English Dub Review: Katana Maidens: Toji no Miko “Family Scene”

Take me to the mobscene.

Overview (Possible Spoilers Below)

The episode begins when Mai hears news about how several Toji students are systematically being forced to transfer out of their academies by their parents due to safety concerns. When you think about it, this actually makes sense because realistically, would you want your kids partaking in a school where they’re required by the government to put their lives on the line against otherworldly monsters? Given that these Toji’s are still underaged by teen standards, I can understand that it’s up to the parents to let their kids be part of these schools regardless of what they’re teaching, but even Charles Xavier gave his Mutant students a choice to be X-Men. Consequently, this also affects one of our main protagonists as Mai’s own father expresses his concerns by also wanting to have her transferred out of Minoseki, to which Mai finds objectionable. We do get scenes throughout the episode where we learn that aside from being born into a rich family, Mai also has two sisters who look up to her and establish Mai as more of a parental figure to them compared to their own parents who rarely come home or do anything with their own kids due to business obligations.

The next day, Mai’s father takes her to a lab his company is funding, there Dr. Friedman and Erin’s parents are researching ways to use noro as a power source. Erin is also present and confides in Mai that her father is most likely funding the research to find safe solutions to neutralize noro so Mai wouldn’t have to risk her life as a Toji anymore, at least that’s what Erin believes compared to Mai. And despite the concerns of Noro’s sentience, Erin is ok with this as her Grandfather would’ve been out of a job if Mai’s Dad didn’t employ him or her family. Meanwhile, the mysterious hooded-Toji assists other Toji in fighting a random Aradama which shows that whoever it is, isn’t an uncaring monster despite whatever unknown goals she could possibly have. Upon viewing a recording, Kanami believes the mysterious Toji is one of Yukari’s royal guards, Maki due to her fighting style, but this investigation is mainly kept secret as they believe all this to be an “inside job”.

When we cut back to the lab where Mai and her Dad just happens to be at, it ends up being under attack when the very-same hooded-noro thief arrives and steals the lab’s noro supply, and manages to escape despite Mai and Erin’s efforts to stop her. We do get another scene near the end with the hooded Toji that’s easy to put the pieces together regarding who she’s aligned with, especially when you know who’s also been tampering with Noro since the previous episode. Upon seeing Mai’s determination to fight in combination with Dr. Friedman’s encouraging words, Mai’s father decides to change his mind and allow Mai to remain as a Toji which itself is a touching scene, and ends on a lighthearted note when the next day, her parents decide to join them for Breakfast which is something they rarely do.

Our Take

While most of the protagonists had very little screentime, this entire episode was devoted to Mai, but it’s where this episode shined for me the most as it delved into the personal family conflict without going overboard with the drama, in combination with great character moments for Mai, Erin and their respective families. The stuff Mai goes through is at some level, very relatable and isn’t far from reality when you hear stories about neglectful workaholic, parents and certainly young people who shoulder specific adult responsibilities when nobody else will in regards to unsupervised kids.

While the family dynamics of both Mai & Erin’s families were thematically relevant to the episode, We’re still left with the mystery on whoever the hell this hooded Toji is other than her possible ties with someone who is pretty damn obvious to the audience since episode 13, but lets hope they’ll further touch upon that next week.