「広場の男女」 (Hiroba no Danjo)
“The Man and the Woman in the Plaza”

Explanation:

Queen Catherine, Queen Anne, King Henry VIII, & Carlos I

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How was Gin able to beat Drake, despite his Testament Arma?

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Horizon’s Positive Emotions

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Turning Adele’s Mechanic Shell into a Shield

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How did Tenzou know that it wasn’t Mary who was hugging him?

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Impressions:

So much to go over! Similar to my explanation section, I’m going to give each section of my impressions titles, so you can pick and choose which parts of the episode you want to read more about. I write way too much, so I figure I ought to give you a way to skip the junk you’re not interested in, eh? But first, a short synopsis – this episode was awesome. Okay, yeah, maybe that was too short, but my expectation from last week came true – Episode 05 holds up a lot better when it is taken as the first half of Episode 06, and as part of the series as a whole. It doesn’t stand alone too well, but it helped make this episode so much fun. Now, let’s get to it!

Gin vs Drake, and Malga’s Escape

I go over how Gin beat Drake in the explanations above, so now my impression of it – awesome! Against a seemingly overpowered Testament Arma wielded by an angry wolf-man, Gin used skill and strategy to pull out the win. Woo! I so do enjoy seeing characters use just a little bit of cleverness to win their battles, which is something that Kyoukaisen in general and this episode in specific excel at. Think about all the other fights this episode – it’s a single bit of cleverness that lets the forces of Musashi (or their temporary allies) prevail.

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Masazumi’s Flight, Escape, & Familiar

While I assumed Malga would escape – though I thought it would be completely because of Gin beating Drake, rather than what happened – with Masazumi I had no idea how she was going to get out of her predicament. First of all, her slipping out of the stabby-explosion because she was wearing a male uniform top was quite amusing to me, and also some pretty quick thinking. Yet from there I still had no idea how she would escape – until Malga’s rescue, after which I immediately called how Seijun would survive.

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Neito vs F. Walshingham

One word: ouch! Neito’s fight had some of the best battle choreography in this episode, with plenty of different moves by both fighters, and a whole lot of unexpected twists packed inside a short burst of action. I was especially surprised when Neito went for the jagged-pieces-of-wood-to-the-back – she is a knight after all – but it didn’t work. To quote what I said out loud when F. Walshingham’s dagger-lemons stabbed into her and she cried out in pain, “The fu–that looks like it hurt.” And then I whimpered some more.

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Neshinbara, Shakespeare-chan, & Their Childhood Promise

Here’s the surprising one of the episode. Shakespeare-chan has always had a tendency to go all scary shiny glasses (trope!), which is generally a signifier of either evil badassadry or a surplus of craziness. Still, I hadn’t imagine that she’d dip so far into yandere territory. Plus, her childhood promise with Neshinbara and the unnamed-other-girl wasn’t something I anticipated, though there’s no reason I would. I thought it was going to focus more on shouta-Neshinbara being a little brat to her, but I guess not. Picking on a girl is one thing, but breaking a childhood promise…beware, Neshinbara. You’re in big trouble now.

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Horizon & Toori on Emotions

Of course, the point of all these fights was to give Toori and Horizon time for their date, which they certainly got. Their initial discussion was pretty straight-forward, so I’ll leave it as is, save to say that the “Why bother if it’s just going to end?” line of reasoning has always annoyed me. I’m fine with Horizon using it since she’s an emotionless automaton who literally does not understand, but for anyone else it is merely an excuse to do what is inconvenient or difficult – which are usually exactly the things that are worth doing. Fortunately, Toori points out that there is plenty of fun to be had, with the bonus of memories to remember each other by if one of them were to leave. Well played, sir.

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Tenzou & Mary

And finally, we come to the main stars of both this episode and this season, Tenzou and Mary. Other than threatening to turn both Tenzou and I into ass men (I’m usually a thigh guy myself, but daaaaaamn Mary!), their scenes were some pure win. I go over the discussion about Henry VIII and such in the explanations above, but the real treat for me was watching Tenzou be perverted (and Mary give such good reason for it!). Hear ye, one and all – this is how you do fanservice. It’s not that the camera is needlessly focusing on the female cast’s chests, but rather that any focus on such things is happening as a direct result of one of the male characters being perverted. It’s the male gaze (trope!), but it’s justified because there’s actually a male character there doing the gazing!

Ahem…anyway, moving on! The end of the episode is where it heats up, with the big reveal that Mary is–oh, wait, that’s not really a reveal, since everyone figured out that Scarred was Mary like three episodes ago. Still, glad to see that Tenzou has finally caught up with the crowd. I am really interested to see what other-Mary (who I am 98.5% sure is Elizabeth, considering how she called Mary her sister + her voice + her general demeanor) is up to. Actually, I know what she’s up to; she wants to find out who this man is that’s making Mary waver in her determination to be executed, and likely to get him to quit that. You know what that means, right? MORE TAMURA YUKARI YAAAAY!!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – The team is all saved, Toori & Horizon had their date, & Mary is revealed…but now Elizabeth is steping out to play. Ruh roh! #Kyoukaisen

Random thoughts:

  • Why am I not surprised that Tenzou learned about history from an ero-game? Hell, that’s how I learned most of mine. Wait, oh shi–!
  • Apparently Gin has an affinity for cutting off people’s arms. Trying to no longer be the odd one out, eh Gin?
  • Let the doujins begin!!
  • Neito is an M because she’s has a move called Flat-Chested Evasion!
  • The fact that Asama, Kimi-nee and the others just appeared when Toori called out to them was pretty convenient, though they at least took the time to handwave that away as how the magic works, so I appreciate that.
  • It’s the small details that count. For example, did you catch where Neshinbara sort of flicked his pinky finger after Shakespeare-chan left? He was remembering the pinky swear promise that he made with her and that other little girl back in that Tres España orphanage. Like I said, it’s the small details…
  • …and I thought so. They were playing rhythm games. ADELE, SUCH A COCK TEASE!!
  • In other news, nice flying move, Futayo. I can’t wait to see those three together!
  • Okay, seriously, how is Tenzou only now getting a girl? He’s sort of awesome. Of course, he is a bit perverted, but seriously, who isn’t?
  • Why so serious?” I know that probably wasn’t a Dark Knight reference, but I still laughed. Now if we could only get her in some face paint…

Full-length images: 06, 08, 19, 29, 38, 43, 47.

 

Preview

87 Comments

  1. DAT ASS (I’m sure I’m not the only one who wasn’t paying attention to what Scarred was saying to Tenzo throughout)

    DAT Masazumi x Asama..I mean the Maus is cute!

    DAT EVASION MOVE (Rofl ironically how her hair manages to defy gravity is more of a mystery)

    DAT TELETUBBIES reference

    DAT Y SO SRS?

    Stilts: Regarding your last explanation, I personally thought that Tenzo recognized that the boob hug he received did not belong to Scarred hence being able to tell..lol silly me.

    But seriously, that ass > Any ass in Sweet Ass Online. Let us all be honest with ourselves 🙂

  2. I think that the reason Nate cried was because of the lemon rain, because I can’t find any other use for the lemon blades.

    Tenzou and Gin are amazing and DAT Mary!
    A really good episode indeed.

    Trombe
    1. Googling “lemon” and “Francis Walsingham” reveals that Walsingham used lemon-juice as invisible ink in correspondence with his network of spies.

      So…concealing things with lemons comes naturally to Walsingham.

  3. So…. Round….

    And yes, Tenzou is awesome. Everyone with focus this episode seemed to be at their best, which is always appreciated.

    Now I just wonder how things will go with 98.5% probably Elizabeth, she seemed worrying, to say the least. Nonetheless it was a fantastic episode,and these blog posts are a big help.

    Xan
  4. When Shakespeare-chan said “Can you tell which one I am?”, My guess is that the girl who died could have been her twin(hence her asking which of the two of them she could be) and that the Shakespeare-chan we have now is Thomas Shakespeare because the other girl was the one who was/was supposed to be William Shakespeare.

    Rho3n
    1. The irony of this all is, Shakespeare himself featured twins a lot in his works (possibly in memory of the death of one of his own pair, Hamnet). At least, that’s what I’ve heard.

      Beedle
    2. I hadn’t thought of that! Could be, could be. I still think they were unrelated girls, though. Being related isn’t required for Neshinbara to be confused about which is which. After all, they were a lot younger back then, and they didn’t even have names, just numbers.

      Stilts
    1. Drake is probably lucky she’s around. I think Grace is a healer of sorts, so she might be able to reattach those arms he just lost…or just keep him from dying from blood loss while he gets a couple of Gin-arms, heh

      Stilts
  5. That expression on tenzou when he saw the two sisters together, just priceless ^^
    although this might be a bit early to guess on, but going on the nice likeness of double bloody Mary and Elizabeth i am guessing that they will find a way so that Elizabeth is executed while Mary goes with tenzo ^_^

    And if i remember my history correct, wasn’t Elizabeth partly the reason for that spanish armada because she refused the marriage offer from that spanish king while feigning ignorance of the things that that drake guy did to spain?

    Damrod
    1. No, it was mainly because Elizabeth was Protestant, whereas Spain was Catholic and would rather wish she stopped thumbing her nose at the church (the Catholic church, that is). They were none too pleased with Drake’s activities though, so that definitely factored into their decision to (try to) invade.

      Stilts
  6. “The whole “Mary was spirited away by fairies” was just so England could produce another girl and claim she was Queen Catherine’s daughter.”
    I’m a little confused…Catherine was unable to give birth to a child, so they said her “daughter” Mary was spirited away by fairies. But how would producing another girl change the fact that Catherine was unable to give birth? I mean why didn’t they produce another girl and claim she was Catherine’s child Mary right away instead of inventing that excuse?

    anon
    1. I’m not entirely sure. It seems like Catherine would have had to be “spirited away by fairies” again (falsely, this time) in order to give her time to be “pregnant” with Mary. Still, perhaps they did as they did to get the Testament Union off their backs while they searched for a girl to fill Mary’s role. I’m hoping the show goes into more detail on all this myself.

      Stilts
  7. Why is mary have to be executed? is she suppose to be the bloody mary that kill innocent virgin and bath in their blood, if thats the case then is that only goes in actual history but not the Kyoukaisen versions thou.

    tenzou be smart and just take both the sister, you can be both an ass and boob lover one on each sister, they look pretty much identical anyway.

    Andy
    1. What yokushi said. Double Bloody Mary has already done the Marian Persecutions of Mary I (Mary Tudor), so now she has to get her head lopped off at Elizabeth’s orders in her role as Mary Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart).

      Well, sort of. We’ll see…

      Stilts
  8. I need to introduce “flat-chested evasion” to some of my pen and paper RPG sessions…
    So Scarred/Mary has a twin sister, being held in her place in the Tower – and possibly set to be executed. I’d be pissed too if had such fate forced on me… And I guess Scarred is feeling guilty about it, but will step up to defend Tenzo…
    Anyway, WHY SO SERIOUS?
    Lets pause for a minute to appreciate the ASS-service…
    Gin! what a fantastic display of swordsmanship – beating enemy using only gazillion of botched moves… and finishing him off with a slip on banana skin!
    I hope Neito will be ok, she was amuled badly already and now is bound and sinking with her opponent…

    ewok40k
  9. Neito and Gin’s fights were both awesome for different reasons. Poor Neito had a very tough time against F. Walshingham, with all her moves effortlessly being read and countered with automated doll efficiency. For a second there I was afraid that Neito would be the downfall of Musashi, but thanks to her never-say-die attitude and her determination to give Toori and Horizon the date they wanted, she managed to spring a surprise move on F. Walshingham and incapacitate them both to force a tie. Although could someone clarify why that rain of lemon juice and blade attack combo was so painful for Neito? Is it just because having that acidic lemon juice entering the numerous blade wounds, or I seem to recall Drake talking about how werewolf’s are bad with certain types of food?

    Gin though showed just how powerful she is, getting Drake back-pedaling furiously from the get-go at her onslaught, seemingly neutralizing his Testament Arma’s effect by not using an attack pattern twice. Her face expression’s in the fight were also highly amusing, especially during her charge attack (and no, my eyes were not looking down towards those bouncing objects!) and when Diego gave her a head chop. I suspect that her slip on the banana peel was a calculated move, bypassing Drake’s Testament Arma’s powers as she is technically not attacking him at that moment, and just using the momentum from her ‘fall’ to lop of both of Drake’s arms and his Arma(I know, that was a lame attempt at a pun). Now I’m really looking forward to the grudge match between the wife of the former Peerless Man of the West against the Musashi’s ace spear wielder.

