Posted by OP1.5 Sequence
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OP: 「不完全燃焼」 (Fukanzen Nenshou) by 石川智晶 (Ishikawa Chiaki)
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼
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「美姫、繚乱」 (Biki, Ryouran)
“The Beautiful Maiden Arrives”
As sadistic as it sounds, Mahiru turned out to be all kinds of batshit insane yet I actually liked her more because of it. Hanazawa Kana in a psychotic role is uncharted seiyuu territory that’s definitely worth exploring further. Her portrayal of Mahiru reminded me of Rana Linchen in FREEZING except crazier — so much crazier that she made Aki look like a calm and composed individual in comparison. She seemed pretty intent on killing everyone except Kyouhei just for getting on her bad side. That hissy fit she threw was kind of scary, but watching her stake her claim on Kyouhei, call out Utao for being brocon, and smack her away was rather amusing. I was quite impressed by how they were able to inject some lighthearted moments while still maintaining a fairly serious air. That was true even after the fact, when Utao was dwelling over the fallout with Kirio over Mahiru.
The introduction of Diet member and Karakama representative Hirashiro Takeshi (Horiuchi Kenyuu) put a new perspective on everything that’s happened up until now, from Aki’s release to aspirations of usurping both the Kuga and Hyuuga families. I more or less pinned Sahei as the ultimate antagonist after learning that he’s harboring Amaterasu, and while I still feel that’s the case, Hirashiro’s involvement suggests that Kyouhei and the others are going to have to jump through some more hoops before getting there. It definitely adds a nice dimension to the plot, even though I’m skeptical as to whether the series will have enough time to adapt it properly with so few episodes remaining.
Offsetting that thought was the flashback to Kyouhei, Aki, and Mahiru’s childhood, which proved to be another series defining moment just like the one about Chihaya. It finally shed some light on the horrific scenes we’ve been shown glimpses of, and showed the mistreatment Mahiru received back, which is one of the main reasons why I’m so forgiving of her arrogance now. In the latter case, it was awfully cute seeing her break down in tears while Aki was threatening her, plus how she innocently developed feelings for Kyouhei. (Granted, it’s not really hard for Kyouhei to pick up girls when Aki’s his wingman and makes him look like a saint.)
In case there’s any doubt, the mind-eating Kakashi that they stumbled upon was none other than Amaterasu. The depiction of Kyouhei, Aki, and Mahiru’s struggle against that monster was intense, and the overwhelming fear they felt left me wondering how they aren’t completely traumatized by such that experience. Quite frankly, I’m really surprised Kyouhei isn’t more like Aki and Mahiru after learning what he went through. It does however give new meaning on why Aki and Mahiru are so partial towards Kyouhei. I’m also more understanding as to how they are now, and why Kyouhei wanted to leave the village. The incident with Chihaya was just the nail in the coffin for him.
Anyway, Kyouhei presumably destroyed Amaterasu by opening Kukuri’s left hand, but it obviously survived and was secretly taken in by Sahei at some point, so I suspect that the story is gearing up towards another encounter with Amaterasu where Kyouhei takes control of Kukuri again. After seeing how dangerous Mahiru is with Magatsuhi, I’d really love to see the three of them overcome their past demons together. Hopefully the anime gets to that point, because Kami-sama Dolls is finally shaping out to the be story-filled series that I hoped it would be. Now it just needs to seal the deal with a befitting conclusion surrounding Amaterasu, even if it’s only an interim one.
* With both Kirio and Mahiru added to the OP/ED, I decided to put up videos of the updated sequences.
ED1.5 Sequence
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ED: 「スイッチが入ったら」 (Switch ga Haittara) by 石川智晶 (Ishikawa Chiaki)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼
Preview
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Omake
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I love Mahiru’s character, and Hanazawa Kana’s voice is just icing. She just seems to make all the characters much more lively. I would totally root for her over Hibino.
Mahiru > Hibino. 100% agree!!
Mahiru is glorious. Hanazawa is knocking it out of the park here.
Amaterasu seems to have really screwed with the heads of all three kids, and Mahiru seems to have gotten it really bad, especially since she was so much younger than the boys. Latching onto Kyouhei may be the only way she can keep even a semblance of sanity.
