God’s Dolls 6 – Life in the Village

“. . . This village is totally fucked in the future, isn’t it?”

All the violence and unnerving suggestions about what’s going on underneath the surface of the village are put on hold this week for a look into the more peaceful, everyday life of the people who live here. Apparently a favorite past time in the village is awful comedy. Finally the rural folks have something in common with the city slickers! Seriously, though, the comedy is doing nothing for me. We already know Utao is childish and out of her league right now as a seki and future leader; the tripping is just a dumb cliche. And the bra and panties stuff during the flight back home is just embarrassing. All I can do is beg for the crappy comedy to stuff, but I know more will come. Sigh.

But I don’t want to focus too much on that. There are some things I found to be interesting in this episode — like E Minor, I am suspicious of the “gods’ blood” resin that is used to imbue the kakashi with a mystical energy that allows the wood it soaks in (itself a product of the psychic forest Moyako and Hibino walk around in during the middle of the episode) to resonate with the powers of the seki (who are already proven to have a strong connection with the forest). What’s bothersome, however, is the explanation of how exactly the “blood” is created. Moyako says that it’s a combination of several special resins, but if there is one thing the show has pushed so far, it’s not to take what is said at face value.

Moyako has already admitted that there are some things the higher-ups in the village have not told her. (She was confused about Kirio’s kakashi suddenly being used for the first time in many years, and she was clueless as to who exactly wielded it.) I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that there are parts of the blood-making process that she is not let in on, as well. E Minor suggested human sacrifice; that seems like a solid possibility to me. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s fairly sinister.

The other point of interest is whatever relationship Moyako shares with Aki. Moyako’s question to Kyohei about whether he’s seen Aki — and the way Kyohei frames his response, as if he’s holding back a bit to avoid offending Moyako — is a heavy suggestion that she and Aki have some sort of past together, or at least that Moyako has strong feelings toward Aki, unrequited or not. (My guess is that, at least for now, her feelings are very much unrequited.)

The vision that Hibino has in the forest of who seems to be a younger Aki further implies the importance of Aki to Moyako, and the sadness of the feelings that run through the vision imply a not so awesome end to whatever relationship Aki and Moyako end. (Given that Aki was imprisoned for so long for being a raging psychopath, however, it probably would have been safe to say that shit did not turn out so well regardless of the presence of sad visions. :p) Although I have suggested the possibility of unrequited love, I don’t want to jump the gun too much and say that is definitely the cause of the sadness (or part of it, anyway). At the very least, I bet that, like so many things in the series, it’s connected to the event in Aki and Kyohei’s past where everything went explodey, Aki got jailed and Kyohei said “MAN, FUCK THIS” and quit being a seki.

I think the outcome of this shared past will be more fuel in the fire for Aki to become an anti-hero rather than an out and out villain.

Kyohei finally seems to be spilling the beans about whatever happened in the past, so next week’s episode is likely all flashback, all the time.