It’s the penultimate episode and Inari is still giving even Black Widows a bad name…
Summary-in-a-sentence:
Shu is still dreaming of Tsukimi but being pestered by Inari and eventually slaps Inari after she pretends to commit suicide over him; Kuranosuke and co. (eventually) make a jelly fish dress out of his mum’s clothes and jewellery over at his place; and the other nunz return to the Amazu, only to find it completely surrounded by scaffolding…
Crusader
More thorough than Gihren, more ruthless than Haman...
With one left to go Inari seems to be on the verge of total victory over the Nunz. Long have the Nunz tarried in the defense of their home and now Inari has laid siege to their hiding hole and the Nunz have only themselves to blame. Mayaya and Bamba are utterly lost and are now inches from being homeless. In this instance I would like to see a FINAL VICTORY for Inari as those two have been an utter disappointment. They not only interrupted the making of the Jellyfish dress they did not contribute to the grand project and simply wasted away their time like they have wasted away their youth. While Kuranosuke has done much to try and help them it seems that it may have been too little too late. Such is the harvest the Nunz shall reap for not taking Inari seriously. They are alone and isolated Shu is forced from the field and soon the Nunz may have to fold faster than Wu.
However Shu being too honorable for his own good is having nightmares of Inari while he dreams of Tsukimi. Inari has done much to batter their ship but it was all unintentional and now with but one episode to go Shu’s dream of a home by the sea remains just that a dream. However the Inari nightmare for him is not yet over. Inari takes full advantage of Shu’s honorable nature but in her drunken state fakes a suicide and wounds Shu deeply. Now Shu is dead set on leaving for his tour and hopefully now at the end will Inari realize that Shu is about the only person that will ever care for her. If nothing else may some sense have been slapped into her even if Shu’s two finger slap fell short of a BRIGHT SLAP.
While Shu is on verge of defeat Kuransuke is making good progress on his dress, however with these new snippets of information regarding his childhood I worry how they will be ending the series. There is not much time left and unless they announce another season it will be a challenge to bring everything to a conclusion. It will require all of Kuranosuke’s efforts to save Amamizukan as he is the only one who really cares. Though with Inari battering down their gates the Nunz will finally make a stand even if I hope that Mayaya and Bamba die in the ensuing fight. I wonder how Shu will handle this though. I hope he doesn’t simply run away but at this point there is not much that is looking up for him. I am hoping that Inari at least apologizes to Shu because the poor guy deserves that much since his romantic prospects seem dismal at this point. I doubt that Inari has ever had True Love and much of the blame rests on her. Still at the very least I want Inari to confess her crimes even as she wrecks Amamizu.
You have to hand it to Inari not only has she worked over Shu she also successfully isolated Amamizu and left them without any local support. Compare that to her opposition who despite having the blessings of a fairy trap mother are no closer to their goal while Inari marches across the neighborhood claiming more territory with each passing episode. As for political support I have serious doubts that the Koibuchi political machine will come to their aid. If nothing else at least Kuranosuke is assured a decent end. Tsukimi is still disappointingly hung up over Inari and Shu, at this point she seems to have given Inari a free hand in annexing Shu but the pain is still there. I hope that Tsukimi will either deal with it or make good on her feelings. Anything else and it will be hard to say that Tsukimi tried and failed when she has been in full retreat for some time now.
I hope that the end will be quite memorable as it would be a good way to end 2010. If only it were 13 episodes…
Shu's idea of BEST END.
Father of your children?
Inari invading your dreams...
And ruining your life...
Shu laughed that hard during Inari's presentation.
I hope Blue Destiny Ma Chao will kick your ass...
May she die of cholesterol.
AND HOW!
And so it continues...
Nuts, here come the FAKE TEARS.
It wasn't even that...
Inari starts building her eight array maze...
Inari hopes that there is no escape from her maze...
Shu is indeed elite, but oh so gullible.
Unlike your heart Shu's is way too pure...
Take that you lazy wench! May hat Hipster VIOLATE YOU.
What the? How the? Salami?
...and yet you picked up the phone.
Shu has Liu Bei's heart...
Were it so easy...
Poke her with a stick Shu.
Inari is as deceitful as Cao Cao.
Shu should have used all five fingers...
Poor Shu actually cared.
It wasn't exactly love but I hope Inari feels bad for hurting Shu.
No ding dong the witch is dead for you then...
Leninist Clara is putting you in for a Hero of Amamizu.
But where's the fun in that?
Seems Koibuchi the elder has no need for daughters...the nerve of that ass hat.
Look at it this way since you were a boy you met Shu and Tsukimi.
O_o
Inari got into their base and burned all their stuff.
