Satsuriku no Tenshi – Episode 9 [There is No God in This World]

Hmmm… I like Midnight’s theory that Rachel is a serial killer. I’ll roll with that idea too. 8D   Or that at the very least she’s a sociopath.

So Danny’s still alive, and like every other man in in this psychotic dungeon he wants to be the one to kill her, and gets upset when Zack tells him that Rachel wants him to kill her. Not Danny, not Eddie, but Zack.

Danny tries to manipulate Zack into gouging out her eyes for him in exchange for some medicine, but of course Zack isn’t going to do that. Speaking of which, I guess it’s feasible that some kind of medicine exists in Satsuriku no Tenshi’s world that could quickly heal an injury as severe as Zack’s, but mostly I just have a “huh??” look on my face when Satsuriku no Tenshi starts talking about medicine like it’s the holy grail. Really Zack should be dead by now, ordinary medicine isn’t going to help him. Right?

Seeing that he’s not going to get what he wants from Zack, Danny walks away with a big ol’ smirk on his face. He knows that Zack is so close to death that he doesn’t have the energy to chase him, scythe or not.

Meanwhile Rachel and the priest return to B6, Zack’s floor. The floor where Rachel and Zack first met. Rachel finds Zack’s room and it’s a total pigsty. Bloody bandages fill drawers and there’s old food and empty drink containers and wrappers everywhere. It looks like all Zack had to sleep on was a ratty couch, with barely a blanket to cover himself for warmth. If this was where Zack had been living prior to meeting Rachel, someone obviously didn’t care much for Zack’s well-being.

Rachel finds the knife Zack requested she bring back for him, and together Rachel and the priest return to where they left Zack. However Zack’s pulled a disappearing act and is no longer there. Did Danny have something to do with his disappearance? Or did Zack leave of his own free will?

The priest tries to blame everything that’s happened so far on Rachel, saying it’s “her fault” all of these weird occurances have been happening. Danny’s change in behaviour, for example, is Rachel’s fault according to the priest. The priest feels that everything Rachel does is only to serve herself, to get what she needs, and to hell with everyone else. Even saving Zack is something Rachel is doing only because Zack promised to kill her. Well if Rachel is at the very least a psychopath or sociopath, then this behaviour would fall right in with that diagnosis. (And if you’re wondering what the difference between the two is, this might help clarify.)

The priest points out to a shocked Rachel that if more than one person has promised to kill her (which has happened), then it’s up to God to decide which promise he’s going to honor, not her. Zack promising to kill her does not mean that that’s what’s going to happen. Rachel had obviously never considered this.

A purple perfume radiates from the priest’s holy book in his hands as he prepares to pass judgement on Rachel. Suddenly the priest vanishes and there’s a humongous snake that chases Rachel! She flees from the snake and bumps into an irritated Zack, and we see that the snake was just a hallucination. (Or was it, given that something brokedown the door she was hiding behind…?)

Rachel returns Zack’s knife, then tries to help Zack by changing his bandages before they move on, but Zack pushes her away before she can touch him. Maybe he’s worried he’ll kill her like so many others in his life if he loses control again? Or he can’t bear for someone to show him kindness like the old man in his past did, in case someone else kills Rachel?

Zack and Rachel decide to track Danny through the bloodtrail he left behind when he left Zack. As they walk they discuss what it means to be human, which I thought was an interesting question. Is it how a person acts or behaves? How they look, or what body parts they have? Rachel says that a human is someone who does what God wants, and Zack gets annoyed with her for talking about God God God all the time.

They walk further and are attacked by a real snake this time. Zack holds the snake off while Rachel finds them an escape route, but Zack’s wounds are made worse by having to use his heavy scythe to kill the snake. On the other side of the door in a beautiful open hall lined with bright stained glass windows, Zack collapses from blood loss again. I get that there’s probably a reason for this but goddammit it gets a little annoying at times. Rest until you get a little better damn you Zack.   >:(   Zack says that he is human but has also said a couple of times now that the gaping wounds in his abdomen won’t kill him. So if he’s human, but not, then what is he?

Zack starts questioning Rachel about the recent changes in her behaviour and pushes her to admit that his promise to kill her, the one he “swore to God” on, was all important to her. Zack scoffs and says there is no God in their world, and Rachel starts to have a breakdown. She doesn’t remember why it’s so important that God exists, just that he must. I get the impression that for whatever reason, there must be a God for Rachel to get forgiveness or salvation from, because if there really is no God then she is lost. Rachel would be a lost cause with no options to get better or be forgiven. What do you think?

The episode ends with Zack needing to sleep because he’s still bleeding out all over the floor. Rachel vows to go on ahead without him so she can finally be useful to him, and as she leaves Zack hands her his knife to have for protection. What will Rachel find when she explores on her own? And what’s the deal with that priest?

I won’t lie, I really struggled to get through this episode. It just felt like it was dragging on forever. Some things that were introduced have me curious, such as Danny still being alive and Zack talking about his inability to die, but Zack and Rachel as characters sometimes just really grate on my nerves. Here’s to hoping that next week’s episode will have a little more action and excitement.