Episode 15: The Rain that Falls in the Desert
Episode 15: The Rain that Falls in the Desert
Hey kids! Need to download the episode? Check this out!
We begin the episode with a flashback: Conrad sharing a quiet moment with a blue-haired, blind woman beneath the moonlight. Conrad laments that war is about to break out; but the woman touches his hand and says, "There will come a day when we all can live peacefully together. I know so. There will come an era when everyone can live happily."
Conrad says, "Because you're the one saying so, I can believe it... Julia."
Cut to the episode title.
Next, Yuuri. Yuuri is floating in a strange shimmery nothingness. He wants to sleep, but a woman's voice implores him to wake up. He opens his eyes and sees... Julia?!
Then he opens his eyes again and sees... WOLFRAM?!
Yup, Wolfram. Wolfram doesn't exactly bother to show how happy he is that Yuuri's awake, but rather yells at him angrily, "Do you have ANY idea how worried I was?!" Yep, that's our compassionate and sympathetic Wolfram. Always thinking about others instead of himself. Oh wait.
Yuuri looks around and discovers Gwendel in bandages (wait, how did he get injured?), Conrad walking toward him, and the woman of the mine eyeing him with suspicion and fear. Gwendel is wearing his bandages... On top of his many layers of clothing. (*headdesk*) Good one, animators. Good one.
Conrad reveals that the guards (and most of the female laborers) were so scared of the Maou that they ran away. The remaining women are married to Mazoku and want to go to Shin Makoku. Yuuri thinks that's a great idea: "After all, Celi-sama is a great supporter of free love!"
Gwendel, now joined by Nicola and Jiruta, warns that they have to move fast, because reinforcements from Suberera will return to the mines soon. Conrad mentions that Mazoku forces are heading their way too, but to be safe, they should get going - them and all of the women. "It's the great escape through the desert!" Yuuri exclaims.
Yuuri gathers all of the women together and prepares to leave, but finds that Norika isn't with them. Nope. She's busy frantically digging up her son's grave and exclaiming, "He's not here! He's not here! There's nothing left of my son!"
What, was she hoping to find a bone or something to take with her to Shin Makoku? Oh lady, that's just creepy.
Unfortunately, Yuuri is unable to figure out what the rest of us viewers already figured out in the previous episode. But no worries, as Jiruta, having the mind of a preschooler and therefore being much smarter than Yuuri, reunites with his mother anyway.
As Jiruta and Norika share a tearful reunion, Yuuri asks Jiruta's grandfather what the grave is for. Grandpa replies that the Mazoku who delivered Jiruta to him dug up the still-living infant from his grave. "What a good person he is," Yuuri exclaims.
Personally, I'm not so sure. Last time I checked it did not take a deeply "good person" to save an innocent child from being buried alive. It's just pretty frickin' basic human decency. Seriously. It's not so much that Hube is "good" for saving Jiruta, but that there would have been something seriously wrong with him if he hadn't done something when he had the chance. Yuuri's standards seem a bit low in that regard.
Oh wait, there's something buried in the grave. What could it be?!
Ta-da!
It's the missing piece of the Mateki! Which is actually just a soprano recorder, but whatever.
Upon this discovery, Gwendel, despite his injuries, takes this opportunity to stand up and wave his arms around and repeat his refrain of "GRRRRR BLAH BLAH BLAH HUBE BLAH GRRRRR BLAH BLAH GWENDEL SMASH!!!"
Yuuri repeats his line about Hube being a "good person." This placates Gwendel somewhat, and he observes that it's because of Hube's actions that Jiruta and Norika were re-united. Well, okay.
So now the party is riding through the desert, hoping to put some distance between themselves and the pursuing Suberera army. Yuuri is bouncing along on the back of Conrad's horse, delivering pithy lines about how Gwendel "really isn't so scary" and about how all three brothers "have similar smiles." Meanwhile, Wolfram is throwing a hissy fit because Yuuri thoughtlessly chose to ride on Conrad's horse instead of riding with his fiancé.
Suddenly...
PANDA ATTACK!
AND DUDES WITH SPEARS!
THEY'RE SURROUNDED OH NOES!
Gwendel wants to stay and fight the Subererans while Conrad and Yuuri take the women and run. But Yuuri won't have any of that. They're going to stay together! So Yuuri hops off his horse, runs out into the middle of the desert, and whips out the Mateki.
Wolfram takes this opportunity to ask Conrad, "So what can the Mateki do?"
Conrad answers that it maybe kind of sort of can manipulate water, but he doesn't actually know.
SO. It's the moment of truth. Yuuri raises the Mateki to his lips. (Why do I always get the episodes where Yuuri sticks something suggestive in his mouth?!) The Subereran hoard is bearing down upon him. The sand bear is advancing toward the helpless women and the small party of Mazoku. The three Mazoku princes are waiting with baited breath.
Yuuri takes a deep breath, and begins to play the only song that he knows, which, perhaps appropriately, is actually a delightfully cheerful song about the wonders of alcoholism. And he dances like a spastic idiot at the same time.
I'd say that the reactions of the three brothers would be "priceless," but honestly the animation is so shitty right here that I can't even TELL what expressions are supposed to be on those faces.
Insert commercial break here.
Back to Yuuri. He finishes his jaw-dropping (in more ways than one) rendition of "Little Brown Jug." The women and some of the Mazoku soldiers applaud. But, unfortunately, nothing else has happened.
Yuuri begins to wonder if maybe that Mateki is just a soprano recorder after all. But that's when the storm breaks overhead.
Yup, the Mateki summoned a fierce squall. The Subereran army temporarily falls back. But Gwendel points out that they still have to deal with the sand bear in front of them. Not to worry, though! Ryan is here to save the day!
Yup, the sand bear obeys Ryan's every whim because they're in luuuuuuuurve and oh god I give up I just CANNOT crack a joke about this scene, I just can't, Kyou Kara Maou has utterly defeated me, there is nothing else to add here, THIS SCENE BROKE ME.
Anyway.
Realizing that it is indeed possible to keep running, even in the rain, the Subererans return. But never fear! The sand bear leads Yuuri's party to safety by digging them an underground tunnel.
VICTORY! Everything has now been neatly wrapped up, so Yuuri returns to Blood Pledge Castle. Wolfram suggests that Yuuri freshen up by taking a bath. And then he proceeds to follow Yuuri to the bath. So Yuuri naturally asks, "Uh, why are you following me?" To which Wolfram replies, "I thought I would scrub your back! Aren't you happy?" When (idiot) Yuuri answers honestly, "Not really," Wolfram blows his stack.
But anyway, Yuuri figures that since all of his duties have been fulfilled, he'll be pulled back to Earth the moment that he steps into the bath. Thus it is with great relish, and with all of his clothes still on, that Yuuri dives into the bathtub.
Except, no dice. He doesn't return to Earth. Even with the bathtub drain unplugged, nothing happens. The water drains, but Yuuri remains.
"I can't go home," he says.
Wolfram is confused. "What are you talking about? You came back to Shin Makoku from Suberera, didn't you?"
"No, I mean... I can't go home. To my house. To Earth. To Japan."
Wolfram looks startled to hear this, then hurt, then angry. But for the moment he says nothing. He's just holding it in, though. He's going to blow in just a few minutes. Wait for it.
Panicked, Yuuri (joined by Wolfram, Conrad, and Gunter) run to Ulrike. But it's no use. Ulrike says that Yuuri staying in Shin Makoku us "Shinou's wish," and that she is unable to send Yuuri back with her own power - she can't do it without Shinou's help. Yuuri is clearly very upset to hear this, but Wolfram in turn is pissed at Yuuri for his reaction.
"You CHOSE to become the Maou! THIS is your HOME! You don't need to go anywhere else! You can't run away from the place that you belong to! Weren't you prepared for this?!"
Yuuri says in a small voice, "Nobody ever explained that to me."
Later that evening, Yuuri is feeling down. "Did I choose too lightly?" he asks Conrad. "To think that I would never see my friends or family again..." But Conrad smiles and tells him, "Do not regret becoming the Maou. If you hadn't become the Maou, they would never have been saved." He gestures toward Nicola, Norika, Jiruta, and Jiruta's Grandfather, who have come to pay their respects to Yuuri.
Nicola's pregnancy has apparently advanced at least five months in the time that it took them to return from Suberera, but whatever.
Yuuri finds out that Nicola is being officially recognized as Hube's bride by Hube's relatives, since Gwendel apparently authorized as much.
Yuuri goes to see Gwendel, who is being treated by Gisela and still recovering from his injuries: Specifically, three cracked ribs. What, how did he get injured again? I thought that the Houseki just made him sick. And that it was Yuuri who took the beating from the guards in episode 14. But oh well. Hey look, random Gisela screenshot!
Yay Gisela! She gets hardly any screentime in these early episodes. :(
BTW, a couple of nice shots of Gwendel's room here. We see one wall lined with weapons, and another wall lined entirely with books. Hmmm. Interesting guy, this Gwendel.
Oh hay, Gwendel fanservice!
So I guess he waxes. Huh.
Anyway, Gisela leaves the two of them alone. Confronted with Gwendel's usual scowling expression, Yuuri suddenly isn't quite sure what to say.
But then Gwendel hands Yuuri a gift: a obviously handmade stuffed charm. Handmade by him. "Itsacat," Gwendel says quickly.
"In exchange for that." Yuuri looks and sees that Gwendel has attached the Bandou-kun charm to the hilt of his sword.
Gwendel is officially 9000 levels of badass right now.
When Gwendel sees Yuuri's shock, he repents quickly, "It'sokayifyoudon'twantit."
Yuuri is quick to assure Gwendel, "I do, I do! Ah, what a cute little tanuki!"
Gwendel coughs. "Itsacat."
Although this would be the perfect note with which to end the episode, instead we are treated to a quick 10-second scene of Gunter pondering the beauty of the Mateki and expositioning to himself, "Yuuri has taken one more step on the path to becoming the Maou."
And then the episode ends.
Thoughty McThought Thoughts
Ryan broke me. I am broken. I am sorry, you guys.
So too did Yuuri's godawful flute playing. Fortunately, the Glen Miller Orchestra can school him in how it's done:
Aaaaaah, much better.
Anyway, contrary to what Yuuri says about having neatly solved everyone's problems, the truth is, this is the first story arc in which not everything IS neatly resolved. Look at the plot threads left dangling: We still haven't found out what happened between Gwendel and Hube. We still don't know Hube's whereabouts. Nicola is going to be taken care of by Hube's relatives, but what about the rest of the women from the mine? What about Norika? Will she ever find her husband again? And the rest of the women...?
The other big dangling plot thread is the connection between Yuuri and Julia. This is the first episode that establishes that there is some sort of connection between Yuuri and Julia, although the nature of that connection is going to remain a mystery for a long time.
Finally, we got some truly great character development in this episode. For one, we really got to see Wolfram's growing attachment to Yuuri. He doesn't seem interested in keeping Yuuri around solely to keep up appearances and protect his honor anymore. The part where he super-cheerfully suggests "So I'm going to scrub your back!" had me ROFLing. I think this is the second time that Wolfram actually seemed HAPPY about doing something with/to Yuuri (the first being when he started sleeping in Yuuri's bed), and the first time that he seemed just bouncing-off-the-walls SUPER HAPPY about it.
So you can imagine how much it hurt Wolfram, in the wake of that, to find out that Yuuri would still rather be "home" on Earth than with him in Shin Makoku.
It's becoming increasingly obvious to everyone involved - especially Wolfram - that although Wolfram wants to take this "fiancé" thing seriously, Yuuri still doesn't feel the same way. No wonder Wolfram blows his stack. Being slapped in the face with his own fiancé's indifference has got to hurt.
The other character that got a lot of development in this arc was Gwendel, of course. And because I love Gwendel to death this is of course one of my favorite arcs. It was really neat to see all of those different sides to Gwendel. And the final "Itsacat" is still one of my favorite crack Gwendel moments.
Total aside, but: This month's Asuka, which came out today, contained the manga chapter that covers approximately the first half of this episode. Temari Matsumoto's design for Norika is quite a bit different from Yuka Kudo's design. Also, in the manga, because he's not a complete idiot, it's actually Yuuri that figures out that Jiruta is Norika's son. And he figures this out without her actually saying Jiruta's name. Go Yuuri.
Next up to bat is parsnip_chan with episode 16!
Hey kids! Need to download the episode? Check this out!
We begin the episode with a flashback: Conrad sharing a quiet moment with a blue-haired, blind woman beneath the moonlight. Conrad laments that war is about to break out; but the woman touches his hand and says, "There will come a day when we all can live peacefully together. I know so. There will come an era when everyone can live happily."
Conrad says, "Because you're the one saying so, I can believe it... Julia."
Cut to the episode title.
Next, Yuuri. Yuuri is floating in a strange shimmery nothingness. He wants to sleep, but a woman's voice implores him to wake up. He opens his eyes and sees... Julia?!
Then he opens his eyes again and sees... WOLFRAM?!
Yup, Wolfram. Wolfram doesn't exactly bother to show how happy he is that Yuuri's awake, but rather yells at him angrily, "Do you have ANY idea how worried I was?!" Yep, that's our compassionate and sympathetic Wolfram. Always thinking about others instead of himself. Oh wait.
Yuuri looks around and discovers Gwendel in bandages (wait, how did he get injured?), Conrad walking toward him, and the woman of the mine eyeing him with suspicion and fear. Gwendel is wearing his bandages... On top of his many layers of clothing. (*headdesk*) Good one, animators. Good one.
Conrad reveals that the guards (and most of the female laborers) were so scared of the Maou that they ran away. The remaining women are married to Mazoku and want to go to Shin Makoku. Yuuri thinks that's a great idea: "After all, Celi-sama is a great supporter of free love!"
Gwendel, now joined by Nicola and Jiruta, warns that they have to move fast, because reinforcements from Suberera will return to the mines soon. Conrad mentions that Mazoku forces are heading their way too, but to be safe, they should get going - them and all of the women. "It's the great escape through the desert!" Yuuri exclaims.
Yuuri gathers all of the women together and prepares to leave, but finds that Norika isn't with them. Nope. She's busy frantically digging up her son's grave and exclaiming, "He's not here! He's not here! There's nothing left of my son!"
What, was she hoping to find a bone or something to take with her to Shin Makoku? Oh lady, that's just creepy.
Unfortunately, Yuuri is unable to figure out what the rest of us viewers already figured out in the previous episode. But no worries, as Jiruta, having the mind of a preschooler and therefore being much smarter than Yuuri, reunites with his mother anyway.
As Jiruta and Norika share a tearful reunion, Yuuri asks Jiruta's grandfather what the grave is for. Grandpa replies that the Mazoku who delivered Jiruta to him dug up the still-living infant from his grave. "What a good person he is," Yuuri exclaims.
Personally, I'm not so sure. Last time I checked it did not take a deeply "good person" to save an innocent child from being buried alive. It's just pretty frickin' basic human decency. Seriously. It's not so much that Hube is "good" for saving Jiruta, but that there would have been something seriously wrong with him if he hadn't done something when he had the chance. Yuuri's standards seem a bit low in that regard.
Oh wait, there's something buried in the grave. What could it be?!
Ta-da!
It's the missing piece of the Mateki! Which is actually just a soprano recorder, but whatever.
Upon this discovery, Gwendel, despite his injuries, takes this opportunity to stand up and wave his arms around and repeat his refrain of "GRRRRR BLAH BLAH BLAH HUBE BLAH GRRRRR BLAH BLAH GWENDEL SMASH!!!"
Yuuri repeats his line about Hube being a "good person." This placates Gwendel somewhat, and he observes that it's because of Hube's actions that Jiruta and Norika were re-united. Well, okay.
So now the party is riding through the desert, hoping to put some distance between themselves and the pursuing Suberera army. Yuuri is bouncing along on the back of Conrad's horse, delivering pithy lines about how Gwendel "really isn't so scary" and about how all three brothers "have similar smiles." Meanwhile, Wolfram is throwing a hissy fit because Yuuri thoughtlessly chose to ride on Conrad's horse instead of riding with his fiancé.
Suddenly...
PANDA ATTACK!
AND DUDES WITH SPEARS!
THEY'RE SURROUNDED OH NOES!
