Summary:

Yorito returns with Mana to the deserted house where he stabbed Matsuri, but he’s still not sure why he did it and decides that he has to find her. Mana, however, stops him because she has something important to tell him. Takeshi is meanwhile buying some items at the convenience store, but he can no longer find the tomato shiruko that Matsuri likes. By chance, he runs into Sae who is working at that store. While they wait for Takeshi to return to the warehouse by the docks where they’re staying, Matsuri is telling Mayuko about Aono. When Mayuko asks about Yorito, Matsuri tells her not to worry about it, which makes Mayuko question why Matsuri always dodges subjects like that. Matsuri feels that it’s not because she doesn’t trust them, but rather because if she doesn’t follow that way of life, it would be too painful for her.

At the Morimiya household, Koyori is helping Aono make lunch when Aono asks why she came. Aono thinks that Mana would have told her sister not to come here, but Koyori says that if she did something like that, Aono would be alone. To their surprise, Yorito then comes home and eats with them like everything is normal. However, after Koyori leaves, Aono questions why Yorito returned and tells him not to hide the real reason. Yorito knows that it’s Aono who’s hiding something from him and reveals that although he hasn’t seen Matsuri, he remembers how he stabbed her and how Aono made him think it was a dream. Aono still insists that she isn’t hiding anything from him and that she only wants to live together with him with him not knowing anything. Yorito wants to know the truth and, thanks to Mana telling him earlier, he already knows that Aono is a Yaka which he proves by opening the blinds and watching as Aono moves away from the light.

While Yorito is at home confronting Aono, Mana has been running around town looking for tomato shiruko after learning about Takeshi looking for it from Sae. She eventually catches sight of Takeshi boarding a streetcar, but she arrives at the station too late. Not giving up, Mana chases after the streetcar and catches up with Takeshi at a different station. After getting his attention, she explains that she wants to see Matsuri no matter what and asks him where Matsuri is. When Takeshi claims that he doesn’t have anything to do with her anymore, Mana asks him to tell Matsuri anyway that Yorito is suffering, and Takeshi promises to do so if he happens to run into Matsuri around town. That night, Mana flips through all the cell phone pictures she’s taken of everyone and remembers how she had first met Yorito in the hospital when he came to see Aono. A guilty-feeling Koyori then comes into her room to confess having gone to see Aono today, but to her surprise, Mana just suggests that they sleep together since they haven’t done so in a while.

Having returned to the deserted house, Yorito suddenly hears footsteps and sees Matsuri standing by the doorway. Yorito takes the chance to say that he finally remembered what happened here and at the cave, though the latter memory is very fragmented. He knows that she and his sister knew each other hundreds of years ago, but his confusion rests on what he himself is since he’s not a Yaka. Matsuri confirms that Yorito had indeed been there in the past and that he had died back then. To show him what he really is, Matsuri suddenly stabs him with Takeshi’s sword. She knows he’s in pain, but she asks him to endure it so that he can find out the truth. It is not until Yorito falls to the ground that he sees his hand turn into sheets of origami paper. This, as Matsuri explains, is his true form. Yorito then falls into a dream-like state where the wind is blowing him away. His surroundings change to the aftermath of a mudslide that caused the collapse of a house where Aono is calling his name and digging desperately. The Matsuri of the past had told Aono that Yorito was gone, and Aono had proceeded to blame herself.

Matsuri feels that this is what led Aono to become obsessed with creating him. In other words, Yorito is a phantom created by Aono and implanted with the real Yorito’s memories. Back in the real world, both Aono and Mayuko had sensed Yorito getting stabbed, and Mayuko later worries that Yorito got broken. Takeshi, however, feels that it can’t be helped because Yorito wanted to know and chose the truth. Yorito and Matsuri meanwhile end up back at the oceanfront where they first met. As they stare at the night sky, Yorito asks Matsuri what kind of person the original Yorito was. He thinks that the real him would have the same personality, but Matsuri simply says that she’s forgotten. What she remembers is only the him that is with her now. When Yorito starts talking about not really being Yorito and not being human, Matsuri admits that he is a phantom, but she feels that he’s not nonexistent. Yorito starts to protest this and is cut off because Matsuri suddenly kisses him.

Matsuri feels that they can kiss and hold hands, so Yorito is certainly there. Though he has original Yorito’s memories, Yorito thinks independently and tries to do things on his own – that’s what Matsuri likes about him. As the sun starts to peek over the horizon, she suggests that he disappear with her. Later that morning, Mana and Koyori come to pick Yorito up and he actually comes out dressed to go to school, as if everything were back to normal. However, Matsuri is not with him because she has gone back to the warehouse to ask Takeshi to teach her how to use the sword.

