「逃亡」 (Toubou)
“Getaway”

Rule number one: Never assume that someone’s dead until you see a body. Without a body confirmation, it’s only a kidnapping, not a murder. Maybe I was presumptuous to assume that Kayo’s case was one about a missing and murdered girl, because now I’m not so sure especially when the news reported a serial kidnapper not a serial killer. You see Kayo’s beaten up body and her distressed parents in a shot following school… but you never know what happens to her afterwards. Yes – she could be buried somewhere or even worse, but I’d a positively naïve person and I’d like to hope that Satoru was able to do more than that (even if it appears that nothing has changed). Normally in these cases, the police would file a missing person’s report and investigate, but until there is further evidence that Kayo was murdered, they can’t really press any charges or do anything more than speculate. These situations remind me of those cold case files that get reinvestigated years later when the serial killers/kidnappers finally make a mistake or the police are able to get a good profile of the criminal. This seems particularly true for Satoru’s mother who was able to finally get a good idea of who the criminal is/was years later because of newfound evidence. It’s just unfortunate that she wasn’t able to solve the case before someone caught on. Luckily though, Satoru does have a clue… in a tiny piece of paper.

This episode introduces more about the other key characters in the story (and OP). Up until now, we’ve had quite a long running list of suspicious characters. Everyone from their teacher to Kenya to Yuuki and more specifically, Kayo’s mom (she was knitting him mittens! That just makes it so much more tragic and heartbreaking). To add to the growing list, we meet a few other characters that may or may not know more than they let on. The ones that stick out the most are obviously Satoru’s manager, Takahashi (Takeuchi Eiji) but also the man talking with the manager (he’s named Nishizono on the website). The news reporter working with Satoru’s mom also gets some screen time so I’m beginning to feel that anyone that has an actual face that’s nicely zoomed in and focused on, should be remembered. Takahashi is a bit of a wild card but he definitely raises a lot of red flags. From the get go, he’s so ready to push Satoru under the bus and even stalks Airi’s home to ensure that Satoru gets caught. I’m not sure if I trust him for really being concerned for Airi, or if he just has a crush on her or both. There’s just something about his involvement with Nishizono that I’m not too keen on either. Until I know more about Nishizono, I’m not going to trust Takahashi; which puts him under my radar as the primary suspect for the house fire (since he knows where Airi lives). It doesn’t explain the text message from Satoru’s mother’s phone though… so either the killer has the phone and is trying to scare her and burn her, or there’s another purpose for the message.

This episode proves that Satoru can in fact jump backward and forwards in time but obviously not without the consequences of his actions. The past has changed as a result of what he did for Kayo but obviously not enough to prevent her from going missing… the same goes for another girl in a nearby school named Nakanishi Aya. So here’s where my head is at – there are two mysteries this episode that really got me thinking: 1) I always thought that Satoru’s “revival abilities” only allowed him to travel back in time. This isn’t the case anymore so how does “revival” work? Does he jump back and forth involuntarily because the writer chooses to do so for the story’s convenience? Maybe the fact that he has this ability, isn’t even that important to the grand scheme of the story because what’s more important is the fact that he can change the past period. Or will it be explained later? Does he suffer from a phenomena that has a reason behind it and/or someone else knows what he’s going through? It reminds me a bit of The Time Traveler’s Wife where the husband goes back and forth in history and his wife watches him do so and it’s not really “explained” in the end, but this “ability” does exist in their world and follows some logic. And 2) will it happen again? Will Satoru go back in time again and try and change history again? Or is this what he has to live with now? I somehow think that he’s going to go back again and this time, try and make a bigger impact. Maybe this is where his character development comes in and he does things outside his comfort zone. He has more clues now in this “new future” as to how this case turned out so he has more leads as to when and where the kidnapper could’ve stuck. Being friends with Kayo honestly did buy her a few days, but was it enough? Personally I think that as a 29-year-old, Satoru (even in an 11-year-old body) can do a lot more. Yes, he’s a child and people might not take him seriously, but he has a mother whom he can explain his concerns to and trusts. His mom does know something and is pretty much his biggest resource so what did she know? If Yuuki is a suspect, maybe do a bit more background check on him – where was he? Why was he a suspect? Is he still a suspect? These are just the small steps I think Satoru could take as a child without really making himself seem like a lunatic. If by chance he can’t go back again, investigating in this future with the police chasing after him will be difficult (and he’s on the run).

