Kusuriya no Hitorigoto – Episode 36 Review

「華瑞月」 (Ka Zuigetsu)
“Ka Zuigetsu”

As the saying goes, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”. Much as I hoped we’d get the full story and that Mao Mao would finally allow Jinshi to come clean with her, I suspected we’d only get a tease. Which sure enough, another breadcrumb got dropped, but the long awaited event was put off, yet again. It was entertaining watching Mao Mao’s reactions upon feeling up the family jewels, then trolling Jinshi about the “somewhat large frog” down there. I will say this, Mao Mao is at least self aware that there’s something big going on with Jinshi and admits as much to her willful blindness. It made for a fascinating character study to see the cognitive dissonance going on in her head.

As predicted, the dog rescues the pair in the nick of time. I do wonder what would’ve happened had the rescue been delayed a bit longer. Would Jinshi have backed off? He’s been more of a gentleman lately and less of the creep we saw in season 1, so I would hope so. Being trapped in a cave though, there’s no way Mao Mao could run from Jinshi if he tried to explain, even if he wasn’t on top of her. Regardless, it’s all just speculation, and Mao Mao is perfectly content to leave it at that, even if no one else is.

The dog’s role isn’t finished yet, its excellent nose power coming in handy to find the culprit using the smell of gunpowder (I’m assuming they somehow found and dug up the gun to get the gunpowder scent). As I foresaw last week, the gun does indeed seem to have come from the Western emissary that visited earlier. In fact, things start to come full circle, with Mao Mao’s hypothesis that the story about the escapee princess was referring to the guests, but instead of hooking up with a lover the real purpose was handing over the guns. Which begs the question, are the emissaries in it for the money or do they have a horse in this political game, eyeing to take control in the political instability that would follow in assassinating the crown prince?

The crown prince is, in fact Jinshi, who is apparently managing his double life as prince and hot eunuch with the mask, claiming that he has a terrible burn mark. It is true that memorable good looks like his are certainly not conducive to easy disguise. The huge importance of Jinshi’s role is becoming crystal clear (if it wasn’t already)- in the absence of male heirs from the emperor’s concubines Jinshi is, in fact, the next in line. An expectation hinted at by Gaoshun who wants Mao Mao to know the truth as much as Jinshi, to be able to fully use her as a “pawn” in the future.

This could suggest a darker explanation for the recent string of poisonings- namely that either Jinshi or someone in his faction is aiming to prevent the birth of a male heir so that Jinshi can ascend the throne. Jinshi is one calculating dude, but I don’t know that I could see him going that far, but perhaps someone in his camp would? From the desperation of Jinshi and Gaoshun to get Mao Mao in the loop as an ally in the near future, I would say that either way, whether by waiting for things to take their natural course or through string pulling behind the scenes, it’s judged as a high likelihood that Jinshi does get the throne and preparations are in the works even now. This lends an even greater intrigue to the matters at hand, quickly becoming more and more complex the deeper we get.

Speaking of behind the scenes, Gaoshun’s got a backstory too. Apparently he angered the empress and made to become a eunuch. It explains why he has a family and a whole different side, though a part of me is curious if that’s only a front and he willingly followed that path to serve as Jinshi’s support in ascending to the throne.

We almost get another confession time later on that night, but alas, Jinshi is foiled yet again by Mao Mao. Mao Mao actually apologizes for her jests, as does he for surprising her. Is the moon turning blue?? Well, it may not be turning blue, but Master Jinshi is the moon prince, the prince’s younger brother, his real name, Ka Zuigetsu. Which makes Jinshi’s act as the moon fairy during the embassy visit kind of ironic. I do give Jinshi credit for not trying to force his way in on her, instead attempting to lure her with a gift. (I think the man is starting to learn his way around cats). I love that instead of flowers, Jinshi presents Mao Mao with an Ox Bezoar. Her sure knows the way to her heart. Unfortunately, it has the opposite of the intended effect, derailing the whole conversation, which at this point will have to be left for another day. I feel kind of sorry for Jinshi, he’s really trying, but Mao Mao’s willfully blinding herself, even declaring “you’ll always be Master Jinshi to me”. Again, the question of the hour is- how much longer? Yeah, this is a running gag, but there’s such a thing as beating a dead horse. The events of today scream “it’s a matter of time”- but how much time?

We do get another glimmer of self awareness on Mao Mao’s part- she knows that human emotions are a mystery beyond her grasp, crediting it to the neglect she experienced as an infant raised in the busy red light district. This lends an extra dimension to Mao Mao- she’s not a blissfully unaware genius type who doesn’t care. She knows something’s missing, but doesn’t know what to do about it. Now, will she try to do something about it? Who knows. But that there’s an acknowledgement on her side that there’s something deeper both to Jinshi’s backstory and his feelings, something that she can’t understand, is some progress one way or the other. Time waits for no-one, and I don’t know how much longer Jinshi can wait before he explodes- something’s gotta give here.

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