ExecutiveOtaku’s The [Immanent] Disappearance of Koibuchi Shu
Tsukimi doesn’t like this Inari or traveling business anymore than I do.
Had to bring myself up to speed quickly with the last two episodes, but now that I’m back from the holidays there’s plenty of shipping to be done. For all the tricks this show is trying to throw our way Shu and Tsukimi are still the only two that can:
- Make each other faint.
- Have romantic dreams and daydreams about each other.
- Can cause one to fall backwards out of a chair while thinking of the other.
- Have the physical or emotional absence of the one cause the other to feel down.
There is only an episode left. Either this goes into a second season in which all must be reassessed in view of the longer timeframe, we get a non-conclusion ending where Amamizukan is saved but nothing else is resolved, or it’s Shu descends, god-like upon his return from abroad, to use his family influence and deus ex machina the Amamizukan and Tsukimi. ShuKimi is still out in front of KuraKimi with plenty of evidence to back it up. If the war continues into a second season then the going may potentially be more perilous. But in the other two situations we’re looking at at least a draw if not a victory. Tsukimi seeing Shu and Inari together and the trip abroad feel really cliche for dramas, something that’s been bothering me for a while now. For as fun as the series is, it so far has just been standard (live-action) drama fare wrapped up in fujoshi and a trap. That said, without knowing the timeframe the series is working with, I can’t really say which way the shipping will go. A quick conclusion would favor ShuKimi. A second season would mean a longer, tougher fight since I sense a new angle for the dastardly KuraKimi shippers with this shared mother issues bit. ShuKimi will prevail no matter how long it takes! A long slog through a second season will only make our ship’s glory all the greater! SIEG SHUKIMI!
You don’t see Inari dreaming about Shu, or Tsukimi about Kuranosuke now do you?
Trying to knock himself back out to continue the dream?
Shu is rejecting your FALSE TEARS just like Noe did!
Shu Shove, part 2.
What did the hand say to the face?
The concern coming out of Shu’s pure, kind heart is much too good for you, Inari.
Must have been a driver for the Kennedys before the Koibuchis hired him.
Dust off and nuke her from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Hana on reverse-fairytales:
Well, I was looking forward to seeing THAT DRESS, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. You know what was even better, though? THAT SLAP:
Shame he had to ruin it by crying, eh.
Moving on from the slap. In addition to the dress and the slap, I also very much enjoyed the latest edition of Shu-Shu’s Delusion Time (except the rather abrupt ending, of course). Aside from the comedy and the cuteness that was positively oozing from these scenes, it was also interesting seeing how Shu seems to see himself as a Prince figure, ready to sweep his Tsukimi-san off her feet and whisk her away to their place of happily ever after. Interesting and ironic, of course, seeing as how, in many ways, he’s even more of an innocent maiden than Tsukimi. However, I guess one person’s Prince is just as easily another’s Villain, in the sense that Shu may seem at least a tad insensitive in assuming that Tsukimi would be hunky-dory with being kicked out of her home and the sisterhood in exchange for setting up house with him. Ah, the power of dreams/ nightmares, eh…
Moving on from the maidenly-Prince. In contrast, Kuranosuke’s manly-Princess figure also came into it’s own in this epi, in the way that he pulled Tsukimi out of her previous drunken funk and into full (dress-making) fighto! mode, resulting in (finally!) the birth of their dream jellyfish dress. Side-stepping Tsukimi’s blunder of not checking if it was okay to start tearing apart Kuranosuke’s jewellery, I found Kuranosuke’s reaction to Tsukimi’s actions extremely interesting too. His mother’s pearls were obviously very important to him and thus he must have been more than a bit miffed at their violent dismantling, and yet he doesn’t dwell on this and instead embraces Tsukimi, Chieko and Jiji’s creation with all his enthusiasm. And doesn’t he look great in it! From manly-Princess, to Fairy Trapmother, to habitual bishie, and back to Princess mode again – each of Kuranosuke’s many appearances, despite their chameleon-like facades, have been supportive and empowering for Tsukimi for the most part. Thus, despite the ending being all too nigh, I have high hopes for Tsukimi getting some kind of fairy tale ending… no matter how unconventional this may be.
What a man.
Moving on from the Princes and Princesses. Our resident slaptastic Villain Inari reached a new low in this epi. Although all we saw of her in this epi was her going about her day job business and mildly pissing-off Shu (mercifully no constant flashing of DAT PIC, nor trying to smarm up to influential senior politicians this time), that ‘trick’ was seriously in bad taste at best, and downright unforgivable at worst. Honestly, what kind of a loser/ bitch/ moron/ etc etc would even contemplate freaking out someone by making them think that it was their fault that they’d just committed suicide?! Arrrgh! (And yeah don’t even think of using drunkenness as an excuse; alcohol is clearly just as evil as the idiots who think they can handle it. Nuff said.)
