黄泉のツガイ

This show is so well constructed and absorbing. Especially given that the structure of this episode was flashback -> exposition -> flashback -> meeting. I think part of the magic is ending on a cliffhanger with Asa announcing she died last episode, and then giving us a first expositional flashback before following up with the Asa dying flashback. We spend the first half of the episode looking forward to a resolution for the end of last episode.

Yuru's father taught him well and despite not having gained his birthright (Seal) yet, which ironically he has to die for, he still managed to develop an inherent skill of detecting killing intent--which might as well be a super power in itself considering the many unknown entities that are after his life/power. Dera just casually dropping by in enemy territory while Jin and Gonzo are literally giving him death glares and rictus grins respectively, even graciously accepting the latter's invitation for breakfast, tells me how much of a stone cold killer Dera is and how proficient he is at his job. Definitely not his first rodeo kinda thing, infiltrating the enemy and whatnot. Can't really afford to lose the asset (Yuru), to the rival clan no less, even if it means separating the twins once more, and forcefully if he has to.

Dera just casually dropping by in enemy territory while Jin and Gonzo are literally giving him death glares and rictus grins respectively, even graciously accepting the latter's invitation for breakfast, tells me how much of a stone cold killer Dera is and how proficient he is at his job. Dera has the ultimate chip in Yuru to keep him safe. The Kagemori Clan has it in their best interests to stay on Yuru's good side so killing Dera would go against that. As long as they want Yuru on their side the Kagemori can't do anything to Dera. No wonder he's so damn confident.

There's also the fact that he was invited in as a guest--in traditional Japanese conceptions of morality, when you invite someone in as a guest, that comes with very strong moral obligations. To kill someone that you greeted as a guest is on par with how like guest rights work in Game of Thrones. Not to say this is inviolable or something--but Dera seems to take the Kagemori's promise to treat him as "kyaku-jin" (a guest) at face value as a reliable guarantee of safe passage. And this probably says something about how Dera sees Kagemori.

dera just casually mogging a whole ahh enemy clan my initial speculation is that tadera clan is kind of the ones that care about keeping the peace most, and whatever allegiances will make things so, thats where they stand (im guessing) while kagemoris and higashi (atm seems like the bad guys, to what end who knows) directly oppose each other, and why even kagemori boss is keeping up appearances in front of dera thats BIGGGG (and why is dera and his "wife" only ones that has the "retainer" added to it???? WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN THIS CONTEXT I NEEEEDDDDD TO KNOWWWW SPECIFICALLYYYYYY) Q_Q

Iirc, Dera's clan is a much smaller sub-clan serving under the Higashi's, and as Jin mentioned: 'acts as the bridge between the hidden village and the outside modern world', hence the "retainer" label which in olden times literally means servant . As for keeping up appearances, it's kinda similar to playing poker so as not to give away your hand. Jin couldn't hide his animosity however, at least to Yuru, so there's definitely a long-standing feud or bitter history there, it would seem. Simply put, the Tadera clan is the Higashi clan's (for lack of a better term) Central Intelligence Agency

Yeah the kidnappers were definitely from Higashi village or direct offshoots off it. One of them was able to recognize Asa, and the other was able to contest the validity of her recognizing Asa because of facts specific to Asa's stay, time since she'd left, etc. But it sounds an awful lot like they may have been going rogue. I'm going to guess they were both from Higashi, but had left - and likely not on an official mission to recapture Asa at all. If they had, their intel would've likely been stronger.

Dera just casually dropping by in enemy territory while Jin and Gonzo are literally giving him death glares and rictus grins respectively, even graciously accepting the latter's invitation for breakfast, tells me how much of a stone cold killer Dera is and how proficient he is at his job. Definitely not his first rodeo kinda thing Matt Graver from Sicario energy Hope they don't have an Alejandro among their ranks

So this episode basically confirms the theory that the Higashi Village (at least the adult population) were in on the whole plot to make use of the twins. It might explain why Gabby only killed them and why the twins' father insisted that Yuru should act normal once they return to the village. He might be cautious on the possibility that the village would do something to the twins once they learn that they have an important role to play. Which, as we've learned, involves killing them to awaken their powers. Yet despite this, the episode still raised a lot of questions. Why exactly is Asa imprisoned during her time in the village? I initially thought that it was the case only for the impostor to keep Yuru from leaving but now that we know that this has been going on since they were children, one has to wonder why. I also wonder why Yuru was left behind. Did they initially plan to spirit away both children but the plan was bungled? Or did they really intended to leave him? Either way, I do feel for Yuru for being the one left behind. Once again, we're blessed with Yuru being a rational MC. Love how he was looking in from the outside of the situation and is willing to hear out both sides and decide how to go from there. Such mindset is really useful in their brutal world and I hope this trend continues into the story.