And I think Kyouhei may be less together than he puts on.
Wow, the art was pretty bad this time :/
yeah, seriously. i noticed that too. i hope they kick it back up.
In the episode prior to this, i pegged the new princess to be more on the ‘S’ side of the character spectrum; now I agree she’s more likeable than I would have guessed but still a pampered Princess.
Also did anyone else notice when Aki attacks with Kuromitsuha; he always aims between girls legs. (i.e. Utao, Kuuko, and now Princess) such a perv
Mahiru is dangerous psychopath that needs to have her kakashi taken away – or be killed before she starts killing people like Aki does. Her complete disregard for others is making me wanna see her suffer at the hands of those she deems inferior. Though I’d be as fine with sniper bullet to her head.
One thing I liked though was Utao being called out for being such bro-con!
Oh, and I am predicting that harboring the Amaterasu is going to blow up in the Hyuuga Elder’s face…
“she made Aki look like a calm and composed individual”
Seriously? Mahiru was mainly upset that she had to wait so long to get
some pencil time in this Anime series; I mean after all, she is the Princess…
I don’t know Mahiru’s role, but I tend to agree that the three of them may have to
unite to defeat Amaterasu. But that might be too simplistic. We still don’t know the
real purpose of Aki’s release.
I know it seems like it should happen – Kyouhei takes control of Kukuri, but that leaves
Utao in the role as a completely minor character all of this time – as a caretaker until
Kyouhei is ready. It seems too predictable and I didn’t read that in this series so far.
But, she’s been improving – she’s not a bungler with Kukuri any more. Will she be in
the initial battle and become disabled and Kyouhei takes control – or would it be a joint
effort (like in the park)? The interesting thing about that, is that while we heard Kyouhei’s
song, he never acknowledged doing that and neither has Utao (y’know – thank’s for saving Kukuri).
Show Spoiler ▼
Mahiru is a rather scary b**ch, seeing how she treated Aki and beat him so easily…yet I can’t wait to see more of her, XD. I found it hilarious how much she’d changed from a crybaby to an arrogant ojou-sama! And Magatsuhi’s song at the beginning sounded like a guitar riff, so extra bonus points!!
I hope we find out exactly what Kyohei meant when he said his “mind’s been broken”, cuz I’d like to see how crazy he really is…
I knew the previous flashback with Chihaya couldn’t have been all. Mahiru’s gonna be an interesting wild card, though like Aki I’m more inclined to think that she’ll (eventually) fall into the anti-hero role, unless she completely loses what little sanity she has left first.
I don’t think any of them got away without serious mental scars; Kyouhei hides his better. I’m thinking there is fall and redemption plot in here somewhere, either in the past or the future.
Mihiru would sometimes be like Charlotte(IS)
Mahiru is like Aki on steroids. Crazy to the core and lusting for Kyohei. I’d rather Mahiru over Hibino who is as fun as a rock
Well, technically, Kana Hanazawa voiced Shiro from Deadman Wonderland before, and she was all kinds of insane.
True, but Shiro never screamed like Mahiru from what I recall.
Yeah, Shiro was moemoe nost of the time, and only occasionally insane. Mahiru is batshit crazy.
Any reason for the continious use od Badshit crazy. Some new fun to use slang from your side (writers) of town?
im pretty sure he’s using trope speak right there
Kyouhei said he just about ran out of sanity when Amaterasu rose once more from that last attempt to silence him. I wonder if Kyouhei unconsciously used Kukuri’s left hand to fend him off until the adults came.
Yes,he unconsciously used it (just like he blasted off Kirio’s Takemikazuchi) to absorb Amaterasu’s attack and shoot it again.
No!! No Accelerator(To aru Index)
but accelerator is a boss man hes so psychotically epic
damn mahiru really freaked me out this episode Hanazawa didnt sound anything like she usually does and she plays a psychotic character surprisingly well
I agree with the humor injected into rather serious scenes. I’m amazed they pull that stuff off so seamlessly. Usually humor like that can kill the moment but Kamisama Dolls actually delivers legitimate laughs while refusing to let go of a heavy atmosphere. Major props to whoever has been in charge of mixing it up at the studio.
