So episode 6 picks up exactly where episode 5 left off. Nene went to visit Saya and was attacked by a monster. The creature design is hardly imaginative and looks like a cross between a centipede and a headless giant. It's big, it's mean, but it's design doesn't make it look imposing. So the monster chases Nene and Saya around the shrine. Saya runs to get her sword but before she can clean house Nene gets killed. How does she get killed. Her head gets eaten.
Morbid as it sounds the gruesomeness and suddenness of Nene's death gives Blood-C some bonus points. First of all the trope, "Anyone Can Die" now applies to this anime. Nene wasn't a main character but she still got a good deal of airtime as an extra and wham, she's dead in episode 6. From an artistic standpoint Nene's death was handled wonderfully. Episode 6 opens and you just know Saya is going to save her friend once she gets her hands on the sword. But she doesn't. As soon as Saya reaches the blade she hears a bloodcurdling crunching sound. Nene is already dead and the monster is just snacking. There was no lead-in, no foreshadowing, it just happened. After Saya kills the monster she totally freaks out. She freaks out not just because Nene is dead but because of how horribly she dies. By the end of the battle Saya is sitting in a pool of blood just speechless as she looks down at Nene's headless body. Damn. This isn't some cliche shonen for the kids. This is CLAMP.
In the next scene Saya's dad, Mr. Useless shows up and he tells Saya she needs to rest. She sort of refuses but he uses some form of hypnotism and forces her to sleep, ala the MIB from Dark City ("Sleeeeeep. Now."). Saya is having dreams, she wakes up, Fuumito aka Mr. Pedo is outside her room and asks if he can come in. Saya lets Mr. Pedo in who gives her some coffee under the excuse that he was checking up on her. He says something cryptic and Saya has visions or something I don't remember.
Saya's dad tells her to stay home but she wants to go to school and so she does. She gets there and the class is relieved because Nene hasn't returned home and they were worried about Saya in this regard. Saya doesn't have to worry about explaining the situation of Nene's death because Nono is missing too. Not only that but a lot of people are missing and the police have informed the heads at the school to close it until they get more info about these disappearances. My issue with this is that it's all too convenient for our main character. Part of the appeal of any story is when the protagonist has to achieve something when situations within the world do not acclimate to them.
If this were Naruto where the entire world and every conflict in it pampered the main character I could ignore it. However, this is Blood-C, a CLAMP title and anyone familiar with CLAMP's works knows that the heroes have to bust their asses to achieve even meager victories. Why? Because the world is cruel and sadistic and nothing comes easy for those who do good. The virtuous are lambs to a slaughter because that's how the world works. However, these disappearances, i.e. the constructs of the world of Blood-C actually worked for Saya in that she doesn't have to explain how Nene died, why it happened while she was with Nene, or anything of a sort. It's almost as if the world itself said, "Hey Saya, you have a lot on your plate so here is a free pass." Now you might be thinking, "Why is ZERO PHOENIX reading so much into this?" As a professional things like this stand out to me. The appeal of the hero is that they overcome overwhelming obstacles to succeed in what they aim to do. Episode 6 didn't give Saya any huge hurdles to overcome so it's almost as though she is achieving without doing. That would be fine if wu-wei was a mainstay of CLAMP's titles but it's not, hitsuzen is. In most of CLAMP's titles the characters have obstacles to overcome so that they might fulfill a predestined path. Again, it's almost though these disappearances worked for Saya's favor rather than her foil.
The teacher dismisses the class and tells Saya to be careful. Clearly the teacher knows about Saya's extra-curricular activities. So Saya is going home and she's thinking about everything that has happened. She then says that she promises to protect everyone. A voice asks her, "Who did you make that promise to?" Saya looks around and only sees that weird puppy from the previous episodes. Saya shakes her head, presuming she's hallucinating and says, "No, it couldn't be you." The puppy responds, "What if it was?" By this point I'm assuming the puppy is a spirit beast similar to Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura. At that moment Saya sees Nono, the twin who was alive and who had went missing. Nono is asking Saya what happened to Nene. During this time Nono's shadow stretches, grows, and even comes off the ground and starts killing people.
The uneducated dregs are going to be all like it's a poor creature design and Blood-C sucks blah blah. However, it is important to remember that the Japanese believe in the concept of a "grudge." Not that horrible ass Americanized movie but a "grudge." It is a cultural belief of the Japanese as well as a mainstay of CLAMP's titles that a person who possesses a grudge may also have that grudge manifest. The grudge typically manifests in the living person as a shadow or some unseen force. In this case it's a shadow. It's a shadow because shadows are the darkness a person carries with them anyway. The grudge could be towards another person whom they blame for a slight against them. A person can even hold a grudge against themselves.
In this case Nono blames Saya for Nene's disappearance because well, Nene did disappear or rather die after visiting Saya. So Nono's grudge is killing everyone in the area and then finally attacks Saya. Typically a person bearing "the grudge" lashes out at everyone and everything until they discern the focus of their grudge. Such is the reason Nono's shadow attacked and killed all the people around her before attacking Saya. So Saya fights the thing which in typical Saya fashion means getting it about as bad as she's giving it. She hesitates when she sees the shadow monster, that is the grudge consume Nono. Saya allows the monster to consume her in hopes of saving Nono from the inside. Nono is hanging on a giant spiderweb.
More insight from the one and only ZERO PHOENIX. The Japanese also believe that the grudge of a spider is worse than the grudge of a typical human. Most spiders live in their web, use their web to catch and store food, mate in the web, and have their babies in the web. The web is the entire livelihood of a spider. To humans though webs are an eyesore. Furthermore it might take a spider days to make a web while humans can destroy all that hard work in only a second. So, it is said that a spiders grudge is a terrible thing to behold. The demon Jorgumand is typically portrayed as a female spider who often kills people out of revenge, typically for the transgressions committed against her children. So Nono hanging from a spiderweb is rather appropriate.
Saya cuts Nono free and the shadow monster wigs out and then explodes soaking the entire block in blood. Saya is looking for Nono. Nono isn't hard to find because she's everywhere: the sidewalk, the streets, the walls of shops, oh look she's in the mailbox. Turns out that once Nono was consumed by the shadow monster i.e., her grudge she became the manifestation of her own hatred. When Saya killed the monster she was actually killing Nono. The reality of all this hits Saya hard and she freaks out. The puppy tells Saya to wake up, end scene. Damn Saya, I am so sorry about that the world is accommodating you thing. That was a mindfreak. Where is daddy when you really need a hug?
