First Impressions / Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

「つながる想い～光～」 (Tsunagaru Omoi ~ Hikari ~)
“Connected Feelings ~ Light ~”

At the end of this three episode long arc, I can honestly say I was expecting way more then what was given. Throughout the entire episode, I was hoping for some kind of big finish or huge revelation. And while there was a huge revelation, the way it was delivered nearly killed all the momentum that this entire arc had been building up since it started. My little nitpicking aside, the episode itself was still really fun watch. First, if you remember the guy who randomly appeared behind Haruka two episodes ago, that was actually Shunsuke Takeda. Second, I went back and double checked episode seven since I never would have guessed that he was a spirit. Mostly due to the fact that Yakumo has been the only person able to see and hear spirits, it surprised me when Takeda had the power to reveal himself to others. As the episode progressed, it looked as if Takeda had taken a lot of time to think through and plan a way for the others to save Yakumo and Haruka. While I thought the way he saved Haruka was brilliant, I didn’t get why he didn’t just tell Haruka everything. I mean, he has the ability to talk to people so I don’t think taking the time to talk to Gotou (especially AFTER he was captured) made the most sense. What if Ishii and Matoko weren’t able to find him in time? Luckily they did find Gotou in time, tied up and untouched at the bottom of a stairwell inside of secret room at Nanase mansion.

What came next TOTALLY blew my mind. First, Nanase Miyuki, the girl with the taser who happens to be only Nanase who survived from being murdered, had a pretty screwed up childhood. Being conceived between her mother and GRANDFATHER, it’s easy to see where her crazy personality comes from. Combined with the influence from Yakumo’s father, it’s also not that hard to believe that she was the one who murdered her family. As if revealing that a little girl in elementary school who murdered her family wasn’t enough, there’s a vivid flashback depicting the murders themselves. While watching Nanase kill her family gave me the chills, there’s this short scene of her singing “London Bridge is falling down” except with the words replaced with “Take a key and lock her up”. As she sings it in English, it started to freak me out – watching a crazy little girl hum an innocent childhood song. Second, Yakumo’s mother finally makes her apperance! The amount of feeling and emotion I was expecting to feel came from the last place I would have expected it to, but I’ll elaborate on that in a minute. Yakumo’s mother reveals that after Takeda proposed to her nearly fifteen years ago, that before she even had the chance to be happy, she had her entire world turned upside down. With Takeda being placed as the main suspect for the Nanase murder, combined with the stress of raising Yakumo alone, she was slowly going crazy from stress. After a surprise visit from Yakumo’s father, she believes his lie that Yakumo would grow up and kill more people than Takeda did. Her attempt to kill Yakumo as a child was only to prevent him from becoming a murderer. After learning that Yakumo’s mother didn’t try to outright kill her son because of his red eye I started to feel pretty bad for her. Especially since Yakumo’s father is the one who basically ruined Yakumo’s entire life. I don’t know where Yakumo’s father got the balls to say that it was Yakumo’s mother’s own intention to kill her son, but with what I compared to giving him the finger, Yakumo accepts his mother’s story and doesn’t give in to the “darkness”. Meaning he ended the whole arc with a smile on his face. At this point I still don’t get what his father is trying to do with this whole “darkness” aspect but it’s clear that it isn’t working.

As our evil duo makes their flashy escape, it looks like life almost returns back to normal. Except that Ishii looks like more confident then ever, Gotou and his wife seem to be on better terms, and the episode decided to make me tear up a little bit. Earlier when I said that I expected his mother’s story to bring some emotion to the table, I didn’t really feel anything during the climax – and that’s probably because the writers saved it for the end of the episode. As Yakumo, Haruka, and the others go to honor his mother and Takeda’s death, the emotions start to build quickly. From watching Yakumo’s mom try to reach out and touch Yakumo’s face to Yakumo dropping his tsundere exterior and shyly asking his mom “Do you have to go already?” as she fades away, I was at the verge of shedding some tears (I think a few might have made it out).

