Westworld: What does Akane No Mai mean in English?

Westworld will introduce viewers to a new park and new characters in “Akane No Mai,” but what does the episode title mean and does it offer up any clues?

Westworld is back with their fifth episode of season 2 on Sunday night with tonight’s episode titled “Akane No Mai.”

The Japanese title is fitting considering this episode welcomes viewers to Shogun World where roughly 40 of the 60 minutes of the episode will take place.

The episode picks up with the travels of Maeve, Hector, Armistice and their three humans accompanying them in the journey to reunite Maeve with her daughter. Two weeks ago, we saw the party encroach on Shogun World and a samurai running toward them with his sword ready to slice off someone’s head.

What will Shogun World entail and can we pick up any clues from the episode title?

Next: Westworld introduces fans to Shogun World

To begin, we can look at the translation for “Akane No Mai” which translates to Dance of Akane or as Reddit has suggested means, “The Red Dance.”

The episode introduces us to new character Akane, played by Oscar nominee, Rinko Kikuchi, who is a geisha and plays a pivotal role in the episode and shares a connection with Maeve.

I won’t reveal any spoilers to tonight’s episode, so you’ll have to watch the episode to see it play out. But what we know about Akane being a geisha, and knowing geisha are known for their dancing and entertaining, there will be a moment where she is asked to dance and from there, you can speculate and theorize what happens next.

I promise it’s going to be entertaining.

Shogun World itself is based on the Edo period of 1680-1867 and having a Japanese episode was very important to co-creator Jonathan Nolan who grew up a fan of Japanese cinema, in particular, Akira Kurosawa films.