Tokyo Ravens – 18-19
Somebody save her!
The latest episodes of Tokyo Ravens have just been full of talk and talk and talk. Which is fine by me, because the show is finally getting around to making things clearer.
Making Up
And then they became love rivals.
So many things to talk about; where to begin? I guess it’s only appropriate to start with Kyouko. Last we saw she was upset about Natsume’s deception, and rightfully so. Fortunately, she hasn’t been all too whiny about it after her initial outburst, and in fact she’s been very level-headed about it (just avoiding the gang) throughout these past two episodes. So props to her. I didn’t think Kyouko being upset would be this big of a deal, because quite honestly I’ve always thought of her as just a side character. Sure, she’s part of the gang’s in-group. But Kyouko didn’t exactly have much of a presence in episodes past beyond the more recent induction of Suzuka. For instance, when the gang was faced with the near disaster incited by Chihiro, she just sort of tagged along with them but didn’t do anything. This sort of in-the-sidelines activity is what made me peg her as “useless” and “just a side character.” So you can understand from these experiences why I am surprised Kyouko became such a big deal once Natsume was revealed.
Takiko exploits Kyouko.
Anyway, after these two episodes the reason for her rise in importance becomes clear to me. The show now has many people plotting for several things, and among them Takiko wants in on the exclusive main characters bunch. So Kyouko being the resident proctor of indoctrination for the gang (remember her last inductee being Suzuka) will naturally be of great relevance to the scheming Takiko in her friend-seeking scheme. In other words, the latter will be exploiting the former’s connections to Natsume to get close to her and the rest of the friends. Though I’m sure soon enough the exact details of that statement may change a bit. But I’ll save this for a later thought. So yeah. As harsh as it is, the way I see it, Kyouko’s recent rise to stardom is really only to pave the way for Takiko to bring more plot later on down the road. Thusly, the unfortunately useless girl will remain otherwise irrelevant aside from a slight boost in status to “best friend” and her own induction to Bakatora’s slowly growing but nonexistent harem (I refuse to acknowledge it because obviously he and Natsume are OTP).
Princess
Takiko means business.
Now we move on to Takiko as I’ve reference her several times now. So Takiko is treated as some sort of princess amongst the Soumas. Which is confusing when you consider the Soumas are said to have all but died out except for her. But I guess familiars who used to be Soumas will refer to their masters however they want. What we know for sure is that Takiko used to be a shrine maiden. Which doesn’t really tell us much. What shrine did she attend to? The Yakou shrine? Herp derp. Now, I made that statement facetiously, but honestly there might be more truth to it than one might initially think. Because there actually is such a shrine that we might call the “Yakou shrine,” and it’s sitting on top of the Onmyoji School. So taking this in mind, I have a feeling that the ever important Raven’s Wing, which the Bureau has now forcefully obtained after semi-off-screen fisticuffs with the Tsuchimikados, will not completely draw out Yakou from his supposed latent state within his reincarnation, and the job can only be properly conducted at the shrine on top of the school.
Reincarnations
Is Natsume out of the running for being a girl?
Speaking of Yakou and his reincarnation, let’s talk about who his reincarnation might be and if said reincarnation even exists. Previously I’ve stated that I didn’t want to believe anyone really was a reincarnation of Yakou, because I personally don’t believe in the whole “fated” bullshit. It would be such a great development after setting the premise of one of the main characters possibly being a reincarnation for the show to overturn it and have them be their own person. But alas it’s looking more and more like this is not the case. However, the recent turn of events has indeed changed something about the whole affair. At the very start, we were lead to believe that Natsume is said reincarnation of Yakou. But now word is going around that she’s actually a girl, and everyone who’s found out is genuinely shocked as if it’s a game-changer. I would not think so much about Yakou getting into a different gender this time around because who even knows how reincarnation works. But from aforementioned reactions from good and bad guys alike, the only conclusion I can reach is that the fact that Natsume is a girl somehow rules her out completely as Yakou’s reincarnation.
Is this the face of Yakou?
So that leads us to the final topic at hand. Who could the real Yakou reincarnation be? And that’s not really a real question, because with Natsume presumably out of the running there’s only one other Tsuchimikado to fit the bill. And that’s Bakatora. Of course, my deduction here is lead on by some of the prior discussion from LN readers about speculation that the fuzzy-headed hero might be the real Yakou reincarnation. But LN readers being in a position to know more than us anime-only viewers, I would say this speculation is probably going to end up being right on the dot. What does this shift mean? Well, nothing really too drastic, I would imagine. Everyone whos been going after Natsume has pretty much gotten the gang of friends involved anyway since they flock together. So now all they need to do is aim slightly to the side and hit the dumb-looking blond guy instead. Couldn’t be any easier. Unless even the scheming baddies start demanding apologies from Natsume because they were deceived for so long… But at that point it would just be amusing.
