Kyousougiga – 06

Yakushimaru isn’t happy about being revived and adopted by Myoue and Koto (of the “monster temple”) and tries to kill himself again, to no avail. Gradually he gets accustomed to his new life and even starts to enjoy himself, as the family grows to five with Kurama and Yase. In the present, Koto confirms that Lady Koto is her mother. During the Mirrored City’s festival, Kurama and Yase bring Koto before the Council of Three against Myoue’s wishes. Kurama takes A and Un hostage and make Koto fight the robot Bishamaru, as the three siblings fight each other. Bishamaru’s mouth opens to reveal a portal to another dimension through which Koto falls, floating through space before being found by Lady Koto.

The more we learn of Yakushimaru’s past, the more it seems like he was the unwitting victim of a mad scientist, or rather mad priest. His rightful fate—the same fate as his original family—was torn from him, and a new, far more complicated fate assigned to him. That Myoue’s act was more one of selfishness than mercy. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been right to allow Yakushimaru to die, but making it so he can’t die ever? Keeping him from joining his family in the afterlife? Locking him in a world where more and more he and his siblings get on each others nerves as their methods for reaching their goals conflict? Yakushimaru didn’t sign up for any of this.

But he’s stuck. Kurama and Yase are in no hurry to die, and are done waiting for Myoue and Lady Koto to return. After sizing her up, they’ve determined that their ‘sister’ Koto and her magic hammer are the key to locating and reuniting with their parents. As Koto says, this all happens very fast, and there’s a striking contrast between the playful bliss of the siblings’ past and their over-the-top sparring in the present. Myoue’s beads, Yase’s brawn, and Kurama’s tech smash into each other in a brilliant amplification of rough-housing. They’ve remained children in their dream-world, and now they need a time-out and a scolding, so it’s fortunate Koto finds their mother after all.

Rating: 9 (Superior)

Stray Observations:

• Now all that past pomegranate imagery makes sense: Myoue drew a magic one and Lady Koto fed it to Yakushimaru to revive him.
• The rabbit, frong, and monkey drawings are taken straight from the real Choujuugiga scroll in Kouzanji.
• Nice touch: A and Un are stuck in a Nintendo game.
• There have been times in this show when we thought the background score was a little to loud or schmaltzy, but it worked perfectly this week, including return of the techno battle music from the Yase-centered OVA.