Episode 6 has a rather deceiving start to it, falling far short of the ominous end we are soon to encounter in episode 7. Despite its start however, there are a few things that make me think quite a bit about this episode.

Due to the observations Erin makes later, one cannot help but look back at the night patrol that Soyon did. Quite obviously, even before Erin deduced the truth about the flies, I already guessed that Soyon was up to something. Erin’s deduction later proves it to a huge extent – that Soyon killed the Kiba through disease. Why she did it was not revealed till later, and even then, it was a veiled informative comment to Erin.

Anyway I went back and took a look at what happened during the night patrol, which seems to confirm what I suspect as well, considering that the Touda is already motionless in the first screencap and the first fly that comes into the ponds in the second.
 

I hope I was not the only one who found the Touda funeral cry queasy and creepy. Add to that the fact that I never thought a shrill whistle would be their normal calling voice, and it unsettles me. I mean, after episode 1 and how the Touda were portrayed as fierce beasts throughout, you would expect a roar, not a shrill whistle.
 

I was wondering what all the glow on the Touda were, and it was explained almost instantly after that they were “washu”, probably a form of grub that fits on the dead, if not dead Touda. Apparently though they can still cause disease to a living Touda, likely if the Touda was already too weak and dying. Aside from that, the flies were not apparent until a short while later, and Soyon was seen wiping something off the dead Touda, which could be what I suspect to be used to kill them.
 

This scene proved that Soyon had either done something to the Touda or seen something and did not stop it from happening. But the first two screencaps regarding the Touda and the fly would imply that she did do something to them after all, instead of just being an observer. Erin sure is sharp indeed, something that we will probably see further developed as we go on in the series.
 

Saju and Chok sure having it going well, Saju X Chok in the future anyone? They do manage to come up with good kiddish comedy, and I like that in this show.
 

Symbolic throwing of the whistle into the fire. Soyon is giving up on her job because she has found out something that she does not want to tell others, though she does hint at it to Erin. Further, she is now “relieved”, showing that she too loved the Touda, but unlike Erin, was too far into taking care of them as a beastinarian to be able to give up without harm to herself. She was hoping that Erin would not take that route and this burning of the whistle was probably part of the plan to make Erin give up.
 

I am pretty sure there is more to this bracelet than we are made to think. I have no idea why, it is just a hunch.
 

Racial discrimination is nothing new, though it is the first time that it is pointed out to the viewer so blatantly in the series. Also I see possible fanservice shots in the DVD but I doubt it, considering that this is, after all, a show mainly for kids. Then again, there is no telling what Production I.G. might come up with. A nice touching last scene between mother and daughter as we head into the tragedy that is episode 7.

Related posts:

1. Kemono no Souja Erin 05 – Egg Thieves
2. Kemono no Souja Erin 07 – Mother’s Whistle
3. Kemono no Souja Erin 14 – Mist People
4. Kemono no Souja Erin 02
5. Kemono no Souja Erin 04 – Secret Within The Mist