Birds of a feather.
What They Say:
Episode #18: AMANOJAKU / GO HOME, CRANE
A stranded crane presents a set of holy and annoying problems for Hozuki, who was only trying to be… nice?
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It’s taken me two and a half seasons to realize that the pheasant who is one of Momotaro’s former companions actually has a name, Rurio. He hasn’t really ever had an episode focused on him to this point, but we get a bit deeper into who he is and what he’s about in this episode.
It all begins with a request for an audience with a woman in the inferno hells. It turns out that while the two don’t share a direct connection, it is hypothesized that his ancestor met her death at the hands of the same person who killed the Uriko. Uriko’s tale shares many similarities with other ‘princess born from plant’ tales, except that her’s has a very unfortunate ending. In a cruel twist of fate, the being which killed her was semi-divine and resides in the very hell that she now spends her days in happy employment. Mythology cares not for your justice, and the afterlife is cruel.
One of the best known Japanese myths is that of the crane wife. It must have slipped Hozuki’s mind when he stumbles across a crane trapped in a tree and frees it. Shortly thereafter he realizes what he did wrong and is on guard for a crane attempting to make a move on him. Like clockwork, she shows up attempting to get Hozuki to marry her. He rebuffs her advances sternly, then forcefully, then manages to scare her off in the traditional manner. After the annoyance of part one, the catharsis of Hozuki driving off an unwanted suitor was needed.
There is some excellent sound design in this episode during the showdown between Hozuki and the crane. This show typically has high production values all around, but the audio work really caught my attention in this episode.
In Summary:
Birds and mythology go hand in hand throughout the world and history, but Hozuki isn’t about to let himself get scammed into a sham marriage because of tradition. Hozuki’s attempts to rebuke the crane wife’s advances reach a new height of low-key aggression. Likewise, tradition proves to be a problem when Rurio is connected to his ancestor’s misfortune. I guess the moral of this episode is watch out for birds and… birds.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: HIDIVE