I think so too with Asa, nerfing her by keeping her in the dark, but I believe Yuru didn't have any restrictions placed on him, he camps out the night with his father outside no problem and based on what we've seen of him, he clearly hunted in the night many times before. My headcanon is that Break is simply more feared and more coveted by various factions, compared to Seal, so they kept her locked up and made up some superstitious bs reason for it. Even two episodes ago, when we got a brief point of view about the masterminds behind the attack, they talked about only caring for Asa (or just her head) while not caring about Yuru.

Probably sexism if I have to guess. The village is stuck in the past too. IRL twins were considered bad luck, and while special twins in this series are coveted, there are probably some weird superstitions about twins still and so the girl get the brunt of the "punishment". When it comes to break and seal, I think both can be powerful depending on how you use it. Like, if you want to use seal destructively then you can seal someone's heartbeat or something. You can also probably seal someone's memory to basically erase them. But generally I can see seal having a lot more disaster averting applications.

I also wonder why Yuru was left behind. Just a guess, but we know that seal and break together are ridiculously powerful, so much so that the twins are being chased by multiple factions for various uses and are prophesized to be involved in a major war. Yuru and Asa's parents were likely aware that other factions would chase them once they left. They may have worried about what would happen if the twins were kept together and taken at the same time. A power more malignant than Higashi Village might suddenly become unstoppable. Especially because each twin could be manipulated by threatening the other. Hence, leave Yuru in the safest possible place and keep Asa with them, thereby depriving both Higashi Village and hostile third parties of straightforward access to both twins. Underlying this is the idea that Higashi Village is wicked and leaving Yuru with them was irresponsible. But I think what we are discovering is that all the major human factions are painted in shades of grey. Yuru's parents may have known that Yuru would not be mistreated, even if Granny is clearly not to be trusted.

So this episode basically confirms the theory that the Higashi Village (at least the adult population) were in on the whole plot to make use of the twins. It really doesn't, as that was just Asa's interpretation of events. And she is a traumatized child operating off incomplete information from a deeply biased perspective. I still get the vibe that there is an "inner circle" and "outer circle" within the village. Those that are in the know and do the dirty work, and the ignorant masses surrounding them, farming the fields, hunting in the woods, making supplies, and generally supplying the main 'core' group of crazies. Just think back to the day of the attack. All the villagers were basically "deer in headlights" as they were being slaughtered. They had no concept of guns, no idea why they were being attacked, couldn't see the deamons, nor seemed to have any concept of them. They just stood there, trembling in fear, holding whatever tools they were working with at the time as they were slaughtered one by one. Does that sound like the behavior of people who were "in on the whole plot," or ignorant villagers that have no idea what is going on? Likely it's just Granny Harridan and whatever ghouls she has working directly under her.... recruited from the general population of the village or from retainers on the outside doing the dirty work. But they aren't told until she can be sure of their loyalty and discretion.

My take exactly with the village. I’m still hesitant to generalize the entire village as “evil” primarily because of how those farmers and regular folk acted. They had no idea wth was going on and just got slaughtered. Granny immediately went in action and I’m sure whatever elders or “in the know” villagers began countering. It’s really that group that I’m most suspicious about, but that doesn’t mean the entire village as a whole needs to die. Regardless I’m so invested in the mystery of the village and the kagemori.

Yet despite this, the episode still raised a lot of questions. Why exactly is Asa imprisoned during her time in the village? I initially thought that it was the case only for the impostor to keep Yuru from leaving but now that we know that this has been going on since they were children, one has to wonder why. I wonder if this is part of the legend that's been passed down over the centuries. The night twin needs to be raised in the light, and the day twin needs to live in darkness in order to be prepared to be a vessel for their daemon.

