikata’s turn. Next episde will be a great one, as it’ll continue Akizuki’s fight versus Kanna. I’m looking forward to the final episodes a lot. I finally realize that Bakumatsu is a good series overall, but masterful in its climaxes.

So far, we’ve got ourselves quite a formidable foe in Enomoto. In this episode it becomes clear that he actually brainwashes people. Judging by the fact that Kakunojou and Kanna have been affected, while Soutetsu and Hijikata have not, then it must mean that he can only do this with weak-hearted people. Hijikata, meanwhile, meets his end in the episode. With the end so near, I’m actually wondering whether the troupe is going to play a major role in the final episode. It would be awesome if they were, but somehow I’m feeling that they will just be spectators.

Still, a formidable foe Enomoto may be, the fact does remain that Akizuki is an excellent swordsman. He already showed that he’s capable of cutting the lord’s head more than anyone else has, and he probably also has some kind of trick up his sleeve to take care of Kakunojou. Soutetsu also is a good swordsman, but his skills will probably never match those of Akizuki’s, which means that the next episode is going to be very exciting. Speaking of Soutetsu, I’m still wondering why he needs Akizuki. Do his and Kakunojou’s sword have to meet under special circumstances or something?

And silly me. For episodes and episodes, I kept wondering what this strange “Hasha no Kubi” was. Some kind of kingdom, or something with a fog? In the end, it appears that it’s been the Lord’s Head all along. Things make much more sense now.

Short Synopsis: Shuurei and Eigetsu get officially appointed to their posts, Eiki reveals the truth behind Chuushou’s death and Enjun’s massacre and Tei Yuushun’s identity is revealed.
Good: Great to see another light-hearted episode.
Bad: While it is nice to see that Sakujun has another chance of living, I do feel cheated somehow.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

This episode reminded me again why the first half of Saiunkoku Monogatari appealed to me so much. It’s a great combination between complex storytelling, compelling characters and at times a bit of quirky dialogue. The Sakujun-arc has been really different from this first half, it’s been way more focused. But that can also be because I watched the first half raw. Watching raw and subbed does make me experience things differently.

Also, Sakujun was removed from the spot where we left him after the previous episode. This can mean two things: either someone found his (dead) body and dragged it away, or he wasn’t dead at all, and just walked away on his own. While I do believe that the first option was the case, the fact that his body wasn’t found does mean that he’s still alive, due to the general rule of anime which says that unless you explicitly see a character DIE, he’ll live. (A notable exception being Shouko from Night Head Genesis)

In the end, it also appears that neither Enjun nor Kokujun has killed someone. Enjun took the blame from someone who admired him enough to kill off everyone in his path, while Kokujun got protected by his father from Chuushou till the end. The real reason Enjun also tried to kidnap Shuurei also gets revealed. In the end, he did it so that the Sa clan would get investigated upon, so that all the bastards in the Sa-clan would be removed. Quite a noble goal.

So, this episode formed the aftermath of the Sakujun-arc. That still leaves us with three more episodes, from which I really wonder which path this series will take. Will the first season end with a huge climax, or will the final episodes of dedicate themselves to a bit more character-development? There’ll probably be some kind of time-leap in one of the future episodes as well, showing how Shuurei got experienced as a governor.

Quote of the day: “Excuse me if I wasn’t lovable.” - Ensei

Nice benchmark. Just a couple of hours ago, om369 posted the 1500th comment on Star Crossed Anime Blog. I missed the arrival of the 1000th one, but 1500 comments also is quite an achievement. When I started this blog, I probably never even imagined getting this amount in only 1,5 years.

Anyway, the people from Sea Slugs take art-requests whenever they hit such a benchmark, but I can’t draw to save my life. Still, it’s a good chance for a little experiment that I’ve always wanted to try out once. Basically, you can post a comment with the name of an upcoming show for the spring-season. The show with the most votes will be blogged by me, no matter what. Because he made the 1500th comment, if om369 posts, his vote counts for three. Be careful, though, because if I don’t like it, I reserve the right to bash the hell out of that anime.

I have no idea whether this will work out, but it’s worth to give it a try. In the worst-case scenario, I’ll just drop it in the end. Plus, it’ll be interesting to see what show my readers are looking forward to the most.