The last thing I wanted to bring up was Airi’s involvement in the future/present. Don’t get me wrong, I really like her – in fact, she’s probably my favorite character this series because she’s so kicka**, kind and she doesn’t seem to be an unreliable narrator in this story. However, I think she’s also quick to trust people, especially when they’ve just been pinned down as a murderer. Airi and Satoru’s relationship isn’t crystal clear from the first episode, and they don’t seem like they have a ton of history together other than being coworkers, so I think she should be a little wearier to let him stay over. Even though she tells Satoru her family history, that doesn’t mean everyone is telling the truth. Initially I thought Airi’s family story would also open a lot of doors of possibilities but unfortunately I still don’t know much about her parents. Airi could have potentially been connected to the kidnapper/murderer but it sounds like her father wasn’t a bad person at all in her eyes. We’ll have to wait and see how she’s further connected to this story and if maybe… just maybe, her opinion of her father isn’t that reliable either. Am I making this story more convoluted than it needs to be?

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Airi just turned into my favorite character. I hope nothing bad happens to her. #soproud. More characters introduced; like Satoru’s manager and Airi’s family background. But it’s all still fishy. So time CAN fastforward for Satoru. I thought it was a one-shot deal… but he did change to future so maybe he can do it again?

61 Comments

    1. Except he doesn’t even know how to control his powers, and fixing the past as usual could create unexpected complications in the present time-line, so it’s a bit early to assume he can fix everything, maybe at some point he will have to choose between Kayo, his mom and/or Airi.

      Hunter-Wolf
      1. Make the progonist not able to control his power (aka it’s happening because the script said it) make this show weak.

        In the show introduccion its established that he travel in time to stop bad thing to happen if that work like that It wouldn’t be more easy travel just an hour before his mother died in order to stop the murder and catch the killer?

        Lucky Bastard
      2. @Lucky Bastard
        Despite how much i love this show so far i do have to agree with you, in the video-game “Life is Strange” -which has a similar premise- the heroine could control her time travel powers, at first she can only rewind 5-10 mins into the past, and to do big time jumps like the one Satoru did she had to meet a certain set of conditions to trigger the time jump (saying anymore would be spoilers), i really liked that and wish they would have gone this route here.

        That or there is already an explanation for how Satoru’s powers work but the writer is holding on it for now as part of the mystery, i’d be very disappointed if his time travel powers just were controlled by plot conveyance rather than an actual in-world logic, that would make any successes he makes feel like a deus-ex-machina even if it really isn’t.

        Hunter-Wolf
      3. @Lucky Bastard
        Also:-
        1-Why didn’t his power take him back in time enough to save the truck driver himself from dying in the first place!!?
        2-Like you said, why didn’t his power take him back few hours before his mom was killed instead of taking him 18 years in the past!!?

        The mechanics of his time-travel in the series really need to be explained well otherwise it will impact the suspension of disbelief and the consistency of the story badly.

        Hunter-Wolf
      4. Interesting questions, my thoughts are these…

        1) I don’t think travelling back in time would’ve helped save the driver as the driver suffered from a seizure or heart attack, and nothing within Satoru’s “powers” could’ve prevented that

        2) I think the reason why it took him back to 18 years before rather than just before his mom was killed was possibly due to the fact that the death of his mom was related to the incident 18 years ago.

        I do agree it would be awesome if he can actually control his time travel powers though. Time will tell!

        xClueless
      5. The time travel seems to me to mostly be a plot device to drive the feels and mystery. Whatever serves that best from moment to moment, that’s how his time travel works.

