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“The Wandering Birds”
「揺蕩いの鳥」 (Yurai no Tori)
Parallels between Somali and Uzoi
A trek across the desert is bound to tire out a little cinnamon bun like Somali. And although the golem is an impressively built specimen with lots of capabilities, there’s no denying that he lacks the expertise to safely cross the desert. And that’s where our two new characters come in – Uzoi and Haitora, who own a wagon and are familiar with the lay of the treacherous lands. At first, they seem like mere travelling bird monsters travelling as a pair, not too different from Somali and the Golem. Uzoi even gets into a minor squabble with Somali over a limited cold treat – and it was refreshing to see an individual call out Somali for her bratty behaviour. However, we’re faced by a quick scare when Uzoi indicates that she can sniff out Somali’s true heritage. However, these fears are quickly laid to rest. Uzoi’s familiarity with the human scent comes down to the fact that Haitora is actually human – making him the first human being to appear other than Somali so far in this series.
If it wasn’t already obvious, the parallels between Somali and Uzoi go extremely far. They travel around with non-blood related people who they love dearly and consider to be their own father. And crucially, both fathers suffer from life-threatening ailments. Whereas the Golem’s aim is to unite Somali with some humans before his demise, which makes it seem like he’s accepting his inevitable fate in some way, Uzoi and Haitora want to fight against destiny – which might entail sacrificing Somali to achieve that end. I don’t know how Uzoi plans to get away with this when Golem dad is a formidable entity that can singlehandedly decimate her, as well as Haitora. However, it’s no surprise that people can be so shortsighted when it comes to those that they hold dear. And when she admits to requiring Somali’s blood, I suppose that most people would wonder if it’s a malady that can be cured through a blood transfusion. Otherwise, dang. That’s quite the cliffhanger. It’s not the first life-threatening situation, but it also seems like the most critical one to date. How can Somali escape or survive this encounter?
To be honest, this episode makes me ask the question why other monsters don’t have an easy time figuring out that Somali is a human through smell. It seems a bit convenient that they can’t, considering they’re depicted as a vast array of beings – and there should certainly be a couple that have the heightened perceptions to notice. Obviously, the author’s intention is to avoid bombarding Somali and the Golem with monsters. They seem to want a story that’s primarily about a long journey by father and child, with some occasional dangers along the way. But also enough safety to enjoy the mundane and truly cherished aspects of ordinary life. And you know what? I’m totally okay with that.
Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and see you next week to find out whether Somali lives or dies!
Preview
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“To be honest, this episode makes me ask the question why other monsters don’t have an easy time figuring out that Somali is a human through smell”
To be able to detect humans by smell, first they need to know how humans smell first. And considering most of the monsters so far haven’t ever seen a human (some even doubted they still exist), they lack a reference, while Uzoi doesn’t.
Good call. She knows how a human smells because she’s traveling
with one herself. For me, I hadn’t actually thought about that aspect
of the story. Did the Golem select her cover as a minotaur because,
maybe they’re just as rare? So any monsters who did come in contact
with her would not have anything to compare her smell against.
Anyway… Nice episode. It’s really hard to believe in any credible threat
to her because it doesn’t seem like that kind of story. So I’m waiting for
the somewhat peaceful resolution next week. I think this Anime’s
strength is in its beautiful art and not so much for any serious drama.
Somali’s VA is doing the part quite well, too!
The cat monster near the start of the series smelled out Somali as being human. I’m just surprised that Uzoi has been the only other person since who could smell other humans – even if it’s explained through her familiarity with Haitora.
The cat mentioned she smelled “delicious”, not specifically human. So said cat didn’t have a reference on what’s the scent of humans in general either, and instead his meeting with Somali was like the equivalent of a human meeting someone who smells like chicken nuggets.
Blood-threaten cure
Today everybody knows that this is complicated. Because every Human needs special Blood types!!!
A Positive
A Negative
AB and Zero
Even the Blood under the Humans are “different”