Nabari no Ou - Episode 12

Perhaps its just that I got far too excited about it during its early episodes, but as time has gone on my enthusiasm has dampened somewhat towards Nabari no Ou, as it seems to have lost a little of that early spark.

Thankfully, episode twelve at least goes a little way to rescuing that feeling for me, with Raimei out of hospital and offering to help Miharu despite knowing that he's talking to Yoite and thus, to some extent, working for Kairoshuu. Indeed, that 'some extent' appears to become outright working for them, as he meets with the group's leader to offer his services.


After the last couple of episodes have given us at least some action for our troubles, this particular instalment was basically excitement free in this discipline, continuing this show's tradition for mixing more action-oriented episodes with action-free ones. On this particular occasion, the lack of fighting was actually quite welcome, as it allowed for some reasonably subtle focus on the relationships between certain characters. For starters, Raimei's relationship towards Rokujo continues to be rather interesting - Is it still her promised loyalty towards him that drives her, or is there a little more to it than that? Similarly, is her offer of help despite knowing that it may benefit Kairoshuu in any way due to her recent meetings with her brother?

Then, of course, we have Rokujo and Yoite's relationship, which is as hard to pin down as ever and again begs questions aplenty. Is Rokujo helping Yoite to save his friends, or Yoite himself? Is Yoite grateful for this but unable to say so, or is he really as cold-hearted as he appears? There's certainly an interesting dynamic between the pair, with plenty of space for further investigation.

As the series progresses, Rokujo's initial characterisation is looking to be an increasingly smart one. While he is rather prone to indulging in bouts of what I can only call 'Shinji Ikari disease' (i.e. either running away from his problems or deciding that the world would be better off without him), his skills when it comes to emotional manipulation and deception adds an extra layer to everything he does, particularly now he is getting far more focus as time goes on. This doubt surrounding his motives at all times leaves you watching closely for any signs that he's going to turn things around out of the blue, and to be honest I still don't have a clue as to whether that will happen or if I'm simply reading too much into things.

Either way, and despite it not quite matching my early expectations, Nabari no Ou does continue to have some real positives stored in the bank, and if it can keep things interesting as far as the concept of Nabari co-existing with the real world and some good characterisations go, then it still has the time and ability to dissuage some of my concerns.