Kurumi’s arc has finally started in episode 9 of Date a Live IV. Looking back to the first season, she appeared as a villain, which made her the worst spirit. She even tried to devour Shido, and she is the only spirit who killed people and manifested a Spacequake intentionally. However, she is also the most mysterious among them because despite committing many crimes in the past, she was the one who helped Shido save Tohka and Miku in the second season. Not only that but she also helped Origami and Shido change the history in season 3. Despite being a villain, Kurumi is always the one who comes to Shido’s rescue whenever he is in a pinch. Because of these events, I can confidently say that many people wondered what her real goal in the series is, me included. Finally, it was revealed in this episode that Kurumi’s goal is to go back to the exact time when the “Spirit of Origin” first appeared, in order to kill it or to make it never appear on Earth.
Even though Kurumi needs to devour Shido to obtain the spirit powers needed to defeat the “Spirit of Origin”, she is still open to Shido sealing her spirit power, which made me wonder if she has another goal in mind, since sealing her power also means that she cannot fight the “Spirit of Origin” at all. With this, Kurumi proposed to Shido that if she falls for him first, he will seal her power. However, if Shido is the one who falls for her first, she will devour him. Though while this is happening, Ellen, Artemisia, and the newest antagonist, Nibeelcole are fighting Kurumi’s clones and Mana up in the air. Isaac sent the three to assassinate Shido to make the spirits Inverse but Kurumi and Mana got in their way. It seems that Kurumi already knows about the DEM’s ambush on Shido, and she notified Mana about it. The question is how did she find out? My theory here is that in a different timeline, Shido’s assassination was successful, and the Kurumi in that timeline came back to the current timeline to notify her own self of what is going to happen.
The disaster was averted and finally, Shido and Kurumi’s competition began on the next day. So far, Kurumi is the most aggressive among the spirits, because she waited for Shido in front of his house so that they can go to school together. Following the revelation of the Inverse Tohka in the previous episode, it is safe to say that Kurumi is a human too, which means that she still has emotions and a soft side. Shido was able to prove it when he took Kurumi to a place where tons of cute cats gather, and it seems that Kurumi is totally into them. Though, Kurumi managed to balance the score by petting Shido and treating him like a cat. Surely, they ended up with a tie at that moment.
The episode ended with Shido submitting to Kurumi’s treatment. What will be the result of their battle? If you are curious, stay tuned to the anime. Episode 10 will air on June 10, 2022, and you can watch it on Crunchyroll. Lastly, if the beginning of Kurumi’s arc in episode 9 of Date a Live IV made you hyped, you can vote for the anime on our weekly poll.
Screenshots via Crunchyroll
© 2021 Koshi Tachibana, Tsunako/KADOKAWA/”Date A Live IV” Production Committee