Kurozuka 07: Tangled Visions

After their defeat at Haniwa, Kuro and the rebels next head off to Kagura Village in Tsuruga where, according to Saniwa, Kuromitsu is staying. Will Kuro finally meet the woman who seems to control his destiny? Or will they all stumble upon another trap?
EPISODE 07: Kagura Village
More Screencaps from Kurozuka 07
Kuro, Saniwa, Kuon, Rai and Karuta are driving through a desolate landscape of ruined buildings. In a flashback, it is revealed that Kuromitsu is in Kagura Village in Tsuruga. The village is located deep in the mountains and has been there since the time of the apocalypse. While going through a forest, Kuro suddenly gets another vision of his life with Kuromitsu. This time, they two of them are running through a burning village, being chased by red samurai. Kuro lets his guard down and a samurai manages to decapitate him.
Back in the present, Kuro and company find themselves at the entrance to Kagura Village. It turns out to be another underground camp hidden beneath a small hill. However, Kuro senses something wrong, putting Kuon and him on their guards. Once they enter and progress deeper into the tunnels, they finally come upon the villagers, all of whom are dead. The only survivor is Tomba, the artist who drew the painting in Sakafune Bar.
Tomba is too shocked to speak. Instead, he points to a mural he made, reavealing that the villagers were attacked by some sort of vine. The group decide to look around the village for more clues. Kuro feels his body growing weak and Kuon arrives at that moment to give him a small vial of human blood. After drinking the blood, Kuon finds himself back in the hall where Tomba is, still working on his mural. Meanwhile, Saniwa and Rai find more bodies, some of whom were close friends with Saniwa. The older woman reveals that she was born in Kagura Village and that because of the apocalypse, some of the humans in Kagura gained strange powers.
Back in the main hall, Kuro takes a closer look at Tomba's mural. To his surprise, he recognizes Kuromitsu's portrait amid the blobs of red and green. He gets another flashback of the burning village. Kuromitsu assures him that as long as he stayed with her, he would be alright. Later in the fight with the red samurai, Kuro manages to keep his head although he seems weakened afterwards. Kuromitsu comments that his body is not yet perfect. While she says this, Kuro has his back to her so he does not see her swing her sword, decapitating him. With this last vision, Kuro returns to reality and grabs Tomba, asking him whether he knows what Kuromitsu is. But instead of answering, Tomba just opens his mouth wide and out come vines. His body bursts into pieces as more vines come out, spreading all over the place.
Kuro escapes, meeting Kuon along the way. Kuon releases one shot, enough to stall the vine. Then, he, Kuro and Karuta meet up with Saniwa and Rai, heading towards the exit. They manage to get out alive, only to come face to face with the pink-haired lady who seems to control the vines and the turtle man. Saniwa identifies them as from the Red Emperor's Army. Kuro draws his sword, adopting his battle stance.

COMMENTS:

And still no Kuromitsu. But more than wondering where she is at the moment, I echo Kuro's question: What is Kuromitsu? Is she good? Is she evil? "Evil" and "good" being used loosely here, considering the circumstances. That vision that Kuro had of Kuromitsu's decapitating him was a shocker. That came out of nowhere. Was it a memory? If it was, did it actually happen? If it did, when? I can't identify the timeline. Obviously, it happened after Kuro and Kuromitsu's meeting. But did it occur before or after the Bakumatsu? I'm betting on it happening before the Bakumatsu.... Probably much closer to Kuro and Kuromitsu's meeting, considering her comment on how Kuro is still not "perfect."

* SPOILER*

If the decapitating thing is true, then I think I can understand now why in the manga, Kuro at one point worked for the Red Emperor's Army.

*END OF SPOILER*

That said, they really messed up with the plot order in the manga. Again, I don't mind. It's actually much clearer this way. Much easier to understand. But which also makes Kurozuka that much more of a generic story.

The one thing going for the show right now is the whole mysterious aura that surrounds Kuromitsu's person. Like, why is the Red Emperor's Army after her? It can't be just about immortality. By the looks of things, they already have that power. So then, what? And why is it only Kuromitsu they're truly after? They don't even seem to care about Kuro, except wanting to exterminate him. This is strange, considering that he, like Kuromitsu, is also a vampire, so theoretically he should have the same powers as she.