Episode 42: Distant Promise
Episode 42: Distant Promise
If you need to watch the episode, check out this post (community locked).
We start off with a scene taking place on a bench, with an older man talking to two younger... boys?
The man is telling them that the youngest one, which is apparently Yuuri, must one day go far away, and will probably have to make difficult decisions and face dangerous situations. The other boy is not pleased with this. "He's my precious little brother." But the man says that it has to be this child, that no one else can live his life for him.
We're greeted with the title screen, and then it's back to the present. The Shibuya household is having breakfast together.
Yuuri comments that it's unusual for his father to be around. That's because he wants to spend some time with his family. They should go somewhere! Yuuri turns him down because he already has plans. There is a moment where Shoma worries about the destruction of their family, and Jennifer pipes in, saying that Yuuri is at a difficult age, and while work is important that he should treasure his family. Hey, it's not that bad...
Shori steals Yuuri's octopus wiener**, which he's not very happy about.
A bit of brotherly arguing follows. Yuuri accuses Shori of staying up all night playing games, while Shori insists that his head is filled with more than just baseball like Yuuri's. He insists that Yuuri should call him "onii-chan" which is promptly refused, and a comment is made about how Yuuri would have been cuter as a little sister.
As the conversation continues, Yuuri takes the opportunity to sneak away, toast still in his mouth as he closes the door. Jennifer says that at least he's smiling again, considering that lately he's been pining over Conrad a little depressed.
Next we come to the train station, where Yuuri is leaning against a wall.
He's in thought about how he misses Shin Makoku, and then suddenly a foreigner comes up to him, speaking in English.
Yuuri scrambles to apologize for not being able to speak English, and then the man apologizes back. "I can speak Japanese." He asks for directions to Akihabara, wondering which train to take, and is very happy that his device for learning languages works so well.
"Dr. Rodriguez?"
Murata knows him! Jose Rodriguez was his doctor when he was younger. Murata explains that his parents thought he should see a specialist, because he would talk about things, confusing dreams with reality. But the doctor says no, it just takes someone with a strong memory to remember your previous lives. Yuuri smiles in sudden understanding. But.... why was he going all the way to Akihabara?
To visit the sacred place of otaku, of course! Apparently Jose is a big anime fan. (And yes, that amuses me far more than it should.)
They go their separate ways, Murata off with Yuuri. Then we see Jose watching them from afar... "So that was the late Julia?"
Back to the Shibuya household! Shori walks upstairs, looking into Yuuri's room. He's thinking about how much Yuuri has changed, and that he refuses to grow up the way Shori planned. (Protective much?)
It jumps to a shot of Shori's computer, where we see some rather eerily familiar faces.
(I had to stare at that one for a long while. Because even if that's not really Wolfram, it's just.... wrong.)
Shori closes the program, opening a particular email instead, commenting on how the sender is "diligent as always". Then we go to the epic flashback of cuteness! It's a tiny Yuuri!
And a not quite as tiny Shori!
They're watching a cartoon or something while their parents are having an argument of sorts. Shoma wants to take them all to New York for a business party, and Miko is firmly against it. "Because I'm Japanese, I'm expected to wear a kimono everywhere." (And I'm sooo sorry, but I don't have any screencaps of the one that she is wearing. Forgive me?) He offers to bribe her with shopping, but that's no good, because there wasn't any nice designer kids' clothes.
Shoma suddenly runs over to get a look at "Yuu-chan" in his frilly dress and pigtails, and has a mixed reaction between "Zomg Cute!" and "Honey, shouldn't he be wearing boys' clothes?" Shori doesn't seem bothered, insisting that people shouldn't make judgments based on appearance. Shoma tells the boys that it's a problem between the two of them, and he takes off after Jennifer as the arguments continue, to the point of threatening for divorce.
Shori takes the opportunity to put on Yuuri's shoes, and together they leave out on the streets, planning on letting the adults deal with their problems alone. Yuuri wants to find an amusement park! And what little kid wouldn't? As they walk away, we see a familiar face watching them!
