Summary:

Sometime in the past, Matsuri had learned of Yorito and Aono’s plans to leave the cave where they were staying, and she had assumed that they were going by themselves. Both of them actually wanted her to come with them, and Aono told Matsuri not to say that she’ll be fine by herself because she’s not alone anymore. Back in the present, Aono faces Matsuri and claims that Yorito chose her. Matsuri knows that Yorito wanted to make Aono happy and thinks that Aono should be glad that Yorito puts her first. Yorito has always wanted not to cause his sister sadness and pain, and Matsuri couldn’t stand it. Matsuri then admits that she likes Yorito and that she doesn’t want to be separated from him. She asks Aono to give Yorito to her, though she feels that she’s already gotten him and reveals that he’s at her place now. As she starts to leap away, Matsuri suggests that they should decide who can be with Yorito.

Matsuri returns to Yorito, who is waiting for her in an abandoned movie theater, and the two pretend to watch a horror film. When Matsuri thinks that Yorito doesn’t like them because he’s scared, Yorito claims that he’s not and wants to prove it next time, but he then realizes that there might not be a next time. Matsuri, however, still says that they should go see one some day. As for Aono, Matsuri feels that this is all her and Aono’s problem and that Yorito was the one who got dragged in. In talking further about horror films, Yorito wonders aloud what dying feels like, and although Matsuri has lived for a long time, that is the one thing she doesn’t know. Aono has meanwhile arrived at the abandoned district and calls Matsuri out. She feels that it’s pointless to fight because if she gets defeated and loses her powers, Yorito won’t live anymore. Matsuri knew this already and is okay with it because her goal is to erase poor Yorito.

Since the two girls are serious, they start fighting sword against paper. The both use the full extent of their abilities, with Aono manipulating everything she can get her paper onto to hurt Matsuri while Matsuri wields the sword and her own decay powers. At one point, Aono seems to gain an upper hand after having barraged Matsuri with paper missiles and demands Yorito back. Matsuri replies that it’s impossible because the real Yorito is gone – dead since that time. Aono feels that by this logic, she’s also been dead since that time, and she blames Matsuri for all this. Right before she charges forward, Matsuri replies that this is the reason she’s returning everything to how it originally was. The two clash again and after kicking Matsuri down, Aono uses her paper to weaken a section of wall to crumble down onto her opponent. Matsuri manages to respond quickly enough to decay a pipe structure to form a cage to protect herself.

As she rushes to attack again, Matsuri remembers how she had revived Aono after Aono committed suicide. At the time, Matsuri had been lonely after having understood what it means not to be alone and what the warmth of being with someone is. Matsuri now swings at Aono and manages to slash her arm, but to Matsuri’s surprise, it turns to paper. The real Aono has already found Yorito in the movie theater, meaning that the one Matsuri is fighting is a fake. This fake explodes in a whirlwind of paper that tags everything around Matsuri, including the oil drums that soon come flying at her. One of them knocks her down right beside a construction crane that now aims its arm at her. Inside the theater, Yorito tell Aono that he can’t be together with her and that he’s the one who asked Matsuri to erase him. The reason is because he’s not Yorito or anyone, so he wants to return to his true form, together with his sister.

Aono refuses to do this because if both she and he disappear, then nothing will remain. If this is what is supposed to be right, then she wouldn’t have created him in the first place. She had done it because she thought she could with the power of the Yaka and because she thought she could live with Yorito. In anger, she question if it’s meaningless and then pins him against the wall with her paper. Matsuri has meanwhile been beat around by the objects under Aono’s control, but she manages to make her way back to the movie theater. Aono hears her coming and starts to head out to meet her, but Yorito first says that even if there is no Matsuri, he still refuses to go with Aono. When Aono replies that she’ll forcibly take him, Yorito asks if it’s because he’s something created by her. Aono denies it, but Yorito suggests that if he were the real Yorito, she wouldn’t have said something like that. He feels that things don’t always happen like you want them to, but that is what living is. Aono, however, continues to insist that he’s Yorito – her little brother – and heads out to face Matsuri.

