After appearing to set things up nicely in several respects last time around, episode ten of Nabari no Ou actually doesn't deliver to quite the same action-packed degree as you might expect.While Raimei and Raikou's battle upon finally meeting again after all these years seemed likely to take centre stage, the actual fight itself was a rather brief one, with far more time committed to its fallout for both Raimei and, to a greater extent, her brother. We also learn a little more about the reasoning behind the killing of his entire clan, although this is more or less what has been alluded to already.Another point of focus for this episode is the continued pact between the ever-weakening Yoite and Rokujo, with the pair continuing to plot a way that will allow the latter to use the Shinrabanshou to make Yoite disappear.While the series is continuing in much the same vein I've been expecting, I can't quite put my finger on it but something felt slightly 'messy' about this episode. Perhaps it's the fact that so many of the major characters are keeping their secrets and emotions hidden from one another, but it's almost serving to make watching the show a little frustrating at times. Certainly, the tone seems to have been set regarding the action to dialogue ratio in recent episodes, a tone confirmed again here with the obvious flashpoints surrounding Ramei and her brother and Yoite and Thobari coming to very little in terms of any jaw-dropping action.Having said that, I have to commend the series for pulling no punches in this episode, with the aforementioned Raimei versus Raikou situation finished in a chillingly clinical fashion, and the episode ends in similarly bloody circumstances. There's nothing worse than major plot points coming to half-baked endings, and it seems that on this occasion at least this has been avoided here.Despite my reservations about the amount of important facts that we don't seem to know, this was another pretty solid episode to keep Nabari no Ou moving on its merry way. It seems that this series isn't going to be quite as all-out action-packed as I perhaps expected from some of its early skirmishes, but it still offers up an intriguing and well-thought out slice of ninja life in a contemporary setting.
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