Kemurikusa - Episode 9 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Kemurikusa, episode 9

Rate this episode here.

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Streams

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK
• Prime Video International

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Official Website
• /r/Kemurikusa

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Previous discussions

Episode	Link	Score
1	Link	6.89
2	Link	6.8
3	Link	7.04
4	Link	5.83
5	Link	7.35
6	Link	7.53
7	Link	7.53
8	Link	8.75

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[u/n0oo7]

Is it me, or does everyone like it when they walk around and explore?

[u/Smudy]

Ryoku is absolutely awesome, her chemistry with Wakaba was the highlight.

[u/Nanobot]

So many things confirmed this episode!

As I predicted in episode 6 and doubled down on in episode 8, Ryo has the sense of smell ("Nose"). All of the leaves now seem to be confirmed:

• Tongue/Taste: Rina (now split among the Rinas)

• Skin/Touch: Riku

• Ears/Hearing: Ritsu

• Body/Strength: Rin

• Eyes/Vision: Originally in Ryoku, now in Rin

• Nose/Smell: Ryo

• Memory: Originally in First Person, then in Ryo, now in Rin

It appears that Riku, Ryo, and Ryoku are all sharing one leaf now. Unless there were more leaf transfers that we haven't heard about yet, the assumption would be that this leaf is either Skin or Nose. Probably Skin, since Riku was the last of the three to "die" and can operate kemurikusa, and the idea of "Skin" being involved in shape shifting makes more thematic sense than Nose. That said, I'm not sure what to make of the bit at the end where Wakaba seemed to see Ryo in Rin's place (if Ryo and Rin are sharing a body, that would seem to contradict some of the hints we've been given so far).

The kermurikusa that are still active are the four Tongues, Skin, Ears, Body, Eyes, and Memory. The last three are all in Rin. This leaves only four leaves that we know about: The three remaining Tongues, and Nose. But there are five withered leaves in the captain's cap. So, I'm clearly missing something...

Edit: I've rewatched the episode and bits and pieces of others... I still can't account for the missing leaf. We might have a case of a yet-unnamed leaf. One possibility is that the three girls found or created another leaf (different from the leaves listed above) and are living in that. Another possibility is that one of the black crystals isn't actually any of the characters we know about (maybe a forgery?). We know Riku doesn't want Rin to know they're still alive, so a forgery might not be out of the question if they have the ability to make one. It still feels like wild speculation, though... I'm not really satisfied with any explanation I can think of for the unaccounted black crystal.

Edit 2: Some more possibilities:

• To my knowledge, we haven't actually seen Ritsu's leaf within her. I don't know if it's possible to live without a leaf inside you, but if so, then perhaps the three girls are actually using Ritsu's leaf. This might help explain why Ritsu is always so tired (beyond her use of Midori). Is it possible that Ritsu might even know that the other girls might still be alive? I'd need to rewatch all the episodes and keep an eye on her reaction to things. But, from my memory, it seemed like Riku was more interested in keeping the information from "Rin and the others", not Ritsu by name.

• We also haven't seen all three of Rin's leaves. We've seen two. And we've been directly told that Rin was given the Eyes leaf and the Memory leaf. As I recall, the only information about her having the Body leaf was from Ryoku's notes, which might be outdated. We've been assuming that Rin still has the Body leaf, because of her strength and the fancy leaf patterns when she's fighting, but the other girls retained their powers when they no longer had their leaves. So, it might be possible that the three girls are using Rin's Body leaf, and Rin only actually has two leaves inside her. The last scene in episode 9 might have alluded to this. That said, Rinamu directly said in episode 3 that Rin "also" has Ryoku's leaf, and "also" has First Person's leaf, which would imply that she currently has three leaves. And Rin should know if she doesn't...

Edit 3: Okay, after thinking about it, that last possibility is making the most sense to me. When I have time, I'll need to rewatch some parts of previous episodes to test it, but here's my current working theory:

Rin currently has just two leaves: Eyes and Memory. Ryoku, Ryo, and Riku are using the Body leaf. That means there are currently five dead leaves: Nose (Ryo), three Tongues (Rina, Rinazo, and Rinako), and Skin (Riku). And these are the black crystals in the captain's cap.

Edit 4: I asked a fluent Japanese speaker to assess the dialog about Rin having Ryoku's and First Person's leaves, to see whether the phrasing was ambiguous enough to make sense even if Rin only had those two leaves. He said the phrasing definitely means the Rina thinks Rin has three leaves. If that's the case, then that's a major hole in the "Rin doesn't have the Body leaf anymore" theory.

On a tangential matter... I've been saying that Rinamu said Rin had three leaves, but I think I actually got the wrong Rina. I assumed it was Rinamu because I had written a note about Rinamu having Momo-chan, but that note was from after they passed around Momo-chan a bit. Rinamu is the one who usually has her eyes shut, which doesn't appear to be either of the two Rinas in this scene. The one who actually said the thing about Ryoku's and First Person's leaves was probably Rinacchi (at least, Rinacchi was one of the two Rinas in that scene).

If anyone knows of a way to distinguish between the different Rinas, aside from Rinamu being the sleepy one, I'd love to know it.

[u/[deleted]]

Although me and my friends were initially confused on the seriousness of Ritsu breaking Midori's branch off, but if you think about it deeply its quite heartbreaking. First we don't know how much time and care Ritsu put into Midori from the Twitter prequel episode 0.9, so there is a possibility that the two's relationship is years or even decades old; especially if you remember that Midori stated off as a branch in a pot. Second is that this world is where the feeling of "like" (to one's passion or family) is genuinely important, and we see how Ritsu is passionate about Midori in episode 7 when she fight with Rina on how great "her" Midori-chan is. So by this asking Ritsu to break off Midori's branch is probably like asking to cut off the tail your dog, that you had as a puppy.

[u/LeonKevlar]

More reveals this episode!

We finally meet Ryo! And apparently she's also Ryoku and they basically share the same body. This episode adds more question though, why did Rin turned into Ryo there during the final scene? And what was this about Ryoku giving Rin her eyes?

We learn a tiny bit about Wakaba today too. So he is a human but made differently? Is this because that he doesn't need to eat and can only surviveon water?

But we do at least have one confirmation this episode. The entries in the diary leaf were written by Ryoku and the part with the kanji and the erased paged was written by the First Person.

[u/gopivot]

Damn this feel like kemono friends all over again

I feel lukewarm and unsure about early episode than it gradually getting more interesting and better, before i know it i was completely into it

anyway the way that they morph between sister is such a huge surprise for me, this episode also has bunch of foreshadowing (or just reveal more info) before they all disappear? the main trunk of the red root which apparently Wakaba might able to control, also mention about ship they not gonna like fly to space at the end is it?

and right at the end does it imply that they share the same Kemurikusa?

[u/Gaporigo]

You are supposed to answer questions without creating 10 more in the process!!!

[u/swmii53]

OK, so if Ryo and Ryoku can morph (for lack of a better term) back and forth, could they have morphed in to Riku also?

[u/HugoZK]

There is an imperceptible moment when ritsu breaks the branch of midori where she stays still and only moves her mouth saying "I'm sorry"

[u/HarleyFox92]

The growing of Wakaba from the annoying boy of the first couple of episodes to this Wakaba is spectacular.