Revenger is basically the sort of show that my film publicist pal would say “why didn’t they just make this live-action?” about (which used to drive me crazy).  It’s structured and stylized very much like a period drama, with relatively few (though not none) anime tropes.  That’s a pretty comfortable box for Urobuchi Gen to fit in.  While he’s a versatile writer and certainly has penned straight-up otaku fare like Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero, he always struck me as being more comfortable as a traditional dramatist. Anime (ironically) may give him freedom to pursue themes television drama would not.

This week’s episode is a continuation of Episode 6, and it isn’t.  That leads me to believe that the rest of the season is going to be more or less one arc, with side-stories branching off from the main trunk of of the opium trade.  Raizou is still wracked with guilt over what he’s done, to the point where he withdraws back into his dark cocoon.  Yuuen stares at the mysterious coin which has seemingly thrown him for a loop.  Assuming there’s a bit of time-shifting going on here, its origin is explained by the events to follow – though if not, it may be a second and totally unrelated coin.

The driver of events this week is a group of nuns and an old temple, called Hoenji here but likely the great Zen temple Kotaiji.  It’s a rather sordid affair, this – they offer male prostitutes to those who can’t afford to be seen going to the pleasure quarter, like samurai and  – here – Buddhist monks (for whom lying with a woman is a mortal sin).  If the paying guests are pretty enough, they get recruited to be staff members – using opium as the net to reel them in.  A devout young monk named Seiiku on his first visit is paired with a young prostitute named Ichinojo, whose sad story draws the monk in but not so much he doesn’t give vent to his desires.

The gist of the issue here is that these sisters have apparently come into possession of Sakata’s missing opium delivery, which makes them a subject of interest to many, not least Mr. Liu.  Opium is tearing through Nagasaki like a brush fire, destroying everything in its path, and these nuns are apparently at the center of the trade.  When Ichinojo slips Seiku a bitten coin and the monk delivers it to the Reben-ji, they seemingly have no hesitation over the assignment itself – Raizou especially seethes at the opium trade – but considerable worry over the instability this affair is causing in Nagasaki.

Once more, the act of murder – in this case mass murder – is unsettlingly routine and clinical for the Reben-ji.  Souji does comment on how he dislikes killing women but truthfully, this is all in a day’s work.  That is, until Liu shows up just as Raizou (that sliding down the cable bit was GAR) is about to finish off the fleeing mother superior.  Who is Liu there to confront – the nuns, or the Reben-ji?  This is getting complicated indeed.  And Liu’s jujitsu proves more than a match for Raizou’s Jigen-ryu swordsmanship.  It’s only when backup in the form of Souiji (who finishes the assignment) and Teppa arrives that Liu decides his odds might be better another day.

With that the temple affair seemingly ends –  with Seiku having renounced his robes and taken a place anonymously ministering to the lost souls in the opium shantytown in the hills.  But the larger issue of the opium stash and trade remains, and all the big players are now directly wading in.  The Kaishou chief Shishido seems intent on stepping into Sakata’s shoes as the kingpin; he clearly sees Isarizawa as an obstacle, and moves to undermine him with the administrator.  This is clearly a rivalry to watch between two formidable power players – whether Isarizawa is genuine in his distaste for opium (or anything) or merely looking to kneecap a rival who has it out for him almost doesn’t matter.  It’s on between these two, Liu is on the prowl, and the Reben-ji are caught squarely in the middle.