Kidnappers are everywhere and the good guys are two steps behind!
What They Say:
Episode #17: “Prologue of the Quietly Twisting Night”
Shirayuki was kidnapped on the night of the ball in Tanbarun, and now Raj and Zen must join forces to save her.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I have to wonder about Tanbarun’s lax security during the night of a ball. How did two bandits sneak into the castle and kidnap a foreign dignitary? Where were the guards? Especially since the two younger royal siblings were lurking around. I’d have to imagine that the king would have guards assigned to those two.
Obi manages to hold his own against the silver-haired bandit at least until the two royal twins are the first to arrive when Shirayuki screams. Distracted he takes a hit to the back of the neck and goes down for the count. By the time Obi awakens Shirayuki is long gone and Raj is a wreck as all of his palace guards are searching for the missing red-head. Alas, she’s long gone and Zen arrives to find his love missing and Prince Raj panicking.
My opinion of Raj shoots way up during this episode, and it’s because of one scene where he’s by himself playing the violin. Stripped of his panic and theatrics, he is humanized and brought back down from the spoiled prince to a young man who finally knows what it’s like to be treated as a person.
Enter Raj’s father, the King. Yes, he is present for this massive kerfuffle. (Now we know what Raj will look like when he’s older.) He actually appears to have a level head and grants Zen permission to look for Shirayuki along as Raj approves the actions he takes and doesn’t overstep his bounds.
The action is this episode is superb! It’s been awhile since there has been any action to animate, so the animators go wild with the squash and stretch during the two big fights in this episode. The action is quick but easy enough to follow, with good weight and interesting angles closing in on the action and getting the viewer right up in the thick of it. Shirayuki herself comes out unscathed but the men around her get quite the beat down.
Obi didn’t wait for Zen to arrive to go after her. I was shocked at how easy he goes on the little prince and princess, although it is true that it wasn’t the kids fault Shirayuki was kidnapped. Things could have gone badly if the kidnappers attacked them as well. Damn is Obi fierce in his pursuit. I hope we learn what Obi did before coming into Lord Haruka’s service because his moves scream assassin.
As for the kidnappers, blondie and his silver-haired friend are with the mountain bandits. He keeps saying he’s bringing Shirayuki ‘home’ and after what she said about growing up in the mountains I’m not going to be surprised in the least to discover that Shirayuki’s dad is a bandit prince or something. “Oh, your Dad is Robin Hood? No shit.” Anyway, blondie isn’t the problem, the lady pirate shown briefly in the previous episode is. She’s a slaver, and she is very interested in Shirayuki for all the same reasons the previous kidnappers were. Maybe Shirayuki should start dying her hair?
In Summary:
A double kidnapping. That’s one way of upping the stakes. Normally the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but the mountain bandits are obviously not the bad guys we think they are. The action picks up in a huge way in this episode, making up for the dreamy, slow pace of the last few weeks. It’s very therapeutic watching Obi strike back after going down in round one. Now we have three very upset young men searching out the woman they adore, who is being held captive by a vicious woman who does appear to be a genuine threat. It’s going to be carnage when they finally catch up to the bad guys.
Episode Grade: A –
Streamed by: Funimation
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS Yosemite, via Safari 9, FIOS connection. Your mileage may vary.
