Akihabara@DEEP Ep 9
The mysterious of the old man from the previous episode gets cleared in this episode. At the end of the last episode, the @DEEP find out that the old man, Hanzawa, is a famous computer pioneer and professor. When this episode starts out, the team members are in the @DEEP office when they get an email from Hanzawa-sensei. In his email, he tells them that 10 years earlier, he was professor and he was the mentor to two of his students. One of his protégés was Nakagomi, the president of Digital Capital (and the bad guy). Surprisingly, the second protégé was Yui-san, the person who brought the team together right before her death. He goes on to tell them that depsite Nakagomi’s standoffish behavior, the only person he trusted and fell in love with was Yui who also fell in love with Nakagomi. Their goal was to start a company in Akihabara after they graduated. They broke up after several arguments about what sort of business the company should be in. Yui wanted it to use the Internet to help the socially awkward and those who couldn’t function well in the real world. Nakagomi wanted it to be a for-profit business and earn as much money as possible.
Nakagomi was also working with Hanzawa-sensei on a new operating system. Right when it was about to be finished, Nakagomi stole the code and sold it to another company. He used the money from the sale to start his own company, Digital Capital. Right around the same time, Yui became suicidal and a drug addict. Hazawa-sensei goes on to tell the team that he was working in his office when Yui’s A.I. appeared on his screen and then disappeared. He decided to visit Akihabara (in the last episode) and ran into the team. It turns out that the name of the team’s company, Akihabara@DEEP, was the name that Yui and Nakagomi wanted to use when they were thinking about starting their company. Hanzawa warns the team that since he recoginized the name and its connection to Yui, so would Nakagomi who would probably try to hurt them all.
Later that day, Box, Taiko, anad Page return to the office after eating out. When they get they’re, Box recognizes a girl, Mikiko, who’s come to them for help. The rest of the group finds out that at one time, before Box’s gynophobia, the two had dated. After that bombshell, they find out why Mikiko has come to them for help. It turns out that she’s being stalked. Someone’s posted pictures of her online and even went so far as to make figurine of her. She also shows them a fanzine that she and Box made when they were dating. The uniform of the doll is based on the main character’s uniform. She then gets a phone call from the stalker, warning her that he’ll be waiting for her. The team immediately takes the case.
During the team’s investigation, they manage to track down the guy who made the figurine of Mikiko. Thinking that he’s the stalker, they question him only to find out that he made it on request. The only description they can get from the figurine maker was that the guy who ordered the figurine was a “very wild person”. Akira, Page, and Taiko follow Mikiko home while Daruma, Box and Izumu stay back at the office. As they’re waiting, a leather wearing biker shows up, watching Mikiko’s apartment. The trio try to chase after him and fail to catch him. Can the @DEEP team catch the stalker? And just what is Nakagomi up to?
This was surprisingly a pretty emotionaly heavy episode. We find out about the incident that traumatized Box to the point of where he developed his obsession with cleanliness and his inability to deal with women if they aren’t dressed up in some sort of cosplay costumes like the maids at the maid cafe that the team hangs out at. It’s pretty disturbing when the big reveal comes out and makes you think what would you do if faced with that situation. The whole thing is played out in a pretty honest fashion. I think that’s why I really like this show. It may not have the best plots, but there’s a sense of humor and honesty that comes from the actors. Besides, just how many over-acted CSI, Law and Order spin-offs and imitators do we need? It’s gotten to the point were I’m bored with shows like and don’t watch them any more. Thankfully, there are shows like Akihabara@DEEP and Sexy Voice and Robo that satisfy the geek in me.
