Trust is a huge theme in Karasu wa Aruji o Erabanai, the best show of the season and one that will be deeply embedded in the year-end reckoning posts. And not to come over all X-Files, but with very few exceptions “trust no one” seems to be the order of the day. I’m starting to get the sense that what seems like a weakness for Wakamiya – a paucity of allies compared to his brother – is actually an advantage shrewdly cultivated. He’s going for quality over quantity, that’s for sure. But he pretty much knows the people he’s relying on are loyal. Can Natsuka say the same?
Shiratama seizes the narrative by the throat and doesn’t let go here. During her blackmail visit of Hamayuu she reveals that the North – looked down upon as a region of oafish warriors – has never won the game of consorts. What was not fully clear until this week is just how desperate she – and they – are to change that. We still don’t know Hamayuu’s secret but whatever it is, it’s enough to get her to agree to Shiratama’s ultimatum (unless she’s planning a double-cross later). That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as Shiratama is concerned, though. She doesn’t consider Masuho-no-Susuki and the West a real threat, and that leaves her sights fixed clearly on Asebi.
Speaking of Hamayuu, an interesting reveal at the secret meeting at the Southern Clan palace is that she’s not the lord Tooru’s real daughter – she’s adopted. It’s obvious that Wakamiya and Tooru are not allies and the unspoken missiles are thick in the air here, but Wakamiya gets to the gist of it as usual – what this means is that Tooru didn’t want his biological daughter (Nadeshiko) to wed Wakamiya. One can intuit several implications from this but all of them cast an ill light on the Southern Lord’s intentions. And Tooru is quite unsettled at Wakamiya’s uncanny ability to see through bullshit excuses.
Natsuka scolds his brother openly and not only that, effectively (and pretty much explicitly) declares that he reserves the right to rebel against him if and when Wakamiya’s behavior makes it necessary. Natsuka continues to pursue the plausible deniability line – “I’m loyal, but my backers are so passionate in their love for me that I can’t guarantee they won’t act alone”. That’s paper-thin obviously, but I haven’t discounted the possibility that Natsuka has supporting his brother on the table as one possible course of action.
What’s not fully clear to me is why Wakamiya used Atsufusa to set up this meeting. Wakamiya rarely takes unpointed actions, so what was the advantage this gambit imparted to him? As the three men are meeting, Rokon literally bumps into Yukiya outside the southern hall, and immediately recognizes him from the ravine. But he doesn’t overtly threaten him – rather, Rokon effectively says he likes the cut of the boy’s jib and asks him to cross lines, offering the crown prince putting him in danger as a reason. Yukiya refuses, but on the grounds that his loyalty is only to his region and his family – he’s going home in a year and nothing is going to stop him.
Wakamiya overhears this – does it shake his faith in Yukiya’s loyalty? I think not – if anything Yukiya’s willingness to speak his mind reassures him that the lad is who he appears to be. It’s interesting that it’s Yukiya’s camp – Shiratama, Cha-no-Hana – who’ve been the most ill-behaved in the Cherry Blossom palace game. Yukiya hasn’t inserted himself in that mess of course – Wakamiya himself barely has, citing the danger his presence brings to the ladies involved. But the North is not acquitting itself well in the person of its representative princess.
Asebi, for her part, breaks the rules by writing home to try and find out anything she can about her mother. Samamo acts as the messenger, and Shiratama catches Asebi in the act of reading the reply (which she assumes is from Wakamiya). A scuffle ensues, in which Shiratama gets a little love tap on the cheek and then pushes Asebi into the pool at the base of the waterfall. She seems about to drown despite it being about three feet deep, but Masuho snatches her hand and pulls her above water. In the ensuing staredown Shiratama openly declares war, stating that she’s already won over the South and that if either East or West get in her way, she’ll end them and then herself.
What Asebi saw in that letter didn’t tell her much. but Masuho-no-Susuki offers more. She tells the story of the Eastern lady Ukigumo (the same name as Asebi’s koto) who came to the palace, stole the current Kin’u’s heart, but was slain betrayed by the Empress (the real “Lady Raven”). Call me paranoid, but I don’t trust Masuho’s flowery apologies and pledges of kinship with Asebi – I suspect she still has designs on winning the game (she seems to love Wakamiya romantically, as does Asebi), and sees Asebi as a major threat to her doing so.
Two final moments of significance take place. We meet Kazumi, a gardener at the royal palace who Wakamiya introduces as a friend and ally who sometimes brings him information. And poor Samomo meets her end – but at who’s hand? Shiratama and her camp seem unlikely – if they knew of her role in Asebi’s breach of protocol, they had more to gain by exposing her. So who, then – who had the most to gain by eliminating (silencing?) Samomo?
Vance
May 19, 2024 at 5:01 pmI agree with you that Shiratama had more to gain from exposing Samomo, so I suspect it was the work of the woman from the previous episode that was ranting about Fujinami violating protocol by openly favouring Asebi and hinting to Asebi about her mother. She would get revenge on Fujinami by having someone kill Samomo, Fujinami’s aide. I can’t remember to who her allegiance is to, but I find this to be the most plausible scenario so far.
