Sengoku Youko

Episode 10

My biggest issue with how the Mountain Goddess was utilized last week comes down to how small it made her role in the story feel. This is a character who is easily the most powerful entity we've encountered in the show; ancient, wise, and far beyond any of our main cast's ken. Just her presence paints a broader and more interesting portrait of the world outside our protagonists. So having her function as an exposition machine—performing the most dull, clerical work possible in narrative storytelling—sucked out a lot of the majesty such a character should carry. With our (very) brief training camp over, our big magical tree lady finally gets to flex her personality outside of giving instructions—and she's a lot better for it.

I especially like the dynamic that builds between her and Tama, the only one to key in to how the Goddess is using them for her own purposes, and decides to push the issue in her own way. Tama has a pretty inescapable support role in the overall story, so it's nice that when fists aren't flying, she gets to assert her own strengths. Choosing to be aggressive—not just in fighting Jinun but also in baiting the Goddess into an active role in the fight—is a great way for our heroes to take the story into their own hands rather than being tossed around by the whims of fate.

I like, too, that the Goddess doesn't take that bit of manipulation sitting down. Her demand of one of our heroes' souls as compensation reveals her to be a much more pernicious force than she let on—which is a whole lot more interesting than her being just an information dispenser. It makes it clear that while her interests align with our heroes, she's not strictly on their side and could potentially be an obstacle all her own. That Tama came up with this plan while spending 10 years in the hyperbolic goddess chamber is the detail that pushes it over the edge.

From there, the rest of this episode is just some good old fashioned supernatural fisticuffs. Jinun has been hyped up as a mortal threat and he delivers on that promise with every blow—so much so that it takes pure coincidence for Jinka to even humor the idea that he could win. There's always a gamble to stories hinging key moments on “miracles”, no matter how small, but it works here because a couple of minor slip-ups on Jinun's part only let Jinka survive—not win. Rather, they serve as proof that Jinun is still human, just as subject to poor judgment and pure dumb luck as anyone—which is enough to break down the indomitable image he's carried since his introduction. Once that mental block is overcome, and Jinka starts to believe he actually stands a chance, all bets are off.

In Sengoku Youko fashion, the fight is swift and direct—but that really works here. These aren't two rivals trying to test their metal against an equal—they're two mortal enemies, each trying to kill the other. So it only makes sense that both would pull out their strongest attacks ASAP. Whatever's lacking in dramatic escalation is more than made up for by the sheer intensity of their clash—with Jinka throwing everything he has at his most dangerous opponent (maiming them both) and pulling out a new power of his own through total desperation. It's short and sweet; a bloody confrontation that manages to give both fighters their due in record time while leaving things open for a more ultimate conclusion later down the line.

In short, the episode does a lot to make up for the faults of the previous episode—putting our main characters back in the driver's seat of their story while providing some solid spectacle. With things back on track and pointed squarely in the direction of the Dangaisyuu home base, I'm excited to see how this cour will conclude.

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Sengoku Youko is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.