Moving on from the deplorable drunkenness. Shu’s reaction was problematic; I’m guessing he was hurt and angry because he does actually care for Inari, or he just a sweet guy who didn’t appreciate being made a fool of/ manipulated again. Heck, it might even be a bit of bit of both. Either way, I hope, if only for her sake at least, that Shu slapped some sense into Inari and pointed her towards the path towards redemption. Whether she chooses to follow this is, of course another matter.
And finally… I can’t help it… THAT DRESS!
Fairy Trapmothers FTW!
16 Comments
Aaaaaand another Noitamina series heads towards an exciting climax. While it probably won’t get an extension, I hope it at least won’t disappoint.
Agreed; this and Shiki, have been the highlights of the past season for me. In fact, Kuragehime (unless the series finale completely bombs, of course) is probably my favourite show of the year.
I eagerly await to see the Inari victory that looms in view. finally we get the necessary bit to have a romantic angle between the two
I have really come to like her character, i especially liked the after a hard day at work drunk on the couch bit. I mean her little prank was quite cruel but she was drunk, and he was not rational. i mean it started with him calling her to check on her because he obviously feels something for her, and she made a comment about being drunk and he assumed she was commiting suicide, in my opinion he is pretty arrogant to think that she would kill herself over him, but still it was a joke in bad taste. All in all im hoping for tsukimi to realise she that she likes Shu but loves Kurako, and for Shu to realise that he likes Tsukimi but loves Inari. If these two things were to happen i would be very happy.
Well, clearly not everyone’s going to be pleased, whatever the outcome. I can see why you like Inari, but at least you’re aware of her (*cough many coughcough*) faults.
What you say about Shu kind of makes sense too, but I can’t really see him as being arrogant, just incredibly naive. I just hope, whatever happens, Tsukimi’s development is rounded off both realistically and, of course, positively. Go, Tsukimi!
Wow. He’s pretty.
Agreed!
ALL HAIL KURAKIMI!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really need to find more anime with traps/gender bending >.<~
On a more serious note, Kuragehime and Shiki are among my favorite anime of all time and they're both ending tomorrow. Sad Fennec. Really hope they make a second season though, the story seems like it just started in the last few eps.
I think they were my favourite shows this season too, even though they couldn’t be more opposite at times, lol. Here’s hoping for season twos for both of them too!
I’m really loving this series (it kinda sucks that I can only get up to vol 2 in the manga) and Tsukimi is such a sweetly odd character I really can’t wait to see what will happen to her.
And Shu oh poor naive simple minded Shu I never thought I’d come to care about this character as much as I do I feel so bad for him and I really hope we get some more detail on his past as well and Tsukimi’s and Kura.
Anyway my feeling on the whole Inari fake suicide thing I kinda get the feeling that maybe Shu may have dealt with someone suicidal in the past and that was the reason he freaked out on her. But maybe I’m thinking too much
anyway love your reviews!
That reminds me, I need to track down the manga… Interesting theory about Shu’s past, guess we’ll have to wait and see *sigh*. Thanks for reading/ commenting!
Loved this episode…just like all the others. I have mixed feelings about THAT SLAP. While Inari had it coming, and I love the fact that all of you captured the “mush” face…I just can’t with a man hitting a woman. Could he have just shook her or something. And how about that ShuKimi dream. Us ShuKimi supporters needed that.
A fair point aboout the violence against women; it probably should’ve just been a slap (I assume the wimpyness of maidenly-Shu’s subsequent hits detracted from/ ‘sanitised’ the speactacle). I loved the dream too, so funny!
ALL you Shukimi shippers i have prepared a glass to collect your tears!!
I think a bucket would be more appropriate. orz.
Oh my gosh THANK YOU for letting me discover Kuragehime!!! I saw it in your lineup and thought it looked good, AND I WAS RIGHT! I love this anime, I just watched the eleventh episode NRRGH SEASON 2 PLEASE! Anyways I love your episode recaps, I actually tried to find this before but I couldn’t…I must have misspelt Kuragehime. :/ Ah well I found it now. This episode was sooo good! It made me actually like Inari and beleive her and Shu have a future….ah well a girl can dream eh?
Well thanks for the great, intresting and funny recap as always, and happy new year!
Glad that you’ve enjoyed the show and that we helped you come across it. Desperately needs a season two after that pretty disappointing ending with so much left open.
Even as a major ShuKimi shipper, I may be able to accept Inari X Shu in a second season now that she’s been reformed from her wicked ways by Shu’s sympathy for her. But I’m not conceding until/if we get a second season that confirms it!
Happy New Year to you as well, and thank you for reading and commenting.