        And that’s okay.

        Guile
      6. Bit late joining this particular part of the comments thread, but my personal hypothesis is that Satoru’s powers are a result of regret- the type of regret that comes from not doing something. Mostly because his powers activate at time when he needs to intervene in something that would, to most people (I’d imagine) cause regret if they hadn’t stepped in. And I am imagining that this would originate from Kayo’s death in the original timeline, and the feelings Satoru had about how he ‘could have saved her’. Admittedly, it is a gappy explanation and doesn’t account for a lot of the power, but yeah, my guess is that Revival is a power stemming from regret.

        Aki-Chan
    2. His power seem to be smarter than that. It knows that just sending him back a few hours won’t enough to co completly save him mom, I mean, if a culprit see Satoru try to protect mom by staying close to her, a culprit won’t take an action and will wait for the next chance. In the end, his mom will die anyway. Just like in Kayo’s case where Satoru only able to delay her disappearance for a day.

      Marina2
  1. Disclaimer: I never read the manga. These are all theories and observations based solely from the anime.

    I went and rewatched episodes one through five and caught some things I didn’t see the first go around.

    1. The threads above Satoru’s Mom (ep. 1) and Airi (ep. 5) right before they are killed/in danger (since it’s not confirmed yet whether or not Airi is dead.)

    2. I’m 99.9% sure the man the pizza manager was talking to is 29+ 18 year old Gaku. His voice and manner of speaking sounds just like him. Gaku could’ve changed his name altogether once he became a councilman.

    3. Why would a 47 year old man use “Boku” when referring to himself?

    3A. In episode one, after Satoru’s mom got stabbed she looked up at the killer and we got to see his chin. Smirking, which looked like Gaku’s trademark expression.

    3B. She also mentioned that she knew him and vice versa. That would make sense because she was involved with Satoru’s schooling and especially after the child disappearances.

    3C. The killer was shown to have red eyes. The only suspect who wasn’t shown to have red eyes 18 years ago was Gaku.

    3D. I think the person that she saw looking at her in the parking lot was different from the one who stabbed her. *squints*

    4. I’m 90% sure that the scene in the beginning of episode 5 showing Kayo’s lifeless bruised body was a red herring. How it LOOKS, is that her mom beat her to death but somethings telling me they found her like that.

    It would be in character for them to not report this to the police and hide the body instead because they would be In jail for sure. The only thing that deduct’s the 10% is Her smirk after she throws away the trash.

    5. I keep getting predator/ pedophile vibes from this show from both the characters and art direction.

    In episode 5 in particular, they gave Kayo’s lifeless body nipples.
    The way the manager was shamelessly gazing at Airi.
    The various shots of Airi.

    Remember when the girl that sits beside Satoru described their classmates as”flirting” with Gaku?

    Yuuki is another case. He does a lot of.. “People watching” *squints more*

    It is that socially normal to hang out with kids less than half your age in that time?

    In episode 3, I think, when Satoru is at Yuuki’s home Yuuki’s eyes briefly turn red because Satoru sees his porn stash. One of the illustrations depict a high school girl.

    6. In this episode, Kenya was staring at Satoru for the longest time I found it disturbing. I think he’s an accomplice but another part of me wonders if he knows about “revival.”

    In episode 2 his eyes are shown red when he was going to ask Satoru “something” but he’s shown to switch gears after they are passed by a car. Is there any significance to that car or did Kenya have a change of heart?

    7. If I were Airi, my ass would’ve jumped out that goddamn window because adrenaline + amygdala flight response= possible survival or a huge mistake. I’ll take my chances opposed to touching a hot(shouldn’t it have been???) door knob and releasing satan’s hot ass breath on my face.

    8. I’m waiting for the next 2 episodes to throw my theories in the trash.

    Ichigeaux
    1. I don’t think Yuuki is the killer, but he’s definitely an oddball. The stutter, hanging out with lonely kids all the time. He seems like a nice guy who’s not socially aware enough to realize he’d come off as kind of suspicious to an adult watching him.

