Geez! Oh Man! Sakura's
Not Good Enough?
Episode Eighteen is ALL about Sakura and Nozuchi the Aragami
that her family was responsible for vanquishing. At the beginning of the
episode we see the awakening of Nozuchi in a lake and the emergence of a
mysterious woman with long flowing hair and a mitama. She is floating in
the middle of the lake and then quietly sinks below the surface. Next we
see Sakura at her luxurious apartment, preparing a report for the President of
the United States and gleefully envisioning the mounds of money she is going
to make from turning over TAC information to the US.
She is distracted from her lovely thoughts by the
shattering sound of glass and she turns around to see that the picture frame
holding a picture of her mother and her when she was a child has become
cracked. She feels something calling to her, then she sees that the
family Talisman has returned and realizes that Nozuchi has returned as
well. She isn't the only one that feels the call of Nozuchi. At
the Kunikida's residence, Momiji is aware of it as well as Kusanagi who is
standing outside in the darkness.
The next morning at school, Momiji is remembering the
feeling from the night before and is wondering what it means when Sakura shows
up dressed for stardom and informs the class that she is quitting school to
become a pop idol. Before she can leave school she is confronted in the
hallway by Momiji and Kusanagi and they learn of her family history: the
Yamazaki family's responsibility for Nozuchi's defeat and the re-emergence of
the monster upon the birth of the Fujimiya twins. Her mother tried to
stop it, but was swallowed up... and Sakura just laughs derisively saying that
if her mother had been stronger like her, then she wouldn't have failed.
Sakura plans on defeating the Aragami and then pursuing her
dreams of stardom. But before she leaves, Sakura hands Momiji a stack of
photographs of herself not realizing that she has also given Momiji her
talisman. The story abruptly shifts to Sugishita who is bitterly
complaining about all the incident reports that keep piling up.
The TAC begin discussing what is happening, wondering why
the Aragami are killing other plants when they are in essence plants
themselves. Then they start worrying about what other countries will do
when they learn about what is happening in Japan. Momiji enters at this
point and tells them about Sakura's defection, and they all take off to her
apartment, hoping to catch her before she leaves.
Upon their arrival, they find her door has been ripped from
its hinges and also find that she has been leaking information to the
US. While they are investigating at her abandoned apartment, Sakura is
on her bike heading down the highway, thinking of Nozuchi. She reaches
for her Talisman and realizes it's missing. She turns around and heads
back to her apartment where Momiji finally gets around to showing the red
Talisman that she found to the TAC. As she holds it up, it begins to
glow and the mysterious woman shows up, demanding the Talisman. She
wounds Sugishita and Ryoko and then comes after Momiji but is blocked by
Kusanagi who arrives and stops her. The battle abruptly ends when both
the mysterious woman and Kusanagi are incapacitated by a wave of energy.
The woman disappears and Nozuchi appears in the river next to the
apartment.
Momiji goes down to the van to phone for backup and Sakura
arrives and asks Momiji if she has her Talisman. Before Momiji can
reply, Nozuchi swallows the van with Sakura and Momiji in it. Both of
them black out and Sakura dreams of her past. She remembers her mother,
the mysterious woman from earlier scenes, and how her mother went to fight
Nozuchi and was swallowed up trying to protect her daughter. She also
remembers her fear and loneliness, recalling the man who approached her about
her talent, recruiting her for her skills and taking her back to the US.
Once awake, Momiji tries to contact the others and makes
brief contact before the radio quits working. Her words of "we're
okay but everyone else in here is...." send Kusanagi into a panic and he
jumps into the water, planning on going in after her. Back inside
Nozuchi, Momiji and Sakura climb onto the roof of the van to try and find a
way to keep the Aragami monster from digesting them (-_-). Sakura's
charms aren't strong enough and she is ready to give up when Momiji tries to
encourage her to keep fighting for her mother.
Before Sakura can offer a response, Sakura's mother shows
up, begging for her daughter to use the Talisman. Sakura is torn.
She wants to kill Nozuchi, but she has lived her entire life with no other
thought than to avenge her mother, and if she kills Nozuchi, she will have to
kill her mother as well. At this point Kusanagi breaks through inside
Nozuchi and gets slapped around before climbing up onto the side of the van
and demanding that she take care of it, or he will do it.
After telling her mother goodbye, Sakura uses the Talisman
and destroys Nozuchi, but not before her mother thanks her for setting her
free. The story ends with Momiji back at school, brushing her hair and
turning in surprise when she spies Sakura behind her. Sakura tells her
that she's not leaving until she catches Susano-oh and kills the "little
brat", blaming him for her mother's death. Momiji asks her if she will
stay in the TAC, and Sakura begins to think about all the money she can make
selling the TAC data files to the US. She leaves singing the chant,
"Sakura is number one...."