I think this is more in line with extreme protectionism. the bars and seals meant to keep everything else out rather than Asa in. So, a village princess with the 'Keep the maiden pure' story might be the ruse to make it seem ethical to Yuru and keep him controlled. I'm assuming the Higashi clan assassin was a defector since it's mentioned that people go down the mountain to work and often don't return. So, with just enough knowledge to be stupid and dangerous they assassinate Asa intending to somehow use whatever power the twin would revive with. I'm also assuming that the village itself doesn't Want them to die. Their oral tradition could have distorted the intent behind 'cursed'. I also wonder if they know which is which. They likely don't want to find out the break twin died and has decided to use their ability for great evil. Or, that maybe they want the twins to organically 'die' and revive to see which power is which. Which would be much easier if no one decided to assassinate them, with Yuru accidentally dieing to a fall down a blind cliff, or Asa catching a sickness and dieing since she's being confined heavily. Maybe separating the twins was to ensure if one went rogue, the other could stop them. Lots of fun reasons to think about.

So this episode basically confirms the theory that the Higashi Village (at least the adult population) were in on the whole plot to make use of the twins. It might explain why Gabby only killed them and why the twins' father insisted that Yuru should act normal once they return to the village. He might be cautious on the possibility that the village would do something to the twins once they learn that they have an important role to play. Which, as we've learned, involves killing them to awaken their powers. The question now is why is the village only acting NOW to kill them. Yuru spent most of his life there and they didnt try to kill him. Why?

A small liberty was taken in the translation from Yuru's dad in that scene. When he first held him, the subtitles said "I shouldn't have taken my eyes off you." The Japanese line was 俺が目を離したばかりに (feel free to double-check this with whatever translator you trust), which is more like "the second I took my eyes off you..." Japanese, especially anime Japanese, often leaves off the end of a sentence like that. Anyway, the important thing is that this line implies that Yuru's dad is usually extremely vigilant and protective of Yuru. If this attempt was made just as he stopped paying attention, it stands to reason that assassins had been waiting for such an opportunity, and that Dad was just too attentive for their to have been one any sooner.

I really like how Yuru's father handled the situation, there was so much compassion and guidance. Yuru was very shaken by the situation, understandably, so I'm glad his father was around the first time there was an assassination attempt on him.  It's interesting to learn how the twins receive their special abilities and I'm glad Dera, Left and Right all had the same idea as to why they weren't going to tell Yuru about it, with Left and Right actually having evidence of it going wrong. Those two kidnappers were idiots for thinking Asa was just not going to kill them after they killed her lol.  Now that Dera has shown his face to the Kagemori clan, does this mean he can freely grow his facial hair again? Wasn't the reason he shaved so that he doesn't get recognized by them? Hana can get her Jason Statham back again lol.

To be fair we don't know if acquiring Seal works the same way. But also the Demon for Break said "Only look forward as you advance. Don't turn back." so it feels like maybe you can fail to acquire the ability if you waver. However Asa was told the way to die wasn't to turn away from the tree but to fall off the path. Maybe in the process of getting the power something can happen that might cause you to fall off the path anyways.

actually having evidence of it going wrong With how messed up the current twins' situation is, it's possible that the previous twin simply chose not to return from the dead. But if Yuru got into the habit of fighting reckless and got killed, it would be hard for him to break that habit on his last life. Now that Dera has shown his face to the Kagemori clan, does this mean he can freely grow his facial hair again? Isn't hiding form the Kagemori clan the entire reason they got "married" in the first place? Now that they are in the open I expect a divorce.

Yuru's flashback really shows why he doesn't behave in the way that we would naturally expect him to. Yuru's Father: "Calm down, analyze the situation, and determine what you should do." These are the words that seem to have shaped Yuru's personality since he was a kid. I also noticed that the breathing technique Yuru's father taught him is exactly what Yuru did right before he decided not to kill Jin at the end of Episode 4. It seems that when Yuru has a certain goal in mind, his instincts lead him to shut out most of his emotions and focus entirely on that singular goal. And right now, his one goal is to find his parents and question them.

These are the words that seem to have shaped Yuru's personality since he was a kid. His calm behavior during battle and the ease with which he can kill people have been shaped by experience and his father's words. No wonder the Kagemoris had a hard time fighting him. Unless you live in a region of the world where child soldiers are a thing, people like Yuru in modern Japan are an anomaly. Part of me wants to see how Yuru would fare in high school. He'd legit cripple bullies for life, if not outright kill them.

