#sooooo much in this episode omg… I also LOVE the scene outside the court where shou bun kun and shou hei kun are discussing their alliance

[cospinol]

>:) at long last:

So much to talk about in this scene, first and foremost that the anime actually moved the return-to-court bit around a little; in the manga ten’s initial unveiling of the coded message is paired with the ‘why are you standing’ line (as a chapter ending), but here we get her whole explanation of the code itself before checking in with its mastermind, and then the entire declaration-of-intent as one scene :D and what a scene, omg, the dead silence in the room as ryo fui begins his interrogation and gets his answer, the weight of every little motion… it’s the perfect staging for a sequence that is first and foremost about shou hei kun’s extreme dignity and composure, despite the fact that this as an absurdly dramatic situation that he’s orchestrated himself (sai taku’s comment on his unexpected boldness lol. but, as with most of his other plans, it’s just a matter of the most grandiose route also being the most practical one in this situation — his conversation with shou bun kun outside of court definitely suggests that it would actually have been unsafe for him to defect from ryo fui’s faction earlier — though he also could’ve done it like years earlier, up to and including Literally During The Coalition Invasion, but for all that I think the loyalty ri shi was discussing here really did linger..), especially with ri shi’s tantrum about his betrayal to emphasize it lol

tho I will say… ryo fui is just as much the star of the show here, once again. His response to shou hei kun’s wonderfully understated statement-of-intent is one of his finest scenery-chewing monologues of all time..

Even with so many odds against him and such a wide variety of circumstances bearing down, he’s still definitively a man who hasn’t lost yet :-)

I also want to discuss his goofy metaphor abt the four pillars just being useless trinkets to him, though, specifically just this one line of it —

— because i think this is as close as he ever gets to acknowledging that he really has lost not one but two of them here :) If I’m recalling correctly, mou bu’s withdrawal from the pillars is never litigated or even mentioned, it’s just implicit that he (like sai taku) seamlessly becomes a member of sei’s faction after ryo fui’s fall from grace, but I think ryo fui knows both him and shou hei kun well enough to know that losing shou hei kun’s loyalty naturally means he’s also lost mou bu’s along with it, and that he’s realized that when he says this line :~) which especially funny considering that his plan in large part relied on the timing of the mou bu army’s arrival (just a little too late to save the royal family, which is such a tasty parallel to the hi shin unit’s primary goal of Not Being Too Late This Time) — they won’t make it on time, but shou hei kun will!

Also, the anime staff gave us a little original additional sequence this week —

A little check-in with rou ai, in case you’d forgotten where he was located on the battlefield, or what a miserable time he’s having there :’)

also here’s a ruki cap for the road because i’m continually floored by how endearing han oyako are in the anime lol

Cute!!