Asura Cryin’ Episode 5 (EX018) – Glues and Graves

Symbolism. Because they're always cool or something.

I’m late again. Sorry. Blame All Saint’s Day tradition and catching up with other series during the weekend…

In any case, this episode is about Kanade and her father, the Takatsuki-gumi and… practice for the Sports Festival.

Expects lots of Kanade and surprisingly, Higuchi.

Last episode summary:

Tomoharu and friends were saved by Naotaka (who didn’t stay too long to be recognized fully) and left them in the care of Kagakagiri. Kagakagiri shows them a place inside the ruins where one can separate Burial Dolls from Asura Machina but Kyoumu intervenes, still having Ania as a hostage. Christina rescues Ania but at the cost of her remaining existence. Ingrid was also killed as well. Rhodonite drains Kotori and stops functioning. Both did not have regrets and thanked Kagakagiri for everything. Tomoharu regains his confidence and finally summons Kurogane but before they can teach Kyoumu a lesson… a mysterious woman appeared and finishes Bismuth off… as well as taking the trunk Kagakagiri was searching for…

Episode 5 (EX018):

We start in a quiet and peaceful night.

Okay, never mind…

It seems the Takatsuki clan’s estate is being assaulted by some… probably a rival syndicate. The guards are caught off-guard (err, no pun intended here) and the right-hand man of the group, Yagi, assists their leader to a safe area. As they leave, the leader accidentally knocks down a photo of his family (with Kanade) but continues on as his life is more important at this point.

The assassins arrive inside the leader’s room but finds nothing. In frustration, they shoot everything inside the room, which also included the family picture…

Opening song: Alternative (オルタナティブ) by angela

The following day, Yagi tells Kanade, on her way to school, about what happened last night in the estate and that the leader wants her to be careful. Kanade is worried and tells them to be careful as well.

At class, Reiko, Reishirou’s little sister, is organzing the events for the upcoming Sports Festival. So far, there’s the Three-Legged Race event and Kanade and her are to be paired with two guys for the race. As she asks for a volunteer, almost all of the boys raise their hands (including Higuchi). Higuchi feels there’s too much competition going around and suddenly whispers aloud to Tomoharu about some crack curse that targets couples who go in Three-Legged Races. He even adds that the reason their homeroom teacher, Hashiratani Keiichirou, is still single and hasn’t appeared for a while is because of participating in that event.

Of course, it’s a lie made up by Higuchi to discourage the guys. Everyone believed it instantly and moves their hands down. Geez, are these people Sadako’s classmates?

Anyway, Higuchi walks up to Reiko and volunteers, also signing Tomoharu in for the race. Reiko complains about how wimpy the other guys are. Ania comments on how Higuchi will probably be punished by karma later on while typing on her laptop. Tomoharu asks if Ania is okay and she responds that she is, if it’s about her sister. Misao tells her that if she needs anything, just ask.

"Not now, n00bs. Owning in guild war. Kthx."

Outside, in the track field. Higuchi, Misao, Tomoharu and Kanade are waiting for Reiko to practice. Higuchi says that Kanade and Tomoharu are pairing up while he and Reiko will be the second pair. Misao agrees and Kanade ties her leg with Tomoharu using a ribbon. An greets them while they do it. Because she’s in the Track team, she has to participate in the Sports Festival. She was signed up in the relay event. She also tells Kanade to tie their legs together tighter because if the ribbon gets loose, they are automatically disqualified.

After An left, the knot was tied. Misao and Higuchi continues teasing Kanade and Tomoharu by having them close together while walking. Kanade and Tomoharu keeps a rhythm by chanting ichi-ni but Misao and Higuchi distracts Tomoharu by chanting ecchi-ne. After a few meters, Tomoharu trips, which naturally sends Kanade down as well. Misao notes that Tomoharu must be in heaven now, but actually, he’s in hell. His leg was hurt by the fall, being held with Kanade’s.

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Kanade tries to remove the ribbon but the knot she put was strong. They’ll need scissors to cut them loose. Higuchi says he’ll stay and wait for Reiko so the three can proceed back to the classroom to look for scissors. The trio set off, gaining them some weird stares from the people around. Kanade apologizes and Tomoharu says it wasn’t her fault. Misao agrees and adds that it was because of Tomoharu’s wicked heart.

In the meantime, Higuchi continues waiting for Reiko. Suddenly, a person arrives with bodyguards from the First Student Council.

It's raping time... Asura Cryin' style!

It wasn’t Reiko… but her older brother, Reishirou! Reishirou explains that his sister suddenly got a case of headache so he’ll be filling in for her. Before Higuchi can protest, the guards tie their legs together. Higuchi tries to protest and calls him oniisan. This sets off Reishirou’s trigger and becomes annoyed, saying that he doesn’t have the right to call him “brother”.

Never trigger the "oniisan" button...

Higuchi denies it and Reishirou tells him to watch what he says. Ania was right after all, karma struck.

Meanwhile, Tomoharu and Kanade are almost to their destination. Suddenly, a guy pushing a small package cart walks in and almost hits them, but as he swayed his cart to safety, the contents of a bottle spills on Tomoharu and Kanade’s tied leg. Later, their legs have been glued pretty solid. The guy tells them that he ran out of special solvent to remove the glue-like substance and they have to wait for tomorrow for its arrival. Misao comments on how Higuchi’s Three-Legged Curse is becoming real.

It may look suggestive, but it's glue!