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I mean Elric brothers among others gained their special skill of not needing a Transmutation circle after they lost their respective things from attempting [Fullmetal alchemist] human transmutation for resurrection Arakawa’s love for grey area morals, pairs/twins, mystical figures outside of human understanding, and an “equivalent exchange” set up is very evident here. Speaking of the mystical figure, the Daemon for Break and her Domain is just dripping in being unnerving but so cool.

The answer is neither, obviously. Do you really think the Kages are taking Asa in out of the goodness of their hearts? That they just accept the target on their backs and all the collateral damage that comes with it just out of compassion for Asa's circumstance? Jin casually admitted to being a goddamn terrorist, amongst the other dirty jobs the Kages ask of him, and the others kill and torture without hesitation. As others have said, this is a "Crazy Cult Vs Yakuza, fighting with daemons." At best, we are looking at "Grey Vs Gray," or "Black Vs Grey." But there are definitely no good factions we've seen so far.

OH SHIT That is why the father insisted on not mentioning the bandit attacks, heck that is why they escaped right after! That is what he whispered to his wife "the village sent a bandit to kill Yuru"! Now I am even more curious as to why they left Yuru behind, there probably simply were unable to take him too, and the village probably thought it was too risky to try and kill Yuru to awaken his power when it isnt a guarantee and they had lost his sister.

Based on their attempts so far, it seems they only care about the power. The two assassins that killed Asa outright said they had the brother brainwashed/indoctrinated. Also the fact they're trying to kill him and Asa tells me they might have a method to steal Break and Seal Or, you know, force them to work for their side? They want the twins dead because if the twins aren't dead that means no power. Also, it's said they are the first twins in 400 years. No one's been alive that long to know how things really work in detail is the most likely.

There is another explanation: the village is not united under Granny. We have evidence of three separate factions linked to Higashi village. Granny was horrified that the twins were born and does not want them to awaken to their powers. She seems more likely to kill the twins off, permanently, than let them ever use their powers. Then the ones that killed Asa said they wanted to exploit her power to take over the underworld. These people are clearly not working with the Granny who wishes to suppress or erase the twins. Finally, we have the Tadera clan. Nominally retainers of the Granny, but they don't seem to be working for her. Dera nad Hana seem to be acting on their own to keep Yuru away from the other Higashi factions atm. That Granny does NOT want the twins to use their powers explains why he Yuru wasn't killed. The bandit could be someone that wanted to exploit the twins or took an even more hardcore stance than the Granny (kill permanently to erase chance of ever awakening.) But if that was the Granny's true stance... it's very cold that the father would leave Yuru behind in the Granny's control. Really, this is my main question so far: he knew his children were in danger, but left his son both ignorant and alone. Why?

> We have evidence of three separate factions linked to Higashi village. Granny was horrified that the twins were born and does not want them to awaken to their powers. She seems more likely to kill the twins off, permanently, than let them ever use their powers. Nah, Granny was the one that wanted the twins to be born according to the day and night prophecy. In episode 1, she deliberately made Yuru and Asa's mom delay Asa's birth until daytime. It was their father that was horrified about the kids' circumstances.

Granny was horrified that the twins were born and does not want them to awaken to their powers That definitely doesn't seem like the case. If anything she seems like the spearhead for wanting to kill them for power. her reactions to the bandit and the dad's caution around her heavily implies she's the one who ordered the bandit attack. Tadera clan This one seems like a separate faction from granny because they are one of the ones that left the village to live in the modern world. From the village's perspective Dera was the traveling merchant. He also seems to have less info on the twins and the history compared to others involved. but left his son both ignorant and alone Plenty could go wrong in an escape attempt that wouldn't let them take two kids with them.

The higashi village sent assassins to kill Asa to acquire Break but have done nothing to Yuru all that time when he was in the village. They're only trying to kill him NOW. Why? The village is surrounded by a barrier that prevents people from getting in, and the only people who know how to get through it are people associated with Higashi Village. This would suggest that the "bandit" that tried to kill Yuru was actually and assassin related to the village.

