An Unexpected Element

This is the episode where I realized that this show might be something truely special and unique! Everything from the storytelling, the themes and animation, just keeps improving with one breathtaking scene leading to the next!

Mizus journey starts hooking you in as you slowly get a deeper understanding of her with every scene! This is very much show, don't tell and I love it!

The story of Princess Akemi is great as well as it allows you to understand the culture of this time period and what It meant to be a Princess or just a women in general.. becoming a tool for men to gain statuere and wealth!

Overall this show is not affraid to go dark or graphic!

The fight at the end was incredible! Fantastic tension and animation! Every frame was something to admire! Just wow!

This is shaping up to be a really solid series. Often the premiere episode will hit it out of the park, and then the weakness shows up, but this episode is just as good as the first.

And it's a strength that the show can delve into side matters that don't directly relate to Mizu's quest: the colorful, fun events in the village and Ringo's noodle-centric story. It's just as interesting as the main story, maybe more so because we sort of know what to expect from a samurai revenge quest but the village story comes out of left field.

And then there's the developments in Akemi's story that are equally as engaging as the other two plotlines. I wonder about that brief glance between Mizu and Akemi in the premiere episode. Will the writers be really daring later on in the series? They already show no qualms about showing full frontal nudity.