Kaze no Stigma Episode 22 – Determination and Hesitation

The title certainly speaks of Ayano’s feelings throughout the episode. Filled with much hesitation that she can go against Kazuma, it took some prodding from Kirika and Catherine for her to realize that there’s a ‘bond’ between her and Kazuma. And with this little glimp of hope, she gains the determination to face him and bring him back. As Lapis also mentioned in this episode, “the fun is just about to begin…”

Screenshots

Summary

Ayano is still deep in thoughts on how she can possibly win against Tsuoi Rin who meant everything to Kazuma. Kazuma’s whereabouts is still unknown and Kirika suspects that he might still be on the hunt for Pandemonium. Ren who was greatly affected by the sudden change in his brother decides to spend some time alone in the Central Park and was followed by his friends Kanon and Tetsuya who worries about him. They chance upon Kazuma who defeats a player of the Pandemonium and ruthlessly beats him up even after the battle is over. Kazuma didn’t welcome Ren’s presence and even warns him not to interfere with his plans. Sensing how dangerous the situation is, Tetsuya and Kanon drag Ren out of the park to distance him away from the bloodlust Kazuma.

Kirika finds out about the incident from Ren and notices some change in the scheme of things. The table seems to have turned that the player himself challenged Kazuma to the fight whereas he used to hunt down seed players in the midst of their duels. As much as the police want to interrogate Kazuma’s victim, they could not afford to do so given his critical condition. Seeing how much damage Kazuma’s rampage has caused, Ren gains full determination to put an end to this no matter what. Ren knows well the feeling of losing someone dear to him, and how unforgivable it is for having that certain someone used simply for the selfish gains of other people. But as he learned from that incident with Ayumi, confining himself in this painful past is simply futile. Ren swears that he won’t give up until he brings Kazuma back, no matter how difficult it would be to free him from the strong memories of Tsuoi Rin which entraps him at this point.

With the uncanny snooping abilities of Yukari, it’s not surprising how she was able to find out what happened to Nanase. She stumbles upon a web site with the message from Pandemonium regarding a gathering that will be held at midnight, and decides to do embark on a little adventure to help out Ayano in saving Nanase.

Ren’s unwavering determination brought Ayano into thinking that she should snap out of her pessimism but couldn’t gain the confidence she needs, believing that Kazuma is not at all interested with the “present”. It wasn’t until Catherine and Kirika enlightened her about being the valuable person to Kazuma at present that she finally realized the bond she shares with Kazuma. Kirika believes that only Ayano is capable of bringing back Kazuma, and assures her that she’s a great woman who’s at par with Tsuoi Rin.

Yukari arrives at the meeting place where seed players are gathered and was surprised to see Utsumi with Nanase, who seems to be under his control. The players were disgruntled to see the fourth class player “Grand Mage” instead of Vesalius, but Utsumi simply ignores them and imparts the message from Vesalius regarding the advent of Pandemonium at the Central Park on midnight the following day. In light of this event, a race will be held among all players and whoever gets to reach Pandemonium first will be given a gift of great powers. Yukari certainly won’t let this “big scoop” pass, and quickly informs Ayano about this. Curiosity kills the cat as they say, and Yukari finds herself in a sticky situation as her cover gets blown by Utsumi who recognizes her amongst the crowd. She quickly runs off to escape but Utsumi quickly catches up to her.

Ayano receives the message from Yukari and can’t believe how reckless she can be. Both Nanase and Yukari are now in the hands of their enemy and all Ayano can do is hope that they’re still safe. Catherine looks at the bright side of things and becomes thankful that they were able to get some big news regarding Pandemonium. Kirika however finds something fishy about this, since there’s no way the Pandemonium can ‘come down from the skies’ given that it’s long been there in the Central Park. Kazuma knows this well and most likely stayed in the park ever since Nanase vanished with Utsumi. Wernhard has also predicted Kazuma’s actions and sent that guy to fight Kazuma, telling him that there’s a big prize at stake when he gets to defeat him. Wernhard knows well that there’s no way the guy can defeat Kazuma, and simply made him play along this “game”.

Wernhard himself is making Kazuma sway in his palms as he knows well that Kazuma is waiting for the time when he’ll attack and set out his revenge. He played with Kazuma with his cards of plot and revenge, and now he has yet another trick up his sleeves with this new plan of his. Ayano is still filled with doubts but holds on to that hope that she means something to Kazuma. She gains the resolve to face Kazuma, to free him from his past and bring him back to the present. Ren, Kirika and Catherine were almost moved by Ayano’s words, until they find that she doesn’t really have much of a plan in mind in how to go about reaching this goal.

Kazuma is still observing the Pandemonium from the skies, anticipating the great event that’s going to come. Inside Pandemoniuim, Utsumi brings Yukari to where Vesalius is, and declares how he plans on going against him. Utsumi is fully confident that he can defeat Vesalius, the very person who bestowed him his powers. Yukari finds this chance to escape, but Lapis and Nanase prevents her from being able to do this. “The fun is just about to begin”, says Lapis, and both Vesalius and Utsumi readies to fight each other.

Thoughts

This episode might seem boring for some people since not much action happens, but I believe it’s normal for animes to go through this certain stage, where it sets the pace for the climactic events that’ll unfold in the coming episodes (last two episodes rather). I believe I already blurted out some spoiler information in my previous thoughts, with regards to these events being some game that Wernhard has plotted all along. And I wonder if Tsuoi Rin’s death, Kazuma’s revenge and the death of Arwin, are also part of all this “game” that he has. He seems to be the mastermind behind all this… the “creator” of this game whose origins is still unknown. I don’t think we’ll get to know those details in depth since it still hasn’t been revealed in the novel as well. But so long as they give it a decent ending, like how things ended in volume 5, I’m going to be fine with that :3

One [great (?)] thing I noticed as I watched this episode is how dramatic the anime’s portrayal of Ayano’s realization of her “bond” with Kazuma was. As much as I like this dramatic effect they added (because much of the scenes there wasn’t in the novel), it feels superficial to have seen this in the anime which is the very medium which took away the supposedly Kazuma x Ayano scenes that would have made Kirika’s claims more valid.

I can’t help but admire Yukari’s courage when she decided to head out to the seed players’ gathering. She might have not known what she’s going to get herself into, but I believe she was prepared for the worst to come. Yukari never seemed to have felt any bit of fear actually, hath the anime sticked to how it was portrayed in the novel. You can clearly see how she never became out of character and maintained her composure amidst the dangerous situation she’s in.

As was also mentioned in the novel, we’re not certain if Nanase is indeed “alright” in her current state. She’s a woman, and who knows if she has already been defiled by the pervert Utsumi, knowing well that it’s not impossible for him to do that. That issue was tackled well in the novel, which is all the more reason why Ayano is worried over Nanase and Yukari.

With the past episodes with Catherine, especially in this one, I think I’ve come to appreciate her presence in the show. Perhaps the reason why the animators decided to include her in this arc is because of the lack of excitement in this part of the series. Just to add a bit more ‘spice’ in the episode. I’m not questioning the animators’ decision in this one, because I found her antics with Ayano amusing nonetheless. But what I don’t understand is why they didn’t add the other stuff that should’ve made this episode more entertaining as it should have been.

Another ‘discontentment’ I have is the rather abrupt and curt encounter between Ren and Kazuma. Perhaps I’m only saying this because I read the novel, but the overall feel is really different…

And you know that when I express my discontent like this, it calls for yet another Deep Frying session :p
(Actually, I was planning to include the deep frying within my thoughts… but oh boy did it become too long for me to stick it into this post x__X)

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