Guardian Enzo
May 19, 2024 at 5:16 pmWell, that woman is Shiratama’s retainer.
Vance
May 19, 2024 at 5:24 pmThen perhaps Shiratama is just that brazen then and had Samomo killed to send a message to Asebi and dishearten Fujinami for favouring Asebi. Shiratama was extremely cocky this episode, taunting Asebi and Masuho-no-Susuki about how she can literally do whatever she wants now with the South’s backing. Maybe the reason we saw someone eavesdrop on Shiratama and Hamayu’s conversation is to set up an imminent downfall for Shiratama. Sometimes playing it straight when viewers are expecting something not-quite-on the nose can be effective.
animealex
May 19, 2024 at 7:35 pmThe most shocking part of the episode wasn’t the murder (I felt something like that was coming the moment the servant returned visible shacking after her errand: she wouldn’t be so afraid just for breaking the rules a little), but the fact that the current empress raped the emperor to become pregnant and in doing so beat her competition. Really shows you, who pulls the strings in that family (and the nation) and perhaps hints as to why Natsuka might prefer his younger brother on the throne instead of himself.
I just rewatched the episode, but I didn’t get the impression that the empress killed Asebi’s mother Ukogi. Did I miss something?
Something about the gardener aroused Yukija’s suspicion. I wonder what? Also Yukija, you probably shouldn’t have told the scary man, that you treasure your family at home the most. It only gives bad people ammunition. I thought about something like that, the moment the prince told Yukija, that he doubted, his enemies could bribe him; perhaps they can coerce him instead.
As of now, I’m (finally) invested in the “women’s side” of the story and I also am convinced, that Asebi is the most dangerous person there and probably Somamo’s killer. Let’s see, if the innocence and naiveté is a mask for a much darker personality. Frankly, I would prefer her more as a ruthless schemer than as the brainless beauty she otherwise is.
Guardian Enzo
May 19, 2024 at 10:22 pmThat would certainly be a twist.
Thumpthump
May 22, 2024 at 2:13 pmIt would make sense considering that out of the 4 women in the opening I think it is her that is smiling possibly wickedly in the second part of it panning through the women’s lower part of the face?
Nicc
May 20, 2024 at 9:33 amThis was another packed episode. Right, it really does seem that nobody can be trusted. I’m starting to wonder of Asebi’s naivete might just be an act too. She replaced her older sister at the last minute, but I have to wonder if there was more to being that she was sick.
Wakamiya’s meeting with his brother and Tooru didn’t last very long, but it looks like he got what he wanted out of it. We learn that Lady Hamayu was the lord’s adopted daughter, and he didn’t want to put up his biological daughter for some reason. Being more likely to keep her head on her neck would be a pretty good reason as the Cherry Blossom Palace is turning into a snake pit. Natsuka stops him from pressing further and keeps up his act of not doing anything. Outside, Yukiya shows up at the Southern Palace, but not before Rokon finds him. It looks like Rokon already figured out that Yukiya was spying in that secret meeting back at the Ravine. Rather than threaten Yukiya, he wants to recruit him instead. It’s a good call that he has shown his worth, but Yukiya is still sticking with the Crown Prince. Right, I also agree that Wakamiya wasn’t bothered about overhearing Yukiya.
He is indeed far removed from the politics of the North as Shiratama intends to take the position of consort by any means necessary. The consort has never come from the North before, and she intends to change it this time. From the flashbacks we saw about the current Empress, pretty much anything goes in order to secure that position. Still, I have to wonder if she’s as much in control as she thinks she is. Hamayuu might just be playing along for now. That’s enough for Shiratama to proceed with full villain mode as she catches Asebi reading a letter which she assumes is from Wakamiya. It’s a letter from home that Samamo has brought to her, which is indeed breaking the rules. This results in a scuffle between Shiratama and Asebi in which the latter gets into trouble with such shallow water, but Masuho-no-Susuki was there to pull her out. That’s when she declares war on everybody. The only thing missing was the villainous cackling.
Back at Masuho-no-Susuki’s place, we learn about Ukigumo and the story of the actual Lady Raven. Ukigumo might be Asebi’s real mother, after all. It is difficult to trust anybody at this point, which includes Masuho-no-Susuki. Speaking of trust, Wakamiya reveals that he does have more allies than just Sumio and Yukiya, but he keeps them close. We later see one of them, a gardener named Kazumi. Sumio has been called away that morning because something urgent came up. That’s because Samomo was killed the night before. Somebody pushed of her off a railing and she was unable to change into a raven in time. It’s diffcult to rule out anybody and it was brazen to kill the retainer of the first princess. Wakamiya didn’t want to show up at the Cherry Blossom Palace because it would create more strife, but it looks like they’re doing a pretty job of adding more by themselves.
Nadavu
May 20, 2024 at 7:34 pmI’m not enjoying the scheming as much I’d hoped. I think it’s because I’m having a hard time connecting the two storylines into a cohesive whole.
As mentioned above, Asebi’s mother wasn’t killed by the empress, she merely returned home in shame. She still needed to give birth to Asebi, after all.