Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun 05-07

A new kind of terror is born

Er, yeah, a super late post. Gomen, I’ve been busy with college, club meetings, and work. I don’t even know how I still survive until now. Beuh. Foget about me, and let’s talk with Hakkenden because the latest episode of it shows some development that was unexpected.

Episode 5

Episode 5 was such a sweet filler. For one, Hamaji finally gets the spotlight, although Shino still took a large part as usual. Hamaji finally got her first friend! The friend, from the family who worships Snake God, is not someone normal too, so I guess Hamaji and the girl are a match made in the demon world? I love the scenes where Hamaji and the girl hang out together because those two are probably the loneliest girls in the whole world because of their abnormal circumstances. It’s also nice to see the Snake God and the girl finally manage to clear their misunderstanding and become closer than before. Man, episode 5 is definitely the yuri episode. Yuri vibes were everywhere, from Hamaji x White Hair Girl to White Hair Girl x Snake God. I’m totally fine with this though, since I think this anime has too much yaoi vibe already.

Besides yuri, there is also the usual yaoi bait between Sousuke and Shino, but it seems that the tone of their relationship is starting to get more serious. In this episode, the audience get to see the yandere side of Sousuke, something that doesn’t usually show up on daily basis. It’s such a surprise to see a dangerous personality of his residing under a kind mask. This yandere side of Sousuke is probably the reason of Shino’s stagnation of growth though, because it’s finally revealed that the side effect of Murasame could be anything, yet it chose to steal Shino’s time. Sousuke doesn’t know this, but he still feels guilty anyway. Though Sousuke’s guilt is somehow eased when he indirectly found out that Shino doesn’t mind about his stagnation at all. Seriously, this pair is just so NGGGHHH. Anyway, this episode was a surprise in a way, and I’m glad that this anime is slowly changing its tone into something much more serious.

Episode 6 and 7

Sarugami Arc, man, I totally did not see those things coming at all. The seventh guardian, Asakeno, is finally here. Since he’s a guardian, I expected him dead sometime ago, but I totally did not connect his death with the mysterious Nazgul- er, Hooded Man in the opening. Y’know, the Hooded Man who looks exactly like Sousuke? But then Asakeno said that he was killed two years ago, and that was the time when Shino and the rest died, isn’t it?… Or it was three years ago? Anyhow, the point is that the two are already dead by that time, and that means Sousuke was sticking around with Shino two years ago, so I guess that the Hooded Man is not Sousuke. It might be Sousuke’s father or something. I mean, the Hooded Man looks like a sadistic man that seems to love killing people, and Sousuke is a gentle boy who cares about Shino. It can be seen by this episode too when Sousuke claimed that Shino is his god, confirming his one-sided love for him. So yeah, why would Sousuke roam around killing people if he’s focused on Shino?

Or… The Hooded Man is Sousuke after all? The last three episodes have been showing sides of gentle Sousuke that haven’t been revealed before, and Sousuke’s other personality is such a surprise. His love for Shino is really extreme, probably to the level of Gasai Yuno’s love for Yukkiteru. Having this kind of personality also proves that Sousuke’s slowly but surely changing for the worst, so there is a possibly that he might be the Hooded Man, after all.

Another thing that bugs me is Murasame itself. People and spirits claim that Murasame is a demon sword that should be feared, but it’s so weak every time Shino uses it. I mean, it’s a demon sword damn it! Where is the powerful power everybody has been speaking of? Then I started to wonder. What if Murasame possesses Sousuke at a certain time, maybe during the full moon perhaps? It was mentioned that Murasame and Sousuke are always sleepy during full moons. Maybe, by that time, Sousuke lets himself to be possessed by Murasame so that it can unleash his demonic power, as Sousuke doesn’t want Shino to do the dirty work. This makes sense, remembering Sousuke’s feelings for Shino. So perhaps, Sousuke might be the Hooded Man.

Anyway, for the main plot in Sarugami Arc, I find the relationship between the doctor and Sarugami-sama (Monkey deity) to be sweet. I am a sucker for forgotten promises, so I was squealing like mad when the two of them finally met each other again. Too bad their meeting is also a farewell to each other. Anyhow, I did not expect Asahi to use Sousuke’s bead to hold on to her life to see her unfulfilled wish fulfilled. Like whoaaa, the bead can do something like that too? I did not expect that. It seems that the beads are more important than I thought previously.

Shino and the rest seems to be making progress with their search too. Shino found out that the woman gave the dead villagers water before they died, something that happened in Shino’s village too. Who is this woman? I can’t help but think that this woman is the evil princess told in Rio’s legend. After all, this is Hakkenden right? So what’s the use of gathering eight guardians if the legend is not used at all. The question now though, who is the reincarnation of the nice princess? I can’t help thinking that it’s either Hamaji or the White Haired Girl, but Hamaji has more of a chance since I’m sure she survived the plague for a reason. The anime is getting closer to its end though, so I’m pretty sure Shino and the rest would meet this mysterious woman sooner or later.

Yaoi & Yuri Ahoy!

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Wow, Hakkenden is actually doing well for the three consecutive weeks. Episode 5 might be a filler, but it did a great job sorting the side characters that have been ignored until now. It’s nice to see that the non-homosexual characters in this anime are not completely abandoned somewhere in the straight world. What surprised me though is the Sarugami Arc. I expected the usual predictable arc, but I did not expect some of the things revealed in this episode. Many important information was basically shoved down in episode five and six, but they did a great job at making the information useful for this arc, not giving a forced impression on the audience. I mean, for a typical shounen animated by DEEN, this is definitely a surprise, and it’s the impressive kind. Honestly, I think Hakkenden is actually getting better, and I like it. I do hope they keep it up until the end.

Preview: Finally, the last guardian! And this anime just turned Kobungo gay in the narration for the preview. Kobungo x Asakeno, anyone?