Episode 12 of Kemono Jihen picks up right where we left off last week. Akira is trapped in a cage while Nobimaru and Yui engage in a fight that may lead to their death. Can Akira stop them and prove himself to his brother? Let’s take a look (Spoilers below).
Just as Nobimaru is beginning to worry he is out of options in his fight against Yui, Kabane arrives. After some quick thinking, the two Kemono combine their powers in the coolest possible way. Nobimaru uses hie flames to set Kabane’s entire body on fire. Since he can quickly regenerate, Kabane manages to stay alive while burning through Yui defenses.
As he begins to lose the upper hand, Yui takes inspiration from this idea and coats himself in some ice armor. The two begin to ferociously battle it out. While they fight, Akira takes action. Stuck in the cage since the fight started, Akira hasn’t known what to do except to yell “no don’t fight” every so often. However, now he finally resolves to do something.
The constant clashing of ice and fire has created a large amount of mist in the area. Akira realizes that this mist contains water, and he can freeze it. Using this realization, he creates a huge ice boulder that he uses to smash the cage apart and escape.
Akira arrives at the scene of the battle just in time to stop Kabane from smashing the Nullstone and possibly hurting Yui. At this moment, Yui’s energy runs out. He has been feeding himself to the Nullstone this entire time in exchange for the power, and it has finally caught up with him.
Akira is driven to tears and refuses to let his brother die, so he tries to pry the Nullstone off his chest. As he does, Akira yells at Yui for taking on all this responsibility alone. Then, whether by some action of Yui’s or the will of the Nullstone, Yui’s memories flow out.
Akira sees what happened to Yui. The women turning against him, the escape from captivity, and the destruction of the village. In this moment, Akira comes to understand just how much Yui was protecting him from.
Driven by the desire to protect the person who always kept Akira going, Kabane does the only thing he can think of to help. He uses his Lifestone to counteract the effect of the Nullstone. In a blinding light, the stones’ powers merge, and Yui is finally freed.
After the resolution of the battle, the Kemonoists take Yui to the Kemono clinic to be healed. Once he is feeling better, Akira has a serious talk with Yui. Akira vents his frustrations to Yui, telling him that there is no need for one of them to bear trouble alone. They are twins, Akira reminds him, and they can share everything.
Moved by Akira’s determination and Kabane’s forgiveness, Yui resolves to stop trying to carry his deeds alone. He decides to accept Akira’s offer and treat him as an equal.
Now that the fighting is over, Kabane wants to find out any information he can about the Nullstone in case it is linked to his parents. Here, we discover what the name of this series, Kemono Jihen (“Monster Incidents”) refers to.
The Kemono Jihen (translated as “Kemono Incidents” in the subtitles) were the series of battles humans and Kemono fought over one thousand years ago. At that time, humans and Kemono were unable to peacefully coexist with each other, and war broke out.
Eventually, the fighting stops. Inugami and Yui don’t reveal the exact event that ended the war. However, it seems that only Kemono remember the war. Based on this, it seems the Kemono used some sort of method to force the humans to forget about them. As a result, they are able to live within human society today.
As part of the insurance that war would not break out again, some of the Kemono clans created powerful weapons in the form of Kemono Stones. These stones were kept safe for these past thousands of years and passed down through the most important families in each clan.
So what does this mean for Kabane and his Nullstone? Either he comes from a powerful family within a clan of Kemono, or his parents somehow stumbled upon this stone and gave it to him. This is the mystery that sits at the forefront of our minds as Episode 12, and this season, of Kemono Jihen, comes to a close.
I for one can’t wait to see what sort of adventures Kabane and the Kemonoists will be having next. Unfortunately, as of right now, there is no news about when the series may be getting more episodes. Hopefully, that news will come soon!
Check out Kemono Jihen on Funimation!
Official Site: TVアニメ『怪物事変』公式サイト (kemonojihen-anime.com)
©藍本松／集英社・「怪物事変」製作委員会
Images taken from Funimation stream.