I tried covering everything but I’ve inevitably missed a few things and now I’m running short on space. So let me just quickly summarize most of what else I missed. There’s Douman formally returning to reward Jin for being a badass. Because, you know, being a badass is tough and only another badass can relate. The now kiddy-sized legendary Onmyoji will come in handy as an ally later on I’m sure. Next we have Suzu apparently ditching both Douman and the Syndicate for reasons unknown. Which is pretty much the norm for her because everything else about her is just as unknown. Finally, we have the return of both Chihiro and Shidou. The latter you might remember is Suzuka’s deceased father. I guess they’ve been resurrected thanks to the Taizan Fukun ritual, which despite its original prestige is now starting to seem laughably easy to conduct since all the baddies are using it like nobody’s business. What all of this means I am not sure.
Suzuka’s dad is a real looker.
About Sumairii
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 139 comments
Well now, that foreshadowing from ep 9 certain scene has relvance now doesn’t it?
As for Taizan Fukun Ritual if were easy Suzuka wouldn’t have failed in comparison to Takiko. And despite brought back don’t you think Shidou and Mutobe aren’t… exactly what they seem? Mutobe example moves around a lot like other spirit beings such as Hokuto and Kon rather than… a human. Not to mention neither look exactly how they did when died.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
I took the liberty to edit your comment so that images would show properly. We don’t use BBCODE on the site, so if you use HTML code with proper image dimension (the original width of 1024px was breaking the comment box), they would appear just fine.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 139 comments
Thank you!
Sorry you had to go through the trouble. I’ll do that next time. ^^;
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
No problem at all! ^^
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I understand the other Bureau agents are being misled by Chief Kurahashi, but what about Miyachi, who seems to be in the Chief’s loop? Is he being blackmailed to follow the plan, or does he believe in whatever world vision the Chief and Takiko envision?
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Ah yes, Chihiro looks younger. Less haggard and stubble compared to his 1st appearance.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 167 comments
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POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Where is my kitsune?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
These names are too complicated. I still can’t keep up with everyone. I can keep track of 4000 characters in Witch Craft Works, but this show just throws too many people at me.
It’s still fun, tho. And I sure don’t mind a bit of love triangle and romantic drama.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 104 comments
Oh trust me,you aren’t the only one : P
I guess in a nutshell,you could say that WCW names are casual/fun/hilarious while TR names mean srs business. Each are,IMO,fitting for their shows & the atmosphere they’re trying to create. Imagine if someone in TR would be called Tanpopo,hah.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
lol same I couldn’t remember at all who the who the glasses guy was and it took me a second to remember takiko’s familiar was actually that guy from the twin horn syndicate, but of course I couldn’t remember his name.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
The reason Natsume being a girl being such a game changer is that Yakou would not be reborn as a girl. The concept of reincarnation basically stems from the idea of if you work and become successful or are a good person you can be reborn with a higher social standing. In the old days being born as a woman was viewed as a bad thing because you pretty much held no power at all. That is what I remember from high school history anyway. Though the discussion devolved into “if a cat took a blade or bullet for the emperor would he be reborn as some one important?”…yeah it was an interesting class. I could be wrong, but that is just what I remember about reincarnation.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Heh, I didn’t want Natsume to be the reincarnation of Yakou before, but if that’s the reason they’re all shocked, now I want to be subversive and have Natsume be Yakou. “I give a big middle finger to your wrongly conceived notions of gender!”
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
lol that would be an interesting turn around, but that would kinda defy all that set up for Bakatora to be Yakou.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Then what is your opinion on the characters for Nobunagun? All the E-gene holders are reincarnations of famous/infamous historical figures and the lead, Shio Ogura is the reincarnation of Nobunaga Oda yet she’s a girl.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t think the E-gene holders are considered ‘reincarnations’, they’re just carriers of abilities that are transferred from having that genetic background.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
Yeah the description says they “wield weapons infused with the spirits of historical figures”. I do not think that counts as reincarnation. It looks interesting though so I may try to watch it at some point.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What an unintentional harem Harutora is building yet he, himself, is in the dark about it.
Was that spell to conceal Natsume’s gender really that effective? The students are one thing but I was surprised even Jin and the school principal were fooled.
I had a feeling that kid with the glasses who visited Jin had something to do with Douman but it was at the back of my head. He said it wasn’t like he killed the one he took over but I’m wondering if staying in his body won’t slowly cause the original personality to cease to exist.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
The spell to conceal Natsume’s gender was that effective because they already assumed she was a he. The spell probably used that to cement the mindset that Natsume was a guy. That is how I would do it at least