First Impressions / Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru

「ブランド・ゼス」 (Burando Zesu)
“Brand Zess”

With Yuki getting accustomed to life at the Twilight Mansion, the easygoing pace continues on with a trip to the communal bath. It was probably unrealistic to expect to see some Tooko and Aya fan-service as a result, but I can always hope before they bring on the bishounen variety. For female viewers who get some level of excitement from being looked upon by pretty boys, they even had an innocent-looking scene where the guys stumbled in on the girls changing. The best thing to take away from that if you’re on the other side of the fence though is how Tooko is completely okay if it’s Yuki since she’s bathed with “him” many times before. Interestingly enough, Tooko’s slip of the tongue there ended up being how Yuki found out he was a girl in his past life. It didn’t seem to have much of an effect on how he views his relationship with Luka just yet, but I suspect it will later on (no BL implications intended). The same goes for Shuuhei’s wounds that Hotsuma feels responsible for, which the next episode will likely revolve around according to the preview.

As for this episode, it more or less depicted what we’re probably all aware of already — that Luka is part of a powerful lineage of Duras deemed as traitors. To get that point across, three Mid-Villains had to receive a swift ass-kicking at the hands of Luka’s Opast-level powers, so I was a bit disappointed on how they didn’t expand on exactly what the original betrayal by his clan entailed. I gather that will be revealed later on at a much more crucial moment, but without it this episode didn’t really build on the main story in any significant way. Luka did clearly state that protecting Yuki is his sole reason for living ever since he first met “her” and added how doing so saved him from endless meaningless battles, but that’s been pretty apparent from his monologue every episode prior to the opening sequence. I guess it still has to be stated in an episode though, so this was likely intended to satisfy that requirement.

In contrast, what did catch my attention here was the arrival of Kanata (i.e. Reiga) and his attempt to persuade Yuki to go back with him. In light of what Takashiro alluded to, I’d say it’s pretty fair to assume that Yuki is a central player in their vendetta, but the actual reason as to why is still unclear. For now, it appears that they both need his God’s Light powers of his own will, otherwise Takashiro wouldn’t have been so indirect/dishonest in persuading Yuki to move to Tokyo and Reiga wouldn’t be approaching him as Kanata and just abducted him instead. I figure there has to be a reason for their roundabout methods in trying to earn Yuki’s trust, so that particular aspect has my interest piqued as of late. Hopefully I’ll get to see more of that soon, since it sounds like Reiga’s going to get Ashley to do some of his bidding now that Yuki has decided to stay with the Giou clan.

* Hikasa Youko had a small role here as one of the school girls gawking over Luka and Yuki, but I didn’t really pick up her voice until I heard her as the phone operator as well.

 

Preview

16 Comments

  5. I sort of wish that they would pick up the pace, although I suppose they need to do their ground work first. Judging from the preview, the next episode will have Shuusei’s past, right? That should be interesting.

    By the way, Divine, will you be doing the summer previews?

    Blue
    Reply

    2. I definitely plan to get a summer preview out, but I don’t have a timeline on when that will be. All I can say is that I’ve started on it, am farther along than I expected to be at this time, and want to get it out earlier than Omni typically did. I just haven’t had much time to properly research all the new shows amidst all the ones I’m currently covering.

      divine
      Reply

  8. I noticed a few changes from the manga namely Hotsuma didn’t avert his eyes from Shusei’s scars. I have no idea why. Up to this point Id say anime all the way!

    Yukiruchan
    Reply

  10. So far this looks pretty good. I would also love to have those necklaces at the end.

    Anyway, Takashiro and Reiga both are dishonest about it although it seems Reiga has a darker purposes for getting Yuki to his side. It seems that Yuki and all his/her previous lives were with the Giou clan and in Twilight mansion so I still wonder how much Takashiro is deceiving Yuki and about what.

    Silver
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *