「はじめてのお披露目」 (Hajimete no Ohirome)
“The First Unveiling”

There is always an obligatory school festival episode! In this case, it’s more like the final arc for this anime because it’s going to end on episode 12. Please don’t spoil for those that have already seen it! I plan to keep myself entertained for the next few weeks and I hope everyone can keep the comments spoiler free as well. Much thanks!

On that note, I can see a lot of development being put onto Izumiko now that we’re almost at the end. She’s grown up a lot since the first episode, mainly gaining more confidence to be more outspoken and she’s even brought up the idea of protecting herself. It’s great to see that she’s finally stepping out of her comfort zone and doing something different. It could be, as Miyuki put it, “teenage rebellion” or simply her growing up; but I’d like to think it’s also because she’s learning to deal with her surroundings. She’s adapting to it rather than just remaining sheltered and I applaud her for doing so. With that said, I also think that for an anime – it’s a bit too slow for my taste and I wish they would get to the point sooner rather than later. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a fan of the shy, passive girl and I prefer strong female characters, but I think it’d be more appealing in a one-cour show to see a different side to Izumiko.

Of course, I’m not referring to the goddess within Izumiko. However, even with her hair done up, it seems like the spirit is able to finally take complete control over Izumiko’s body. In the middle of the school field! Oh no! Do something Miyuki! But of course he can’t, except drag her physically away from the other students. I thought their little bicker back and forth was entertaining to watch… much more than the interactions between Miyuki and Izumiko. I never thought we’d finally get to hear why she inhabits Izumiko’s body – but it’s pretty clear now. She’s a very old human spirit that’s been trying to prevent herself from destroying the human race. On top of all that, she’s been traveling through time and different dimensions using other humans (like Izumiko) for her physical appearance. So far, Izumiko is her third and likely last trip through time. I can’t help but pity the spirit at this rate because although she seems very selfish and single-minded, she’s also trying to save civilization. At the same time, I think it’d be very helpful to show an alternate future of the world and see what actually happens if all the humans were wiped out.

This episode was clearly more focused back on Izumiko which I appreciated. I said in the prior episodes that her peers seem to steal the spotlight away a lot and that especially goes for the past 2 episodes on the Souda twins/triplets. It’s great to finally see some development between the “two sides” at the school as well – Takayanagi has finally approached Izumiko to join his group. We’ll see how the school festival goes down soon I hope. In any case, it’s interesting to see how the goddess ties into all this, is Izumiko even going to inhabit her body back soon?

Full-length images: 11, 28.

 

Preview

17 Comments

    1. Been enduring that ‘confusing’ bit for 8 episodes so far, I can’t take it anymore so I’ve dropped the show on this ep lol.

      YOLO_MLG_420BlazEit_HashtagsToTheExtrem3
    2. There’s so much going on that’s not being foretold (prior knowledge needed to understand this junk) that you might as well forget it. I don’t even want to understand it. I have a hard enough time understanding western ideology & spirituality. This stuff is like trying to play shogi (no explanation of rules, scoring, anything!) when you’ve only played chess all your life.

      Megas
  1. There is subtle character development at work here. Izumiko is slowly becoming more independant and more assertive. And becoming all the more attractive for it!
    I’m seriously liking her more and more as the series progresses!
    There is a hint of science fiction here. The goddess (from what I can gather) is a descendant of Izumiko, can travel through time (Final Fantasy VIII style), and is intending to avert a bad future of sorts. She’s so far from the future that it must be from a time where it’s culture and technological level is so evolved to the point it’s alien from our own. (Judging from her social interaction with shopping and all that) The pieces are forming together. We just have to wait and see. Also, the goddess is becoming less intimidating.

    Remember Clarke’s Third Law?

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

    kageKun
  2. Watching RDG’s like going on a slow, scenic river cruise in a foreign country.
    We may not fully understand the deeper meaning behind the landmarks(themes) we pass, but we can appreciate its beauty and magnificence(and subtlety).

    zztop
  3. The way Izumiko fainted when she heard voices during the siege of Hachioji Castle (due to the Goddess being a member of the Hojo Clan’s consort) kind of resembled the Bleeding Effect from Assassin’s Creed, when the protagonist would often get bouts of hallucinations of eras past from his ancestors’ genetic memories.

    Anonymous
  4. Are you sure about the status of Himegami?. I thought I had understood that it was the past and is trying to change the fate of mankind.

    In Japanese Shinto mythology humans to die can become Kamis (gods or sacred spirits). I guess, based on what little I know, the Himegami was a dying person lift up his soul to the spiritual level of a Kami. The concepts of time and space are different in terms of spirits and gods. They see centuries past as if it were yesterday, and see the future of humans as puzzles or questions easy to solve.

    I understood that the Himegami knows the future, and takes possession of the bodies of Izumiko and her family to change fate. Not that she comes from the future, but she knows because she is a goddess.

    Shadow74
  5. Oh my. The confessions. The feelings. The trolling! Izumiko is facing a very weird strange problem in her young life. It’s bad enough to have a bad hair day, and not being able to undo the braids, but to go up against a strong spirit that takes over your body who appears to have the hots for the guy you’re crushing is well.. that’s HELL. Clearly, this is a problem that we women go through as we age. I’m certain this is written somewhere in the student manual in the back of the book somewhere. We can all relate.

    So far, braids up or down doesn’t really channel in the Himegami anymore. She comes as she goes now, notably due to boredom from the spirit World. Cause there is nothing more exciting than to come back to Earth just to troll the crap out of a teenager boy. I like how these spirits roll. Izumiko, if you wish to shave your head and go bald, I’m with you. Not because you’ll look freaken awesome as the youngest woman in History to have chemo but I’m curious to see what will happen if she does that. The Himegami may die of a heart attack! See, I just solve this series problem since it’s main purpose was to stop her right?

    Moving on, her hair no longer being a factor here begs the questions of ‘what now?’, ‘who will be your stylist? Mayura?’ ‘Will you go blond or darker?’ This are the questions people! They’re important I say! They must be answer, somehow, someway. Internet, give me this.

    Solara
    1. Trolling teenage boys is what most goddesses do in anime. The same goes for angels, demons, vampires, mermaids, dragons, tigers, cats, dogs, birds, snakes, The Queen! . . . basically any human-hybrid you can think of, it’s been done :p

      I’m for offing that hair too. My wife has long hair too, but she hardly ever touches it besides combing & washing – my sisters wanted to kill her, hehe. My oldest sister has ridiculously long hair & she probably spent half her lifetime messing with it, over 15 years of screwing with hair. While someone who has hair nearly as long hasn’t ever done a thing with it & it’s still just as silky as it was when she was a kid. I would want to end her too. Good thing I’m a guy. My hair is long too, but I just ponytail the junk & forget it.

      Oh yeah, the answer is episode 10-12. That & twintails, or just wear it down & go crazy. Braids just don’t fit her face at all.

      Megas
      1. I just ponytail the junk & forget it

        Oh my poor sides.

        And yes! I shall get answers. This is what I needed. Oh, twin tails? Yes. Twin tails. When in doubt you pull a Hatsune Miku, that’s like the number one rule in anime for some reason next to all of that trolling you mention. But yeah, she doesn’t look with twin tails, maybe a bit shorter cut with twin tails could be nice. Actually I’m up for anything that isn’t braids at this point. I’m that simple to please. Tell me she gets amazing highlights to match the do! ಠ_ಠ

        Solara

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