      Perfect bait for the actual killer, is what I’m saying.

      Guile
      1. Exactly. The killer is meticulous in his framing skill, going specifically after people with social ineptitude. Even Satoru in the present carried some sort of social ineptitude that the killer knows would be suspected by the police, so he exploits it. What are the odds that the innocent suspect Satoru read about in this episode also has some social ineptitude?

      2. Exactly, which is why I think Gaku is the Killer and is using Kenya to scope out these socially inept people to frame. Part of me thinks that the guy Satoru’s mom sees in the parking lot is Kenya(the abductor). My question is how are Gaku and Kenya related?

        Ichigeaux
  2. 1-I don’t think Takahashi has any reason to kill Airi, it just wouldn’t make any sense if it was him, that and the phone message.

    2-The killer HAS to know who Airi is and her relation with Satoru in order for him to decide using the phone of Satoru’s mom to call her specifically and go as far as burn her house as well (Why?)

    3-I don’t think the newly introduced reporter is very high on the suspects list, on the other hand the guy that Takahashi was talking with seems very suspicious, the way the camera lingers on him while he looks at Airi and the fact they hide his face are very peculiar (could still be a way to distract us with a red-herring).

    4-I feel so bad for Kayo, it would far too cruel if Satoru freaking changed time itself to save her but she still dies anyway but for a different reason (first time it’s a serial kidnaper and the second time her bitch mom and douche boyfriend), this makes me think maybe Kayo was killed the first time by her mom as well, they just used the serial kidnapper thing to avoid drawing attention to themselves, i refuse to believe Kayo is so damn unlucky to be killed by two separate people in two separate time lines exactly during the same period of her life.

    5-Did i mention Airi is awesome, yeah .. she is just so AWESOME, and i can defend her in choosing to shelter Satoru, remember she saw what kind of relation he had with his mother as well as worked with him for a while as well as saw him risking his life to save a child from a rampaging truck, she has every reason to trust him and believe he didn’t do it.

    Hunter-Wolf
    1. 2 Culprit wants to frame Satoru for trying to kill Airi because Airi knows his whereabout. The phone message also mentioned his name asking Airi to stay in the place. If police see that, Satoru will be suspected even more. Culprit also want to get rid of Airi because Airi might give positive testimony for Satoru that “it’s impossible for Satoru to kill his mom” to the police.

      Marina2
      1. How come it did end this month? the writer said both the anime and the manga will end at the almost the same time (and that even the anime ending might precede the manga ending, eventhough it’s pretty much the same ending by the same writer).

        Hunter-Wolf
  3. Well, we know Kayo died in the first timeline; her body was found in a dumping ground the following spring. We don’t know exactly what happened in timeline B and it was reported as a serial kidnapping, but I suspect it’s the same dude following the same motif as the previous timeline and the report was just to keep people from panicking about some kind of serial murderer on the loose.

    At least, I’m assuming it’s not the mom now, since she’d have no reason to kidnap and/or murder two other, unrelated kids. Who the fuck knows at this point, though?

    I don’t think I’d finger Takahashi for the fire either, since he’s really awkward but totally into Airi. That guy talking to him seemed pretty suspicious, though.

    Guile
    1. But we saw the result of the changes in timeline B also got Kayo KILLED, so she was killed in both timelines, and we did see Kayo’s severely beaten (dead?) body on the floor this episode when Satoru went there, so it’s confirmed 100% it’s the mother and boyfriend in timeline B who did it (and disposed of the body at a later time maybe), otherwise explin exactly how the supposed kidnapper came into the house, kidnapped Kayo and escaped with those two there as well as a police car, it’s so damn obvious she wasn’t kidnapped AT ALL in timeline B, the police just assumes so due to the other kidnapping coinciding with her disappearance (which would work into the favor of the murderous mother and her douche-bag boyfriend).