  10. Oooohh…. Episode like this is the reason why I love Kyoukaisen so much. Awesome, fast paced battle, Heartwarming and touching scen, truly comedic moments, Amazing characters. I went from being speechless for the first half wathing those battles, especially with Neito’s, Gin’s (okay all of them was speechless-making) and revelation about Shakespeare and Nenshinbara, to teary-eyed watching Toori and Horizon. Plus laughing at Tenzou antics. Aah, this is truly what I have been waiting for since the ebinning of second season.

    Toori, Toori. Back then at the beginning of first season I hate his character and was one of the reason why I dropped Kyoukaisen for a while after first episode (I only picked it up again after reading the LN) and honestly I still hate that nude antics of him (too much and it stopped being funny) but again and again he had proven that there is something truly admirable and likable under all that fooling araound. Toori you are indeed awesome and deserving of both you offices and your protaonist-role. 🙂

    BTW, what was the title of the song that play and end of Toori-Horizon scene? I forgot (and my OST file names are messed up anyway) It was soo good and soo fitting.

    And, thanks as always for the explanation Stilts. I don’t get the Gin versus Drake’s Arma thing at first.

    I sort of agree with you regarding horizon;s emotion. You need to know what is sadness before you can understand happiness. That is a bit philosphic I’m glad too see something like it.

    Regarding taking Ep 5 as the first half of Ep6. Actually I think this is the kind of series that would be better to be watched in one go as a whole. With its incredibly fast pace and how so many things connect to between episodes wathing second it does tend to leave something like ‘unfinished’ feeling than cliffhanger ‘feeling’. Hmm, another way maybe by rearranging the scenes though that may have chance of ruining the story.

    Three favorite moment this episode. Gin’s ‘Oh, there’s banana peel’, Neito’s Flat chested Evasion (no need to hate that chest anymore now, isn’t Neito?), and Toori’s speech.

    Salbazier
    1. Oh, wait forgot something. How can no one comment on Walshingham & Neito Symetrical Docking? It even come complete with chains and moan. :)P Shame on you stilts for not getting a screenshot of it. :)P

      Salbazier
    2. I think his nude antics is a strip-joke offering to his contractor god Uzume

      “The clever Uzume overturned a tub near the cave entrance and began a dance on it, tearing off her clothing in front of the other deities. They considered this so comical that they laughed heartily at the sight.”

      About the OST, it’s “Daiji na Koto sa”. i hope that helps.

      G27
    3. Yeah, I agree that Kyoukaisen is a show that’s probably best marathoned. This is actually the first time I’ve watched it weekly the whole way through – the first season I marathoned 1-10 all at once (then took the other three weekly), and then I marathoned it all again in like 3 days for my retrospectives (Part 1, Part 2). I would highly suggest it…but, well, I want you all to read my posts, so screw it! Watch it weekly!

      And yes, I was remiss not mentioning the whole symmetrical docking. It’s just that, after something like 7 hours of blogging and 3,000 words, my joke cracking abilities start to get a little fuzzy, lol

      Stilts
  11. Staring at Mary’s ass like a true man, Thats my boy. God I love Tenzou, this has been the greatest episode yet. Also I have no idea why it’s so mesmerizing, but I love F. Walshingham’s voice whenever she does those one liners in battle.

    Delezie
  12. MONSTERRRR post by the amazing Stilts again, well done good Sir 😉
    Gin’s growing on me and moving up the list quick. She was uber badass this week and thanks for explaining how she was able to defeat Drake, despite his Testament Arma. Can’t wait to see Futayo vs Gin!!!
    I lol-ed at Neito’s “Flat-Chested Evasion!!” too but certainly her big hair would be a problem at dodging that attack right? =X

    Seishun Otoko
    1. Her Silver Chains took care of that too (that is, they wrapped around her hair…really, really tightly, I guess). It still seems like she should have gotten a bit of a haircut, but meh, whatever works. As long as Neito is alright!!

