One of the things I really appreciate about Mizukami Satoshi’s works is how elegantly things fit together in the end. Even in a series with a huge plot and cast like this one, there’s no sense of randomness. No feeling of haphazard rushing about trying to tie up all the loose ends. There’s an order here, a structure. Everyone in Sengoku Youko has a role to play in the denouement, even the characters who didn’t survive until the end. Take any of them out and the structure would collapse, but with all of them in place it’s indestructible.

That said, of course there’s always a first among equals. It’s not evident until the second main arc (he doesn’t even appear until several episodes in) but Senya is the spine that runs through the series. He’s the anchor. Who the deuteragonist is, that’s a much tougher question. I’d argue it’s probably Shinsuke, because he’s the literal spine of the series if Senya is the spiritual one. He disappears for a while here and there but Shinsuke is the one who’s been present in every major arc of the story. He’s also the one who, after Senya, has the most substantial character arc.

With that in mind it’s certainly fitting that Mizukami focuses so much on the two of them the way he does here. There’s one major battle still to be fought – the Thousand-Tailed Youko still has to be defeated (and saved). But there’s work to be done before that can happen. There’s a reckoning for Senya, who once more tried to scarper off after the last war ended. Tsukiko’s patience seems to have run out here, and who can blame her? She calls Senya (and Nau, for his past transgressions in this regard) onto the carpet tatami for a scolding, and demands an explanation once and for all.

The bottom line here is that Senya simply believes his power can do more harm than good. He’s not human, and he doesn’t belong among humans (especially those he cares deeply about). Yazen’s words about how he’s slowly changing into something else (and whose fault is that?) still ring in Senya’s ears but there are other reasons too, as will be explored shortly. He has no answer for Tsukiko’s charges because of course there is no answer to them. Senya can’t possibly expect the others to forget him, any more than he could forget them. But he can’t accept that he belongs at their side.

The problem for for moment is that’s exactly where Senya is needed. Because of course there’s no chance to subdue Jinka without Senya’s power. As always, he’s tasked with the worst jobs because no one else can do them. Not only that, he remembers that Yamato Takeru is trapped on the barrier island, and his physical body may be in no position to patiently wait for a rescue. That’s an even bigger problem because Banshuou is likewise vital to this campaign – the barrier can’t be broken by anyone but him, and his spirit power is still recuperating from the ass-whupping it got from Kokugetsusai’s gourd.

Once  more, Shinsuke steps up to fulfil the role only he can. He and Senya go on a mission to the spirit realm to check up on Yamato Takeru, who tells them he thinks he can probably hold out for about eight days at most. Takeru soon goes back to sleep (that’s how he’s able to last as long as he does) but Shinsuke has larger reasons for this excursion. He tells Senya thee whole turning into a monster thing sounds pretty bogus, and that the real problem is what’s already inside Senya and has been since their earliest days together. The events in Tsukiko’s village cemented in that little boy’s mind exactly what he was – and Senya has been carrying that around with him ever since.

There aren’t a lot of protagonists who have to bear as many burdens as Senya does. He’s forever been depended upon, forever being forced to fight because no one else can do what he does. Shinsuke forces him to stop and face the self-loathing that torments him, and it’s not a pretty sight. The monster Senya sees in the spirit realm is the self he truly believes himself to be. It’s not until Hanatora patches Tsukiko and Nau into the chat that Senya really comes to grips with all this. No matter what Tsukiko says he can’t forgive himself for what happened to her father. So she very smartly pivots – she demands that he provide her all the happiness that she lost when he took her father from her. It’s an odd sort of confession but with these two, somehow it totally fits.

All I know is, if anyone has earned the right to be happy it’s Senya (and Shinsuke too, for that matter). The truth is, he has a power to save those that no one else can save – and Jinka Yamato is certainly one of them. Everyone will be needed – Banshuou to break the barrier, Tsukiko to soak up the released energy and Nau to support her, and Tama, Shinsuke, and Hanatora to find and rescue Takeru. But only one person can face down Jinka himself and try to save  him from himself – the same one who always accepts the burdens no one else is strong enough to bear.