Matsuri and Aono both want to end this now, and although Aono throws a knife, Matsuri presses forward with her attack. Aono manages to use her paper to get Matsuri to drop the sword, but Matsuri responds by getting up close and throwing Aono through the theater wall. Before the dust can clear, Matsuri retrieves the sword and stabs Aono in the gut. Unfortunately, the Aono she stabbed is another fake made out of paper, and the real Aono slams Matsuri against the movie screen with a wave of paper. Aono then forms another knife and heads toward Matsuri to finish this, leaving Yorito no choice but to break off his arm to free himself. When Aono charges Matsuri, Yorito tackles his sister to the ground before she can reach her. Picking Takeshi’s sword back up, Matsuri starts walking towards them, but the movie screen behind them suddenly lights up with a scene of a blue sky.

Matsuri pauses for a moment against this background before she decides to stab herself in the stomach. Earlier, Takeshi had told her that putting her life onto the sword would allow it to return another Yaka to being human. Indeed, the sword seems to absorb Matsuri’s blood and continues glowing even after Matsuri pulls it out of herself. She then raises it to stab down on a now-frightened Aono.

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Well there were some great fight scenes this episode, more than enough to rival even some of the action heavy shows. I liked how they mixed the past scenes with present fight, and I also thought the film of the blue sky as the background for the final scene is a really really nice touch. Actually, that blue sky background seemed to have extra significance given how long Matsuri paused in front of it before finally stabbing herself. She spent most of the episode trying to just stab or slash Aono, and it wasn’t until that blue sky appeared that she seemed to opt to return Aono to being human by stabbing herself first.
This all leaves me with a lot of questions about how this series will end. It seems like there’s a pretty good chance that Matsuri will die, and if she succeeds in stabbing Aono, then Aono will revert back to being a human and lose her Yaka powers. If Yorito also theoretically disappears when that happens, then it would leave Aono all alone. That doesn’t seem like it’d be a very satisfying ending to me, though keeping made-out-of-paper Yorito alive doesn’t seem very like a great choice either. I guess we’ll have to wait until the finale next week to see what happens.

45 Comments

  1. Looks more like Yorito is attempting to hold down Aono so Matsuri can stab her. I think Yorito ended up betraying Aono and since Aono will die also. Since Yorito’s essence can only exist if Aono is alive, Yorito will fade away as well.

    Nebby
  2. Despite how many ppl say this anime have to end in a sad ending i really just want the character to live through. It’s going to be sad if this end up one of those life go on as if nothing happend ending.

    Rinkun
  3. Bah, Aono won’t die, Matsuri sacrifices herself to turn Aono back to a human, and this also means her and Yorito will dissapear together, as was said in episode 10. The only people who will DIE, are the ones who are dead already anyways. I for one thing this is one hell of an ending. If everyone lived and we had some sorta happy ending it’d totally be a cop-out and a crappy ending to an otherwise good story. Get over it people, live isn’t always rosy, you have to have the bad and the good.

    GP
  4. Stab Aono…And then Aono will just kill herself again…

    Because there is no Yorito to live for…

    Sigh…

    But I am really interested in this more than 13 episode thing…

    Demon Eyes
  5. I am not totally sure but i think episode 14 & 15 will be a special like some sort of recap or side stories, so I think 13 is where the ending goner be. I could be wrong thou.

    Mike
  6. Ok, watched the raw and I’m bit pissed off (and got the thing with Yorito holding Aono, was a bit sleepy when I saw the pics yesterday ;))
    Matsuri is for me selfish, selfish, selfish..
    First she brings Aono back to life against her will and now she wants to turn her back into a human, with the consequence that Aono will be alone. Yorito was and is the only reason for Aono to live, if he disappears she’ll probably kill herself again..
    Matsuri just should’ve left Aono death. She’s only causing sadness through her actions.

