Nabari no Ou – 22

「混沌」 (Konton)
“Chaos”

Episode at a Glance:
After being informed of Miharu and Yoite’s escape as well as the Wakachi’s involvement, Hattori decides to switch locations and move to their temple hideout along with Yae, while Ichiki orders the Tategami to retrieve the two runaway ninjas. However, before they get a chance to take Yae away, Sourou manages to save the Togakushi leader. Raikou stumbles upon her escape though, but decides to overlook it and simply asks where Hattori went. Before he leaves, Yae decides to read his mind and confirms that he plans to die, but tells him that Hattori’s not the person he thinks he is and that the world he wants to create will snatch the hearts from everyone, including Gau and Raimei. Yae then reiterates how he now feels that his mother’s belief is correct, before Raikou walks off.

Meeting with Hattori and Ichiki in the parking lot, Raikou confesses his involvement with Miharu and Yoite’s escape and is willing to give up his life for his disloyalty, but asks the Kairoushuu leader to pardon Gau, who he claims was only acting under his orders. Hattori retorts that Raikou was the one that brought him into the Nabari world in the first place though, so Raikou decides to question about the world he plans to create and whether people will be happy without being able to share happiness. Realizing that he heard about this from Yae, Hattori merely conjectures what happiness is and if Raikou’s definition of it can reflect the masses. Claiming that he’s discarded such a superficial and shallow principle long ago, Hattori leaves with Ichiki and Shiranui shows up to “assist” Raikou with his suicide.

Staked out at a nearby coffee shop, Kouichi and Raimei catch sight of Hattori leaving the premises, after which Gau stumbles into them and updates them on the situation, including how Raikou stayed behind. Meanwhile on a rooftop, Yae tells Saraba and Sourou that they need to save Miharu and stop Hattori, which they eventually agree to since they’ve gone this far and Katorou did allow them to act on their own. Unable to do anything Raikou for now, Gau decides to help Kouichi and Raimei look for Miharu and Yoite first. Back in the parking lot, Raikou runs off claiming he has things to take care of before he dies.

Out in a desolate snowy field, Kumohira reflects on the events of ten years ago and calls out for Asahi, Miharu’s mother. The lone Banten ninja then tries to perform some sort of separation jutsu, but fails to do so, after which Kotarou appears behind him saying his fundamentals for it are wrong. Shocked to see Kotarou here and more so that by the fact that he knows about the events from ten years ago, Kumohira angerly questions what he’s doing here. However, Kotarou only states that even he’s forgotten about exactly what happened here and only knows of it from the few remaining records, before rhetorically asking Kumohira if he’s made any progress on his method for separating the Shinrabanshou from the host. He then fills Kumohira in on the situation which has been steadily progressing while he’s been completely immersed in contemplation—the Kairoushuu plan on using the Idzuna Shingan to awaken the Shinrabanshou. Upon being questioned what he’ll do now, Kumohira takes off in a hurry.

In the sewers, Yoite tells Miharu to go on without him because they’ll be caught at this rate, but the Shinrabanshou owner refuses to leave without him since he promised not to die before he makes him disappear. Yoite only apologizes though, admitting that he lied about Kira-inflicted people dying if the user dies because he wanted Miharu’s powers. With Miharu refusing to believe him and stubbornly choosing to stay behind and die alongside him, Yoite decides continue on and the two of them make it outside, where Miharu invites Yoite to stay with him in Banten. They then run into Yukimi, who questions Yoite what he’s doing after he’s taught him so much, including this escape route. Without giving Yoite a chance to respond, Miharu stands in the way saying that he’s the Shinrabanshou, but Yukimi retorts that he can’t use it and that they have no chance of escaping.

The Tategami then arrive and Hyou gives them a meaningless choice of either being brought back bruised and battered for resisting or coming back obediently with only a few injuries. Yukimi tells them to wait though and questions who gave this order, but the Tategami refuse to answer, so he says that punk kids should withdraw. Shortly afterward, Kouichi, Raimei, and Gau show up and engage the Tategami head on. During all the exchanges, Yoite tries to help but gets knocked out easily, so the Tategami decide to withdraw with him and Miharu. Yukimi steps in though and with a gun in hand, tells both sides that he’ll take Miharu and Yoite back, which the Tategami hesitently allows. Off in the Kairoushuu temple hideout, news of this reaches Hattori, who feels that he’ll have to discipline Yukimi in some way. Meanwhile, the fight continues between the Kouichi, Raimei, and the Tategami, but the Kairoushuu detached force withdraws after getting an order from their leader, Shiranui.

Out on another snowy field, Raikou retrieves his Shirogamon katana, recalls the words of his mother, reflects on how he’s made a mistake yet again, and vows to fulfil his duty as a Shimizu in accordance to his mother’s resolve.

 

Next Episode:
「発動」 (Hatsudou)
“Invocation”

Impressions:
The more closely I listen to the soundtrack for this series, the more immersed I get into how well it suits some of the scenes being depicted. I feel that it’s been more apparent as of late due to the direction this series is going, plus the fact that I’ve grown so accustomed to soundtrack now. One track I like in particular is the one being played when Yoite told Miharu to go on without him this episode, which won’t be available until the second soundtrack comes out later this month.

With that said, things naturally continued on from all the backstory revealed last time, with the most notable development coming from Raikou. Having confirmed for himself that Hattori has gone astray from his own beliefs, Raikou will undoubtedly cast judgment on his former leader in some shape or form. I’m actually quite pleased to see that he’s gone back to his Shimizu ways and acknowledged that his mother, Kourin, was correct in their handling of Nabari world affairs. Watching him retrieve his Shirogamon in the field was a symbolic way of showing his resolve as a Shimizu samurai. Hopefully this means he’ll side with Raimei and the others now, especially seeing as Gau is already with them now, but I still have this ominous feeling that Raikou may not make it until the end of the series. For one, he was willing to commit seppuku for dishonoring himself as a samurai by helping Miharu and Yoite escape. Secondly, he still seems intent on doing so after he carries out what he feels needs to be done about the situation.

Now that Kotarou has found Kumohira and Yae has decided to stop Hattori as well, it seems like members from all sides have assembled for the “greater good”. Given how I felt that things were going this way back in episode twelve, I’m not surprised by this turn of events, but I am quite pleased with it since I enjoyed a similar outcome in Gundam SEED. With Miharu and Yoite back in the hands of the Kairoushuu now, it’ll be interesting to see what happens to Yukimi if anything. While he was the one that brought them back, he went against the Tategami who were under direct orders from Hattori, so he should be in store for some punishment. Whether or not this will be enough for him to switch sides is hard to say, but I don’t foresee him being an opposition to Miharu and the others forever.

 

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)
– Fuuma Kotarou (風魔 小太郎) / Okiayu Ryoutarou (置鮎 龍太郎)
– Saraba (サラバ) / Watanabe Akeno (渡辺 明乃)
– Katou Sourou (加藤 候) / Kakihara Tetsuya (柿原 徹也)
– Shimizu Kourin (清水 光輪) / Tsuda Shouko (津田 匠子)
– 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)
– Kairoushuu (灰狼衆) / Chijiwa Ryuusaku (千々和 竜策)