Land of Tanabata – Episode 10 Recap, Ending & Review

The Festival 

Our recap and review of “Land of Tanabata” episode 10 begins with Professor Murakami explaining the secrets behind Murakami Mountain and the abilities of the Murakami people.

The entire premise – which ‘Land of Tanabata’ dragged out for 10 episodes at a snail’s pace – is that centuries ago, extraterrestrial beings arrived in the Murakami region and mated with the human inhabitants, possibly with the intention of permanently settling in the area.

The people were then granted the vision that Sachiko often refers to as “nightmares” as a form of submission to these beings, while the ability known as “Within Reach” provided protection of the land from outsiders in case the beings returned.

For the mere humans, these beings became akin to gods. To direct their spaceship to Murakami Mountain, which serves as a makeshift landing platform for a safe descent, they perform the Tanabata festival with torches at night. Think of them as ancient air traffic controllers.

In the meantime, the emergency in Tokyo has been lifted, and the detective has resigned from his job. Professor Murakami decides to camp with some of the villagers and outsiders to stop Yoriyuki from eradicating Mount Murakami, which is believed to lift the “chains” that bind the people—the nightmares. How this is supposed to work, we have no clue, obviously.

By nightfall, we see Murakami and the others lighting a large bonfire. Nanmaru expresses that he feels something different when he’s with Sachiko, and Sachiko refers to a “river” that seems more like a galaxy between them. It’s unclear what they are referring to; can Sachiko and other Window Openers see the world differently? Many questions remain unanswered.

Shortly after, Masumoto and his armed team arrive at the mountain, believing that the people are trying to help Yoriyuki escape. When ordered to shoot, Yoriyuki, who’s disguised himself as one of the armed men, ends up killing the men along with Masumoto.

Yoriyuki now plans to engulf the entire mountain inside the “dimensional ball” that has been hovering over Mount Murakami all along. Sachiko wants to go with Yoriyuki to the world of their ancestors, as Yoriyuki believes the window might be a gateway linking them to another world. However, Nanmaru eventually convinces Sachiko to stay, and as Yoriyuki engulfs the mountain and himself into the dimensional ball, the rest of them escape to safety.

Some time later, the residents of Murakami have rebuilt the lost part of the mountain and re-established their traditional practice of the Tanabata festival. Nanmaru has founded an NGO that deals with flea markets where people can exchange items they no longer want. Emi has been living with Professor Murakami, as both of them have left their jobs at the university. The episode ends with Nanmaru meeting Sachiko at the Tanabata festival.

The Episode Review

Other than the entire series being a failed attempt at even an average adaptation, this episode answered as little as expected. The characters remain as dull as ever, the pacing couldn’t have been worse, and the mangaka’s philosophical deliberations were literally lost in adaptation.

It’s actually astonishing how visually stunning the show can be at times in terms of special effects when, holistically, we could have done without such a dispassionate adaptation, marked by horrible acting, a poor script, and the enormous number of loopholes the show has left us with.

This show is easily a pass. With this we have come to an end of our recap and review of “Land of Tanabata” episode 10.