Nabari no Ou – 20

「戸隠へ」 (Togakushi he)
“To Togakushi”

Episode at a Glance:
After arriving at Fog Blue, Miharu and Yoite find out that Yae has returned to her hometown for the end of the year, so Miharu uses his puppy dog eyes jutsu to get her address before making his way there with Yoite. Meanwhile in Banten, Raimei tells Raikou over the phone that she’s glad that Gau’s alright, but doesn’t now the whereabouts of Kumohira or Miharu, the latter of which should be a Kairoushuu now anyway. When she talks to Kouichi about this later, he suspects that Raikou’s phone call was probing for information and that Miharu may rebelled, so the two of them decide to look for Miharu and head to Kotarou for information first. Elsewhere, Kumohira recalls how he once stopped Miharu from using the Shinrabanshou and the events from ten years ago, when he failed to control the Shinrabanshou, was welcomed to Japan, told by his grandfather to do it and found him dead, saw the Shinrabanshou taking over Miharu’s body, and was asked to keep all this from Miharu.

After a long train ride and transferring to a bus, Miharu and Yoite arrive at Yae’s house, where Togakushi’s village used to be located. While surprised to see them, Yae welcomes Miharu and Yoite in and explains how there’s nothing left here but graves, including that of her daughter Alisa. Seeing that the Shinrabanshou and Kira user have joined forces to visit her, Yae wonders what’s become of the Nabari world, so Miharu expresses that he’s unsure, but simply came here of his own accord. Getting right to the point, Yoite tells Yae that they want her to use the Idzuna Shingan, reminding her of what happened before, but Yae claims to have sealed it away. However, Miharu expresses the need to drag out its powers now for Yoite’s sake and begs Yae saying he has no other alternatives. Seeing the same look in his eyes that she had when she was trying to save Alisa, Yae agrees to help.

In his car, Yukimi is pissed because no one is picking up their phones. Back at the Kairoushuu’s place, Gau overhears the Tategami talking about Miharu and Yoite and how they’re in Togakushi, so he bursts in on them and finds out that they’re going to kill Yoite for betraying them. Afterward, Gau asks Hattori if what he heard is true and pleads for him to save Yoite instead, but the Kairoushuu leader simply says that Yoite’s role is over. Speaking with Raikou later, Gau questions what Hattori is thinking when he’s relied on Yoite’s powers and the Kairoushuu’s sense of justice, but Raikou is more concerned about why the Tategami were called in when it should’ve been their responsibility. Feeling indebted to Yoite, Raikou wants to save him if possible, but tells Gau, to abide by their rules or he might be seen as an accomplice.

While Yoite is concerned about Miharu, he ensures him that he won’t die and allows Yae to look into his mind with her Idzuna Shingan. Back at the Fog Blue office, everyone is wondering why they’ve been urgently called in by their leader, unaware that it’s a trap set up by the Tategami, who detonate a bomb that destroys the entire floor soon after. Inside Miharu’s mind, Yae tries to determine what’s preventing him from using the Shinrabanshou by questioning his inner self. The Shinrabanshou then arrives, greeting Yae as the Idzuna Shingan and calling her a coward for running away from the Nabari world. Yae reminds Miharu of how he wants to save Yoite though, so he questions the Shinrabanshou “fairy” why she won’t lend him her power when he needs it, so she reveals that it’s because saving Yoite is a boring reason to. Asking what his desires are, the Shinrabanshou almost gets Miharu caught in her way of thinking, but Yae snaps him out of it and tells her that Miharu is different from before and is serious about this. Wondering if that’s really the case, the Shinrabanshou lashes out at both of them and tells Miharu that she won’t help him fulfill other people’s desires. Seeing that Yae is in a great deal of pain, Miharu is able to unleash some of his own powers to free her, after which the Shinrabanshou compliments him and tells him to make his desires clear before finally disappearing.

Released from the Idzuna Shingan, both Miharu and Yae are exhausted and realize that it was a failure, since the Shinrabanshou won’t lend her powers until Miharu meets her requirements. The Tategami soon arrive and quickly take out Yoite, after which their leader, Shiranui, shows Yae the news report on the explosion that went off at Fog Blue, killing everyone inside. After being told that this is her punishment for assisting two runaway Kairoushuu ninjas, Yae loses it in a fit of anger but gets knocked out. Shiranui then orders everyone to kill the other two and withdraw with the Shinrabanshou, but Miharu threatens to kill himself if they do. The Tategami decide to contact Ichiki about this, who tells them to bring everyone back alive for now. Ichiki then reports to Hattori that Togakushi has been dealt with and that the Shinrabanshou appears to have been treated as a person just now.

