Natsu no Arashi - Episode 10

After fluctuating between time travel and other, more light-hearted affairs, the last episode of Natsu no Arashi finally brought us our first real cliffhanger of the series, and without a scrap of the aforementioned time travel in sight.

With Kanako attacking Arashi to drain her of her "life force" (for want of a better phrase), and Hajime unable to do anything about it despite having his life saved by the show's infamous private detective (whose appearance turns out to be serendipitous in more ways than one), Arashi is left in a decidedly tight spot, unconscious and with her life seemingly fading fast. Hajime's only option is, with the help of said detective, to track down Kanako and somehow persuade her to bring Arashi back to life.


To achieve this, Hajime plans to kidnap and take hostage Kanako's "partner in crime" Yayoi, but his best intentions are soon tempered by the revelation that both Yayoi and Kanako know Arashi (and Kaya for that matter) from before their stint as ghosts, as they attended the same school back during World War II. This means that much of the episode is taken up with filling in this back-story through the eyes of Yayoi, allowing us to learn more about both her own and Kanako's character before their deaths - A past which it looks like Yayoi is inadvertently going to be revisiting in a decidedly unplanned fashion.

I have to admit I was expecting this particular story arc to be resolved (or close to it) this episode, but it appears that these goings-on are going to take a little longer to resolve. Not that this is a bad thing per se, as it finally gives Kanako and Yayoi some time in the spotlight beyond comic relief (with Kaya and Jun superbly taking their place at the end of this instalment) while also giving us the most focused continuing story line of the series so far. The climax to the episode (yes, that's right folks, looks like they've finally gotten a taste for cliffhangers in this series) opens up plenty of promise for episode eleven, meaning that I'm once again looking forward to the next instalment, although I do have to confess that Arashi's absence beyond her current comatose state does take something away from the overall "feel" of the series - I hadn't really even noticed quite how much of a likeable character she is until she disappears for a while. Anyhow, roll on episode eleven!