Nabari no Ou – 13

「眠らない学舎」 (Nemuranai Manabiya)
“School that Doesn’t Sleep”

With Sirius Hashiba, leader of the Kouga and director of Alya Academy, bedridden with some incurable disease, his student council reassures him that they’ll take care of the Nabari world matters. Back in Banten, Hanabusa is going away for a few days for paleontology work, while Thobari and the others make their way to Kouga as per the invitation they received from Kotarou. On their way, Thobari says he’ll try to negotiate for Kouga’s kinjutsusho, which reminds Raimei of how she said she’d help Miharu get Banten’s kinjutsusho. As for Miharu and others, they’re watching their car get towed out of the water while waiting for a replacement ride, so Raikou tells Miharu a bit about the Kouga’s powerful forbidden technique, “Daya” 「蛇薬」 (roughly translated to “Serpent Drug”).

Shortly after, Kurookano Shijima comes along and offers to guide them to Kouga’s village, which happens to be an elevator/escalator school named Alya Academy on the surface world. After showing them to their rooms, Shijima tells them to rest until an announcement is made for the meeting; however, Yoite wants to act on his own and snatch the kinjutsusho. Yukimi manages to stop him though, after some heated discussion about having a plan and not wanting to kill kids. Looking out the window, Yukimi notices Thobari in the adjacent room and finds this suddenly very interesting, whereas Thobari finds this suddenly very complicated.

After adjourning their first meeting, Thobari demands to know what the hell Miharu is thinking, but gets taken away before Miharu can say anything. Meeting with Sirius again, the student council girls fill him in on the meeting and how nothing has been resolved yet, when Kannuki-sensei comes in saying he wants to elect an official successor so the clan doesn’t go into ruin along with him. Kannuki suggests that the teaching faculty take care of the election, to which Shijima says he simply wants to take over, being the current vice-director and all. Their accusations stop though, as Shijima notices that Yukimi and Raikou are eavesdropping outside, but let them go despite their lame excuse.

Later that night, Thobari explains to the others that he wasn’t unable to ask any questions about the kinjutsusho for now. As for Juuji, she’s in shock after seeing Miharu with the Kairoushuu (and thinking he’ll get badly influenced, leading to the end of the world), so Kouichi suggests that they talk to Miharu directly. Kouichi also adds that if he doesn’t answer and a fight breaks out, then so be it, which surprises the others. Meanwhile, Yukimi is discussing the information they have on the Kouga. Miharu gives Yoite a scarf knitted by Hanabusa and mentions how dark it is outside, which causes Yoite to say how he’d be fine disappearing like this. While asleep, the Kairoushuu and Fuuma/Banten get ambushed by students who were apparently ordered to do so by Kannuki. Shijima, Subaru, and Catalina however are unaware of this and attack Yoite, Raimei, and the others, thinking that they started this disturbance. During this time, Kannuki expresses how the end of the current director’s school is near.

 

Next Episode:
「夜の底」 (Yoru no Soko)
“End of the Night”

Impressions:
Yukimi put it best when he said, “For now, we’re on standby until the replacement car for the one Raikou destroyed with his ‘super driving tech(nique)‘ arrives.” Raikou did return the favour to Yukimi at Alya Academy though, when he made him the “baka character” by telling him you don’t buy ballpoint pens from a wall. Speaking of Raikou, I guess he gave up his Shirogamon for a sansetsukon (三節棍), i.e. three-sectioned staff. As for Thobari and Hana, I’m not quite sure how much history they have, but given this scene and the similar one in the ED sequence, I guess there’s much more than we’ve been let on.

As for Kouga’s leader, Sirius Hashiba, aside from being bedridden with some incurable disease, he seems more concerned about the well-being of his school/clan than the ongoing struggle for the Shinrabanshou in the Nabari world. This reminds me of the impression Yae originally gave, but seeing as there are Kouga ninjas who have ill thoughts towards Sirius, I doubt he has some huge ulterior motive in mind. I can’t say the same for his three student council ninjas though, i.e. Shijima, Subaru, and Catalina, who are played by Shindou Kei, Kawakami Tomoko, and Nabatame Hitomi respectively—three well-renowned female seiyuus. The girls’ intentions seem to be earnest, as Kannuki-sensei is the one trying to take over the Kouga clan and obtain the “Daya” 「蛇薬」 forbidden technique for himself; however, like Yukimi and Raikou already realized, the Kouga must know that they’re after the forbidden scrolls, so there must be some reason they’ve decided to reveal their village’s location and invited both the Kairoushuu and Fuuma/Banten here. Naturally, this means that Shijima and the others also have something else in mind, but I, much like all the ninjas invited to Kouga, am still wondering what that something is.

Being played by Fujiwara Keiji, Kannuki gave me instant Ali Al Sarches vibes, as he uses the same voice for all the villains that he plays. It’s also nice to see Shindou Kei get an actual role in this series too, as her talent was kind of wasted just playing Miharu’s cat, Shiratama. Now is it just me, or does Shijima look awfully like Louise from Zero no Tsukaima with this cloak on? All we need here is for Kugimiya Rie to stop voicing Miharu for a second and voice Shijima instead and we’d have Louise in the Nabari world.

Next time, it looks like the three Kouga girls are still attacking Yoite, Miharu, and the others after the mix up they got in thanks to Kannuki. On a random note, hearing Miharu say that Yoite is the other him 「君はもう一人の僕だ。」 did make me think of Horie Yui and Tamaru Yukari‘s Yamato Nadeshiko song, Mou Hitori no Watashi 「もうひとりの私」 (“The Other Me”). In any case, this sounds like a line you’d only use about someone you have a really strong bond with, so I guess that’s what they’re trying to emphasize here. Note: I’m not trying to imply BL though.

 

Cast:
– Rokujou Miharu (六条 壬晴) / Kugimiya Rie (釘宮 理恵)
– Yoite (宵風) / Saiga Mitsuki (斎賀 みつき)
– Kumohira Thobari Durandal (雲平・帷・デュランダル) / Namikawa Daisuke (浪川 大輔)
– Aizawa Kouichi (相澤 虹一) / Hino Satoshi (日野 聡)
– Shimizu Raimei (清水 雷鳴) / Fujimura Ayumi (藤村 歩)
– Yukimi Kazuhiko (雪見 和彦) / Tsuda Kenjirou (津田 健次郎)
– Shimizu Raikou (清水 雷光) / Suwabe Junichi (諏訪部 順一)
– Minami Juuji (南 十字) / Koyama Kimiko (こやま きみこ)
– Seki Hanabusa (関 英) / Mitsuishi Kotono (三石 琴乃)
– Kurookano Shijima (黒岡野 しじま) / Shindou Kei (真堂 圭)
– Fushita Subaru (伏田 すばる) / Kawakami Tomoko (川上 とも子)
– Toudou Catalina (藤堂 カタリナ) / Nabatame Hitomi (生天目 仁美)
– Kannuki (閂) / Fujiwara Keiji (藤原 啓治)
– Sirius Hashiba (シリウス・ハシバ) / Kiyokawa Motomu (清川 元夢)
– Teacher (教師) / Souma Yukito (相馬 幸人)
– Teacher (教師) / Endou Daisuke (遠藤 大輔)
– Teacher (教師) / Saitou Ryuugo (齋藤 龍吾)
– Student (生徒) / Satou Yuudai (佐藤 雄大)
– Student (生徒) / Watanabe Akeno (渡辺 明乃)