kurenai – 08

「自愛と臆病と」 (Jiai to Okubyou to)
“Taking Care of Oneself and Cowardice”

While two Kuhouin men continue to observe the area around Shinkurou’s apartment, Renjou and Kazuko discuss the discovery of Murasaki living in Tokyo. As Renjou worries about what Murasaki is being exposed to, he asks Kazuko if she’s ever pitied the women of the Inner Sanctuary. Kazuko however questions what she can do by pitying the people she’s been instructed not to, which amuses Renjou that she can say such a thing after getting to know the outside world.

Back at Shinkurou’s apartment, Tamaki and Yamie are eating his food for breakfast much to his frustration, during which they’re reminded by the television that the Shichi-Go-San (七五三) is coming up. After somewhat explaining its purpose to Murasaki, Tamaki suggest that they all go to nearby shine to celebrate. At school, Shinkurou asks Ginko if she has any information on the Kuhouins, but she simply asks for more time as they don’t appear to simply be a rich family.

With an expensive kimono and Tamaki and Yamie’s help, Murasaki starts getting ready for a shrine visit, while Shinkurou begs Yayoi to let him take her there. Yayoi is against it as always, but she consults with Benika, who gives him permission, but only to a small shrine in front of the station. The five of them (Yayoi included) then head on over to the shrine, where Yamie teaches Murasaki how to perform a proper prayer. After having their fortunes told and getting Murasaki a good luck charm, Shinkurou and the others take a bunch of pictures before heading to a place for a few drinks. Unbeknownst to the others though, Yayoi is suspecting that they were followed earlier.

At the Kuhouin house, Renjou is being told that Murasaki must not be allowed to escape anywhere, when Ryuuji, one of Renjou’s sons, shows up insisting to bring her back himself. As for Renjou, Ryuuji simply tells him to prepare the Inner Sanctuary for Murasaki’s and wait for her return.

Leaving the restaurant, Tamaki and Yamie decide to head to Shinjuku to drink some more, while Shinkurou takes Murasaki home. On their way back, Murasaki says that the Shichi-Go-San was fun and asks Shinkurou if he likes girls with big breasts, having learned something strange from Tamaki again. She tells him that her mother had big breasts, so she’ll eventually have them too, but it’s unfortunate that she can’t satisfy him for now. ^_^ In earnest though, Murasaki regrets not being able to do anything for Shinkurou, despite all that he’s taught and shown her, so she tells him how she wants to quickly become a woman that suits him. Shinkurou however, simply tells her she’s fine just the way she is now.

The next day at school, Shinkurou runs into Yuuno for a bit and tells her about the Shichi-Go-San the other day, but soon receives mail from Ginko telling him to come see her. With the new information she’s gathered, Ginko explains that there is no girl named Murasaki in the Kuhouin family and this might all be a lie that Benika has made him believe. While Shinkurou doesn’t think that everything Murasaki has shown him up to this point is an act, Ginko suggests the possibility that she might not know the truth. Upon hearing that the current leader Renjou only has two sons, Shinkurou is confused but believes there must be some reason for this.

On his way home, he runs into the two Kuhouin men that have been observing him, who quickly give him a beating before Yayoi shows up and chases them off. Shinkurou quickly rushes to check on Murasaki, who’s happily relaxing at home. When Shinkurou explains that the Kuhouins have found them, Murasaki says she’s scared and doesn’t want to return home. Meanwhile, Yayoi reports the incident to Benika, who’s on her way to pick Murasaki up.

Next Episode:
「貴方と私と」 (Anata to Watashi to)
“With You and Me”

Impressions:
“The calm before the storm” is probably the best way to sum up this episode. While the first half was fairly peaceful with Murasaki going on a Shichi-Go-San (七五三) temple visit, there was actually a fair amount of foreshadowing for things to come. Murasaki getting a bad luck (凶) reading on her fortune telling was probably the most prevalent one, but the more I heard her talk about doing things in the future with Shinkurou, Tamaki, and Yamie, the more ominous everything seemed.

As for the latter half, I felt Renjou’s statement about not thinking about Souju anymore was a lie to himself, as his emotions continue to conflict with his customs. Given that and the feelings we found about last episode, I get the impression that Renjou will do something later on in the series to help free Murasaki from a life in the Kuhouin inner sanctuary. In light of this though, it seems like a new obstacle has shown up in the form of his son, Kuhouin Ryuuji, who’s played by Okamoto Nobuhiko (Morimiya Yorito in sola, Kanzato Shin in PERSONA -trinity soul-). After seeing how Ryuuji disrespects Renjou and his less than trustworthy smile, I wonder how much of an antagonist role he’ll play in the overall story.

It was nice to see Ginko again, and this time, it looks like her information on the Kuhouins will be more detrimental to Shinkurou than anything else. With Murasaki not officially listed as a child of Renjou’s anywhere (much like all females in the Kuhouin household), the idea that Murasaki might not be who she claims to be is probably confusing Shinkurou for now. With him doubting what he’s been told by Benika, I get a sense that it’s going to affect his ability to protect Murasaki. It’ll be interesting to see if Shinkurou is left in the dark for long or if Benika will clear things up as soon as she arrives next episode. Given how direct Shinkurou is about his worries though, I get the feeling that it’ll be the latter case.

Speaking of the next episode, it looks like Lin Chenshin is finally going to make her move, which is something I actually expected to happen this week. With Lin showing an extremely sinister smile and Yayoi charging into her group of men alone in the preview, there should undoubtedly be quite a clash next time.

Note: The ED song this week was changed to “Tenohira no Taiyou” 「手のひらの太陽」 by Shintani Ryouko. When I first heard the song, I was wondering why it sounded so familiar. The reason turned out to be because it’s the second track on the “crossing days” kurenai ED single that was recently released. As for the ED sequence, it remains unchanged.

Cast:
– Kurenai Shinkurou (紅真 九郎) / Sawashiro Miyuki (沢城 みゆき)
– Kuhouin Murasaki (九鳳 院紫) / Yuuki Aoi (悠木 碧)
– Juuzawa Benika (柔沢 紅香) / Ishige Sawa (石毛 佐和)
– Inuzuka Yayoi (犬塚 弥生) / Ookubo Aiko (大久保 藍子)
– Mutou Tamaki (武藤 環) / Sanada Asami (真田 アサミ)
– Yamie (闇絵) / Kimura Haruka (木村 はるか)
– Houzuki Yuuno (崩月 夕乃) / Shintani Ryouko (新谷 良子)
– Murakami Ginko (村上 銀子) / Masu Nozomi (升 望)
– Kuhouin Renjou (九鳳院 蓮丈) / Kuroda Takaya (黒田 崇矢)
– Kuhouin Kazuko (九鳳院 和子) / Koyama Yuka (小山 裕香)
– Kuhouin Ryuuji (九鳳院 竜士) / Okamoto Nobuhiko (岡本 信彦)
– Grandfather (祖父) / Katou Seizou (加藤 精三)
– Kuhouin Man 1 (九鳳院の男１) / Kouno Tomoyuki (河野 智之)
– Kuhouin Man 2 (九鳳院の男２) / Shiratori Shuma (白鳥 修馬)
– Preview narration (予告ナレーション) / Marumatsu Ken (村松 健)