It may be real. In Higuchi’s side, he is being dragged by Reishirou’s super speed. He trips and sends Reishirou down as well. This angers the guards and they demand him to show respect to Reishirou. Reishirou tells him to put more effort into it…

Kinky...

Back with the main characters. Misao suggests they head to the nurse’s office as they don’t look so good anymore. They enter the office but the nurse doesn’t seem to be there. Kanade wants to wipe off her sweat and enters behind a curtain but they trip again, making Tomoharu drop on Kanade’s back. Unfortunately for them, the bad was occupied… and it was Reiko inside, who starts shouting for her brother.

"Reiko, move over! Higuchi and I need a bed as well!"

And he does arrive real quick. Reiko tells Reishirou that the two are doing dirty things and Reishirou asks them if all his warnings were falling on deaf ears. Tomoharu and Kanade make a run for it to the Science Club. Inside, Ania was playing with Tokoala.

Well, a kid is still a kid, no matter how smart they may be.

Ania asks them what they’re doing… though I could ask the same question to you, little missy. They don’t have time for explanations as they’re getting chased. Suddenly, Tokoala’s eyes turn red and Ania continues playing around. Tokoala takes out a ceramic knife and stabs the conjoined legs but to no avail, it was too hard due to the glue thing. Tomoharu runs off again and Ania picks up Tokoala, with its eyes turning back to regular.

They run off outside… but still, the stares of the people follow them. Back at home, Kanade wipes off Tomoharu’s sweat and this makes Misao jealous a bit.

"They drew a blush over your face. Let's wipe that off..."

Misao tells Tomoharu that he’s not a kid anymore and should do it by himself. Kanade apologizes again but Tomoharu again assures her that it wasn’t her fault. Misao suggests they take a shower but almost regrets it. Tomoharu says he’s okay to skip just one day but because Kanade is a girl, she can’t do it. Misao assists Kanade inside the shower while Tomoharu’s body stays outside.

Higuchi wasn’t feeling all good as well. He was in a sauna with grown men.

Part B:

Ania was going to sleep with Kanade but Tomoharu has to be included. Tomoharu sleeps on the floor and Misao volunteers to keep watch of Tomoharu if he tries anything funny. He protests that he won’t do anything but Misao mentions that she saw his nose bleeding back in the bathroom.

Tomoharu's harem and a koala!

Later that night, Kanade and Tomoharu couldn’t sleep. They try to move without waking up Misao and Ania and head to the balcony. There, Kanade tells Tomoharu that she wants to visit her mother’s grave tomorrow because it’s her death anniversary. Kanade further explains that the more female demons use their powers, the more their partners would lose the ability to love… and the more male demons use their powers, the faster they forget their loved one. That’s why she doesn’t want to see her father. It pains her to see her father losing memories of his loved one.

Misao, Ania and even Tokoala overhears their conversation.

They're being so sweet that even stuffed animals are annoyed?

The next day, they went to the cemetery and finds the Takatsuki-gumi there as well as their leader. Before Kanade can do anything, the assassins from back then arrive and start another fight. The Takatsuki-gumi were at a disadvantage so the leader steps up to defend everyone. He was able to fend off most of the attacks but after seeing Yagi fall, the leader gets taken out from behind.

Tomoharu tells Kanade to not mind himself and fight. Kanade then holds Tomoharu and tight and starts running. She claims that her mother loved his father very much so she will do anything to protect him. As Kanade fights, her father notices a similarity between her and her mother.

Spot the difference!

He suddenly releases a powerful blast of fire, shouting at the assassins to not lay a hand on his daughter. The assassins make a run for it.

A man's burning passion!! Goodbye, expensive car!!

After Kanade stopped using her powers, some of the flames went down and burnt the ribbon off Tomoharu and Kanade’s legs.

Simple solution to a simple problem.

Later, they honor Kanade’s mother’s grave.

Kanade’s father suddenly speaks up, saying that she resembled her mother. Kanade is surprised. Her father explains that he was able to remember thanks to Kanade’s fight. He adds that when Kanade’s mother fights, she can’t be stopped and it was terrifying. Everyone gets a good laugh after that.

After that, they head home. On the way, Ania asks Kanade about the fire that burnt the ribbon. It was impossible for Kanade to not consider burning it like what happened earlier and Kanade tells her that it’s a secret. Suddenly, Tomoharu spots the girl with the ice phoenix nearby.

Every time she appears... she leaves instantly...

Tomoharu runs to her but as she steps behind a tree, she disappears completely. Near the tree was a tombstone… and engraved on it was the name…

"Haha, don't be silly. That's not my brother. My brother's name is NATSUME Naotaka."

Closing song: Kanata no delight (彼方のdelight) by angela

—

Comments:

And yet another twist! Nao-kun is actually… dead?

This is a pretty heartwarming episode to an average degree. It was fitting as well due to its release near Halloween. Yeah, I know, it’s been almost a week… but uh… stuff happened and I had to leave for the weekend. Then I had to catch up on some series and didn’t have much motivation to do a new post. But now that’s solved and this week’s Asura Cryin’ is here. I’ll try to do the next one much earlier.

Anyway, if Natsume Naotaka is indeed dead… then who was the person who helped Tomoharu? Could it be First Stage World Tomoharu? Also, Tokiya seems very, very silent… but you can tell he’s been very attentive in the last few episodes.

I have nothing much to say since I don’t particularly like Kanade.

Next episode:

We see Mahiwa and Vivian once again and… a mysterious masked rider.

– This is the Bunny Chief, over and out!