Episode 13

Everyone's Reactions

Even though it's the finale, they even had help from the Kanze Noh Theater, and you can really feel the atmosphere of that stage through the screen. It’s so cool how Oniyasha dances to the same piece that Zeami danced in episode 1; I found myself wanting to compare the lyrics by Ikue Okada side-by-side. The contrast between Inuou’s solitary, unique dance and the traditional, inherited dance of Oniyasha is fascinating—they’re both Noh, but they have such different expressions. It’s set in the Muromachi period, yet it has movements that feel like classical ballet, which might make you want to point out how avant-garde it is, but with the piano music adding to it, the impact was truly overwhelming. The message of honoring tradition while connecting it to the present was perfectly voiced by the Shogun’s lines, making me feel like he was speaking for all of us. It wrapped up the finale beautifully.