THE NIGHT BEYOND THE TRICORNERED WINDOW EPISODE 10 REVIEW — RESOLVE

Greetings, the good people of the blogosphere. How’s everyone holding up? Hopefully all good. I had two tasks to complete, one for 5th and the other for 6th, and for some reason I thought the 5th was a Monday, and not a Sunday. Along with mixing days, I forgot I was supposed to watch Tricornered and it suddenly dawned on me at 1 a.m.. When I’m finished with an episode I always draw blank as to what I should say about it, but once I get to it, I seem to get talkative. Let’s get to the review.

The episode picks up from where we left off previously: where Hiyakawa was having a meltdown because Mikado chose the unassuming passerby to save instead of him. He tries to save the guy by sending him to the Ophelia lady’s house, but for some reason, he ends up there himself. After being sent back because the lady didn’t want to see a gloomy face, he meets up with Mukae, Erika, and Sasaki to find Hiyakawa who’s been missing for the past three days. The most probable option is, of course, Sensei’s house and they devise a plan to finally face the guy and save the damsel in distress from the beast’s castle. I’d edit Mikado in Mario’s overalls if I had the skills, believe me.

Erika and Sasaki choose the worst timing ever to have an emotional conversation and we learn that Sasaki has unlocked a very useful skill in the last episode. Then, they suddenly remember they had a 4th member in the group. The glasses guy. Mikado confirms that Hiyakawa is involved in the ‘net’ Sensei’s put up in some way, and Erika actually brings up an important point. That they might end up at a point where they can no longer be of help to Hiyakawa and abandon him. In the end, there’s only so much you can do for a person.

Each week I form sentences that start with ‘my guess is that’ and probably say something different in every review, but hear me out. After watching the episode, my guess is that (lol) after parting with his family, Sensei learned about the research society and visited the place to check the rumored Scholar, Hiyakawa. Maybe he was specifically looking for a ‘savings box’. When they saw each other, there was some sort of “curse exchange” and that’s how both of them got a piece of each other, remained tied to all those years. If this is the case, I was right about mentioning familial bonds last week.

The exact words Hiyakawa told Mikado now are being said by Sensei to Hiyakawa when he’s being locked up.

That’s why Sensei says they are strongly tied, i.e. in their shared strong negative emotions towards family, or why Hiyakawa insists on hatred belonging to him. All their talk on killing/wanting the child was very confusing at first, but maybe it’s intentional since it feels like what each of them wants for themselves seem to bleed into the other’s consciousness through their bond.

If you’ve read my previous reviews, you should know I’ve been pondering on why Sensei has been killing unrelated people all this time but maybe he’s doing it just because. When Erika said his curses are chaotic and illogical, hence stronger, I feel like it’s an analogy for doing vile things to others just because you can. And since there’s no motive, purpose, weakness, or pattern behind it, there’s no way to reason with the villain. I tried to tie the cursing to his unfulfilled dream of a warm family and while I’m sure it plays a role, he’s probably just… a bad person.

I know my recent posts have been like Sensei conspiracy theory texts, but he’s such a central character that I desperately try to make sense of his placement in the narrative. But anyways, enough about him. Mikado’s Hiyakawa senses are tingling and he finally finds the resolve he was looking for. Our rescue team is back at Sensei’s house, and they all handle different tasks that are suitable to them; Mukae sweetly talking to the kid Hiyakawa, Sasaki and Erika combining their powers to get rid of the illusions and Mikado, finally facing his father.

I hardly think the series will resolve it, or give a proper answer but I’m very interested in the idea of forgiveness. Who can forgive who, under what kind of circumstances, whether there’s a no turning point or not, and how fiction handles it all.

The show can actually deliver good bits at times, and the general problem lies with how sporadic they are. I really liked the part where Hiyakawa and Sensei were sitting across from each other and the score subtly and nicely emphasized the eeriness of the atmosphere. But then you get blank moments like Mikado and his mother staring at each other, which could really use some background sound. I liked the pieces that played in the background in this episode and wish we could hear more.

This is all I had to say for this episode! If you have any other guesses on how things could unfold, or what do you think will Mikado do after finally meeting his father, let me know in the comments below. If not, meet me for another round of conspiracy theory TED talk next week and until then, I hope you stay safe. See you around!