Kemono no Souja Erin 7

I mentioned Kemono no Souja Erin before. The series took a sharp left turn as a catastrophe destroys little Erin's somewhat idyllic life. I kept expecting everything to work out but good story telling requires that sometimes there is no happy outcome. The sad thing is Erin's mother, Soyon, had the power to save both of them, but Soyon chose to only save her daughter. I'm sure that Erin will be wandering why Soyon didn't save herself as well. It was a completely stunning turn of events.

Soyon was a member of the Mist People, a mysterious group who are rarely seen. After a chance encounter with the man who would become Erin's father, Soyon lived with him in his village. The village raised touda, a large lizard like creature which are used as steeds by the army's mounted units. Needless to say the touda are an important symbol of military power. After Erin's father died, her grandfather who also is the village elder, had Soyon stay because she had a special talent with the touda. However, nobody really trusted her because she was from the Mist People. So when a few of the precious touda suddenly die, suspicion naturally falls on Soyon, even though there is no evidence that she is the cause. In fact she is likely the only person could solve the mystery.

Soyon's punishment is a grim reminder that this is brutal medieval society. Soyon knows that that someone must be a punished otherwise the entire village would face retribution, and she so she accepts her fate. Unfortunately brave but foolish Erin shows up to save Soyon who is forced to take drastic action. The means by which she saves Erin demonstrates for the first time the true power the Mist People have over the touda, a power that could take down the mighty touda army without any effort at all.

This series has become very interesting indeed.