This series definitely knows how to give you the run around with its characters and plot. Aki’s reason for internment and now Mahiru, Aki and Kyouhei’s run in with Ameratsu they really do a good job in those revelations.
1 complaint though –
1 – The expression of Mahiru getting mind fucked felt really wrong for the scene. She had a comical face when everything else about that scene made it look like her mind just got ripped to shreds.
Best episode so far.
LAWL, QUALITY.
Beware the gripes:
I’m gonna be honest as huge fan of this series and as an avid follower; I really hated this episode. Somehow there’s a part of me which thinks that Brain’s Base was really dicking around this episode. Despite some cool fight scenes, the art was all over the place in terms of quality. Also, while I like Mahiru’s character, I think they went way overboard in portraying her as a clingy psychopath, or rather, they should have just chose one or the other. I like her, but I just don’t care for her like I do for Utao. Also the dialogue had a really, really awkward feel to it and while the flashback was most definitely groundbreaking, I just felt like that Brain’s Base didn’t take it seriously. Almost all of Mahiru’s scenes were just utterly ridiculous (although I did think having her pee her pants was actually a good touch). I get that it eats Seki’s minds, but come on admit it, they could have done a way better job with Mahiru’s mind breaking scene. Also, a huge complaint of mine is that Kyohei said that his mind was broken. Maybe it was bad translating or maybe it was just a bad transition from the source material, but I think that having a character personally say that their own mind was broken is just bad writing.
Aside from all that, I gained a newly found respect for Kyohei. His role in the flashback was just, well, really smooth and it’s become completely clear why he refuses to use Kukuri. Also, when there weren’t lolMahiru moments, the scenes in the flashback shed a lot of light on the series and some parts were horrid, even haunting. I’m also entirely sure that Aki had his arm mutilated since they kept covering it up with a long stream of smoke. Also, Kana Hanazawa is great as Mahiru. I love it.
And as a side note, I now think that Utao sucks at controlling Kukuri, at least when compared to Kyohei =P. Kyohei and Mahiru are probably the two best Seki out of those who’ve made their appearance so far.
I’m assuming that Brains Base used that “quality” to depict Mahiru since that’s how it appeared in the manga. Similar case to all the silly expressions that Utao makes.
I like Mahiru solely for owning Aki. Can’t stand that smug murderous sociopath.
From what I understand the encounter with Amaterasu is why all three kids have brief lapses of sanity (Mahiru even less so). Of course, Kyohei seems to be the most stable for some reason.
Love they’re past
Love Mahiru 🙂
Ah! I’ve been waiting for this. Mahiru is officially my favorite hehe.
Anyways, I think Kyohei is somewhat saner than the other two because he’s the only one who didn’t get mind-f*cked by Amaterasu (though it was still traumatic for all of them). Aki and Mahiru both came into direct contact, with Mahiru getting the worst of it (plus she was the most innocent of the three back then). For Aki, it just drove him deeper into the “darkside”.
I heart Mahiru. She is the bomb- and I seriously know someone like that in real life. 😛
The scene at the start of Ep1 pretty much shows that Kakashi being obliterated though…
Why are you so sure it is Amaterasu? I suppose it would make sense but I’ll rather it being another ancient Kakashi they’ve uncovered…
I doubt anyone is entirely sure that is Amaterasu, but it’s highly possible. Noted that Sahei said it was a Kakashi that no Seki could really control, and they seem to be pinning some hopes on the future generation (Kirio). It would make sense, after what we’ve seen from this ‘monster’.
Who read the manga will know (it appeared in vol 8)
It fit the description of how no Seki can control it, but as usual, I did a little bit of cross-referencing to confirm.
If you want to know why Amaterasu’s still alive, it’s because Show Spoiler ▼
Show Spoiler ▼
Now I know why Hibino didn’t seem interested in Kyohei the entire show. Wow… now that I think about it. She’s a completely useless character.
agree with totally useless, after stating “her” dad if from the village.
No place for her. Poor melons.
Hate to press the agree button; but /press
Yeah, unlike Utao, she didn’t felt fazed at all 😕
No relationship development here folks
“(Granted, it’s not really hard for Kyouhei to pick up girls when Aki’s his wingman and makes him look like a saint.)”
I LOLed at this. Maybe he should patch up with Aki so he can get it along with Hibino.
