Determined to avoid the loss of more of his clan, Gennosuke boldly travels to Sunpu, to speak with Tokugawa himself out the destroyed peace treaty. Determined to win the war at any cost, Tenzen orders the remaining Iga 10 to pursue them. Both Gennosuke and Oboro have been blinded by various means, eliminating the trump cards of both sides. That might matter little when tensions are at an all time high and both of their teams seek to settle old scores. For love, for vengeance, for power, there is no stopping to storm of blood when Ninja clans go to war.
I’m just gonna get this out of the way…TENZEN…MUST…DIE!!!! What he does to Oboro, a blind and helpless girl this week is unforgivable and despicable beyond reason and he deserves every bit of punishment the Koga, or even the Iga if they wanted, to doll out on him. I don’t care how “immortal” he might seem. Sure he survived being choked to death by Gyoubu and probably even survived Hyoma’s Golden Eye attack…honestly, he deserves a far worse fate and I hope he gets it (either from Gennosuke or even Oboro preferably). Actually I don’t know who deserves it worse: Tenzen for committing the heinous act or Koshirou, who despite being blind could hear what was happening…and didn’t do jack to stop it cause he has commitment issues to both Oboro and Tenzen…kind of lose sympathy for the guy when he has to think about the “right thing” to do.
Ok with that angry bit out of the way, how was this weeks penultimate set of Basilisk episodes? Pretty good actually. While we’ve got ourselves a bit of a chase going on between the Koga and the Iga en route to Sunpu, the show still took some time to back off and look back on what’s gone before and think about where everything is heading. Hearts have been challenged and some of them have been changed. Most remain the same and sadly, that does mean that beyond all certainty, no one is making it out of this contest alive…especially now that there’s a third faction entering the game really, really late and I’m not exactly on board with that.
In a show that seemed perfectly ok with introducing players super early and then killing them by the end of the same episode, I’m surprised we’re getting actual backstory for characters beyond Gennosuke and Oboro. Granted, we have spent the most time with the players still alive at the moment and we’ve learned a lot about them without the need for flashbacks. Still, what we saw of Gyoubu’s past made his demise in the present all the more sad, not in the way that Tenzen finally ended him, but what happened just prior. And yes, Tenzen is a complete asshat for using a human shield in his battle with the camoflouging (and naked) giant Koga, but in the process Gyoubu took a father away from a young boy. The look of shock on his face seeing this kid suffer the same fate he did as a child was chilling. It didn’t last long cause Gyoubu had to be knocked off but it was a very effective bit of emotion and very well done. Same goes for poor Hotarubi, who was able to see her love in vision before Saemon let her fall to her death to be embraced in the afterlife by Yashimaru. Whodve thought I’d be feeling this much for characters other then the central two leads right now.
With a couple more names knocked off the list, we got an episode that might be one of the best yet. In an exclusively flashback centered story, we got to see how Gennosuke and Oboro first met as the most adorable little ninja heirs ever. It’s a moment of levity and adorableness you wouldn’t think Basilisk could afford at this point. But before we finish everyone off in the finale, it seems fitting to look back at a time when not only were Gennosuke and Oboro the most innocent little tykes falling in love, but also a look back at an undetermined time before the beginning of the series when they decided to get married. It gave us a rare chance to see all ten ninjas from both Koga and Iga teams alive and well and…holy crap happy. Characters on the Iga side id perceived as monsters and villains like Rusai, Nenki and Jigorou were acting like supporting uncles to help Oboro out. It was great to see the Koga 10 mostly on screen together bickering as longtime friends (and sigh, how ive missed thee Okoi). And even Danjou and Ogen seemed to speak more like old friends when presenting their heirs rather than heated rivals. It paints a picture of simpler times and makes one wonder that if the Shogun hadn’t intervened, could peace, true peace have really been a possibility after centuries of hostility? One things for sure: Tenzen is still an A****** whether it’s in the past or present so screw that guy.
Which brought us back to the present where the last four members of both teams began their final battles. Two blind Ninjas, Hyouma and Koshirou, squared off in a rather well done duel that made good use of their lack of sight and reliance on other senses to try and defeat the other (and we still don’t know who’s won yet, maybe they’ll bump each other off). But before we see that, there’s one more little wrinkle…Ofuku, nursemaid of one of the Tokugawa heirs, is on the war path after seeing her charge nearly poisoned to death. Let’s forget the fact that she was introduced and barely focused on back during the clip show, what the heck is the point of bringing her in the stir up trouble so late in the game? Yeah, I applauded the clip show for showing that this contest of ninjas to decide the fate of a country’s ruling body affecting everything around it. But do we really need the added tension of a pissed off nurse maid mucking things up when the list of Ninja combatants is almost depleted? I guess we’re gonna have to see. I just don’t think Basilisk needs the extra baggage this close to the end.
Okie dokie, time to look at who’s left on the board.
Casualty List:
Koga
Gyoubu-Stabbed by Tenzen after being marked by Akeginu’s blood
Iga
Hotarubi-Killed in a duel with Saemon
Jingorou-Thrown into the sea by Gyoubu, where he dissolves
Well it only took two weeks but the Koga have tied with the Iga at 6-6, and that will probably jump to 7-7 since neither Hyouma or Koshiro were in great shape in this weeks cliffhanger. We all know this is all going to come down to Gennosuke and Oboro…but how will we get there and can some please for the love of God kill Tenzen FOR GOOD!!!??? Ahem, check back next week for the sure to be epic series finale of Basilisk, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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