English Dub Review: YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World “The Imperial City, Where The Wind Blows”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The trek through the desert is a hard one, but Amanda and Takuya eventually reach the Imperial City. They decide to split up in order to make it through unnoticed. Takuya almost gets captured but is saved by Eriko, who is in the city because she’s still after Ryuzoji. When Takuya goes to the Resistance hideout, he’s mistaken for a spy from the masked lady, who has been terrorizing Resistance bases.

Luckily, Kartz and Deo arrive in time to clear his name. Amanda gets there soon after, and the small group begins to plan their big fight. Later that night, Amanda can’t sleep and comes into Takuya’s room looking for some, er, comfort. The next day, they set out and enact their plan. Takuya leads a group in the sewers, but he’s caught by the masked woman, who turns out to be none other than his daughter, Yu-No!

Our Take:

Rest in peace, Kunkun. You will be missed. (Except not by Amanda, because she only cares about the Resistance.) The Imperial City, Where The Wind Blows is an eventful episode of YU-NO. Overall, it kept me entertained throughout its runtime, so let’s get into unpacking everything.

Even though I like Amanda a little bit more now, I still think she’s pretty selfish and awful. Her reaction to Kunkun’s death was understandably subdued, but funny nonetheless. Her actions in Takuya’s room, however, are kind of gross. He had the love of his life killed, their daughter was taken from him, and now she wants to sleep with him just because she might not get another chance in her lifetime? For the leader of a resistance movement, she’s definitely self-absorbed. There’s something interesting in the opening scenes where Amanda compares herself to Ailia that I wish the show had explored more. I want to know more about Amanda history. Maybe that would make me like her more. What happened in their lives for two sisters to take such opposite paths?

Eriko’s return was very unexpected. I assumed it would be someone we know in this world who rescued him, but nope, it’s yet another one of Takuya’s countless female co-stars. Her big speech is very confusing but essentially boils down to the fact that she discovered things called ‘causal spirals’ and now she’s trying to track down Ryuzoji and prevent him from causing any more damage. Who knows if she’ll end up helping the Resistance, but I guess it’s nice to be reminded of what happened in the first half of the show. And speaking of remembering, Takuya’s memories are all back! I feel like that was underplayed. He totally took it in stride, but it’s got to be affecting him heavily.

There’s a couple big reveals in this episode, including the fact that the Divine Emperor is supposedly the one sending the monsters to destroy things. Granted, this fact came from Amanda, who is used to painting the ruler in a negative light. But from all the wicked things we’ve seen them commit, it can’t really be questioned at this point. The only question is why? It paints Ailia’s sacrifice in a much more negative light. She died serving the one who sent her to her death. And then there’s the masked woman. I really did not see Yu-No’s reveal coming. Like, what? She was just a little kid less than a year ago, and now she’s some sneaky assassin? I think the last few episodes might’ve been more interesting if we’d followed her story instead of Takuya’s!

The dub this week had some wonderfully terrible lines from Takuya, but what else is new? “I love you, Papa.” Kunkun’s last words are a mixture of sweet/creepy. I’m not sure Takuya ever saw Kunkun as more than a family pet. “This is what that lizard wanted, Takuya.” Amanda’s indifference is hilarious. “You’re both fighting for Dela Grante, you know? The only difference is the size of your rack.” Takuya is as charming as ever. Amanda wanting to lose her virginity to him is the most unrealistic thing so far. “Look, I’ve been very busy with the Resistance, alright?” Gross, but still kind of a funny line. “I totally get it now, except that I don’t at all.” Takuya and I had the same reaction to Eriko’s speech.

The Imperial City, Where The Wind Blows did a good job of transitioning the show from the prison break to the storming of the Divine Emperor’s castle. A few parts could’ve been left out or shortened, like Eriko’s diatribe and Amanda and Takuya’s nighttime rendezvous. But there’s more to like than dislike, especially when it introduced a cliffhanger like that one!