Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta – 02-03

And you wonder why some people think nurses are scary.

Hey guys! I’m so sorry for the late post, was away on holiday to celebrate my birthday early hehe. I’ll be blogging Yozakura from now onwards, so yoroshiku ne~ ♡

I like how Yozakura Quartet is a rather exciting, complex fantasy show disguised as a simple slice-of-life. They manage to slot little bits of supernatural elements in and make it into everyday situations like it’s perfectly normal – because that’s what it is, in this world at least. What the first episode did was show us a pretty perfect picture of youkai and humans could coexisting together in a lovely town. And then episode two and three are slowly peeling off the layers from what may seem like peace and harmony in this society – of course, there’s no way that a town like this could exist without any conflicting interests clashing at all, it’s just that they’re well-hidden. If you think about it this way, this town kind of resembles a ticking-time bomb: if anyone were to try to disturb this harmony, it would be really easy to get youkai and humans against each other, because like how Shidare and Shiina from the Senate have said, if  they could only protect the interests of one group, either or, they’d go with humans. This just goes to show that for most people (or youkai, for that matter), if it came to a matter of life or death, it would be their natural inclination to defend their own race over others – and how easy would it be to tip that balance, which is what the witch-girl (let’s just call her Lily-chan for now) and the cat-guy seem to be aiming for.

It’s interesting finding out how this coexistence of youkai and humans came about – I find it slightly ironic, and also really sad how youkai first came to this town especially to be sent away. It’s like coming to a lovely place and forming many friendships and relationships with figures you’d originally not even be able to meet, only to say goodbye to the people you love forever. And the even sadder thing is that no one knows how the other dimension may be – for better or for worse, those who leave are gone forever, and those who are left behind will never forget, and never even be able to know how they’re doing in that faraway place. We learnt about the “Dutybound” this episode, and the heavy responsibility that lies on Akina’s shoulders. Imagine having to send your friends and family away, each time not knowing whether you’re granting them solace in heaven, or sending them to burn away in hell. Akina and Hime created the office to keep watch on youkai (or half-youkai) who have tremendous powers and might go astray, so that he wouldn’t have to tune them unless absolutely necessary. This may seem like a way for him to run away and escape his duty, but still, you can’t possibly blame him for wanting to find other ways to maintain this balance between youkai and humans in their dimension. He realizes, that the fate and wellbeing of every single person in Sakura Shinmachi is dependant on him and he is trying, trying really hard to work towards that without having to sacrifice the people around him that he loves.

Kotoha went from big wall! big fishtank!! to WAR MACHINES AND BOMBS in a matter of seconds

I’m guessing that most of the youkai (or half-youkai) “working” at the office are under supervision by Akina and Hime. We caught a glimpse of Kotoha’s explosive power in episode two, and we know that she’s certainly capable of “destroying the whole town”. Although her story hasn’t been revealed yet, all we know now is that she’s been struck by a “dark light” once and gained her youkai powers before this, apparently resulting in some extensive damage to the town. Kyousuke and Touka are oni with superhuman strength, and we’ve already seen how Touka had unintentionally injured the twins (although they’re youkai too and didn’t die from the experience – thankfully) and how it came as a such a huge, horrible shock. We haven’t found out much about Ao yet, only knowing that she has the ability to look into people’s minds. All of these characters have interesting backstories that are yet to be revealed, but have come together for the sake of preventing any harm from coming to the town – whether it be the youkai who are controlling and holding in their powers, or the humans that are watching over them. And that in itself, is a really beautiful thing to appreciate.

I really enjoy watching Yozakura Quartet every week because of the intriguing fantasy elements, endearingly unique characters and the funny slice-of-life parts – I don’t even mind the occasional panty-shot/boob-squeezing (lol), which is usually a huge turn-off for me. We’re just starting to learn more about these characters and the delicate balance they are protecting, and also getting short glimpses of what is yet to come. The mysterious cat-guy that seems to be plotting the demise of this town eerily resembles Ao’s onii-chan, although I was originally under the impression that he was either dead or tuned. She seems to already have accepted that he is gone to, and I’m guessing that the majority of the people at the office must also have been close to him in one way or another, so it’ll be interesting to see their reactions when they find out that he’s back – or is it? (Although I don’t think it’s happening soon, since the next episode appears to be the exciting pool episode!!) Also, I’m really starting to like Akina a lot (he seems more like a main character now, as compared to previous episodes when he was just in the background), because of this role and the way he handles things. …and no, it’s not because I love Yuki Kaji and his adorable voice, nope, not at all.

BUT HE’S SO CUTE–

About Miyu

A stressed-out jyoushi kousei doubling as Metanorn's loli with a soft spot for sappy romance animanga. She will watch anything with bishies in it. :3