This whole episode may seem confusing at first, but in the end it all becomes clear when we understand the reason behind Erin having these dreams of a fog and being unable to save her mother in the midst of it all.
Indeed, at the start, we are shown that, after the revelation that Lilan could never be released back in the wild, what would be the point of it all to raise her like a wild beast-lord? She starts hesitating and having thoughts of doing it all for nothing, and that is when her worries take over, in the form of her dreams.
It was quite obvious it was a dream, and yet she was dreaming in broad daylight while seemingly awake. It started to get a little confusing of course, but it did not go overboard and have Erin switch back a lot between reality and dream at least.
This memory of Jone and how Erin does not, in the end, decide to visit him, becomes important later.
Nukku and Mokku got owned big-time. After all Karisa’s claims are right. It does not do well for Erin who manages to overhear the story of Hikara however. The not-so-obvious information presented to the viewer here as well is the view of our Hell as their Hikara. Though Karisa only intended to scare Nukku and Mokku, it may have also unintentionally been the catalyst for Erin’s more complex dreams later in the episode.
There are times indeed when we have no grasp on what reality is, and there are many who still debate whether or not our dreams are “reality”, and whether or not we are all “dreaming”. Which one is real and which is not? It is never more hazy than the situation Erin was in during this episode, when she had no idea how she got to her room when she had passed out in the forest, and what with her dreams lately taking on a life of their own, she had no way to ascertain if, indeed, she had been dreaming that she was in the forest instead.
Just wanted to point out that I thought the moth was well-animated throughout the episode.
It seemed to be all done very dreamily, especially how Erin discovered the cemetery, and how the teacher’s explanation slowly faded out even as it remains poignant in the background relative to Erin’s thoughts. This further fuels her distress over Lilan being unable to leave Kazalm, and live like a wild beast-lord.
In the view of the “statues”, which seems to represent dead Touda, they are simply repeating what the main people in power are thinking. It is not so much a representation of the “dead Touda” as those in power who have decided that Soyon is the one who must die (in the terms of the “dead Touda” spirits, she must be sent to Hikara) to pay for her deeds. Of course, Erin falls further into such a misconception most likely because of the story she overheard from Karisa.
That must be one of Erin’s most prominent traits, and the lesson that the series tries to teach to kids as a whole – always put your best effort into what you believe in. This is the first encouragement Erin gets throughout her dream.
This becomes important for episode 28 as well, as the preview for it revealed all.
And finally she calls him Dad. Too bad it happens when Jone has come to the end of his life.
The truth behind her dreams – Erin had been allowing her worries to subconsciously creep up on her and thus interrupt her daily life in the form of dreams that she tries unsuccessfully to repress. Of course, Jone and the memory and image of her mother in her dreams helped her through the dream, and she gathers up the courage to do what it must take to live on even if it all seems pointless in the end.
This song that played was pretty good, but as one will know later, this is actually the second ED theme song for the series, and is thus not included in the OST for Erin.
And so the fog, and the reason behind the made-up story, is explained, along with everything else that had Erin confused in this episode. With that, I must state that, even if it is not so obvious, this was a recovery episode much like episodes 8 and 9 were after the death of Soyon. The next episode, as it so plainly shows, deals with the death of Jone, and Erin’s coping with his death. Though I heard about it long before this, I got the episode number mixed up.
At this point I should also say that I am actually left with just the last episode to finish off Erin, but I will likely keep blogging about it episodically at my own pace. If you kept up with my Twitter you would already know this.
Related posts:
Subscribe to the Deathseeker's RSS feed
Topspin on 
One Comment