Last things first. When I initially saw “Hikari no Ou S2 announced” my initial reaction was damn, sure didn’t have that on my anime bingo card. In hindsight though that was a big nothingburger. It was already all but official that Hikari would have “about 20” episodes (per Oshii’s public comments). The only bit of new info here is that it’s a split cour. And honestly that’s fine with me, because this show has a better chance to stay in my rotation in the summer or fall than in spring.
As such, then, this episode has the responsibility of setting up the second season. The first major development is that Hinata develops a raging fever, and when the doctor comes Kanata is extremely hostile towards him. That – and Yusoichi’s “why now?” comment – are convincing evidence of conspiracy at the Okibi estate. My guess is that Hinata is the vessel for the flickering flame we’ve heard so much about, and that Okibi-san knew this and has been preparing her for the role (with the doc’s help). But until proven that’s pure conjecture.
With Hinata turning into a flame-eyed fire child and escaping and Kira freaking out about it, Hibara-san uses some of her stash of illegal narcotics to knock her daughter out. At this point Hinata comes back and starts strangling Hibana before jumping out the window and disappearing. Meanwhile the others find a letter from Touko indicating that she and Akari are off to deliver a letter to the Gods. Kaho takes this rather stoically but Kun-kun wigs out – clearly having fully embraced Akari as a surrogate mother. He vows to go to their aid with the help of his insect army, and indeed that’s exactly what he does.
Hibari, the Wind Tribe spy, intercepts the two of them and they have a vintage Hikari no Ou expositional conversation. One might take from this – and what comes after – that it’s Touko that’s destined to become the vessel – but I’m still leaning towards the first option. Hibari eventually sics his shikigami on them, and Hinata comes to Touko’s aid. Touka eventually takes on a flame fiend (maybe she’s destined to become a fire hunter rather than a vessel), before leaving on a trip for what promises to be an interesting conversation.
Again, there’s certainly a better chance of me sticking with Hikari no Ou with it not continuing in the packed spring season. Even so, I’m going to need more from it. After a terrific first episode I’d say the series was more a disappointment than not. The visuals didn’t end up being the disaster it looked like they might, but they certainly weren’t a strength. And the writing – perhaps surprisingly, given the pedigree – was often pretty sloppy. The premise here is an interesting one, the execution often indifferent. This is the sort of fantasy anime often does very well (though not as often as it used to), especially buttressed by a Kawai Kenji soundtrack. But in end Hikari no Ou was barely a shadow of the two series it called to mind, Seirei no Moribito and Shin Sekai Yori.
