First Impressions / Nurarihyon no Mago

Episode 9

So it turns out that indeed Gyuki was trying to protect the Nura Clan and did not want a part-youkai who rejects his demon self as the Third Heir. He was afraid a weak would destroy the clan, as would be the case if Rikuo became commander and still wavered between his human and youkai forms. They exchange some blows and both land in hits, but ultimately Rikuo defeats him. When Gyuki finds out that Rikuo has become strong though, he accepts it and attempts to commit suicide (seppuku). There was a lot of honor and other commendable attributes featured through their actions which had me nodding in agreement several times. From Gyuki’s fierce loyalty to the clan as his family and Rikuo’s understanding and letting him live, the values are pretty standard, if not a bit cheesy at times. Rikuo finally makes a decision about himself and his identity, in part through the actions of others. He decides to take up the role of the next Supreme Commander in order to protect his friends (so clichéd…).

Later, there’s an ultra serious general meeting for Rikuo to pass judgement on Gyuki for his actions and decide on the Third Heir. A lot of the youkai are not happy with Rikuo as the Third Heir as they haven’t seen what he is able to do (even in his human form). The suspicious sounding one-eyed Youkai is acting haughty as ever, but Rikuo shows him up. He performs his role properly in a dramatic and formal speech and firmly pardons Gyuki. To me that’s a good decision, but he should have done something about punishing Mezumaru and Gozumaru, who were still acting like jackasses. Or perhaps Yuki-onna should just freeze off their butts, it’s not like they can do anything since this is Rikuo’s house and they must be on probation of some sort at least.

Episode 10

It looks like the start of the new arc here, starting off with ominous winds and strange dreams. Kana has been having the same creepy dream since she was six years old, and I’m guessing it’s the work of a youkai. It’s her thirteenth birthday, and nothing seems to be going right. For her birthday present, she gets a creepy voodoo doll (which later turns out to be cute in the youkai world) of herself from Kiyotsugu. Then, she just happens to leave as Kiyotsugu is explaining the Ungaikyou and the Purple Mirror, which apparently kills those who look in the mirror on their thirteenth birthday. As Kana heads home, the Ungaikyou shows up on a bike to “play” with her. While he does act and talk like a super clichéd ghost/monster (“Kannnaaaaaa-chaaannn… I’ve come for youuu”), this segment was admittedly creepier than I would have thought. I think anyone in that situation would be legitimately terrified; in the manga apparently all her friends were also killed, so that’s actually pretty dark. After the monster chases her, he teleports Kana back into the school and trapped her, appearing wherever there is a mirror. Luckily, the voodoo doll she got was actually a cell phone, and so she is able to call for help.

Only Rikuo is able to get to her as she was trapped behind mirrors, but that was more than enough as his night form disposed of the demon mirror in a split second. Kana is starting suspect a relationship between Rikuo and his night form, and so he takes her to a seedy-looking red-light district that could caused some initial “misunderstanding”. Turns out it’s just a Bake-neko Japanese restaurant (too bad). Some of the other youkai also thought they were a couple, which isn’t so wrong since I think they are both thirteen. The suave and slick Night Rikuo is pretty popular with the ladies, and with the way he’s teasing Kana, she has pretty much fallen for him already, resulting in some pretty hilarious exchanges later on. Too bad she mistook the two as friends, as opposed to the same being with two appearances. Rikuo should just straight up tell her what’s going up- the farther misunderstandings go, the more problems arise. All in all though, this episode was enjoyable; it had slightly scary moments and also amusing parts. It was mostly a side story for Kana, plus some development for the next arc, which looks like another attack on the Nura clan.

 

Preview

15 Comments

  4. Yuki is too kawaiii looking at her getting jealous of rikuo lol. She better get some relationship development with him or it seems that kana and rikuo are gonna be the main romance focus and yuki is just the competition that gets jealous but eventually developes into nothing.

    Kejoro also looked pretty sexy in that school uniform, o wait that’s in the next episode (proof any reason as to why the post are 1 episode behind?, but as always take you’re time no pressure :D)

    crazystudyguy
    Reply

  5. Ah I think I have fallen in love with Yura

    [spoiler]I love her facial expressions when she gets mad especially in episode 11 and in the manga when they talk shit about her family. When she gets angry, her appearance can match those of the youkai ^.^ [/spoiler]

    It looks like the next major arc is going to happen, but I have no idea how they are going to conclude the series cos that depends if they have a second season or not.

    Shadiic
    Reply

  9. Im really hoping for Yuki relationship as I cant stand the bland brown-haired student girl.
    She’s already in his grasp just like any other girl, so whats special about her, at least get with the ice babe.

    Omegan
    Reply

  10. @Omegan
    Actually the thing is that Rikuo thinks that he can not and must not establish a relationship with Kanna he says this in the manga but it got removed from the anime it kinda changes things a bit

    Dthiswhtuseek
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *