Seirei no Moribito – ep6
Seirei no Moribito continues to astound. Both in the attention paid to the animation, as well as the amount of thought paid into the story. (admittedly this is an adaptation of a novel) This episode sees the manhunt get into the full swing of things, even as Balsa makes her escape attempt.
Balsa practices her spear in the jungle, with obvious signs that her wound is far from recovering. Meanwhile, Chagum is having his hair cut by Saya, no longer looking like a prince anymore.
Even as the final farewells are made, torogai appears on a donkey, saying that she’ll go with them. Torogai mumbles that their goodbyes will just increase the change of Balsa dying.
The emperor’s army is deployed to search for Balsa. However, you know something’s up when contradicting sightings start being reported. The commander has no choice but to follow up on all leads.
At the same time, the secret hunters are also trying to decide on a course of action. Jin appears, even though he was previously ordered to rest, saying that it would only make him frustrated and recover slower. Everyone agrees about the leads being a diversion, and the need to meditate and ponder of Balsa’s choice of actions.
Torogai meanwhile has split paths with Balsa, going forth to seek more answers about the egg. Before leaving though, she comforts them that the egg will not be born until at least the next spring, so they would be fine if they can escape the hunters.
A cloaked trio is seen, obviously one of the methods being used to deceive the pursuers. While the hunters are able to think through Balsa’s actions, they are most befuddled by why she didn’t deal them a fatal blow. In the end, they are still unable to accurately predict Balsa’s actions.
We see two soldiers visiting Tanda’s house, asking questions. In the end, they are turned away by Tanda’s weirdly lovelorn (but accurate) replies.
In the end, it’s the leader of the hunters (together with another hunter) who find the prints of Balsa’s horse. He immediately can tell that it’s an excellent horse, by pointless if Balsa is not galloping (due to the exertion galloping would put on her wound).
Catching up, the hunter pair split into two to pursue Balsa. But just as they corner Balsa, she is suddenly attacked by a giant wolf and thrown into a ravine filled with poison gas. At the point, the leader is thrown into agony by the supposed death of the prince. He is left with a lock of hair left by the wolf
However, the wolf is later seen being petted by Torogai….
Meanwhile, the funeral of the prince continues. However, news of Chagum’s death is brought back to the Holy Patriarch, and the news is also told to Shuga. All are shocked by this grim news.
However, at the side of the funeral procession, Balsa arrives at the side of a visibly surprised but relieved Tanda.
Thoughts
Seems that Tanda’s and Balsa relationship is very intriguing. Tanda obviously feels for Balsa. I’ll bet Balsa knows, but knowing her own circumstances, doesn’t want to be with Tanda, yet she cannot help but go back to him in times of troubles. The role reversal is also highly interesting.
I’m interpreting all the deception as something thrown up by Torogai, including that final act of using the wolf to make everybody think of Balsa as dead.