I liked the episode, especially the flashback. HanaKana was great as Mahiru. To be honest, I think her character added more flavor to the series. Aside from Utao, Hibino apparently isn’t very happy somehow ;).
The episode put lots of things into perspective. We do, however, get a more concrete clue as to what Aki is talking about. Kyohei mentioned the ‘end of his sanity’ (subject to interpretation due to subtitles), so that could be when the dark side inside him is released. The one gripe is the art, obviously, though I did like how they portray the madness the three kids went through. In a sense, I can’t wait to see Amaterasu in action again.
That was fun. Pacing wasn’t half bad, though if it’s 13 episodes….A sequel in the planning in the future, perhaps?
I hope this is not a spoiler or anything since this episode already depicted the scenes in the manga, but it’s too bad that it is incomplete. The episode didnt really show Kyohei completely snapping like him yelling as if his mind was breaking as he opened up Kukuri’s left hand to destroy Amaterasu. The manga portrayed it much better I think, probably because they split some scenes between the first ep and this one.
I kind of expect that as the last scene, but I guess maybe they want to show it at the beginning of the next episode. Because he didn’t remember snapping. And IIRC it was Mahiru who recounted Kyohei’s moment when he went insane and opened the left arm.
Man, dealing with giant wooden robots really screws kids up. Good luck having a childhood, Utao and Kirio.
solid,solid, solid ” and i ain’t gonna say snake” dis show is rock solid so far. can’t wait to see what happens next!
Too bad that the screenshot where Kyohei met up with Koshirou did not show the one time where Kyohei looked as badass as Aki, see for yourself at 13:30 – 13:32, when Koshirou demanded to tell him what his relationship with Mahiru was. Damn, Kyohei looking that badass, if he cooperates and pairs up with Mahiru and Aki destroying the main antagonists (whoever they are, the old man Hyuuga or Amaterasu or Hirashiro or Karakami village itself) would really be cool and awesome to see.
Heck if they are going to do a 13 episode run only and do an anime original ending, they might as well go out with a bang. Or they can keep up this pace (which I dont mind), so long as they continue in it a next season or something. Any official word on how many episodes this series is really slated for? Thanks
On a side note, man loving Hanazawa Kana play this yandere role as Mahiru, I guess her wish of being a seiyuu of an evil character is coming true lol, but I guess Mahiru being “evil” is truly debatable, I would have to say she is more in line with being a Yandere.
What’s also interesting is that Mahiru and Aki both being Hyuuga under that Hyuuga old man’s supervision is making the seki of his clan break down and mentally lose it just like Mahiru and Aki, and perhaps Kirio is going down that path (but might not since he is still a Kuga by blood after all). Meanwhile, the Kuga clan whom I guess only has Kyohei and Utao (for now?) should be the “good” clan since the old man in charge (their grandpa) is kind and uses kind methods to teach them, YET Kyohei still broke down and even worst compared to the Hyuuga’s. I guess you can say this is the reason why even Mahiru and Aki (whom are really really crazy, would respect him so much). Now if only he becomes a Seki again, I mean come one, he is supposed to be the main lead, but he is useless without a Kakashi and probably the story would not advance as much.
He didn’t look too badass there, but I do know the scene you’re talking about. I actually thought the one from the last episode was better, around 15:24. (I still didn’t keep that cap though. lol)
True that the scene you pointed made him look pretty badass there as well, but in this episode in that scene, I thought he looked a lot like Aki.
By the way Divine, love what you said: “Granted, it’s not really hard for Kyouhei to pick up girls when Aki’s his wingman and makes him look like a saint.”
Lol so true! SO TRUE! Why? I think that’s even the reason why Hibino becomes interested in Kyohei lol. Remember in the first episode when she was surprised that Kyohei wasnt fazed at all when he saw the dead bodies? She voiced out her thoughts about Kyohei, that she thought he was just a wimp in the beginning. Well after she had met Aki and from all the stuff he did, she became more and more interested about knowing more of Kyohei, his village, and his past. It’s all because of Aki lol.
Aki isn’t part of the Hyuuga family rather he’s part of the Kuga family so I wouldn’t call the Kuga the “good” clan if you remember Atushi.