      What’s more important is that this puts some serious doubts about timeline A as well, it could be that what we saw in timeline B this is exactly what happened in timeline A, Kayo was NEVER kidnapped at all, she was still beaten to death by her shitty mother and her accomplice and dumped in the park later on just on a different day.

      That would explain why Satoru FAILED to protect her, because he was trying to protect her of an outside threat while the REAL threat that killed her BOTH times was right inside her house all along.

      Hunter-Wolf
      1. But we saw the result of the changes in timeline B also got Kayo KILLED, so she was killed in both timelines, and we did see Kayo’s severely beaten (dead?) body on the floor this episode when Satoru went there, so it’s confirmed 100% it’s the mother and boyfriend in timeline B who did it (and disposed of the body at a later time maybe)

        No, it’s not 100% confirmed. Remember, Satoru checked the shed, and found footprints in the snow walking away from it.

        It could very well be that Kayo was beaten/killed, dropped off in the shed by that killer (whose footprints walk away), and then later found there by her parents. Kayo hides in the shed occasionally anyway, so the parents looking for her there and finding her body is not surprising. However this time it’s a dead body. They take the body back inside, but… “What do we do now?”

        Everyone knows they’re the absolute #1 pick on the suspect list in the case of Kayo’s death, with multiple people knowing that they beat the girl. They flat out can’t go to the police about this. They’re stuck hiding in their room trying to figure out how to avoid being charged with the murder of their own daughter.

        Meanwhile, the actual murderer calmly walks away. Every murder so far seems to have been carefully set up to frame someone else. Kayo’s original death: Yuuki. Satoru’s mom’s death: Satoru (via rather precise timing). Airi’s possible death: Satoru (via phone message). That careful and methodical pattern tells me that Kayo’s parents are not her murderers.

        David
      2. That’d be interesting. Although I think the shed is less somewhere Kayo hides and more where her deadbeat parents drag her when they want to beat her. Now, a savvy killer dumping her there would be a great red herring. Suspicion rolls back to sensei? He knew about (or strongly suspected) Kayo’s mom beat her.

        Guile
    2. My guess is that Kayo was saved from the original killer from timeline A, only to be killed by her parents in timeline B, while the original killer kept killing the other girls.

      Kayo really had nowhere to run.

      Grahav
  4. My few guesses (spoilertags just in case I guessed too good^^):
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Datahell
      1. Not really a hindrance if the supernatural is involved.^^ Also she could be lying about her age and family situation. The story from her father and the divorce could be before her stepdad came into play.
        Alternatively there are a lot of more realistic explanations like Airi is from a familiy that adopted Kayo or she is someone that read her diary and therefore seeks contact with Satoru.

        Maybe they want the story to take an even darker turn were Satoru isn’t supposed to save Kayo with his power, only the other children. Then I could imagine they make Airi a different person. But I still think there is a connection between Airi and Kayo. The question is how they play it out. She is probably not someone that is actually dead all along, because there is too much interaction. Especially the fire makes it unlikely. But otherwise everything seems possible since this isn’t a realistic universe.

        Datahell
  5. There are a lot of false positives that we’ve seen so far.

    IMHO, a good mystery should remain a mystery until as close to the end as possible.
    Then a good mystery will reveal itself and all of the details would (should) add up and
    make sense. All too often I watch a mystery (not just Anime) only to pretty much figure
    it out about ⅓ of the way in. Then it just becomes dumb to watch for its mystery.

    I have no idea how this will all play out; if he’ll get a second chance (maybe he pop’d
    back into the “future” to get some additional clues) to save Kayo and hopefully his mom.
    Dunno.

    I’ve had my theories with this series abondoned by the writers before. But I love it!
    I’m not even going to try to guess anymore – just excited about the ride with this one!

    mac65
  6. There’s more history between Airi and Satoru in the manga. They hung out a few times and got pretty close before Satoru’s mother was killed, they even saved a kid together. The anime cut the whole thing off though, so it’s understandable anime-only viewers are surprised she’s so quick to trust and help him.