      Stilts
  13. Great review and great episode this week. Makes me wonder if Elizabeth and Mary will duke it out?

    Plot predictions: (OwO)つ
    -Shakespeare-chan blames Neshinbara for her friend/sister’s death (even though it’s really more just her badgering about the past)
    -Horizon will finally have the resolve to fight again and will “find” her Armament of Deadly Sin in a stupid or “WTH” place (or hammerspace)
    -For the first few minutes of the next episode (should the Blonde sisters fight) Tenzo will be staring in idiocy 😛 (for the Lulz?)
    -Azuma will be appearing next episode an will mess up again XD
    -Suzu and Adele will have some part in saving Mary (being next to what looked like the sword in the stone, Excalibur Caliburn and all…)

    I think that’s all for now. 😛

    Arashi Yamato
  14. The fake Mary doesn’t have the flower in her hair that the real Mary does. He’s a perceptive ninja, that one.

    No no, Stilts, in the novel, it’s because

    Show Spoiler ▼

    black_cat1
      1. Looking at Moomba’s post, I think it’s ironic that Horizon’s song, Tooshi douka, is a thinly-veiled allusion to Tooryanse, the song played by a lot of Japanese pedestrian crossing lights. It’s darkly ironic since Horizon was killed by being run over in the middle of the street.

      2. …Also, when Daiji na koto sa, with all its associations from the first season, started playing as Horizon was surrounded by doves, I thought it was one of those moments when the soundtrack complemented the action perfectly.

  15. Read somewhere else that Malga early contribution played a big role in Drake’s defeat. The battle couldn’t have been won so easily with just Gin alone.

    “Simply put, Drake harming himself through Malga’s physical buffing spell caused the Testament Arma to see actions that would have the wielder being harmed as “not against England’s justice”

    Gin used this against Drake. Her first attack would fail from the Testament Arma, and at the point of failure, she chains her next attack.

    The Testament Arma cannot resolve the contradiction of its first judgement and the outcome being something that sullies England’s justice and so fails to negate Gin’s attack.”

    source: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=4305601#post4305601

    Kusano
    1. Just a quick note.

      Looking at the original Japanese text from that link, whoever made that post is mistaken. The text is using Malga’s successful attack as an example of the Testament Arma’s weakness – that it’s not very flexible in its judgment. The following paragraph illustrates that Gin’s ability to turn a forced slip into another attack bypasses the Testament Arma’s protection due to this inflexibility – to force the follow-up attack to fail as well would require the Testament Arma to conclude that it’s own judgment in forcing the first attack to fail was in error, which it simply can’t process.

      Corin
  16. Is it me or there’s so many DAT ASS showing this season?

    DAT ASS, DAT Hot, round, delicious, grab tempting ass…

    So any chance we’ll see a Neshinbara x Thomas-chan couple this season?

    Vaan
  17. Tenzou is questioning why Scarred’s behind is so round? I think Buratei Marii has something to say about that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOJliKFhuCA

    Anyways as usual great episode and review Stilts.

    – Pervert or not, Tenzou is the man! Hats off for saving a bunch of kids from getting hurt…twice if you count his meeting with Scarred at the cliff.
    – That’s also the second time I heard Yui Horie and Yukari Tamura as twins in an anime. Now I miss Ben-To.

    Zhinvu
    1. Also I might be just hearing things but in the scene where Tenzou was staring at Scarred while she was opening the window, in a dialogue after that I thought he said “shiri” with a strong pronunciation. I checked that shiri means “to know” and he did ask Scarred if Double Mary “knew” each other, but I also suddenly remembered that Shiri-Ai joke from Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka Of The Dead. Given what he was staring at, I won’t be surprised if he did slip up.

      Zhinvu
  18. At this point….. I just don’t really care about the story. It’s gotten to the point where I just don’t know what’s going on anymore. I just watch in hope that like the first season it will all make sense in the end

    Alcren
  19. Did anyone notice on the part where Futayo uses soaring wings to chase Flying Adele and Suzu, that Futayo had a sword on her left hand (left side view, recycled clip?) and then no sword at the next frame

    Arashi Yamato

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