THE NIGHT BEYOND THE TRICORNERED WINDOW EPISODE 11 REVIEW — CONFRONTATION

Hello! Our hands join once again as I knock on your screen to talk about last week’s episode of The Night Beyond The Tricornered Window. Sure is tough to write the whole name, although I like how it rings in my ears. I’ll make sure to pick a series with a shorter name next season. That said, I still have no idea which one I’ll be reviewing. If you have any ideas or series you’d like to hear my opinions about, be sure to drop them in the comments.

As per usual, a brief summary. In the previous episode Resolve, Mikado finally found out that Sensei was his father and had a brief meltdown. We pick off from there and when you boil it down, the whole episode is him confronting his father about the damage he’s done and forcing him to face it instead of running away like he’s been doing the whole time. When he’s done with that, he’s off to meet Hiyakawa’s inner child trapped in the room in the basement. Wow, what an episode! I have to say this was my favorite one. There were some details I could foresee, some I couldn’t, and was pleasantly surprised. Looks like we’ll be closing Tricornered with some answers.

For example, I felt that Sensei clearly blamed Mikado for ruining their marriage but was told that he was just trying to force himself to forget because hashtag trauma. It was a fair opinion and made sense at the time. However, after this episode, I’m convinced that a part of him indeed resented Mikado. It doesn’t mean that he completely hated him, but he had trouble coexisting with his son and having to share her wife’s love and attention. He claimed he left because Mikado’s mom couldn’t handle both of their spiritual power.

However, the way I see it, since he was already an emotionally immature person who didn’t know a thing about adulting (like Hiyakawa and *coughs* me) she was the only person whom Sensei could find comfort in. And him leaving the family wasn’t completely a heroic sacrifice, Sensei was also terrified of the idea of his wife choosing someone else to protect and not him. Which is, again, parallel to Hiyakawa. I find it to be a nice touch, and together with Mikado’s words to his father in the second half, is a good reminder that parents aren’t solely parents, but they are their own people as well. And even if you’re family, you still have to put effort into maintaining a relationship.

Not sure if I ever mentioned it in my previous reviews, but I had the idea that instead of Hiyakawa redeeming himself by doing something heroic, he was going to be saved by Mikado instead. It was my little wish that the story would progress this way and even though I wanted it to happen, I still couldn’t believe the series really went that way. Plus, what I couldn’t foresee was Mukae’s compassion having a direct effect on Hiyakawa’s healing process. He looked like he was just stalling but their discussion in the episode was warm and looked like it helped Hiyakawa to put things into perspective.

Not going to lie, I found reassurance in Mukae’s words when he said Hiyakawa should’ve been saved because, in the end, he was only a kid. Nanami also stole my heart when he said being a child is not a sin. These men know what’s up. No wonder they are my beloved characters. We need more of these characters, especially in the shounen genre.

The last point I wanted to highlight is, of course, Mikado uncovering the truth about his dad being a murderer and the way he faces his conflicting emotions. I find it very hard to accept that we are creatures to be made and not ones that are. You know, when you ideally know how it should be but instilling that way of thinking is hard work and requires lots and lots of unlearning and introspection. Messy stuff. That’s why Mikado not succumbing to his father’s words on being cut from the same cloth and his son should carry on the hatred he’s been harboring, but not completely denying that it’s a part of him either was quite an intense moment. Very emotional, too.

He made sure his father knew he valued connections he himself built over something he didn’t have any control over, and what’s more, made that part strength of his. It was clear that nothing good could be built on all the hatred and Mikado had to destroy those ties for him to start ‘repairing’ them. Sensei properly faced his loss and how hollow leaving his family made him feel. Now, Mikado has one more person to reach out to. The childhood self Hiyakawa has always kept inside, which is left for the final episode. I also have to note that Nobunaga Shimazaki, VA of Mikado, has done an excellent job of bringing out those emotions to our otherwise calm and sweet protagonist.

Since Mikado’s mother became more central to the story in the recent episodes I’ve found myself wondering: did we ever get her name? Her friend refers to her as Mikado-chan but that’s her surname and I don’t like referring to women solely as someone’s ‘wife’ or ‘mom’, but didn’t have time to scan the earlier episodes as well. If it was ever mentioned but I missed it, please let me know in the comments!

What did you think about this episode? Did you get the answers to your questions related to Mikado and his father? Were you happy with this closure? How do you think Mikado will touch Hiyakawa’s inner child? Let me know, otherwise, it’s always a pleasure meeting you on a gloomy Monday! I wish you a pleasant week ahead and see you soon!