We’re halfway through the season, and a more thrilling second half seems inbound.
Episode 6 resolves Kayo Hinazuki’s part of the story, for now at least. After hearing about the stranger who entered the bus the night before (they look in the bag and find rope, boots, spray, and clothing; indicating that the stranger was the killer), Satoru takes Kayo home with him and asks his mother if she can help – turns out, she’s known all along about their plan, and she’s thrilled to be a part of it. With the help of nice-guy Mr. Yashiro and the Child Protection Services, Kayo’s mother loses legal custody and Kayo is taken out of the town and into safety. Satoru is relieved, but knows his work isn’t done, and once again enlists the help of Kenya (who reveals he has a strong sense of justice and wants to become a lawyer) and his other friends to try and save the next victim.
At one point, Satoru helps Mr. Yashiro with something and gets a lift in his car – he opens the glovebox (much to Yashiro’s dismay) and dozens of candy-suckers fall out. Yashiro hurriedly stuffs about four of them into his mouth, and explains that Satoru now knows his dark secret – since he quit smoking, he’s become addicted to sweets. There’s something odd and chilling about this encounter, and the show might be suggesting that there is more to the friendly Mr. Yashiro than we think…
It was a decent episode that closed off one character’s story, and set up another’s. It’s relieving to see that Satoru really has changed history this time, and Kayo has a chance at an entirely new life; one that she was destined to be robbed of if Satoru hadn’t intervened. However, it does then leave Satoru’s own future up for speculation. If he successfully warps back into the present, how different will his life be? Will he be doing the same thing? Will he have ever met people such as Airi? There are six episodes left, and I have a good feeling that the last four or so will answer these questions.
Side Thoughts and Observations:
- Baka Nano count: 8 (come on show-runners, an episode without a single Baka Nano – that’s not okay, that’s, that’s; that’s shameful, really).
- Satoru and the others find a box of coal nearby the killer’s belongings. Kenya later mentions how his father (who is also a lawyer) has been working on a case involving a young girl murdered in a nearby town the year before. She had been locked in a bathroom and died from inhaling fumes from coal, and Kenya’s father is defending the alleged culprit who he believes is innocent. This displays that the killer operates more frequently than expected, and moves on to another town the moment he/she has found a fall-guy (someone like Jun/Yuuki, who was blamed for the three kidnappings in Satoru’s town).