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SixFlags said: Fionartan said: Funny how much that scene paralleled her bit with Chagum acting out. Even the slap was the same. And I think she was right - she said that part of it might have been her way of trying to get a rise out of Jiguro and forcing him to react to her for once and Chagum looked really shocked. Seemed to me like she was also saying that Chagum probably had the same reasons for his escape attempt. Yeah, he immediatly touched his cheek where Balsa slapped him ^^ got to love even the smallest details in this show Simply beautiful. You also get to understand what was going through their heads quite well. :) If I remember right btw, the king was sick or something before being poisoned. |
Mirorin said: SixFlags said: Yeah, he immediatly touched his cheek where Balsa slapped him ^^ got to love even the smallest details in this show Simply beautiful. You also get to understand what was going through their heads quite well. :) If I remember right btw, the king was sick or something before being poisoned. I love your signature! <3 |
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| I really love the parallels between Balsa's past and future. I think that, in a way, she actually understands Jiguro better now that she's in a very similar position. Let's just hope she doesn't end up like him. Sure, we technically don't know how he died yet, but I'm guessing he didn't survive that fight with six Spears. |
| Ohhhh! There's that amazing spear animation again!! |
"At some point, I stopped hoping." |
| Great episode, Balsa's past was really sad, but I loved to learn about it anyways. She really was like Chagum, forced by circumstances that were bigger than her, she fled her home country, and had to live running and hiding just in order to stay alive. By her side, keeping her safe, was Jiguro, the strongest warrior of his kingdom, and the best friend of her father, who just like her, ended up dragged into a conspiracy for the throne. He had to kill one of his closest friends, who was only fighting him because his family was held hostage, and I think this was the hardest for him. Seeing those battles and learning about her father's death, Balsa wanted to learn to fight like him in order to avenge her father someday, and she got her wish because she was a natural, she managed to memorize and mimic Jiguro's style with ease, so he decided to taught her to help her survive in this world. But well, I guess the eight lives she wants to atone for are the ones from the Spears, but it wasn't even her fault or Jiguro's, they were simply following orders, and Jiguro was simply trying to stay alive and to keep her safe, the only culprit here is the late king's younger brother. |
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| Jiguro op. plz nerf. |
| "The future is always blank. Only your willpower can leave footsteps there." "Ruling over death means ruling over life. Death is the climax of life. To have the best death, you must honor life." |
| Wonderful episode overall, and one of the best episodes of this series so far. An episode that made me forget about everything else that was happening in the world and kept me glued to my screen as Balsa's past is showcased in such a poetic manner. The funny thing is, Balsa's past in this case doesn't actually affect the grand narrative that much for the final arc, but what it does is not only flesh out Balsa's character to endearing heights, but also shows the parallels between Jiguro-Balsa and Balsa-Chagum quite beautifully, making Chagum even think about how Balsa has treated him in the past and connecting the dots, that even Balsa's had to go through a ton in the past and not just him. The story that Balsa shared with Chagum about her life was pretty emotional and terrible. She was someone who was happy when she was young, living nicely with her father who was a doctor and were going through life nicely. Her father is blameless for what happened to Balsa, but he had no choice. He was forced to poison the king of Kanbal by the king's younger brother, Logsam, who wanted to overthrow the king and take the throne for himself. And the reason Balsa's father had no choice, was because Logsam threatened to kill Balsa if he refused, and that's the one thing Balsa's father would never want since he earnestly loved his daughter. So Balsa's father went towards Jiguro, one of the king's Nine Spears, and asked him to protect his daughter while revealing the whole plot to him for what Logsam wanted to do, and asked him to protect his daughter by running away together. Like how Logsam asked something terrible for Balsa's father to do, Balsa's father did the same to Jiguro by essentially asking him to throw his status, honor, home and life away for the sake of someone else's daughter. Jiguro initially declines but because of the man he was, decided to accept and escape Kanbal with Balsa. Not only did Balsa have to run away from her life at Kanbal and abandon her father in the process, but it really hit her how much danger she was in as she consistently had to witness Jiguro fight his own comrades in the process, including his best friend Tagul, and she could do nothing to prevent or stop it, and the other Spears were unwilling to listen to reason due to their orders. What made this even more emotionally painful for Balsa to take in, was the fact that she had to witness Jiguro not only kill his comrades first hand, which is traumatic for any child, but she had to see him cry in silence and bear the pain alone, since only he can handle that responsibility of protecting her. That is soul crushing stuff right there, but all of this and more would also eventually steel Balsa's heart and strengthen her resolve to protect Chagum in the future, no matter what. Like Chagum when he was afraid that Balsa was hiding stuff about him, Balsa herself knew of what he was feeling since she also experienced similar feelings of her own. Other than revealing to her that her real father was killed, Jiguro was a man of silence. He would reveal nothing to her as he chose to bear everything on his own other than helping her live and survive, and would even strike her down in anger after she copied and studied her father's fighting style since he didn't want her to go through with this responsibility whatsoever. But due to how stubborn she was to learn and the potential she had to fight, he decided to finally give in and train her in the end, especially because he heard that the other Spears were going to target him at once and for Balsa to survive without him in the future, she would have to get stronger as soon as possible to fend for herself. This flashback was not only the best way for Balsa to open about her life to Chagum and apologize to him for everything wrong she's done with him, but it really does show the parallels of what Jiguro and Balsa have gone through as surrogate parents who aren't role models but willing to fight to protect the kid they travel with, and what Balsa and Chagum have gone through as kids who feel snubbed by their surrogate parent's emotional wariness and felt alone because of it. By doing this whole flashback however, Balsa also gives Chagum the one thing which Jiguro never gave her, the comfort and strength of emotions and care. Jiguro only gave Balsa the methods to fight with the spear and martial arts for the long run, but Balsa's openness also gives Chagum the love and affection that he needs to have not only the physical but mental strength too to not give up on her, on life and try to live on together as they try to find the answers to his survival, if possible. It was a really emotional, thought-provoking and impactful episode as a whole, and a really excellent and well-crafted backstory for Balsa that continues on to the next episode. Plus, some of the choreography and animation for the fight sequences between Jiguro and the Spears look absolutely breathtaking, especially when he fought his best friend Tagul underneath the night sky. |
animejasJan 22, 2021 8:06 AM
| Balsa's backstory is neat, and I like Jiguro. There is also nice parallel between her past and Chagum's current situation. |
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