Petals of Reincarnation 1×6 and 1×7 Review: “Seiya” and “Reblooming Reincarnation”

Petals of Reincarnation anime season 1 episode 6, titled ‘Seiya’, and episode 7, titled ‘Reblooming Reincarnation’, shared lots of answers about the past and what’s planned for the future as the narrative nears its conclusion.

With episode 5 ending with Toya having reached Xiang Yu’s castle, I was looking forward to the two having a conversation, especially because of the narrative dropping hints about Xiang Yu sharing history with Seiya. It was clear that Seiya was a Returner who clashed on certain ideas with Xiang Yu and the Sinners, causing the current fight between the Greats and the Sinners. However, certain developments leading to where things finally stood between the two groups did surprise me.

It’s revealed that Seiya managed to awaken the talent of Leonardo Da Vinci, which allowed him to learn and master other skills. Such a talent answered why Seiya had been so good at everything he did and why Toya’s parents expected their young son to follow Seiya’s impressive footsteps. While Toya looked up to Seiya as a person he wanted to one day become, Seiya felt guilty because of how he had managed to make a name for himself in academics and extracurricular activities through his not-so-natural Talent ability that remained a secret from humans. In Seiya’s mind, the only way he could ever make Toya really proud would be to do something that benefited humanity. And he wanted other Returners to join him in his cause.

Seiya came across as a kind-hearted and enthusiastic person who was born with undeniable charisma. His personality played a major role in others accepting him as a leader. Xiang Yu, Ein, Picasso, and Neumann were the first ones who joined Seiya to form the Forest of the Greats, with their goal being to use their Talents to benefit humanity.

As for working together to achieve global peace, I liked how the analytical Neumann agreed to Seiya’s idea, but not without stating how world domination was easier to accomplish than peace. I couldn’t help but agree with Neumann. No amount of money, kindness, or hard work could guarantee peace across the planet. Billions of humans experienced too many emotions for them to be on the same page and not butt heads. It was simply impossible to avoid conflict. But hey, Seiya was a hopeful dude. So, Neumann was okay with tagging along and helping however possible.

With Seiya wanting every Returner to help him, it made sense for Xiang Yu to reach out to his group of Sinners. And that’s where an unavoidable issue arose.

I’ve been enjoying how Petals of Reincarnation handled fleshing out Sinners vs Greats. Being called a Sinner just because you awoke the Talent of a tyrant from the past was a form of discrimination. How a person chooses to use their Talent needs to be the basis of whether they should be considered a friend or foe, instead of the nature of the Talent itself. I mean, I would be annoyed being labeled a Sinner just because I had the Talent of some infamous person from human history, especially because a person didn’t have control over whose Talent they would tap into after deciding to become a Returner.

Seiya vs Xiang Yu came to a brutal confrontation after Seiya brought up his plan to kill all of the Sinners before they became a danger to humanity. While the narrative tried to provide some context to Seiya’s anger because a Sinner had recently attacked Toya, you could tell something more sinister was up. Seiya being adamant about wiping out all of the Sinners, even before they had committed a crime or hurt someone, gave me Civil War II vibes from Marvel Comics, as well as biased profiling for law enforcement.

Xiang Yu had a point when he stated Seiya’s hypocrisy of ending all Sinner and yet not Xiang Yu. It was giving the problematic “Well, but you aren’t like the other (insert race, sexuality, religious belief, etc)” statement that certain bigots make when excluding certain people from stereotypes.

Xiang Yu standing against Seiya was unfortunate, but he didn’t have any other choice in the matter, especially considering the circumstances. The dramatic reveal was how Neumann had been controlling everyone, including Seiya, to push the idea of eliminating all Sinners for the betterment of humanity.

I’m glad that Xiang Yu told Toya about the past. All of the information allowed Toya to not only learn more about Seiya, but also set the stage for Toya to confront Neumann. Also, I liked how seeing Seiya wanting to do something for humanity to make Toya proud helped Toya to realize he didn’t need to continue stealing other people’s Talents to become better. Toya already had the necessary tools to make a difference instead of always feeling the need to gain more resources.

However, before Toya could ask Neumann about why she had manipulated Sieya in such a manner, episode 6 concluded with an out-of-control Haito appearing to seek revenge against Caesar for injuring Jubei.

‘Reblooming of Reincarnation’ featured an action-heavy fight with Caesar, Xiang Yu, and Nostradamaus working together against a frenzied Haito. Nostradamus’ talent to not only know the future but also change it was quite interesting. I liked how the weakness to such an OP Talent was Nostradamus’ writing speed and his hands getting tired. So, even though Nostradamus tried to continue warping Haito’s attacks from fatally injuring himself and Caesar, Haito’s determination finally proved too much.

As for calming Haito down, Xiang Yu trapped her in a black dome of his making that allowed his Talent to control anyone inside the dome at a molecular level. However, Toya used his Talent to break into the dome and “steal” Haito. I’m not sure if Toya needed to take such an action, but it made sense considering his feelings toward Haito.

A major reveal in ‘Reblooming Reincarnation’ dealt with exposing the real master pulling the strings behind the scenes to ensure world domination for the Forest of the Greats. It wasn’t the most surprising reveal, but I have to say that making freaking Florence Nightingale the main villain was definitely an interesting choice. Her Talent to mind control people she had healed was linked to how numerous wounded soldiers of the real Nightingale thought highly of her. Again, a very interesting route to take such a character. It also gave more context to the Greats vs Sinners debate and how a person should be judged by how they used their Talent instead of the nature of the Talent itself.

With a gravely wounded Xiang Yu leaving the survival of humanity to Toya, I’m looking forward to how Toya will work together with Kitazuka to stop Nightingale. She’s got immensely powerful Greats, capable of destroying countries, following her orders.

Did you watch Petals of Reincarnation anime episodes 6 and 7? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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