Haigakura Episode 13 Review (Final) - The Sacred Grove
I have mixed feelings about the finale. On one hand, the story’s explanation about Ichiyo’s origins was creative and well-explained, but on the other hand, it ends at a hanging point. Regardless, from beginning to end, it was rather enjoyable despite the long hiatus and the rather confusing story.
I honestly think the budget was saved for the finale. Seeing the group traverse into the Sacred Grove was so mystical. The whole scenery was pretty! I liked that despite the setting being in fantasy land, the way the memories are being shown felt rather modern and futuristic with the hologram screens and what not.
The twist that it was the Dragon King who created the Celestial Realm by tricking Huuinboku, the guardian of the Sacred Grove, and that he is potentially the real villain of the story in all of this is crazy. I wonder how Heikan will take in all of this as he’s the biggest fan of him as he’s his father. Too bad the anime ends before Ichiyo and co can do something about it.
The origins of the Moon Egg was quite dark. What do you mean it’s formed when human corpses fallen from quicksand are accumulated? The fact that how so many people died and who threw all those bodies haven’t been answered, so it’s left for interpretation. One of the corpses was Ichiyo’s pregnant mother who somehow gave birth to him as she became one of those accumulated corpses. Because the fetus Ichiyo was struggling to live on, the Moon Egg inhabited his body, making him the Moon Egg’s vessel in a way. This was why Hakugo decided to raise him and why he’s special.
At least Ichiyo is right in that Tenko isn’t Souryu. He’s actually Kyoko, one of the Four Pillars. The fight between him and Ichiyo was rather sudden but it ended a bit too fast. It probably meant that either Kyoko has been powered down due to his long time being in slumber and being a servant, or he and Tenko are two different entities inhabiting one body… The fact that they never addressed this is also a gripe. The fight was cool though. I like that they played the opening song too—a sign that this is the final episode. Fortunately, Kyoko is able to be bound to Ichiyo again as Tenko, meaning that there could be a possibility for the other Four Pillars to be servants as well.
It’s too bad that the anime ends before they can confront Konton in the modern world. They didn’t even end the anime with them reuniting with Kaka and Ryu! Still, the usual “Shifu Harassment” never gets old, even as an ending.
Overall, this was an okay anime. From what I’ve researched, the anime actually starts in media res as Ichiyo and Tenko do some stuff in the manga before the first episode of the anime. Why do anime production staff f*ck around with the original source material? It makes it feel disrespected in a way—look at Your Forma and how it became a jumbled mess due to the production team taking out the contents of the first volume! The hiatus also affected the anime’s traction in a way. Do people even talk or think about this after that long hiatus? On top of that, the animation didn’t seem to have improved in that break period…
I think the character designs and the voice acting were the best part of the anime. They’re all so distinct and the voice cast is good. The only problem with the characters is that there are a lot, so it’s hard to keep track who’s who, but the name spoken and the names that are translated in English are different, so it’s hard to tell what name’s actually correct since this anime sort of gives off an ancient Chinese feel but the names are pronounced the Japanese way, like how some names are pronounced in The Apothecary Diaries.
It’s visually nice, but it’s also not pretty at times because the animation can be a little wonky at some angles, BUT I commend the studio for resuming the anime and having it see the end. There are anime with much worse production issues and I’m glad that Haigakura didn’t fully collapse.
To be honest, this isn’t an anime I’d recommend, but if you’re curious about a battle shoujo anime (this is a shoujo manga), then feel free to check it out! Let me know your thoughts on the anime as a whole!
