Angolmois - Episode 2 (Review)
By: v.o.lynnIn the wake of the events from the first episode, Teruhashi invites Kuchii to a war meeting, and the battles begin.
(TW for this series: Going forward, there shall be blood, maiming, and battles. So, war stuff.)
Summary –
Taira no Tomomori’s ancestor Sou Sukekuni, leads the war council at Tsushima, describing prior victories he had over smaller invasions. Kuchii, having been pressured into joining by Teruhashi, sits amongst lords. The idea of the Mongols just skipping their island completely is brought up by Sou Sukekuni and his closest advisors, which everyone is thrilled to latch on to... but Kuchii finds to be unrealistic.
This gets Kuchii thrown out of his first war meeting.On the street, he chats with some of the villagers, and makes a tactile map of the island out of dust and rocks on the ground. It’s a sizable island, with skinny part where an inlet splits the land.
The murmuring of the townsfolk is interrupted by a Shogunate from Kyushu by the name of Shouni Kagesuke. As a former retainer of Kamakura, Shouni acknowledges Kuchii's fighting prowess and leadership: If Kuchii and the other warriors of Tsushima can hold out for seven days, Kagesuke intends to return with 2,000 troops to help hold off the Mongolian invasion.Sun sets as Teruhashi pleads Kuchii to not abandon the fight and pledge himself to her service. (He doesn’t refuse, per se, so victory goes to the princess.)The next day, Sou’s clan gathers and prepares for battle with the invading forces, nearly a thousand of them. Despite Terhuashi and Kuchii’s requests to join the battle, neither of them are allowed to: Teruhashi because of her rank, and Kuchii because Sou wants someone to protect the Princess if he should fall in battle.
And so, Sou rides into battle, lured into a trap of gunpowder and bodies, making his last stand.
Review –
Teruhashi’s resolve in relation to protecting her home and people stirs up old memories of a persimmon tree that Kuchii had planted with his mom, and swore to protect against at all costs. It’s clear that this is meant to be a redemption arc for Kuchii, but we may not get his history (or why he was exiled) until his buddy from Kyushu returns.Watching Kuchii’s observations about the Mongolian forces provides handy exposition and a telling observance from a skilled warrior. Kudos to the voice actor for Sou Sukekuni, Hidekatsu Shibata, whose grandiose rallying speech is a gathering of words that are slowly drawn, as though notching an arrow, and then released. Watching him shred the ancient scroll of his previous battle from the beginning of the episode is perfect symbolism: It's preparation to let go of any comfort that the island has had in small obstacles between clans, and instead a call to something greater – protecting their island against the foe that they never expected to see.
As a biopic series goes, Angolmois doesn’t go out of its way to knock you over the head with “HISTORY!!!”, choosing to focus on the character stories instead. Sou Sukekuni is a footnote in many retellings of this war with the Mongolian empire, but an important one: his sacrifice is consistently seen as heroic. It raises the question: Was it worth the fight to hold your ground, even at the cost of one’s own life?
The writers of Anglmois are kind to Sou – although they make it clear that he knows he’s likely going to die on the battlefield, they show him as drawn into a trap first, not simply slaughtered on the battlefield: His troops briefly try to make a tactical retreat, and fail to do so.It’s more human than some of the other accounts of the battle. Even so, he is shown battling until the last moment, an old warlord who would still be recognized by historians nearly 750 years later for a heroic defeat in a much longer invasion.