The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window

Episode 7

As a manga reader, I find it interesting that each episode of The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window has a specific theme. Presumably it's because they're trying to cram the entire ten volume series into twelve episodes and theming episodes is an expedient way to do that, and all of the themes thus far are present in the source material – just handled with a touch more subtlety. But this week's magic word (“saving”) is one that really dives into the heart of the story as it more fully brings out the theme that's been lurking in the background: the idea that everyone wants to be saved.

Prior to this week, we saw that in both Hiyakawa's and Mikado's pasts. Mikado's dad made the selfless decision to forego his own salvation in favor of allowing his son to stay with the one woman who can make the world beyond go quiet for a while, and Hiyakawa's dream of being saved from the cult came true, albeit in a way that killed a lot of people. Mikado and Hiyakawa's work could even be termed the work of saving people from the things that haunt them. That many of those things were caused by Erika is what makes this episode interesting, because previously it didn't seem to occur to either of the psychic men that someone perhaps ought to save Erika. (Sakaki's been doing his level best, but for a guy with no supernatural powers, it's an uphill battle.) Mukae really points that out towards the end of this episode when he tells Erika that she can talk to him anytime, because she's a child and adults ought to have been looking after her all this time. If none of the adults currently in her life are going to fill that role, then Mukae will be the one to step up and do it.

While we can't really fault Sakaki for not being Erika's true guardian because he's in a sticky position as her paid bodyguard, it's worth noting that Hanzawa didn't immediately make the offer or that it never seemed to occur to Mikado. In Mikado's case, he hasn't ever really seemed to see himself as the “adult” to Erika's “child;” if anything, even when he was tutoring her and was reminded of the difference in their ages, he's always acted as if they were age-mates. Hanzawa is presumably still reeling over what she did to his wife and that she's behind the many cases he's been investigating, but his wife did ask Erika if she was okay at several times during and after the curse removal. It doesn't necessarily mean that she's a nicer person than her husband, but it may make her one of the only other people to see that Erika is a child in an untenable position. Most of the rest of the cast can't look beyond the terrible things she's done; even Mikado isn't sure that he can or should save Erika when she's poisoned by her own power. And yes, Erika does contradict herself a little, because she did curse that classmate all on her own without anyone telling her that she had to. But if she wants to be saved and she can be saved, shouldn't she be?

Hanzawa might say that Mikado can try, but some people are just too far gone. He doesn't specifically mention Hiyakawa when he tells Mikado that not everyone can be rescued, but it would make sense if he was thinking of him. Hiyakawa has been physically rescued from the cult, but as his encounter with a demon of his childhood shows, a piece of him is still trapped in that building, the people who imprisoned him there still alive and holding him captive. He sees Mikado as his savior (and apparently his boyfriend), but can Mikado rescue him from himself? Or is Hiyakawa one of those lost causes that Hanzawa was talking about? Erika may be young enough to rescue, but for Hiyakawa, it may already be too late.

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