Gwendel wants to stay and fight the Subererans while Conrad and Yuuri take the women and run. But Yuuri won't have any of that. They're going to stay together! So Yuuri hops off his horse, runs out into the middle of the desert, and whips out the Mateki.
Wolfram takes this opportunity to ask Conrad, "So what can the Mateki do?"
Conrad answers that it maybe kind of sort of can manipulate water, but he doesn't actually know.
SO. It's the moment of truth. Yuuri raises the Mateki to his lips. (Why do I always get the episodes where Yuuri sticks something suggestive in his mouth?!) The Subereran hoard is bearing down upon him. The sand bear is advancing toward the helpless women and the small party of Mazoku. The three Mazoku princes are waiting with baited breath.
Yuuri takes a deep breath, and begins to play the only song that he knows, which, perhaps appropriately, is actually a delightfully cheerful song about the wonders of alcoholism. And he dances like a spastic idiot at the same time.
I'd say that the reactions of the three brothers would be "priceless," but honestly the animation is so shitty right here that I can't even TELL what expressions are supposed to be on those faces.
Insert commercial break here.
Back to Yuuri. He finishes his jaw-dropping (in more ways than one) rendition of "Little Brown Jug." The women and some of the Mazoku soldiers applaud. But, unfortunately, nothing else has happened.
Yuuri begins to wonder if maybe that Mateki is just a soprano recorder after all. But that's when the storm breaks overhead.
Yup, the Mateki summoned a fierce squall. The Subereran army temporarily falls back. But Gwendel points out that they still have to deal with the sand bear in front of them. Not to worry, though! Ryan is here to save the day!
Yup, the sand bear obeys Ryan's every whim because they're in luuuuuuuurve and oh god I give up I just CANNOT crack a joke about this scene, I just can't, Kyou Kara Maou has utterly defeated me, there is nothing else to add here, THIS SCENE BROKE ME.
Anyway.
Realizing that it is indeed possible to keep running, even in the rain, the Subererans return. But never fear! The sand bear leads Yuuri's party to safety by digging them an underground tunnel.
VICTORY! Everything has now been neatly wrapped up, so Yuuri returns to Blood Pledge Castle. Wolfram suggests that Yuuri freshen up by taking a bath. And then he proceeds to follow Yuuri to the bath. So Yuuri naturally asks, "Uh, why are you following me?" To which Wolfram replies, "I thought I would scrub your back! Aren't you happy?" When (idiot) Yuuri answers honestly, "Not really," Wolfram blows his stack.
But anyway, Yuuri figures that since all of his duties have been fulfilled, he'll be pulled back to Earth the moment that he steps into the bath. Thus it is with great relish, and with all of his clothes still on, that Yuuri dives into the bathtub.
Except, no dice. He doesn't return to Earth. Even with the bathtub drain unplugged, nothing happens. The water drains, but Yuuri remains.
"I can't go home," he says.
Wolfram is confused. "What are you talking about? You came back to Shin Makoku from Suberera, didn't you?"
"No, I mean... I can't go home. To my house. To Earth. To Japan."
Wolfram looks startled to hear this, then hurt, then angry. But for the moment he says nothing. He's just holding it in, though. He's going to blow in just a few minutes. Wait for it.
Panicked, Yuuri (joined by Wolfram, Conrad, and Gunter) run to Ulrike. But it's no use. Ulrike says that Yuuri staying in Shin Makoku us "Shinou's wish," and that she is unable to send Yuuri back with her own power - she can't do it without Shinou's help. Yuuri is clearly very upset to hear this, but Wolfram in turn is pissed at Yuuri for his reaction.
"You CHOSE to become the Maou! THIS is your HOME! You don't need to go anywhere else! You can't run away from the place that you belong to! Weren't you prepared for this?!"
Yuuri says in a small voice, "Nobody ever explained that to me."
Later that evening, Yuuri is feeling down. "Did I choose too lightly?" he asks Conrad. "To think that I would never see my friends or family again..." But Conrad smiles and tells him, "Do not regret becoming the Maou. If you hadn't become the Maou, they would never have been saved." He gestures toward Nicola, Norika, Jiruta, and Jiruta's Grandfather, who have come to pay their respects to Yuuri.
Nicola's pregnancy has apparently advanced at least five months in the time that it took them to return from Suberera, but whatever.
