Check out last week’s episode seven review here.
I’m sorry, but can I call Rin an idiot yet?
Would it still be wrong, eight episodes in, to judge this sixteen year old girl who has experienced severe trauma too harshly?
Because man….I don’t understand it. Is this naivety? I know it’s not cognitive dissonance, I know she is not dissociating. Rin had no trouble recalling the brutal rape of her mother right in front of her not even two episodes ago. I know she is aware of her surroundings, albeit a bit shaky with her ideology. But this right here? What we witnessed this episode? Is shameful.
Before Shira even knew Rin’s name he had no problem chocking her out. He didn’t care if she was really Manji’s little sister, or not. He didn’t care to check and clarify that information. Shira has no qualms regarding senseless violence. Shira does not care about brutality.
Shira then, the next morning after almost killing Rin, serves her breakfast. He does not tell her what the meat really is, and then after she had eaten a bite lets her know it was the cute dog that was hanging around their camp.
Shira mocks Rin when she expresses displeasure. He mocked her. Shira is a total psychopath. He does not care about her feelings.
Still, Rin seemingly accepted this, deciding she had “much to learn” from men like him. Uh, what? Okay.
Episode eight begin. Rin, Manji, Shira, and Hyakurin are introduced as the rouges of Mugai-ryu. Rin, bearing witness to the entire conversation, hears Manji pick apart their operation. Manji literally says “Hey, for a band of rouges you have quite a nice setup. You seem stationary. You’ve told me everything about your organization, which no one does. You must have a mole on the inside, and a benefactor to your cause”. Stunned at his keen perception, the Mugai-ryu does not disagree to this assessment.
Rin was present for this entire conversation.
Later in the episode, Rin has chats with two ordinary women. Hyakurin asks if she is in love with Manji, and offers advice to not fall for him. The woman leads on that she was once happily married with two children, but the husband was either involved with or worked as a samurai. Her children are dead.
Every so often, Hyakurin wakes up from nightmares and her hair falls out – this could be due to stress. Extreme trauma triggered by remembering her past life. Not more than ten years older than Rin, she advises that she will never get any stronger if Manji is around.
At first I thought Hyakurin was playing mind games, but after this ending I think it was truly heartfelt and sound advice.
Rin talks to a working woman, who astutely observes that Rin and her band are up to no good. Rin then proceeds to beat around the push in order to gather intel in a painfully obvious manner. The working woman humors her, and asks if she is screwing Manji or Shira. When Rin replies no, the woman expresses relief because if she had been, she most likely would be pregnant by now. Rin, of course, has no idea what she is talking about.
Rin again teams up with Shira for their mission of finding The Greatest that Ever Lived, Anotsu Kagehisa. As I mentioned episodes earlier, since we got his backstory I have become a huge Kagehisa fan. I’m even referring to the outlaw gang leader by his first name. For now at least, I find a murderous thug more fascinating than our ‘plucky’ protagonist. Simply because his ideology is intriguing.
Again, we are constantly reminded that Rin thinks she will kill Our Boy Kagehisa.
Kagehisa could fall on his sword in front of her, declare it suicide, and Rin would still try to bandage his wounds and save him. That is currently the breadth of her mind. Of her will. Of her unshakable determination to avenge the deaths of her family.
Then during the stakeout and stalking of their target, Rin stops Shira from attacking. Given her character development thus far, this did not surprise me. After slaughtering every living thing in the vicinity except Rin, Shira decides to rape the decoy prostitute. Rin – unable to believe her eyes that a consistently terrible man who has shown disregard for her life since before they even formally met would do such a thing.
Rin is actually shocked, the nerve!
Shira, yet again, repeats himself: he does not care. After knowing full and well that she has no remarkable abilities to fight or even stay alive at this point, Rin decides to swing on the psychopathic rouge. Who has shown a blatant disregard for her life since they met. Of course, she fails. After almost being murdered for at least the eighth time in this series, Rin is saved by Manji.
If it were not for Manji’s immortality, Rin would be dead by now. Manji’s immortality allows Rin to be as reckless as she wants, knowing full and well he will come save her because of her likeness to his dead sister.
The episode ends with Rin coyly thinking “Hmph, I’ve been a fool”.
Wow. Absolutely stunning revelation, Rin! Here I thought you would change from your last near death experience, but nope. Still skipping down the forest trail, singing tra la la la la at the top of your lungs, unaware of the danger that surrounds. It doesn’t matter anyway, because she has Manji. That is, until he gets sick of her.
Sigh.
Am I being too hard on this girl? Am I expecting too much? Did her family’s martial arts school doctrine lack self-preservation, and this is the real reason why The Absolute Mad Lad Anotsu was able to slaughter them all?
(Jokes aside, was this seriously – aside from the blood feud – why her grandfather’s school was wiped out?)
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次の巻: A Silly Fugitive Girl
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