Holmes of Kyoto – 04 – The Sashimo Grass on Mount Ibuki

Aoi keeps having a dream where her boyfriend and best friend keep pairing off the moment she leaves for Kyoto. But in the waking world it’s time for the Gion Festival, which means both Holmes and Aoi don yukatas while at work. Akihito, the brother from last week’s case, stops by to properly thank Holmes, who is quick to stop him from sexually harassing an unwitting Aoi, who suddenly finds herself in the midst of two very handsome young men.

It’s a week of running into exes, apparently, because not only does Holme’s ex Izumi stop by to have a dish appraised (and vents about how she’s not so sure about her new husband, who sounds like a dick!), but Aoi’s friends arrive for the festival, with her ex-boyfriend and best friend in tow. Her friends praise her for how good she looks in her yukata, but it’s soon clear what their true motives are.

Sanae and Katsumi know what they did was shitty, and they’re seeking forgiveness, using their mutual friends (who simply want an end to the conflict and the awkwardness that comes with it) as cover. Aoi is about to let everyone off the hook, but internally, she’s about to lose it. So it’s a good thing Holmes shows up, not only to raise her spirits, but to make her ex jealous enough to protest, leading his new girlfriend to slap him.

Aoi no doubt felt unbearably alone, especially considering she had figured out the message Izumi was trying to send to Holmes through the mugwort-patterned bowl she made on Mt. Ibuki. It’s a nice synthesis of pottery and poetry that also demonstrates that Aoi’s also a smart cookie when it comes to connecting artistic dots.

The thing is, Holmes is done with Izumi. She may now have some regrets about the choice she made, but he’s not about to bail her out. Instead, he comes to Aoi’s rescue in a time of dire need, when her supposed friends all had her backed into a corner.

I’m really enjoying the subtle courtship between these two, who were after all only brought together after each of them was betrayed by the ones they loved. So far, their dynamic, and the show’s highbrow bookish demeanor, are enough for me to overlook how freakin’ awful the show looks.

Black Bullet – 02

Would so many of Tokyo’s elite promoter-initiator pairs really stand around like idiots and wait for the obviously telekinetic bag guy to fire their bullets right back at them? I’m not sure, but it’s definitely a big power move that establishes to everyone that the half-man, half-machine Hiruko Kagetane and his adorable daughter/initiator Kohina are not to be trifled with. Kagetane challenges all the other pairs to find the case before he does, or forfeit their lives, and while he may have caught them with their pants down, there’s still no reason to think he won’t follow through on that threat.

The case he seeks contains something that the wrong hands could use to bring down the barriers that protect Tokyo from the Gastrea. But as casually murderous and destructive as Kagetane is, he’s not the only evil dwelling here. In its second episode Black Bullet establishes that “cursed children” are pariahs of society, forced to the rough outskirts of the city, and even rounded up and shot in dark corners when they dare to venture in. For every citizen who actively hates, harms, and subjugates them, there seem to be three more who will do nothing to stop it.

Even Satomi falls into the pit of inaction when faced with an injustice, though he avoids a bad situation out of fear of exposing or involving Enju through escalation. The show plays a neat trick before the incident where Satomi “proves” the bracelets Enju bought for them don’t work by declaring he loves her. At the same time, he bristles when the other promoter refers to his initiator as a mere tool or asset to exploit to optimum effect. Enju is far more than that to him, and we learn he’s gone beyond what many other promotors would have to raise and protect her. The flashback really nicely drove that point home.

Whatever part of Kagetane is still human is much like Satomi, protecting his daughter just as fiercely—moreso, since he’s far more powerful than Satomi. But while Satomi has striven to give Enju a normal, happy human life, Kohina and her dad are the opposite. They won’t fit into the current system has provided for them. They’re a common product of sustained prejudice and injustice; they are the pot boiling over. Enju flees to her old home, perhaps afraid of being a burden or even danger to Satomi, her self-worth likely having been thoroughly eroded by the barbs of her classmates (its implied Kagetane started the rumor at her school).

But what she must have come to realize (while hiding in the sewer while he spoke up for her) is that Satomi needs her. He’s the man he is today because of her, and no other initiator will do. I really hope she lets Satomi find her soon. The two of them must keep their footing in the narrow middle ground between the corruption and in society and the rage of the man in the mask. Tokyo may not deserve to be utterly destroyed, but nor can things remain the way they are with regard to the cursed children. But nothing can happen if Satomi and Enju are apart.