The attackers themselves seemed to be independent contractors/mercenaries, and pretty weak ones at that. Other than the Katana guy who dipped, he might belong to either faction. But since they attacked right as they got in the mansion, and it was mentioned multiple times other factions inside the Kagemori faction might want to harm the twins, its likely someone from the inside hastily put together the attack. The Azuma guy is so suspicious it actualy makes him less suspicious lmao

Because as far as they know Yuru was and is still in their control. Once Asa and her parents fled the village, the village could not have been clueless as to why they fled. They lost an asset. They needed to, at the very least, prevent her from being taken by a rival. Until very recently, Yuru was theirs entirely. Trapped by a fake Asa and free to continually be manipulated. He relied on the Village entirely. And we learned that dying isn't a guarantee of getting the power. They were probably hesitant. And even though he is off the mountain now, they believe he fled with Tadera and would be safely in the hands of a Higashi village agent. They probably assume he will be back and haven't specifically targetted him yet I don't think the village even knows Yuru is learning these nasty secrets.

Apart of me is curious if they were trying to stage an accident/incident that happened would awaken him. Rewatching the first episode, this could all be over analysis of course and not be intentional lol: his friend is disappointed he was left behind, when Yuru went hunting. Same friend is scolded by his mom for getting separated from Yuru. An older adult was asking for help with preparing for the storm. Yuru’s lone wolf demeanor probably saved him more than he realized, and I’m curious if there were more incidents like the bandits that didn’t work out as intended.

Brainwashing Yuru from a young age into killing himself with a ritualistic sacrifice for good harvest makes more sense than whatever they've done so far. They sent assassins even when they know he's under the protection of Dera who is allied with the village. The only reasonble explanation i can think of is there's probably a zealous faction in the village who's more willing to resort to any means to get Break and Seal and couldnt care less about pretenses

Brainwashing Yuru from a young age into killing himself with a ritualistic sacrifice for good harvest makes more sense than whatever they've done so far. Either the parents would have heavily opposed or a ritual sacrifice is crazy even for their standards They sent assassins even when they know he's under the protection of Dera who is allied with the village. As far as we know these were sent by a 3rd party

If you haven't picked up on it by now... neither faction are monolithic. When the attack on the Kage's happened, Jin and the others assumed they were being attacked by a different faction within their greater clan. I get the same vibe from Higashi village. Dera is supposed to be a retainer of the village, but he is also keeping Yuru away from the Granny. Then there was the bandit and those that killed Asa. The former may or may not have been sent by the Granny, but those who slit Asa's throat said they wanted to "control the underworld" with her power. That... doesn't sound like something that Higashi village is after? Like... the hateful Granny did NOT want the twins to be born. She was horrified as the mother gave birth near dawn and wanted to delay the birth long enough to avoid the prophecy. Then she kept Asa locked up and Yuru ignorant: Granny does not want their powers awakened. Other factions within the village want to exploit the twins. This is a pretty messy situation with factions within factions and generally Grey vs Gray morality.

Like... the hateful Granny did NOT want the twins to be born. She was horrified as the mother gave birth near dawn and wanted to delay the birth long enough to avoid the prophecy. You got that the wrong way round, its all grannys fault to begin with! In the prologue, one baby was already in their fathers hand and Granny insisted the mother to hold back the 2nd baby until after sunrise! Without Granny, both twins would have been born at night, so no prophecy.

Yeah, the Granny is very firmly "the twins are a mistake, we must keep them contained: through death if necessary." Others related to the village want to exploit them for personal profit. The Tadera clan is a wild card that doesn't seem to be in either of the other Higashi village camps. Then the Kagemori clan has unknown motivations, but it's pretty telling that Jin assumed faction infighting after repeatedly telling Yuru that Higashi village keeps sending assassins after Asa. So... despite being hounded by assassins left and right, when the twins are finally united... Jin assumes it's faction infighting and not another Higashi raid? The faction map is messy, and that's about all I can say other than "there are no good guys."

Honestly it's the thing that's made me love this show as much as I have, it's nice having a shonen protagonist that is independently capable and uniquely rational? Not every shonen protag is an idiot (Deku is literally defined by his book-smarts, and Edward Elric is so smart it makes him downright abrasive), but there's a collectedness to Yuru that makes him just an absolute joy to follow as a POV character. Just a fantastically written show. Really cool seeing the stuff that Hiromu Arakawa has learned in the years since FMA