Last week, we saw Kabane get caught in the middle of a quarrel between two potential love interests. For Episode 10 of Kemono Jihen, we get to revisit the storyline of Best-Boy Akira. Since Episode 4, when we first learned about Akira’s past, quite a bit has happened to the Kemonoists. Most notably, we’ve seen Shiki achieve a major goal by finding his mother and gaining a sister. Now, it’s Akira’s turn for character development yet again, so let’s take a look at the episode. As usual, spoilers below!
Akira mentioned in Episode 4 that he was a twin born to a mostly female village of yuki-onna. Since escaping from that village, he has been trying to find his brother. Right at the beginning of this week’s episode, we see the dangers of that village explained.
Since yuki-onoko (the male counterpart to yuki-onna), are only born every 100 years, the twins are considered a very precious resource. The village women pamper them and see to their every need. A few flashback scenes make it clear that these boys are crucial to the survival of the village.
If I had to guess, based on the fact that the boys’ father is locked up and kept in a miserable state, I’d say the twins are needed to be the main method for repopulating the village. Naturally, Akira and his twin brother, Yui, did not wish to live this fate, so they escaped from the village.
After revealing the backstory of the two ice brothers, we see Akira and Yui finally reunited after their escape. However, something is clearly amiss. Yui flippantly freezes a human that was annoying him on the street. He doesn’t seem to show any care or love towards Akira. He also refuses to eat a delicious-looking crepe Akira buys for him, even though Akira said they made a promise they would eat them together.
Something else that is even more strange is Yui’s ability to create ice anywhere. He seems to be able to pull water from anything and form it into ice easily. As soon as I saw this, I was hoping Yui would show Akira how to master this technique. However, Yui has other plans. He locks Akira up, but we don’t realize the extent of the problem until Inugami, Kabane, and Shiki arrive at the castle. There they are met by a dangerous reality.
Yui has been given a Nullstone, a treasure associated with yuki-onna and their ability to withstand cold. It seems that this may be the source of Yui’s strong powers. Inugami reveals that this stone was created to bring about death and is something in the same vein as Kabane’s Lifestone. Using the power of this stone, Yui deals with the Kemonoists.
At the end of Episode 10 of Kemono Jihen, it is certain that only Akira will be able to solve this mess. And to do that, he will have to do some quick thinking and take action. That means we can expect a strong growth in his character for next week’s episode.
Catch up on Kemono Jihen on Funimation before next Sunday’s episode!
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Images taken from Funimation stream.