Each of the last four episodes of Seirei no Moribito – all originals – have been very different from each other.  What they have in common is first and foremost sheer brilliance – each is a perfect self-contained narrative that contributes significantly to the overall story.  They highlight different elements of this world and different storytelling dexterities by the series itself.  This is what world-building and character development can be, when given the time to properly unspool and an unbelievably talented writer-director and staff.

While most of this middle arc has been grounded in emotional development and politics, Moribito is still high fantasy.  And this is an episode that highlights the fantasy elements in a big way, in almost Ghibli-like fashion.  What strikes me about this episode is how elegant and polished it is – supremely confident storytelling in every sense.  Nominally it’s about Saya and Touya and paying off some developments that have been hinted at with them, but in truth it’s ultimate purpose is to shed light on the recurring plot and on Balsa and Tanda’s complicated relationship.

It’s not hard to see Touya and Saya being manipulated by a shifty Nakoudo like the one here.  Touya is no sophisticate despite his street smarts, and a girl like Saya is a very valuable commodity in this sort of society.  Each of them thinks this is what the other one wants but of course, what both of them want is to be with the other (what that means long-term is left to interpretation, as Saya is alternately referred to as Touya’s younger sister and daughter here – by him).  But Saya didn’t simply have an OBE out of despair – it was the flower wine that allowed her soul to leave her body, which is easier for Tanda to diagnose than it is to cure.

This all serves as a reminder that Tanda is a healer, and not really a mystic – in that sense he’s not a true successor to Torogai.  He knows he needs to perform a “soul summoning”, and can even manage to leave his own body – but he has no idea how to get back.  For Saya it’s not hard, because she’s drunk the wine.  But Tanda takes the scenic route – and what scenery it is.  Nayug is finally revealed and it’s a truly spectacular creation, worthy of Miyazaki or Shinkai.  This is some of the most beautiful imagery ever put forth in TV anime.  But beautiful as it is, Nayug is also pretty scary – and clearly not a place someone like Tanda can remain for long.

This is where the true purpose of the episode comes clear, with Saya’s problem more or less resolved.  It’s ironic but unsurprising that Tanda and Balsa can have a more frank conversation when neither can hear the other.  There’s more light shed on that conversation of two years earlier, which seems both to have driven a wedge between them and set Balsa off on her current path of redemption.  None of that will get Tanda’s soul back to his body of course – and it’s only the timely arrival of a tiny butterfly which can pass between the worlds that makes Tanda realize the truth.

While Tanda is literally at the meeting point of Nayug and Sagu, because of the egg Chagum to some extent seems to be there at all times.  This is useful because it gives Tanda the means to communicate with Sagu and engineer his rescue (“Couldn’t you be more gentle?”), but it’s also a reminder of the untenable position Chagum finds himself in.  Touya and Saya’s problem is a relatively easy one to solve.  Balsa and Tanda’s relationship is much more complicated, and then there’s Chagum – whose situation is the most complicated of all.

The last couple of minutes of this episode are among my favorites of this (and thus by definition, any) series.  Gods, this is good stuff – the conversation between Tanda and Balsa as Chagum listens in, ever-inquisitive.  The two adults analyze Touya and Saya without putting the pieces together, but Chagum does – and he stares at Tanda, who utters a genuinely befuddled “What?”  Chagum’s smile and small laugh after looking between them, with the three of them walking off into the rice paddies together, is more quality in 15 seconds than most series can deliver in 15 episodes.