This episode we deal not with a murder of the past but a murder in the present. It all begins when Shotaro is out grabbing a late night snack at the convenience store and spots a lost little girl. Like a good citizen he runs the lost child to the police. The problem is, she’s three, with no form of identification. She can’t speak in any clear sentences and it leaves them with next to no idea where her mother is.
They also notice blood on the little girls panda backpack. Blood in the shape of a woman’s hand print. So they take the kid to the only logical place to go at a time like this. Sakurako’s house. I mean, the master of death might be able to pull up some clues right?

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Well she does, she notices that the little girls arm had been twisted recently, it looked like possible abuse. So they send the cop to go around to the hospitals and check if the kid had been taken care of anywhere. They find the place, but the name given was a fake.
When it looks as if they are out of leads, here comes that girl from Shotaro’s class in episode one. I’m curious if she’ll become a larger part of the plot all together or if she’ll only be used as a plot device like this. Well she happens to know the kids name from when she worked part time at a daycare service.
They head to the little girls house and go to head in. Shotaro stops the girl as he notices the smell of death in the air. How he could smell it over all of the garbage in the place, I don’t know. This woman was an obvious hoarder.

Well isn’t she in the running for parent of the year. Well, I guess when we get to the end of the episode that part is left up for interpretation. She was a hoarder, she was abusive but she gave her life to save her two children. How are we supposed to feel towards this woman?
She loved her kids enough to die for them but not to care for them. Was the drug addict that killed her and was ranting about butterflies the father of the kids? Not that it really matters, with their mother dead and if he was their father, him going to jail for killing their mother, being a druggie and stabbing a police officer.
He’s probably not getting out for the rest of his life.

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I think the most intriguing part of this episode is the part where Shotaro goes to tackle the addict as he goes to attack the cop and Sakurako screams out “Soutaro, don’t go.”, we get a brief glimpse of a small boy running away from her when she was younger. Is it a cousin? A younger brother? I’m pretty sure that it’s someone that died.
He also shows up in the opening along with her younger self. I think whoever that boy was is key to figuring out the relationship between Sakurako and Shotaro.
Who, by the way, she called by name this episode. After everything and she was explaining that the woman gave her life for her children. She calls him by his name, which means he’s earned her respect. Perhaps by taking down that criminal and giving her time to keep the baby alive.

You can see the greater plot forming in this episode, but it’s still relatively episodic. We’ll have to see who Soutaro is and what his importance is to her at a later date. Once again, this episode is just gorgeous. I love this shows animation and while I think i MIGHT get a little sick of the investigation animation if it happens every episode.
Sure it’s pretty, but it’s like any scene that is used more then once. It becomes stock footage and loses it’s initial beauty.

A solid second episode, let’s keep this up!

~Midnight

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Kinghumanity

    I think it makes more sense for the druggie to have been the kids’ father, who also abused them, while the mother didn’t want to take the kids to the hospital for dear of getting the father into trouble.

  2. Shiki

    Yes he was the father and such situations are sadly more common than you might think..
    1. divorce can leave psychological problems for the childrens
    2. seeing how they live, i dont think she could babysit her childrens AND bring money home without problems and at that point i highly doubt that they have ppl who help
    3. fear of revenge when sending him “needlessly” into jail because abuse and stuff afterwards happen pretty often

    I just want to know the true connection behind our two main characters and please dont let it be something like he is actually dead or something of that sort e.e

    1. The Traveler (@IWHBYT)

      Some people are wondering if they met when they were younger and the “Soutarou” comes from him being too young to properly pronounce “Shotaro”.

  3. The Traveler (@IWHBYT)

    I’m quite late to this, so I’ll just comment on a few things.

    1. Is it just a coincidence that the father/druggie was talking about butterflies? We see them in the opening and this is the second time they’ve been mentioned in an episode, even if we’re not talking about a bone which looks very much like one this time. Of course, the first place to look is their symbolism in Japanese culture and this was helpful to me: http://hubpages.com/hub/japanese-butterfly-art#mod_16279094

    2. I think that the ‘investigation animation’ simply needs a darker or more somber variant. The one in the first episode was used in a moment where the mood was much lighter, the case was in its beginning stages and it was really a moment for Sakurako-san to show off her brilliance. However, for instances where they’re well into the case and the piecing together of events is the main focus, a less colourful (so not bloody) version with slower music (like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJoaOweVo4s ) would be better!

    Hmm, I wonder what the odds are of a change occurring if I suggest to the studio to do that..? I can dream!

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