Contrary to my expectation, this episode actually still has light-hearted moment despite the sinister angsty opening, something that I appreciated because I wish to have Hyoma x Botan moment no matter how small it is, and breather from all the serious things.
This episode introduced an interesting item in the form of tsukumogami-made special clothing. Among the Kyoto Saenome community, there are anti-tsukumogami equipment that would help the effectiveness of Saenome in battle against tsukumogami. One such example is Tsubaki’s clothes, which remained intact even after it was burn. Humorously, the model for the Kyoto Saenome shopping catalogue is none other than Tsubaki’s father, Taiju Kadomori, and he shockingly did his job as a model well. I swear, Hyoma and Suzuri’s reaction to the catalogue cover was priceless LOL XD
This anti-tsukumogami clothes, however, also required an aptitude test if you want to get one. It has a transforming property of a tsukumogami, change its durability and flexibility according to the owner’s will and circumstances, even down to the color. Because it’s a “living cloth”, Hyoma must form a relationship with it. Though it’s not exactly a tsukumogami, Hyoma still likened it to having to wear a tsukumogami on his skin. He still has reservations, but accepted it as part of his training and because he doesn’t want to worry Botan by coming home with lot of wounds like he usually did. In the end though, he still has to use his fist to get his feeling straight through the cloth (which he succeeded).
Before, I have suspicion that Tsubaki would be a love rival for Botan. That suspicion was half-right. Tsubaki thinks that Hyoma is cute and wants him to join the Kadomori and hasn’t given up in recruiting him despite his rejection. However, knowing Tsubaki’s personality, this interest doesn’t seem to be romantic or even a crush, rather it’s more like she has found a new toy to play with. Whichever it is, thanks to her, we got a cute reaction out of Botan who was clearly uneasy at the thought of “competing” with Tsubaki. The way she looked when she heard Tsubaki calling Hyoma with suffix “-chan” says it all! Looks like Botan is the one to fall for Hyoma’s first. XD
Unfortunately for Hyoma and Botan, their happy day had to be ruined by none other than Kai, who just decided to play with Hyoma. For the first time, Hyoma finally met an opponent that could get him on his knees without trouble. True to his name, Kai is a tsukumogami based on a set of Japanese armor, so his attacks involves katana blades and samurai armor-like shield. As I thought, he’s a formidable opponent for Hyoma. I wonder how Hyoma is going to handle his situation when he’s so easily overpowered.
Last but not the least, some glimpses of Botan’s past was shown. The hairclip that Botan always shown wearing used to belong to a woman who she seemed to have a close relationship when she was a child, but died due to unknown cause that caused great grief for child Botan. Also, the reason Taiju was so wary of Botan to the point of calling her a monster also seemed to be connected to the incident with the woman. He said that he thought that Botan or the Marebito inside her (I don’t know which one he’s referring to) “won’t open up to humans”, so knowing she gets along well with Hyoma and Tsubaki found her trustworthy was a surprise for him. Child Botan in his flashback was eerily cold. Was that really Botan or the Marebito inside her? I wonder if we’ll know what happened in the next episode.