C&C - Samurai 7 - "The Divide" [1/12]

[Hypeathon]

OH, right! They show the quarrel at the END of the episode.

 

[Nobodyman]

Dangit. Katsu's actin' all Sasuke.

...I mena, moreso than usual.

 

[Megumi]

Well, I guess that the flashback summed up the last episode pretty well for me so no need to watch it I guess. \O/

 

[RagnarokSM]

Man, I've missed like, the last 4 or 5 new eps of this. I just can't stay up man. But it sounds like this show is pretty damn good, so thats good to hear.

 

[vegeta95748]

What with Katsu running away, Sasuke trying to kill himself, and the band from Sym-bionic Titan, i guess you can call this emo night on Toonami.

This episode was enjoyable. It featured more plot than action, and that's ok with me as long as the story advances, which it did. I also enjoyed how the farmers didn't immediately think of Ukyo is being kind and generous, and realized that their situation won't change no matter what.

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this was a pretty good episode. Katsushiro forcing that kiss on Kirara was a bit surprising, mainly because I thought that their first kiss would result in a more positive manner. Ukyo using his power to manipulate every side of the conflict was kind of expected, but it was nice that the villagers weren't fooled at least and knew that their situation wouldn't change regardless of who is the emperor is. I wasn't expecting Rikichi to meet up with his wife this soon. I was surprised that he handled the knowledge of what happened to her that well, but I imagine that he was just more relieved to see her again than anything else.

After I saw the whole conflict that led to Kiara slapping Katsushiro, I have to admit that I think he deserved it. Kambei isn't blameless in this situation, but I think that Katsushiro's emotions got the better of him. Overall, it was a pretty good episode. There wasn't much action, but it progressed the storyline in a pretty engaging manner. I hope that next week's episode will be engaging to watch too.

 

[lostrune]

I wasn't expecting Rikichi to meet up with his wife this soon. I was surprised that he handled the knowledge of what happened to her that well,

No he's not and will not.

Here's what should really happen:

OK, this may get long-winded, but here goes.........

Yeah yeah, Stockholm Syndrome and all that, but I don't think Rikichi should take Sanae back as his wife. Wait, wait, hear me out.

As any jilted spouse eventually realizes, it's not about whether she still loves him or not (she probably still does somewhat), but rather it's about commitment. Anybody could feel committed, but it's how strong that commitment is. For instance, don't ya think Elin Nordegren didn't ask Tiger Woods the same thing? Of course they still love each other, but she now knows he is not as strongly committed as she is.

Now, Rikichi has to ask himself the same question: is Sanae as strongly committed as he is? We already know that she is willing to mourn the death of her Emperor for the rest of her life - that's a high peak of commitment. Rikichi has to ask: he is willing to risk his life to gather the 7 Samurai, take up arms against the bandits, and go to the Capital despite injured and fight for her........... yet if he dies now or at anytime, is Sanae willing to do the same thing and mourn his death for the rest of her life?

Answer is, unfortunately, I don't think so. Because y'see, he has already died to her once before, and she did not show the same commitment: when she was kidnapped by the Emperor and for all she knew then, they will never see each other ever again, so he might as well had died to her right there. But did she "mourn" him for the rest of her life? Y'know the old saying right - "You may take my body, but you will never take my heart!" Just because she gave up her body to the Emperor in order to save her village does not mean she also has to give up her heart. But after only several months, she did just that seemingly so smoothily, giving up her heart so soon. Despite knowing Rikichi much longer and even willing to marry him, her "mourning" of him didn't even last that long - and to someone she knew for only several months, who kidnapped her in the first place and whose actions threatened the lives of her husband and village.

That undoubtedly shows that her commitment to Rikichi isn't that strong to begin with, that she is so comfortably broken - certainly not as strong as her commitment to the Emperor, which can't break as easily. Rikichi has now seen how strong her commitment can be (to the Emperor), but now he also knows that he would never attain the same peak of commitment from Sanae towards him, because she already gave him up once before. It's tough to compete against an ideal --the standard-- that she has attained with the Emperor.

So Rikichi should definitely give Sanae up and find another woman who would be as strongly committed as he is. Now now, that doesn't mean he should leave her in her current state --he definitely should help her condition get better-- that is just the humane thing to do. But her marriage is over. Going back again to Tiger Woods, one could argue this was much worse - at least Tiger didn't say he loved those other women; he still loves Elin; yet that's enough to end their marriage. Stockholm broken notwithstanding, Sanae went much further than that, boldly proclaiming her love for her Emperor and then plan to mourn his death for her whole life, regardless of Rikichi. (Yes yes, a child was involved too, and that likely affected her feelings as well, but if she will have a child with Rikichi, would she feel the same thing, who knows...........)

And that's that, IMHO.

 

[Gold Guy]

This was a more melancholy episode than usual, but I liked it. Katsu is a whiny loser, though. I'm glad that Kambei hit him, and I OLed when Kirara slapped him.