Land of Tanabata – Episode 9 “A Gift From Kasagi” Recap & Review

A Gift From Kasagi

Our recap of “Land of Tanabata” episode 9 begins with the police asking for the cooperation of villagers in order to find Yoriyuki, who has become a national hazard. In the meantime, Professor Marukami has become the new head of Marukami village.

Sachiko’s grandmother insists that Nanmaru spend the night in their mansion for his safety. While there, Sachiko insists that Nanmaru not wander outside since two members of ‘Within Reach’ have been killed.

Since both of them find it difficult to sleep, Sachiko offers Nanmaru the sake made by her grandmother, which helps her sleep. They discuss life after death, and Sachiko describes Beyond the Window as a kind of afterlife, but not quite. We still don’t know for sure yet.

The next day, Aki discovers that the villagers are going to assemble for a meeting that night. Meanwhile, a group of policemen comes into Sachiko’s house, but Nanmaru and Sachiko leave from the back of the house in time.

That night, the villagers assemble to discuss the matter at hand despite the curfew initiated by the police. They’re promptly confronted by them. Here, Masumoto and his forces also join the party looking for Yoriyuki. Nanmaru and Sachiko arrive at the meeting where Nanmaru asks the villagers to cooperate in stopping Yoriyuki and move beyond their twisted ideas of service and loyalty regardless of consequence. “An ability is ultimately a tool to serve as a means, not an end in itself,” he says.

Professor Marukami finally arrives in front of Emi, who promptly faints at seeing his distorted facial features. Marukami negotiates for peace between the two parties by agreeing to cooperate with them regarding Yoriyuki’s arrest. Emi wakes up, finally figuring out the latter end of the clue that Marukami had written in his letter.

The Tokyo party visits Professor Marukami’s lab upon his request the next day. Marukami and Emi explain the real meaning of Tanabata, which hadn’t meant the 7th day of July but seven sunsets that take place in the Marukami region during the festival. They also reveal that the bird in the Kasagi flag had initially represented a palm print similar to Yoriyuki’s.

The flag is revealed to be two palm prints facing opposite directions with a circle in between them. Using the miniature structure that Tagaya had made of Mount Marukami and the associated hills, Professor Marukami recreates the event of the sunset in the Marukami region using a lamp light.

What follows is an astonishing revelation that the Kasagi flag was made based on the design on the mountain tops during the sunset – a palm resembling Yoriyuki’s and a human palm facing opposite directions with a circle that is Mount Marukami in the center!

The Episode Review

Finally, we have an intriguing ending, however short it might have been. With the finale around the corner, the show is trying to tie up the loose ends with the Marukami villagers agreeing to cooperate with the police to arrest Yoriyuki. Whether they will follow through with their promise is another matter altogether.

Meanwhile, we finally have some revelation about the connection between the Marukami region and the festival that’s been celebrated for centuries. Through this, it’s certain that the show is trying to establish that the Marukami people and their powers have existed much earlier in history, which might become the basis of the next episode where we hope to find most of our answers that have been suspended throughout the course of the show.