    Let’s not forget the anime covered all of volume 1 in just the first episode. A lot of things were cut off.

    Lin
    1. What? they did show them hang out together (although just once in the anime) and she clearly met his mom and spent the day with them both, and she also saw him saving the kid from the truck with the dead driver, so not sure exactly what was cut!!?

      I’m an anime only viewer and i didn’t have any problem with her believing Satoru like that, she knows about him and his mom enough to know he couldn’t possibly have killed her.

      Hunter-Wolf
      1. They hung out more in the manga. They even saved a kid together (another kid, not the one Satoru saved on his own). All in all, they were considerable closer in the manga.

        “I’m an anime only viewer and i didn’t have any problem with her believing Satoru like that, she knows about him and his mom enough to know he couldn’t possibly have killed her.”

        Good for you, but there are others who did think it was strange for her to trust him so much.

        Lin
    2. I’ve heard from multiple people that Airi and Satoru are much closer in the manga than they are portrayed in the anime. They probably had to cut a bit to avoid elongating the anime so I understand but that’s why to me – Airi and Satoru are just “good coworkers” and not like best friends for life. Knowing what I do now, I get why she helped him and I still ship them… but it makes it more tragic if something were to happen to Airi =(

  7. About Satoru’s power, I think it sent him back because he he thought he failed not because he failed. It didn’t reset to before they know each other or sent him to the future as soon as she went missing so she’s likely alive but Satoru can’t save her as he is now so it pause the mission. Most likely he has to notice the third victim then find the kidnapper. The power is most likely someone’s doing as putting the note in his pocket (though he didn’t notice it) and placing him away from the cops completely set he in the right direction.

    aichan
  8. While ridiculous, for a moment there i was humoring the idea that Kayo was probably sacked inside plastic bag in the dumpster, until revealed that it’s just her homemade scarf.

    Amiluhur
  9. This episode asked more questions than answered.
    On one hand, we have Kayo who is really dead (;_;), we have a very similar missing case which was falsely announced in that school to be simply the little girl moving to live with her grandfather, and now, we have the perpetrator who is apparently so methodical and cautious that he’d do absolutely everything he must to erase all signs of his involvement.
    I don’t know what to think of this. It’s likely any theory I have for this mystery turns out wrong. But I’m gonna put my new, particularly wild theory out there anyway, and it’s just pure speculation but I’ll put it in spoiler tag anyway.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Sure enough, the villain is quite skilled at framing other people for the crimes they didn’t commit. First it was with Yuuki, then this kidnapping suspect Satoru read about in this episode, and now Satoru being framed for the death of his mother and, predictably, Airi.
    Speaking of Airi, I already anticipated she would also be killed by the same man from the OP. I liked her a lot more in this episode (Satoru’s mom wasn’t kidding when she said that girl can be wife material) so naturally I was pissed when he made her suffocate in that fire. Hopefully, if she does die and Satoru finds her, the shock from seeing her dead would propel him once again to the past for a 2nd chance, because really, with Satoru being framed for 2 murders, the present is the worst battle ground in which to fight that diabolical SOB.
    Lastly, I just wanna say, while the revival ability does seem to be random, there is actually a pattern to it. The power seems to be amplified by Satoru’s bonds with the people around him . The deeper the bond, the more time he will leap back and forth. It only makes sense. With some random strangers he isn’t related to in any way, he only leaps a few minutes at most. Then his mom died, and he went back to 1988. Then as his bond with Kayo deepened, his leap was also quite big. Now, if he finds Airi dead, the shock would probably send him again to 1988, assuming his bond with Airi is deep enough. Which means, unless he has more people he cares about whom he might lose (Which would honestly be ridiculous), Airi’s death will become his last chance to change everything. It kinda reminds me of Yamada-kun and the seven witches, where the girls got their supernatural powers from deep seated wishes stemmed from their sort of sad lives. That’s probably how Satoru also got his powers. It’s also why his time leaps can be amplified sometimes, to save his loved ones. Though none of that explains how he can also leap back to the future. As of yet, I can’t think of anything that explains that.