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You know, I keep underestimating this show and it keeps coming back and surprising me. I had always thought that Aono had used her Yaka powers to somehow resurrect Yorito’s body, so I hadn’t expected him to just be made out of paper. Thinking about it though, it makes a lot of sense because Aono has shown her power to be controlling paper, so it’s not inconceivable that she can create a person out of it who looks like the original Yorito and infuse it with his memories. That would certainly explain why she has the power to manipulate him and make him forget things, but not anyone else.
The question I have is what exactly did Matsuri meant at the end of the episode when she suggested that Yorito disappear with her. Perhaps she wants to bring some sort of peace to herself, Yorito, and Aono by essentially killing themselves. I assume it’s connected with how she then went back to ask Takeshi to teach her how to use the sword. That sword has shown itself to have some interesting properties like being immune to Matsuri’s Yaka power, but I would guess that Takeshi acquired it for not just that reason.
The other surprising thing for me is that, like last week’s episode, this is all happening so much earlier than I thought it would. There are still three more episodes (plus the two DVD ones if applicable) to conclude the story, and there’s just so much that can happen in that time. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this ends.

41 Comments

  1. Ahaha…that’s even worse for Yoritard than I guessed. That would explain why the bastard didn’t seem…wait a minute he got slashed by Takeshi earlier with that sword earlier! How come he didn’t go even a little flaky then? Ah the length people go to to tell a story. Better planning next time guys.

    Zzz...
  2. Hmm… and i thought Yorito was sharing blood with Aono, thats why Aono could control him when Matsuri was stabbed but this was really unexpected that he’s… an origami?!

    Jason-Sama
  3. What a great little tale …. just some really interesting concepts and variations on the supoernatural being tossed around here.

    I’d say the OP song portended a lot of sadness in the story …. but wow.

    Vexx
  4. I understand Matsuris feelings but for me it’s all her fault. She turned Aono into a Yaka instead of letting her die. Moreover as far as I understand without Aono there’s no Yorito, so where would be the point in killing Aono??
    I’ve expected a sad ending from the beginning, however I don’t feel that attached to the character because of all this supernatural things.
    3 more regular episodes to go and moreover the 2 extra ones on the DVD, I’m really curious how this turns out since as Omni said, there’s so much stuff which can happen.

  5. So what if Matsuri sacrifices herself to turn Aono back into a human being? Wouldn’t that mean the source that’s holding Yorito together would lose its powers?

    MooMooCow
  6. i wonder if i can create a sexy girl with origami. xD

    this anime needs a sad ending to be successful. if it’s another one of those everybody live happily together ever after, it’ll kill it.

    kenta
  7. No way this will have a happy ending, it’ll be sad. And that’s how it should be. If you’re waiting for matsuri to live on with paperboy heh heh, then forget it. I don’t see it happening at all. And killing Aono? Yeah right, she’s pretty badass, not someone to mess with.

    GP
  8. Well, dead is dead. There’s no way Yorito can be brought back. Maybe Aono sacrifices herself to revive him, just speculation though.
    It’s funny how much you can discuss this issue. We’ll have to be patient and wait.
    Regardless how it ends I’m sure with one thing: At least of the characters will die.

  9. A Huge comet made out of paper will hit their place and kill them all. The best scenario ever 😀

    But for sure somebody has to die. My guess will be either of the 3 females. Aono, Matsuri, or Mana maybe even Mayuko gets to finally die.

    Jan
  10. “That would explain why the bastard didn’t seem…wait a minute he got slashed by Takeshi earlier with that sword earlier! How come he didn’t go even a little flaky then? Ah the length people go to to tell a story. Better planning next time guys.”

    I’m thinking he only goes flaky for a near-death wound maybe? since it wouldn’t really be adequate for Aono if he kept going flaky at every little wound.

    Schnyder
  11. “That would explain why the bastard didn’t seem…wait a minute he got slashed by Takeshi earlier with that sword earlier! How come he didn’t go even a little flaky then? Ah the length people go to to tell a story. Better planning next time guys.”

    Yeah that’s probley right, remeber how Matsuri said something about how he had to endure the pain to find the truth? Also slashes and cuts from normal blades probley don’t show his true nature, otherwise he might get into an accident and he’d find out himself. Although Aono will probley just mind hax him.

    FlameStrike
  12. I agree somewhat w/Sav. I think the first few episodes were a lot more engaging. I was excited to see where the story was headed. Not only the story but the characters were also a lot more intriguing. Now, it just seems that mediocrity and predictability have taken over. This seems to be a common
    problem with a lot of animes that shoot for nothing more than mediocrity.

    Seriel
  13. “this anime needs a sad ending to be successful. if it’s another one of those everybody live happily together ever after, it’ll kill it.”

    Almost like Kanon…

    Nayuki-Aono Fanboy

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