 

Next Episode:
「野望」 (Yabou)
“Ambition”

Impressions:
I find it surprising how friendly Raimei is with Raikou now and the rest of the Kairoushuu. Their attitude towards one another is more like groups of friends rather than rivaling ninja clans in a struggle to obtain the Shinrabanshou. That aside, they finally revealed a bit more about what happened 10 years ago and it seems like Kumohira failed in controlling the Shinrabanshou then. His grandfather, Black Durandal, may have been an inadvertent casualty from this, which would help explain why Kumohira is adamantly against Miharu using the Shinrabanshou now. It seems he was close to Miharu’s parents too, Akatsuki and Asahi, the latter of which asked him to keep what happened that day to himself and to do something with Miharu.

On the Kairoushuu side of things, Gau sees the lack of justice in their clan now, so I can picture him and Raikou doing something at some point, despite the latter’s insistence not to right now. The same goes for Yukimi, who has already questioned exactly what they’re doing, so it’s possible that the three of them will subtly help Yoite if not go up against the Tategami directly. Either way, there’s definitely some doubt boiling from within. Speaking of the Tategami, I find that they’re quite ruthless and act more like you’d expect from ninjas, having killed all ten members of Togakushi. (Are there really only ten members?) All of them also have more typical ninja names (see the credits below for what I mean), which may or may not have been on purpose.

We also finally got to see the Shinrabanshou again, who gives off an ominous presence everytime she speaks and sounds extra eery thanks to Tamura Yukari. I figured it wasn’t a good idea to provoke her with the Idzuna Shingan, but at least we found out why she won’t lend her abilities to Miharu yet—his desire to save Yoite is too boring. I can’t help but feel bad for Yae though, having been punished along with the rest of Togakushi when she had no idea that Miharu and Yoite were going to drop by. Her anger came across loud and clear too thanks to Yukino Satsuki‘s screaming, but unfortunately it doesn’t looks like she’s doing well next time because of this discovery. While Miharu managed to save both Yae and Yoite’s lives for now, I don’t suspect Hattori wants to keep them alive for long, so perhaps Kotarou and his clan will act soon. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Fuuma leader and I’m sure he has something up his sleeve, so hopefully we’ll see what that is soon.

 

Cast:
– Rokujou Miharu (六条 壬晴) / Kugimiya Rie (釘宮 理恵)
– Yoite (宵風) / Saiga Mitsuki (斎賀 みつき)
– Kumohira Thobari Durandal (雲平・帷・デュランダル) / Namikawa Daisuke (浪川 大輔)
– Aizawa Kouichi (相澤 虹一) / Hino Satoshi (日野 聡)
– Shimizu Raimei (清水 雷鳴) / Fujimura Ayumi (藤村 歩)
– Yukimi Kazuhiko (雪見 和彦) / Tsuda Kenjirou (津田 健次郎)
– Oda Yae (織田 八重) / Yukino Satsuki (雪野 五月)
– Rokujou Asahi (六条 旭日) / Okamoto Maya (岡本 麻弥)
– Rokujou Akatsuki (六条 暁) / Iokamaru Atsushi (伊岡丸 篤)
– Black Durandal (ブラック・デュランダル) / Hori Katsunosuke (堀 勝之祐)
– Shinrabanshou (森羅万象) / Tamura Yukari (田村 ゆかり)
– Hattori Toujuurou (服部 柊十郎) / Nakata Jouji (中田 譲治)
– Ichiki (一季) / Amano Yuri (天野 由梨)
– Shimizu Raikou (清水 雷光) / Suwabe Junichi (諏訪部 順一)
– Meguro Gau (目黒 俄雨) / Okamoto Nobuhiko (岡本 信彦)
– Hyou (雹) / Suyama Akio (陶山 章央)
– Shigure (時雨) / Mizuno Risa (水野 理沙)
– Kagerou (陽炎) / Sakaguchi Shuuhei (阪口 周平)
– Shiranui (不知火) / Egawa Hisao (江川 央生)
– Fog Blue employee (フォグブルー社員) / Sudou Erika (須藤 絵里花)
– Fog Blue employee (フォグブルー社員) / Souma Yukito (相馬 幸人)
– Reporter (レポーター) / Monden Yukiko (門田 幸子)