Next week’s episode looks like it will be the start of another new arc. You can bet I’m super excited especially after seeing that it’s once again not a single arc episode. Woohoo!

 

Preview

20 Comments

  4. Perhaps a 4 episode arc for the season finisher?
    This arc really showed how good this series can be, so it’s saddening that so many people dropped the series due to the first half of the season being boring or not what they expected. Also, does anyone know how far along we are into the Yakumo novels? If I recall correctly, the first episode was the whole first book, or maybe the whole first manga volume, but what about the rest of the series?

    Bossun
    Reply

  5. Given what she has gone through, I am feeling at least a bit of “sympathy for the devil” towards the Nanase daughter.
    Still, in the interest of the society at large, I’d advise to not only “take the key and lock her up” but throw the key away – preferably into the sea or volcano – afterwards.
    I am worried we haven’t seen the last of her and Yakumo’s father yet…

    ewok40k
    Reply

  6. Dude I’m with you, the creepy song was the number 1 chiller this season for me.

    And..oh god the manly tear gate always flooded open–which I didn’t expect to happen at all.
    The series has its ‘duller’ moments, but for me, I’m glad I’ve stuck with it, Yakumo and Gotou are a blast in their own ways, and for an anime with that ‘ghost’ twist, it’s pretty up there. Even this seemingly convoluted series of events came off smoothly instead of the cluster that kept me confused/in the dark until now.

    Dawn
    Reply

  9. wow… nice finish 🙂 the execution was well done… though why Gotou didn’t get a single stretch…
    happy ending FTW… and Haruka, you got your future mother in-law’s approval now 😀
    judging from the preview, next arc should be interesting

    jrj
    Reply

  11. Yakumo said that as a child he didn’t realize Taneda loved his mother but now he does. Haruka asked him how he knows now? I also would like to know but it he left me hanging with his silence.

    Crescent
    Reply

  13. It was kind of odd to see this arc conclude already, as I was expecting it to be saved for the climax of the series. On the plus side, it’s nice in the sense that we get to see what Yakumo and Haruka’s relationship after they’ve grown closer from this ordeal. After all, Haruka got the thumbs up from Yakumo’s mother, even in death, which in my mind seals the deal.

    One scene that kind of irked me is how careless Haruka was when she stepped into that cabin. It’s like it didn’t occur to her that Yakumo’s kidnappers might still be around when she made a lot of noise trying to wake Yakumo up. That was probably the only thing that took away from an otherwise emotional reunion with the music going and everything.

    Gotou’s kidnapping may have been somewhat unsubstantial given how he was rescued without any injuries, but it served as a plot device to both reveal the truth about Yakumo’s past and get Ishii to man up. For those reasons alone, it’s not as pointless as it initially seems.

    It looks like I was right about Takeda being deceased and helping Yakumo and Haruka out as a ghost. I didn’t really care for the quick explanation on how his spirit was probably awakened by the pendant, though I do appreciate how the writers provided a reason why he’s only shown up now. As for Yakumo’s mother’s last words to him, I somehow get the feeling that she told him his red eye’s beautiful. It’s just a hunch given his reaction, but it would reiterate that Haruka’s a special woman to him just like his mother.

    Takaii: Good post. I see you’re getting the hang of this blogging stuff. It’s just a shame that this series doesn’t seem to have more viewers. It looks like it’ll go down as one of the underappreciated shows of the season.

    Divine
    Reply

  15. Gosh, I’m watching this episode at 3am in the morning and the song that Miyuki sings seriously creeped me out.

    I think I missed this part out but.. when, why and how did Yakumo’s mum die? My question goes to Takeda as well. I don’t get why they’re dead? I think I’m really slow. xD

    Kai-kun
    Reply

  16. @ Kai-kun
    2 -red eyed man killed both Takeda and Yakumo’s mother soon after the family massacre by little girl. Takeda to keep him as “suspect still at large”, Yakumo’s mother possibly to mess up Yakumo’s life even more. Takeda was buried under the building being torn down, Yakumo’s mother in the house in the woods near Nagano.

    ewok40k
    Reply

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