Yuuri finds out that Nicola is being officially recognized as Hube's bride by Hube's relatives, since Gwendel apparently authorized as much.
Yuuri goes to see Gwendel, who is being treated by Gisela and still recovering from his injuries: Specifically, three cracked ribs. What, how did he get injured again? I thought that the Houseki just made him sick. And that it was Yuuri who took the beating from the guards in episode 14. But oh well. Hey look, random Gisela screenshot!
Yay Gisela! She gets hardly any screentime in these early episodes. :(
BTW, a couple of nice shots of Gwendel's room here. We see one wall lined with weapons, and another wall lined entirely with books. Hmmm. Interesting guy, this Gwendel.
Oh hay, Gwendel fanservice!
So I guess he waxes. Huh.
Anyway, Gisela leaves the two of them alone. Confronted with Gwendel's usual scowling expression, Yuuri suddenly isn't quite sure what to say.
But then Gwendel hands Yuuri a gift: a obviously handmade stuffed charm. Handmade by him. "Itsacat," Gwendel says quickly.
"In exchange for that." Yuuri looks and sees that Gwendel has attached the Bandou-kun charm to the hilt of his sword.
Gwendel is officially 9000 levels of badass right now.
When Gwendel sees Yuuri's shock, he repents quickly, "It'sokayifyoudon'twantit."
Yuuri is quick to assure Gwendel, "I do, I do! Ah, what a cute little tanuki!"
Gwendel coughs. "Itsacat."
Although this would be the perfect note with which to end the episode, instead we are treated to a quick 10-second scene of Gunter pondering the beauty of the Mateki and expositioning to himself, "Yuuri has taken one more step on the path to becoming the Maou."
And then the episode ends.
Thoughty McThought Thoughts
Ryan broke me. I am broken. I am sorry, you guys.
So too did Yuuri's godawful flute playing. Fortunately, the Glen Miller Orchestra can school him in how it's done:
Click to viewAaaaaah, much better.
Anyway, contrary to what Yuuri says about having neatly solved everyone's problems, the truth is, this is the first story arc in which not everything IS neatly resolved. Look at the plot threads left dangling: We still haven't found out what happened between Gwendel and Hube. We still don't know Hube's whereabouts. Nicola is going to be taken care of by Hube's relatives, but what about the rest of the women from the mine? What about Norika? Will she ever find her husband again? And the rest of the women...?
The other big dangling plot thread is the connection between Yuuri and Julia. This is the first episode that establishes that there is some sort of connection between Yuuri and Julia, although the nature of that connection is going to remain a mystery for a long time.
Finally, we got some truly great character development in this episode. For one, we really got to see Wolfram's growing attachment to Yuuri. He doesn't seem interested in keeping Yuuri around solely to keep up appearances and protect his honor anymore. The part where he super-cheerfully suggests "So I'm going to scrub your back!" had me ROFLing. I think this is the second time that Wolfram actually seemed HAPPY about doing something with/to Yuuri (the first being when he started sleeping in Yuuri's bed), and the first time that he seemed just bouncing-off-the-walls SUPER HAPPY about it.
So you can imagine how much it hurt Wolfram, in the wake of that, to find out that Yuuri would still rather be "home" on Earth than with him in Shin Makoku.
It's becoming increasingly obvious to everyone involved - especially Wolfram - that although Wolfram wants to take this "fiancé" thing seriously, Yuuri still doesn't feel the same way. No wonder Wolfram blows his stack. Being slapped in the face with his own fiancé's indifference has got to hurt.
The other character that got a lot of development in this arc was Gwendel, of course. And because I love Gwendel to death this is of course one of my favorite arcs. It was really neat to see all of those different sides to Gwendel. And the final "Itsacat" is still one of my favorite crack Gwendel moments.
Total aside, but: This month's Asuka, which came out today, contained the manga chapter that covers approximately the first half of this episode. Temari Matsumoto's design for Norika is quite a bit different from Yuka Kudo's design. Also, in the manga, because he's not a complete idiot, it's actually Yuuri that figures out that Jiruta is Norika's son. And he figures this out without her actually saying Jiruta's name. Go Yuuri.
Next up to bat is parsnip_chan with episode 16!