Angolmois – Episode 7: Kanatanoki - [Summary/Review]
By: v.o.lynn
Summary
Princess Teruhi finally catches up to the action on the hill, to be greeted by her great-grandfather, the Emperor. As it turns out, Teruhi’s father was given the Emperor’s Granddaughter to be his wife, and her lineage singled her out as different in Sou’s household.
The Emperor tasks Kuchii and Teruhi with calling the Toibari to the protection of the people of Sasu and the Captial.On the edge of the Toibari village, the Mongols float to a small inlet shore in longboats, following what appear to be a small boat of unarmed female villagers. Instead, it’s a trap! The elite Toibarai were laying in wait to cut off the intruders. (There are no survivors.)
The leader of the Toibarai, Nagamine, meets with Kuchii and Teruhashi shortly afterwords. After thoroughly reading the letter from the emperor, he agrees to assist with the protection of Sasu and the people of the capital.The remaining survivors of Sasu and the capital are invited to Kanatanoki, the Toibarai stronghold. It has a mini village, a wide variety of army supplies, and has a formidable wall all the way around. It’s also on a mountaintop, literally giving them the higher ground if they were to be attacked directly.
Review
Kuchii is starting to put together how the Mongol army works. Yet again, the force attacking the Toibarai are armed similarly to the Mongol and Goryeo forces, but the clothing is different, and some of the arrows were poison-tipped. They are all trained just slightly differently, but each new force brings with them a new, hidden danger.
Watching the exile spy Amushi get along with the Toibarai villager, Sana, was really my favorite part of this episode. There aren’t a lot of opportunities in war for a kid just to be a kid, so watching the two of them enjoy the lull between fight scenes is really a peaceful moment in what feels like a tense story arc. So much of the series is about the actions of the Mongols – everything that the Japanese forces do are, to some end, defending.
Although the emperor has called the Toibarai to war, Sou’s clan is expected to essentially stay out of the conflict unless they are called upon. Kuchii and the men will likely join them in the action going forward, especially as the wall is really far around: it would be difficult to keep it protected 100% of the time. Additionally, Obusuma seems to be a spy from the Mongol army, which can only mean terrible things to come.