You are right! Lol I forgot that Aki was part of the Kuga clan, and even that bastard Atsuhi was as well. I put the good in quotes cuz I find it questionable as well, but what I meant is that the Kuga clan probably had better methods or ways of training their Seki compared to the methods that the Hyuuga clan has, like beating the crap out of Kirio (even at such a young age). I guess to put it simply, they are the lesser of two evils, after all in the Kuga clan, they gave away one of their own (Kirio) to the other clan just to balance out the power.
new Kurise header looks stretched.
But still, it’s awesome. le-…
It’s not stretched actually, just cropped.
Kurise’s hair falls funny. like there is extra volume when it scatters on the floor. it is like her head is too heavy and the hair is the base/support
Now I quite understand why Aki, Mahiru and Kyouhei are insane. Kyouhei seems to have the best coping mechanism since he’s not a killer. PTSD can fuck up minds! All what’s left in the series is Amaterasu and an epic battle!
I think it goes beyond trauma as it’s more like they suffered brain damage from having their minds mucked about it.
hmm
I want to see Mahiru and Aki get together. I mean it is like they are made for each other and just imagine their kids.
Mahiru is just an example of a rich spoil brat who got her hand on a weapon and abuse it, ppl like her need to be slap left and right to show them the word responsibility.
TBH, I’m more forgiving of Mahiru’s insaneness than Aki’s. Aki already looked like an a-hole since he was a kid. I want to like him, because he’s set up to be some sort of 2nd protagonist so I kind of have to deal with it. But Aki wasn’t exactly fun to be with even without the trauma. The only reason Kyohei can be his riend is because Kyohei’s fairly laid back.
Mahiru OTOH seemed like a normal “princess” who simply has led a sheltered life before the incident. And I feel that the traumatic experience really shaped her world-view: her aggressiveness, view on power, her unstable attachment to kyohei, etc.
only way to describe it’s so Playing Against Type literally on Kana Hanazawa’s characters on it.
yikes really too uh-oh a lot of what she did & yet more past history & did i notice she was wetting herself in it?
As Enzo put it “Yeah, Shiro was moemoe nost of the time, and only occasionally insane. Mahiru is batshit crazy.” To compare to the only other series I know of where Hanazawa Kana plays a fairly insane character. He’s nailed it.
Fortunately, she’s perfectly justified in her insanity. Makes you wonder if some of Aki’s not giving a damn attitude is due to part of his life/soul being sucked away in that encounter.
Did I see things correctly, or Is Kuramitsuha STILL missing it’s right arm/blade? Reduced to only it’s left arm ever since that fateful encounter. Wonder why he didn’t get that repaired, maybe it was impossible w/out recovering the original? *shrugs*
This series continues to impress with Plot after Plot revealed magnificently to us. I hope the ending comes through just as amazing ><!
About Kuramitsuha right blade, I tought the same thing as well, but it seems that he can retract the blade when he is not using it. At 14:35 of this episode you can take a closer look to see what I’m talking about.
Don’t know if you can read this, it has been a while since you posted this. Just to answer your question (with evidence to back up.
No, Kuramitsuha has not lost its right blade after the encounter. Episode 7’s flashback was after that incident. Kuramitsuha used both its blades to slaughter everyone.
It is probably just a preference, like how right handers use their right hand to write, Aki may be right handed and controls his Seki right-handedly, thus the use of the right blade.
I have a feeling that, when this series is done and dusted, it’d just be the same as watching the first 2 and last 2 eps, cos all I (and most people, I reckon) wanted is for the main dude to grow a spine and cut shit up along with gintama dude.
I really hated Mahiru when I saw this episode earlier, but in light of reading your post, I’m thinking my impression might’ve been unfairly harsh, so I’ll try to give her another chance next time.
You’re right, given the level of extreme trauma the three of them went through thanks to Amaterasu’s rampage, it’d make sense that they’d end up rather twisted. Aki, ironically, now seems like the most HEALTHY out of that trio, given Mahiru’s psychotic aggression and teritorial beahvior towards Kyohei she’s thrown around (though, again, Aki’s obsession almost rivals hers), and Kyohei is living under what I now suspect is a facade of normality, even one he’s aware of, given his comment to Koushiro about his mind being “broken.”