Otogizoushi: Episode 10

Similar to the scenarios of retrieving the other two magatamas, Team Hikaru sans Urabe infiltrated Shutendouji’s camp and successfully accomplished their goal. As soon as they head for the capital, the fire magatama was stolen right under their noses by their supposed comrade Urabe. Isn’t this fun?

Shitendouji with his mysterious sake was somewhat reminiscent of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome. A couple of episodes ago, his people described him as a strong and kind leader for the Kumaso. But all this seemed to change overnight, presumably starting when he met Semei. Our creepy masked Big Bad could’ve been responsible for brewing the vile, greenish drink which turned Shiten into some kind of monster. An ogre, perhaps? Surprisingly, it was one of his own who killed him. The dying Ibaragi, the woman who had been spotted earlier in the series, stabbed him in order to spare Hikaru’s life. But more importantly, she did not want His Evilness to get hold of the sacred jewel. (I feel like I’m channeling some Inuyasha here.)

With Ibaragi gone, that ruled out the possibility of a dual identity for Urabe. Eh, it was farfetched anyway. Urabe’s actions were be questionable but I suspect Semei has some hold against her. It clearly pained her to act in such a way but frankly, it’s hard to speculate on the reason why she betrayed Hikaru.

On a different subject, someone (He/she did not leave his/her name. Sorry, I couldn’t give proper credit.) posted on the comment section for the previous Otogi entry a translation of an ad from NTV that said the second arc will deal with a modern day Hikaru and Sai. And wao was kind enough to verify the said ad. My first reaction: OMGWTF! On the other hand, it could be a blessing because now, all bets are off and it’s very possible to kill of any of our main characters. Not that I’m rooting for someone to die but it usually gets interesting when angst is involved. Also, while the idea of reincarnation and past lives had been a staple for many anime plots, I’m a bit curious on how they’ll connect contemporary times to this era and integrate the current storyline without becoming too cheesy or too cliched. In the meantime, I’ll just have to focus on this magatama arc and deal with a possible disappointment later on.