Remember how last week I mentioned that the show is finally starting to live up to it’s name, considering how the episode had not a single trace of Hyakkimaru? Well, time to take it back! This week was all Hyakkimaru, and to be frank, I believe it was the best episode in the series yet. Other than his chance encounter with Daigo and Tahomaru, Hyakkimaru has had no encounter with anyone close who truly understood what kind of life he lived or what kind of person he is.
The doll man, who raised Hyakkimaru and taught him how to defend himself against the many evils that roamed this world found his foster son once again when he mercilessly slew a demon. The doll man sees this level of single-mindedness and ruthlessness as a departure from the humanity that Hyakki had previously shown when his body was, ironically, all artificial. There is no doubt a message that the show is trying to make about what we are – it’s not the flesh, the blood, our bones, our makeup that makes us human, but rather, how we act and what we do. This is evident in the sense that the series sees Hyakkimaru’s murder of humans as a dark turning point for his moral compass.
The doll man, who later in the episode refuses to name himself, believes that giving Hyakkimaru the replacement foot he desperately needs will only continue to submit him to the dark path he has set upon – a path that the doll man, sadly, believes he started him on to begin with. What I found interesting was the doll man’s question – why do you want your body back? It’s a question posed as if to say it the endeavor to retrieve his body didn’t make sense, or to imply that what he had was already enough. Hyakkimaru’s response was simple – “Because it’s mine.” The doll man acknowledges that wanting something that was taken from you back is an adequate reason, but it’s the impetus, the manner in which he is going about retrieving it that draws his concern. There is as much meaning to our destination as there is in our journey – an extrapolation from the adage “The ends justify the means.”
There is an interesting juxtaposition occurring with Hyakkimaru’s brother, Tahomaru. Tahomaru, despite being physically human, has become obsessed and driven with destroying the demons that threaten his home. He has carried this out in such a cruel way that even his very retainers remarked they did not approve, which is stepping pretty far out of line for retainers to royalty. So, what’s the common thread in this juxtaposition?
They’re both in pursuit, obsessed with a goal of protecting something to the point they rarely consider the means – for Hyakkimaru, it’s the goal of protecting his physical body from demons and regaining his humanity even if it means tireless bloodshed, for Tahomaru, it’s the goal of protecting his country, even if that means the bloodshed of his own brother to protect it. There’s a bigger point to consider about what we lose on our way to get what we want.
Hyakkimaru was also able to give the doll man something to live for – since mentally losing his son to the samurai very early on, he has been “dead” – drifting about giving the dead solace with artificial body parts. Seeing Hyakkimaru alive and well, having even met his true family has given him reason to live. Calling the doll man “mom” was simultaneously hilarious and endearingly heartwarming – the cathartic release he no doubt needed after tirelessly, thanklessly tolling every day.
All in all, probably the most remarkable episode the series has had thus far.
