How can you say no to that face??

Katt: No, that is not a typo of ‘many’ in the title–I intentionally wrote ‘manly’. While Kajika got plenty of screentime in this episode too, it was stolen by the array of male characters that are in this series. It seems that we are saying ‘goodbye’ to more and more of said guys as this series moves into its final episodes (only three left…I can’t believe it!). For this entry, I’m going to acknowledge the partings that are taking place and how undeniably bromantic they are in nature. Oh, and of course I’ll bring up that final scene that almost made me shed manly tears too… um, womanly tears. Right.

Quinza FINALLY dies

It sounds pretty harsh of me to word it that way, especially considering that Quinza is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing characters in this show, but oh my God it took him forever to die!! First of all, he should have died two episodes ago; add to that his miraculous ability to survive the last episode, and now a very, very prolonged death in this episode… Seriously. It takes that first bullet to the abdomen, a slice with a dagger, and finally, FINALLY, permission from Rumaty for him to die for Quinza to actually bite the dust. By the time that it actually happened, I really felt that the dramatic effect had been lost thanks to it being drawn out for so long. I didn’t even care for the revealing of his master plan (which makes him out to be your standard villain with good intentions, who goes about it the wrong way). It was too drawn out.

As for the death scene itself, as I said, the drama had little effect on me thanks to it taking so long. Kajika’s presence was quite annoying at this point, too, feeling compelled to shout and intrude on a moment that, really, was all about Rumaty and Quinza. Even Najayra’s spontaneous appearance seemed out of place. I feel like I missed something since they didn’t actually show him slicing himself–was that Najayra’s knife? For a while I thought that she was the one who killed him, but that’s not her hand holding the knife… ugh, annoying ambiguity! And what was Quinza’s purpose in grabbing Najayra like that with his bloody hand, a threat not to meddle in his final moments with his true love (and I don’t even mean that in a romantic way), Rumaty? I just wasn’t feeling it in this scene. If anything hit me, it was Rumaty breaking down and crying. He’s hidden his tears from almost everyone, and right then he was so upset that he cried in front of everyone.

Sezun gives himself to God

Sezun hasn’t really been around much lately, and he doesn’t even reappear at Rumaty’s coronation ceremony. So where is Quinza’s little brother? Well, apparently he has decided to devote himself to becoming a priest in hopes that his goodness will counteract his his brother’s evil deeds. In doing this, is he hoping that his piety will be enough to get both he and Quinza accepted by their god? Or does he think that Quinza is so tainted that even Sezun’s status with God has been affected by it? Either way, there goes the Sezun/Toranosuke as babyfaced villains plot that I was working on in my head!

The first (and only, face-to-face) person to hear of Sezun’s plans is Noei, which means–you guessed it–a bromantic parting! This isn’t emotional in the way of Quinza’s death where everyone was crying; here, their disappointment in having to part ways is said all through the looks that they give each other. It would have been weird for the composed Noei’s eyes to well up as he said goodbye to Sezun, but nonetheless the prolonged stare that he gives him is enough to show his sadness. Kind of makes me wish that we got to see the friendship that developed between these two a little more to make this scene more effective.

The brothers make up

I can’t decide whether this just being shown briefly in a flashback is a good thing or a bad thing; while I wouldn’t want it to drag on like Quinza’s death, seeing the brothers reunite is something that I was looking forward to and would have wanted to see in more detail. In any case, I stilled loved getting to see Somand and Rumaty encounter each other after all of this time apart. For Rumaty, it was finally getting to see his brother who he has been isolated from since childhood; for Somand, it was meeting the protector figure that Quinza had promised him would come. It’s odd and endearing, in a way, that the younger brother is the stronger figure in this relationship. Somand has really become like a child in his less-than-sane state and now Rumaty is mature enough to deal with that.

The very last scene of this episode, where Somand approaches Rumaty just as the king is sinking into despair, was the best scene of this episode for me. Maybe I’m biased because I just want Rumaty to be happy, but this scene is wonderful for conveying to us that Somand has become the person who will always be there to keep Rumaty company while he is bound to the throne. I was worried that Rumaty would feel inconsolable heartbreak like Eugene did; I am so thankful that Somand was there to keep that from happening. Thank you, Somand, for becoming a brother to Rumaty again, even if it appears that you’ve become the curious younger brother instead of the comforting older brother that you should be.

Captain, my ship is sinking!!

Let me backtrack for a minute, though. I was being a little vague about what had Rumaty so upset in the scene I just discussed, and… well… my ship has sunk. It was bound to happen after the Kajika/Li-Ren hook-up, but–sigh–this is the official end to Kajika/Rumaty. Down to the very last moment, Rumaty deserves infinite bonus points for always being courageous enough to confront Kajika straightforwardly about his thoughts on her. From his first ‘proposal’ to the kiss to this confession that he still longs for her to be his queen, he hasn’t felt the need to repress his emotions of love. It’s one of the reasons that I was rooting for him all this time. For some reason the change in his voice really stood out in this episode to me; Rumaty sounded more resolved, more mature than ever.

I must give credit where credit is due, though, and I have to say that Kajika’s revelation about the difference between Li-Ren-love and everybody-else-love is convincing. It was her greatest confusion at the start (how will I know? I’ll never love anyone like I did Mustafa), but she finally gets that her feelings for Li-Ren are different from her love for everyone else. Kajika seems to have grown up in this scene and it was a real nice change from the girl who meddles into everyone else’s business!

I still hate to see Rumaty be rejected, though. Just like Eugene’s devastation was heartbreaking, so was Rumaty’s. With him, however, it was less about his romantic love being denied and more about the people he cares about leaving him to be together. He’s known for a while now that Kajika and Li-Ren loved each other and that this ending was inevitable. His heartbreak is not about jealousy of this ending that was bound to happen, but is about his loneliness as they move on without him. If Somand hadn’t been there to show him that he won’t be left alone, I’d be feeling the same sadness for Rumaty as I did for Eugene. …Oh, what the hell, he deserves a hug and a POOR RUMATY too! But I take comfort in knowing that Rumaty will be okay. I know he will.

Before I wrap my thoughts on this episode up, I have one more thing that I have to mention: did Li-Ren get a haircut in the middle of this episode?! When the hell did he have time for that?? Anyway…

See? Haircut! ...Oh, and the split screen/parting undoubtedly foreshadows something.

Looking at the next episode’s preview, methinks it’s Carl’s turn to have the oh-hey-Kajika-and-Li-Ren-hooked-up revelation. Not to mention that the final plot that will fill these final three episodes is starting to reveal itself, and it looks like it’s going to be a Li-Ren centred one!

Katt’s love-metre for Hanasakeru Seishounen episode 36 measures…9/10
Katt’s love-metre expects Hanasakeru Seishounen episode 37 to be…8/10