Posted by Episode 11
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Episode 12
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「 再会 / 伝書鳩」 (Saikai / Denshobato)
“Reunion / Carrier Pigeon”
Codependent these men are, huh?
But in all honesty, it’s a sad situation we’re bearing witness to. These young boys, Hiroki and Satoru, have held onto innocent hope that they have a future with the person they love, (Tsukasa and Hayashi respectively). But the truth was that their mentors both refrained from revealing any of the necessary truths behind the Company their whole lives.
To be fair, Tsukasa never intended to make his way out of the Company. Every intention in his bone was set to climb the ranks and find protection under the Company’s umbrella while seeking his revenge on Hayashi. But Hayashi on the other hand, knowing full well that the Company’s methods don’t align with his values, tries throughout his late-career to save the young souls he’s taken under his wing. But like so many of the other image users, he was just a victim of his circumstances, doing the best he could with the cards he was dealt.
It was crushing watching as Hiroki ran from Tsukasa in episode 10, but something that really brought up the worst of emotions in me was watching as Tsukasa cried his eyes out at Hayashi’s feet while Satoru’s heart broke. Even though I feel some empathy towards Tsukasa, his manipulative strategies rub me the wrong way. I get this icky feeling every time he comes on screen.
Tsukasa managed to destroy every single relationship he had and mostly because he wanted an ‘in’ with the Company, the same organization he knew bought him just to sell off his organs. Did he really think Hayashi just abandoned him? Was Tsukasa perhaps power-hungry and simply lost sight of the connection he had with Hayashi, and the one he had with Hiroki? Even his own ‘pet’ ran from him in terror and now is trapped in a straight jacket because of him.
He’s a pitiful character. Full of regrets and unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tsukasa feels so guilty he has no other choice but to continue down this path. Now that he has to live with the fact that he essentially killed his only father figure, his only family, he’d rather live as the bad guy than try to redeem himself at all. He’s so far gone, he’s built himself a very small confined trap he’ll never be able to get out of. He’s so twisted, he even considers crushing Hiroki just to keep him by his side…
As for Satoru, how can he be so gullible? Hayashi, I guess, did his best to train the boy and offer him guidance, but I guess his young age and lack of experience makes him trusting towards everyone and everything. He was clearly warned by Hayashi to not approach Tsukasa unless he thought it was safe, yet he still fell for Tsukasa’s act. I’m surprised he was able to put Meiling’s warning and Katsuragi together. But after all that, he made the terrible mistake of trusting Tsukasa and might find himself seriously injured.
Well, no matter what happens, Tsukasa’s already lost. I have hope for Satoru. Yea, he’s gullible but he’s somewhat aware of his gullibility. He’s aware of the conflict between what he wants (his trust validated) and what he fears (his trust betrayed).
Tsukasa’s over-confident; he doesn’t consider that Hayashi might have done a better job with son v2 than he did with son v1. Tsukasa’s got a dirty trick which surprised Hayashi but I don’t think we’re watching this to see Tsukasa defeat Satoru and still be totally defeated anyway.
Additionally, despite his early dependency, Hiroki’s shown a lot more courage and independence then it looked like he was capable of.
I think, by the end, the only real “pet” here is this shameless, unhinged dog Tsukasa.