    1. Good theory. I’m still sticking to the teacher though – he’s in a position of power to lure kids away, and knows which kids are emotionally vulnerable to prey on.

      But one point I wholly agree with you. Airi’s death will need to be the catalyst to send Satoru back again, (his mom’s murder being the first). Hopefully the revival will not be too far back so that he will need to play the whole time-frame again, maybe just before is birthday party is enough..

      howdoyoulikeyoureggs
  10. As much as I like the series, I can’t help but think this was their weakest episode overall. I do like that he can flashforward, so it gives Satoru different ways to figure out the mystery. But the way events occurred was just plain weird. Just a few gripes:

    1. Why do you need to run away from the police, that makes you more suspicious as the possible killer. In any case, you’ll probably need to rely on your revival skill anyway to patch things up.
    2. Airi is badass, and she’s a pretty great character in this episode. But as you said, she’s too quick to trust Satoru. Also, from her perspective, I can’t see how helping a runaway suspect would do Satoru any good. She doesn’t know he has the power to time travel, so how would running away do him any good?
    3. Airi shouldn’t have opened the door if there was smoke.
    4. Airi’s past was a bit over the top. A divorce over a candy bar, jeez. I get that the candy bar was probably just the start of something bigger, like trust issues between the airi’s dad and mom, but it was kind of iffy for me.

    Gripes aside, I’m still super interested in what happens from here on out. Stop killing all the girls, such tragedy. 🙁

    ChromeNova
    1. If the serial kidnapper/killer has been methodical since the beginning of his crimes back in the 1980s, I’m sure he would make sure he is a step ahead after killing Satoru’s mom and frame Satoru.
      I don’t think this series would focus too much on the theoretical aspect of the time travel; I think it’s more of a plot device to unfold the events that happened in the past, because this is a mystery drama anime foremost.

      dude
    2. Satoru ran from the police because he knew he is innocent and that the police has a 99% conviction rate. For some reason or another, they’ll coerce a confession from him. Over there, it’s pretty much you’re guilty until proven innocent instead of the other way around. There is a blogger that talks about life in Japan and one thing you don’t do if get into trouble with the police.

      Bakapooru
    3. 1) I think he wanted to chase the culprit and find out his identity at first, but got complicated when he couldn’t catch up.
      2) The anime cut out a lot of time that Airi and Satoru hung out.
      3) Not common knowledge, especially in a state of panic.
      4) This is Japan where stealing is a big embarrassment for a grown man. They live in the country where everyone knows everyone and there are unattended stores and people still don’t steal.

      Pen3
    4. 1) Definitely agree. I think you look even worse (and will be even harder to explain) when you run. I understand that he was in a state of panic and shock, but in present day, law enforcement will not jump to the conclusion of sentencing you if they have no evidence that you did it. E.g. Satoru has blood on his hands and therefore would leave fingerprints on the knife… BUT the killer was wearing gloves so the knife wouldn’t have blood on it plus Satoru has no prints on it.
      3) One of the first rules after “Stop-Drop-and Roll” that you learn is not to hide and not to open doors in open smoke fires =X I think Airi panicked and since the text said “Don’t move”, she didn’t want to obey the text and escape.
      4) A little over-the-top but remember that this is from a child’s POV. She might not have known the full story and maybe her mom never told her?

  11. Haven’t read the manga but i may be right on this one
    So just in case

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Sam1198777
  12. Was I the only one who didn’t think badass when Airi punched the manager? I was actually quite shocked by how quick she lost it and used physical aggression. It made me wonder what’s this girl been through?

    Yukie
  13. Nishizono is a politician, both from his conversation with Takahashi and also the pin on his jacket (hat tip Glorioblog). Nishizono also has that forboding look as Airi leaves the pizza joint. A politician with a dark side..ohhhhhh i like

    Miaminights

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *