Kokkoku – 11

「㐧拾壱刻」 (Dai Juuichi Koku)
“The Eleventh Moment”

And so, Sagawa’s story has come to an unusual head as his body continues its unusual transmogrification into a cocoon that forms razor-sharp spider webs. In a universe with time-freezing stones, his trajectory has been the strangest aspect of the show with the moral degradation he found out his faith revolved around steering him towards his path to immortality. The logical link between wanting to transcend time and wanting to leave behind his father’s hedonistic religion after his demise is still dubious. It’s an unfortunate series of circumstances, especially since it’s a lot of familial strife he has had to unpack all of these years. However, would it be enough to cause him to create his own religion as a front for his own ambitions? Is he any different than his father? In a way, it is poetic that he would follow his father’s path of creating a religion for his own self-gratification, but instead of satiating his lust, it was more towards keeping the world’s knowledge to himself.

If showing that Sagawa and his dad’s are self-absorbed was the intention, they passed with flying colors. If it’s to make him understandable, not so much. They tried to link Juri with Sagawa in the similarities between both of their circumstances in trying to better their living situations, but it has the same hollow feeling that many “we’re not so different, you and I” parallels tend to have. It relies on the idea that the small interlinkage between the two would leave her vulnerable to not wanting to extinguish his dream, but her dedication to her family doesn’t rein in life goals as hollow as his. Even if the Yukawa’s aren’t perfect, her and Jii-san’s selflessness are what set them apart from the self-indulgent ambition that Sagawa has. The closest Sagawa could probably connect with his Takafumi, but even he is willing to put himself on the line to stab Sagawa, and shows enough concern for Makoto to want to see him happy.

Speaking of the Yukawa family, this was a rough episode for Juri as she had to confront the reality behind the decision she made to put herself on the line for her family. The importance she places on Makoto’s safety and desire to see his mom again tore her up to the point of wanting to expel Jii-san from Stasis so that both no one could stop her or make the goodbyes she’s preparing to tell less painful. The family element and the relationship between Juri and her family is something the story has done such a great job with, showing us the insecurities, worries, and dedication she has about her role in the family.It’ll be interesting to see where the show goes with it, whether there could be a possible way for her to leave Stasis, and what she could do with the baby Sagawa that spawned from where his cocoon faded away.

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