English Dub Review: AYAKA: A Story of Bonds and Wounds “Forget the Past”

Overview:

Momoko tells Yukito about the disaster that changed everything on the islands.

Our Take:

Yukito learns about Aka’s and Haruaki’s time training under his father. They used to be really close and everyone was like family. That is, until it’s time to face off against the fire dragon. Aka and Haruaki do their best to fight it off and seal it away. However, they’re unable to do so and Makoto has to step in. This is when the island is evacuated and it’s where Makoto dies, which brings the show full circle.

It makes sense now as to why Aka and Haruaki don’t get along anymore. It also explains where their wounds came from. Most importantly, we know why Aka is obsessed with getting stronger. He thinks he could have prevented his master’s death if he were stronger. Now he wants to be as strong as possible to keep everyone else safe. He’s mentioned this before, but now it’s all coming together.

I feel bad for Aka and Haruaki. They used to be close, but now they can’t stand each other after their master’s passing. I also feel a little bad for Jingi. He was training under Makoto as well at the time, but he was just a kid. He says it’s better to forget the past, so that might explain why he drinks a lot.

Yukito starts to regain his childhood memories as well. Honestly, it’s about time. I always found it weird that it forgot everything since he was old enough to remember. I guess it could have been traumatic and he may have repressed the memories. Either way, he’s starting to remember his childhood friendship with Jingi. I feel like that will come into play moving forward and this show seems like it’s finally starting to move forward in general.