Angel Heart – 12

Summary:
Ryo and Shanin board Lee Taijin’s boat for a funeral service for Chengda, Lee Taijin’s brother. Lee Taijin remembers how his brother was the one who brought him and his wife Shanpin together, and then later convinced him that he should have a child. The crime boss is saddened that his brother sacrificed himself, but Ryo tells him that Chengda enjoyed his life and smiled often. Chengda even told Ryo that he considered Shanin to be just like his own daughter. His will asked for his ashes to be spread out at sea, and Lee Taijin, Ryo, and even Shanin grant that request. Shanin’s participation brings tears to the old man’s eyes. On the way back, Shanin tells Ryo that she wants her ashes thrown out to sea when she dies, but Ryo tells her that it’s too early to be worrying about that. Their destination is home, and apparently Shanin instinctively knows where home (Ryo and Kaori’s home) is. After she takes in Kaori’s room and tells herself/Kaori that she’s back, Shanin heads to the roof where Ryo welcomes her back to the place where she belongs.

The first part of this episode serves to show some of the past of Lee Taijin and his brother, though it doesn’t feel all that important to the overall story. But I really like how they stylistically did the second part, Shanin/Kaori’s return to “home.” The insert song, 「Rebirth」 by kitago-yama, seems to have been written specifically with this in mind and I think it fits the scene perfectly. There’s actually two insert songs this episode, with 「Wings of Love」 by TOKU being the other one that’s played during the flashback scene.
Shanin returning home, and saying that she’s back to the reflection of Kaori seems to show that, for the first time, she’s at peace with herself in a place where she feels she belongs. This is a great place to conclude the first set of episodes, and ironically enough, there’s no Angel Heart for the next two weeks. I say ironically only because this is a period when other shows take breaks too, so it’s not just because they’re at a good stopping point. But anyway, Angel Heart will return January 9th, 2006.