Yuuri spots a ferris wheel, and immediately drags Shori the rest of the way to the park. They ride some rides, and just in general look absolutely adorable.
Some time later the sun is setting, and a very sleepy Yu-chan is carrying an ice cream cone while walking. Shori tells him not to fall asleep because they'll be catching the train later. But in a moment of sleepiness, Yuuri dumps his ice cream on the pants of a man sitting on a bench as they walk by. He clings to Shori.
"I'm sorry. My little brother is still very young."
It appears that the two boys are about to be bullied by this small gang, when a certain someone chases them away with a very strange power.
What were their parents thinking for letting them go off alone by themselves? Shori starts to explain, while Yuuri is very interested in the man's sunglasses. "Blow one more time! Blow! Blow!" (Yuuri, you're so lucky that you're incredibly cute.)
He demonstates his badass ability for them again, knocking an empty can down the sidewalk.
"A magic trick?" "No, it's a special skill." Shori thinks it would be nice to have that to protect Yuuri.
He then buys Yuuri some new ice cream, and they sit down on the bench where we started in the beginning, explaining that he's been a friend of their family for a long time.
Shori's worried about being separated from his brother, and the words from the beginning are repeated. But.... Shori can help Yuuri if he wishes. Shori can succeed this man's position, which is something like bringing many people together like a small country. Shori interprets this as metropolitan governor.
The serious conversation is siderailed due to the fact that Yuuri has fallen asleep.
(C'Mon, how can you not go "Awwww!" at that?)
Back to present day. The person that sent the email is apparently in Arizona, and sent Shori an interesting picture of the sun. Shori stares at it in surprise. "You mean it's already begun? Yuuri... if anything happens, Onii-chan will save you."
Elsewhere, Yuuri is struck with a strange feeling as he clutches to his baseball uniform.
He walks along with Murata, talking about how he needs to stick to a strict schedule with baseball until he has to go back to Shin Makoku. They walk past a field, where a foul ball heads in their direction. As Yuuri runs to catch it, he trips, falling right into a puddle! Sending him... you guessed it.
Right back to the fountain at Shinou's temple. Coughing and sputtering, Yuuri looks at Murata, who appears beside him. "You wanted to come, right?"
Gunter, Wolfram, and Ulrike are waiting for them, welcoming them back. Yuuri's happy to see that they've come back home! But what about..?
Huh? Oh... Wolfram understands. "What are you doing? Hurry up and come out, Conrad!"
That's better. Apparently Shinou told Ulrike that Conrad had been working under his will, and that his punishment was cancelled, any blame for him gone. Although Wolfram thinks that he should be punished a little to keep him from making them worry again. (And what does Wolfram have in mind with that smirk anyways?)
Gunter insists they should go back and hold the celebration dinner for Murata's return. But that's not necessary, because he'll be staying at the temple. Gunter looks distressed over this news.
We see Murata walk into the temple where the three collected boxes have been placed, and he seems to be talking to Shinou. He says that he likes Shibuya and doesn't want him to be sad, even with what lies ahead....
End of Episode.
** I was really curious about these "octopus wieners" that Yuuri seemed to have rather strong feelings for, so I looked them up. For anyone that's interested, this site has some really cool pictures and information on how to make them. ^^
My Thoughts (Possible SPOILERS)
Going to keep this brief. This is definitely one of the cuter episodes, with lots of backstory. In my opinion, Yuuri's laugh was adorable as a young child, although I always feel sorry for him knowing what kind of blackmail this could be once he's older. ^^;;
We're reintroduced to some characters from episode 26, including Bob (And for the life of me I can't remember if his name was mentioned before now, so I left it out.) There's a lot more to him than first thought. And Rodriguez gets bonus points for being an anime fan.
The end leaves us feeling rather ominous, considering that things are finally back to normal and the brothers are together again, but Murata suggests that he knows that more coming down the road. Which really doesn't surprise me with 30+ episodes to go.
Next up is Episode 43, hosted by chasingphantoms.