    As for episode 14+15 I also expect sidestories, maybe something about this sword? Or a story from the past?

    I don’t think this show will have a really satisfying ending cause it’s just not possible here. And I’m sure many of you will agree that there’s no place for a happy ending.

  7. —————————-
    mutio ->Ok, watched the raw and I’m bit pissed off (and got the thing with Yorito holding Aono, was a bit sleepy when I saw the pics yesterday )
    Matsuri is for me selfish, selfish, selfish..
    —————————-
    I totaly agree with you, matsuri is selfish, but also is yorito afterall he helped CONVINCE matsuri to kill him (to fulfill double suicide).

    the only ending i see in Aono either commiting suide or somehow living a normal life. the first would in my opinion make the ending cr@p (i want at least one of them to live who knows what happend) and the second well its seems wierd for a life like nothing happend as someone said earlier.

    Lost Seeker
  8. The story really turns out as I guessed before. Aono is going to return to human and Matsui and Yorito will be gone. And Aono will undoubtedly commit suicide again… Just doubt if there will be any miracles at the end, given that the writer is who brought us the kanon game.

    To my surprise, Aono is so strong and even wins over the original yama. Maybe she can even rival “the paper”?

    pico
  9. Just has a second thought… i think Aono will not kill herself, but live as a proof of the existence of the fake Yorito. And she will eventually get through it with the help of the mana sisters

    pico
  10. There could be another possibility, if that sword could not only turn a yaka back into a human, but would also work on Yorito (Takeshi wouldn’t know, after all he didn’t quite have an interest in paper-humans).
    That way maybe Matsuri double-stabs Aono and Yorito, and we’ll end up with a Aono/Yorito ending.

    I’m actually wondering what they have in mind for Mana and Koyori. Guessing from what happened so far Mana will likely get shafted, but they invested quite a lot of time into the Aono-Koyori relationship, so maybe Aono will find a new beloved sibling in Koyori (if Yorito/Matsuri disappear).

    Personally I’d like a Matsuri-Aono ending, but the series so far has made that all but impossible T_T

    krumel
  11. >>Personally I’d like a Matsuri-Aono ending, but the series so far has made that all but impossible T_T

    Someone who agrees!

    There is always the slightest possibility that the sword stab permanently kills Yorito – however, because he is not an actual Yaka, Matsuri doesn’t have to die. After Aono is unable to rebuild Yorito because his phantom presence is forever lost, she finds SOLAce in Matsuri.

    Thus, we get a bittersweet yuri ending.

    https://randomc.net/image/sola/sola%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2018.jpg

    Mana-san... *whack*
  12. I’m getting a bit confused about a fundamental question:

    So who does Yorito like??? Was what Matsuri said at the beginning to provoke the fight to a certain extent true…that Yorito prioritizes Aono’s well-being and happiness? This is confounded by the very explicit development of the Yorito-Matsuri relationship throughout the series…I’m so confused @_@

    shakugan no shana
  13. I’ve got an idea..Yorito’s gonna do some kinda flip around Aono..and Matsuri will stab him, turning him human..So he and Aono will be together, but Matsuri will die. Especially since she was talking about how she didn’t know what it’s like to die..

    Sean
  14. >>So who does Yorito like??? Was what Matsuri said at the beginning to provoke the fight to a certain extent true…that Yorito prioritizes Aono’s well-being and happiness? This is confounded by the very explicit development of the Yorito-Matsuri relationship throughout the series…I’m so confused @_@

    Nem
  15. ok. Its almost 100% sure that Matsuri will die. Since, she said how would u feel when u die and Yorito has promised her to see the sky. She has no point to live. Thats my thought.

    It would be something like Yorito/Aono ending.

    Syouke
  16. Just finished it yesterday. Even at that, I still wonder where Takeshi got a hold of that wonder sword. That little twintale-loli-stalking-trench-coat-wearing-NEET bastard… But hey, I give him props for his hige. Hige’s FTW!

    kyon smith

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