Angolmois – Episode 3 (Review)
By: v.o.lynn
Summary
With Sou Sukekuni and his son no longer in command of the Tsushima forces, the remaining soldiers beat a hasty retreat from the shore. Sou’s heir, Abirou Yajirou-dono, grumpily accepts the help of Kuchii Jinzaburou, our favorite exile donned in samurai armor. He leads a charge into the Mongol lines with two other exiles, Shirahashi and Hitari.
Teruhashi, completely ignoring her father’s command, comforts the wounded while ignoring Abirou’s insistence that she get to the capital (e.g., away from all the fighting).Upon Kuchii’s return, he solemnly shares an important but gruesome minor victory: he’s returned with the head of the fallen Sou Sukekuni and Umajiro-dono, which were held on pikes earlier in the episode as Mongol trophies.The townspeople lay the village leaders to rest, and automatically assume that everyone will go to the capital. The exiles, led by Kuchii, have other plans.
After a mostly one-sided discussion about war tactics with Teruhashi, Kuchii convinces as many of the Tsushima forces as possible to join him in a midnight raid on the Mongol camps, forcing them to choose between flight to the capital with Yajirou-dono, or staying behind and keeping the Mongol forces off-balance. Teruhashi, who didn’t want to go to the capital anyway, insists on joining the raiding party as well.The last few moments show a change of alliance and a spray of blood, which can only be bad news.
Review
This episode, everything is delightfully out of Abirou Yajiro’s hands as he’s completely in over his head and obviously shell-shocked by the loss of his adoptive father. With the sudden shift from “Huh, this war might not happen” to “OH MY GOSH, THE MONGOLS REALLY ARE HERE,” Abirou is a perfect representation of every person who has ignored a terrible warning and then watched it come true. 
With the options of staying to fight or going to the capital, Teruhashi’s choice to stay behind on the front lines speaks to her courage and fortitude, which makes her one of my favorite characters so far. When Abirou finally gives up trying to convince his sister to go with him to the capital, there's an uneasiness: we know that there are boats beyond boats on the water—but the number that joined the attack seems pretty light in comparison. Where are the rest of them?
We get a little more backstory on Kuchii this episode – he once had multiple wives, but only really loved one. Since his daughter and wife died in a plague while he was away, at this point nobody is waiting for him at home if he were to die in the next episode. He has nothing left to lose. Even his flirting interest with Teruhashi is pretty light at this point and completely above his station.
The episode as a whole is all about conflicted loyalties in the heat of battle: who do you trust? Who will survive? Who makes the right call? Who really knows what the heck they’re doing? Is the right choice “in that moment” the right choice for years to come? It doesn't give us the answer to these questions—just solace in knowing that we aren't the only ones who ask them.