天下制覇

Riiiiiinaaaa. :-(

Impressions:

Man, all the death knolls were tolling for Rina this week, which does not make me particularly optimistic for her survival rates next episode. She’s emotionally distraught, has effectively been betrayed by the guy she had a crush on, has handed over the Resistance to Shiika basically, and is now marching into what is likely a trap of Minmin and Haji’s devising… and for that matter, is possibly already trapped in their screwed up little Garden. Plus the whole picture of her turning into a fallen in the OP, but that aside… Rina! Don’t do it, babe! You want to live!

As for the other stuff, Daisuke and Shiika are about the only ones I trust to tell the truth, so I’m not putting a whole lot of stock in Minmin’s Mushi Recycler theory, especially since she could easily just be trying to goad Rina onward, and Haji seems unbalanced enough nowadays to just be fucking with Daisuke for fun. I mean, hell… the dude alternatively meets with him in toilet stalls and his car. Not to mention that we’re on like… his fifth car since the series started. Who the hell insures him after he returns a half dozen cars torns to pieces or full of bulletholes over the course of a week or two?

And yeah… very VERY talky episode (not that I minded with the great Rina/Daisuke scene at the end), but the more talking heads there are, the more my ability to be 100% accurate drifts into unknown country. I blame Nice Boats and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

At a construction site, Daisuke sits in a car and looks up information on the Winter Firefly.

He wants to know how… but Haji has no real clue either. Daisuke knows that Haji is holding back and demands to know more. Haji continues on, telling him that he basically knew all of it, and Daisuke’s delusion was his own fault.

Haji gets out of the car, saying that it’s only a little longer before the leader of the Mushi Resistance loses it altoghether and has to be ‘taken care of.’ He starts laughing, and Daisuke leaps out. He grabs Haji, shoving a gun in his face. Haji tells him that Ladybird is in the final stages and nothing can help her. The secretary finally runs out and pulls Daisuke off Haji. He throws her to the ground and then shoots out the windshield of Haji’s car until his gun is empty.

Rina sits alone in her room, thinking about how stupid she must seem. She hears a noise outside, and finds that Shiika has left her dinner. She runs around looking for her. Shiika’s about to leave, saying that she can’t stay with Rina anymore, but Rina stops her, saying that she promised to stay together. Shiika hugs her.

Eyes dried, Rina tells Shiika how surprised she was that Daisuke was her boyfriend and how good of a guy he is. Shiika says that she doesn’t really know what drew her to him, but that she’s really happy around him… and Rina too. Rina thanks her and says that she’s still got some work to go with her cooking. The two laugh.

A little later, Rina is tucking Shiika into bed on her couch. Lights flash in Rina’s eyes and she collapses, destroying the table. She hugs herself and says that it’s not time yet. Outside, Minmin’s Mushi buzzes.

She tells Rina that she’s found Garden. Rina demands to know where, and Minmin tells her that it’s a Mushi Recycler. It’s a lie that the Mushi contract turns people into Fallen, but Rina had better hurry up or her friends are going to be ‘recycled.’ Rina clenches her fist in anger and demands to know where this is. Minmin tells her that she’ll take her there. Rina thanks her… calling her Azusa. Minmin is surprised that Rina knows her real name, but Rina just looks up at the stars.

The next morning, Shiika wakes up and finds Rina painting. Her piece is nearly finished. She excuses herself to run some errands before school.

Daisuke is waiting at a trainstop… thinking about what Haji said.

At school, demon teacher is giving the generic final instructions before letting them loose for Christmas. Rina tries to go up to her friends, but they brush her off and leave without a word. Everybody has left but Daisuke and Rina. She apologizes to him for interrupting their date.

She then continues, saying that even though Shiika’s a Mushi user, Daisuke should be nice to her. He agrees, and then she confesses to him that she’s also a Mushi user.

She tries to say something more, but he says that Rina is Rina, his very precious friend. She thanks him and says that such things are kind of sad as well. She excuses herself to go hook up with Shiika, reminding him of his promise to pose for her as she leaves.

At the Mushi Rebellion meeting, she’s introducing the other two to Shiika as the Winter Firefly. They try to ask her everything she knows about returning… but she doesn’t know anything.

They’re a bit downcast that finally finding her hasn’t given any answers, but Rina tells them it’ll be okay, and leaves Shiika in their care… handing one of them an envelope to give to Shiika in case something happens.

At Shiika’s apartment, Daisuke has shown up to pose for her. Rina teases him a little bit about looking around for Shiika.

Back at the art room, the two kids ask Shiika what Garden is like, but her memory is a place where people have no hearts, full of empty people and empty feelings. They go on to ask about her Mushi dying. Shiika thinks to herself, but doesn’t tell them about how terrible it is.

At Rina’s apartment, she chastises Daisuke for moving around. He can’t help looking at and complimenting her sunsets though. The two talk, and she says that she thinks she thinks it’d be okay if she died once she accomplishes her precious work. He tells her that she shouldn’t give up on her dream, continuing that he’s serious about his dream. The Mushi Rebellion can’t keep trying to find Garden, and if she tries to go there, he’s going to fight her.

Rina is trying to process this when Daisuke summons his Mushi above his head and tells her that he’s Kakkou. Rina can’t believe it and laughs, and then thinks that he must be making fun of her. She can’t believe that he’d be screwing with her and Shiika like this and how much of a demon he has become stealing away her friends’ dreams and smiles. She says that she’s absolutely kill him, and with a blast, summons her Ladybug, Nanahoshi.

He’s not afraid and tells her to kill him then, it won’t solve anything. It doesn’t matter to her that he’s not afraid and she orders Nanahoshi to attack. Daisuke simply stands still and closes his eyes. At the last second, she orders Nanahoshi to stop, just in front of his face. He tells her that she needs to kill him for her dream, so hurry up and do it.

Rina, instead, dispels Nanahoshi and falls to her knees. Daisuke says that there are no answers waiting at Garden, nobody to save. Rina thinks that she everybody’s been taken away from her. Daisuke tries to make her understand that they need to be searching for the real enemy. Rina wants to know how he could do so many cruel things… but he says it’s because he took on the task of someone else. He tells her what he thinks… that her dream is to find the place in her paintings and tells her that if she really wants to find her dream, she can’t go to Garden.

She tells him that he can’t stop her, and leaps out of the debris onto Nanahoshi and flies off.

At the art room, they’re wondering what’s taking Rina so long. One of the girls finally pulls out Rina’s letter and hands it to Shiika. She reads it and then runs off into the night. As Shiika runs, Rina narrates about how happy she was to live with Shiika and how much courage it gave her. Shiika makes it home nad finds a painting of Daisuke in the wreckage and bursts into tears.

At the train station, Rina boards it, looking to find that place in their dreams, and asking Shiika to remember her dream. The train suddenly derails. Rina wakes up alone in a dark place. She looks down and sees unmoving, silent people all around her and screams.