Welcome to the NHK! 13
This episode ended with a new ending song and visuals. It starts out with the off-line group enjoying their last meal around a bonfire while Hitomi’s boyfriend, Misaki, and Yamazaki race to find and stop them. In the car, Yamazaki states that it shouldn’t be surprising that Satou was committing suicide. He didn’t have a job or a girlfriend. he wasn’t in school and the game that he and Yamazaki were making was basically finished. The most damning piece of evidence was that Misaki was spying on Satou. When Yamazaki asks Misaki why, all she says was that he was important to him. On the island, Satou is still trying to figure a way out, stating that all he wanted to do was to hang out and have a good time with Hitomi, his senpai. While the others in the group reiterate their determination to go ahead with their deaths.
When Samazaki and the others get to the wharf, Hitomi’s boyfriend tries to find out any information about the off-line group, Yamazaki tells Misaki that since she was spying on Satou, she new he was lying about being a game designer. He also tells her that he’s a victim here too because he agreed to make a game with Satou in order to keep up Satou’s lies. All Misaki can say is that she wanted to help Satou who Yamazaki compares to a stray dog. Hitomi’s boyfriend comes back and tells them where the other group is and that he has rented a bout.
The island group starts to walk toward a cliff when one of the members, and ex-medical student, suddenly stops, not willing to go any further. He keeps saying he can see his mother’s face and her pain. A second member decides not to go through it also. This member is a young teenager and he admits to stealing money from his parents. This leaves Satou, Hitomi and the island owner. The medical student starts trying to talk everyone out of jumping by saying that even they have something to leave for, such as family. The island owner tells everyone that his wife left him and won’t let him see their son. This sets the medical student off, calling him irresponsible even if he can’t see his son. Hitomi, dragging Satou along (still unwilling to end it all) continues to the edge. Right at the last second, Hitomi’s boyfriend calls out from the boat below telling her not to jump, he needs her and then he asks her to marry him. This was what Hitomi always wanted to hear, that he needed her. Satou, hearing this decides to jump.
His crush on his Senpai has now been broken. As he starts towards the edge, the others grab him and Misaki shouts that he’s important to her, that she finally found someone lower than herself in life. Finally Yamazaki shouts to Satou that people like them aren’t allowed dramatic deaths. No matter how depressed or in pain they are, they have to stay in their daily routine lives. This snaps Satou out of it and as he starts to step back, the cliff edge collapses under him. Hanging on to the side, he’s saved by the others.
Even though I was sure that Satou would live in this episode, I was half-expecting that someone from the suicide group was going to die, even though Misaki and the others would get their in time. I also wasn’t expecting the cliff to collapse under Satou. I found Yamazaki’s statements to Misaki to be a little weak, especially when he claims to be vicitimized by her too. The thing is, he could easily have said no to helping Satou lie about being a game designer. I can only assume that since Satou was his senpai in school that had a lot to do with him helping Satou. However, Yamazaki totally redeems himself with the smartest lines said in the show. I think Yamazaki telling Satou that people like them weren’t allowed to have dramatic deaths and could only live routine lives wasn’t brilliant, instead it was practical, which is the brilliant part of this episode for me. This part really made this episode my favorite to date.
On a side note, the first manga book, that this series is based on, will be released sometime this month in English. I’m planning on picking it up, but I don’t really intend to compare the show and the manga.
