Angel Heart – 10

Summary:
In the same suite where Lee Taijin was killed, his successor, who is responsible for the Green Dragons, receives a phone call from the alleged dead man himself. After Lee Taijin promises his death, the successor surrounds himself with bodyguards and moves downstairs, trying to stay in lighted areas so that the Black Warriors can’t get to him. In the same lobby, Shin Hon is ready to make a move, but the old man Chin stops him and tells him to let the Black Warriors do their job. However, it is a sniper bullet through the window that kills their target, not the Warriors. Shin Hon runs out to see Ryo sitting on a playground slide. Ryo tells Shin Hon that he has a lot to live for, including Shanin.
As dawn approaches, Lee Taijin carries his daughter through the streets, and sees her smile through her sleep just as Ryo and Shin Hon arrive back – Ryo proclaims that it’s like the smile of an angel. Inside of her, Kaori reminds Shanin that Ryo can give that same warm feeling that comforts her now. Shanin realizes that she wants Ryo to become her father, and wakes up calling him Papa. Ryo goes to the Cat’s Eye to think about the entire father thing and is in a bit of a daze until Shanin arrives. Their conversation reminds him of one he had with Kaori about how the recipient of a transplant from Kaori would be like her child. Ryo decides to be act as her father, and Shanin hugs him for the warmness and security that she longs for.

I honestly didn’t think that I’d enjoy this episode as much as I did. The animation feels weird at parts, but the music is quite good in a very conclusion/end-of-arc way. After the traitor is killed, the rest of the episode focuses on the aftermath, specifically on Ryo becoming Shanin’s father. In a way it fits perfectly, allowing Ryo to take care of Shanin and Kaori and still go woman chasing. And I guess that also means that Shin Hon can actually become the love interest (if he can get over the fact that her real father is Lee Taijin). Really the only thing that bothers me about it is that Shanin is drawn to look a lot older than she really is. So while Ryo might even be the right age to act her father, they don’t look like a standard father/daughter pair. But then again, their relationship can’t really be called standard in any way.