Rating: B+
Last episode ended with a bombshell declaration: genetic evidence that Taiki Himekawa is Aqua’s (and thus also Ruby’s) half-brother. It follows up with another revelation that is stunning in an anti-climactic fashion: that Himekawa’s parents both died in a double-suicide many years earlier, and so the man Aqua has been seeking for all these years has actually been dead for a long time. Understandably, this completely throws Aqua for a loop, as it seemingly shuts down his entire motivation, to the point that he conspicuously loses the star in his right eye. In a sense, though, this is a release for him; he can finally step beyond his revenge, beyond the lingering darkness in his soul, and enjoys life (hence the episode’s title: “Liberation”). He even smiles genuinely for maybe the first time since Ai’s death. But he’s so fazed by the revelation that he uncharacteristically fails to notice that something doesn’t add up here – literally so, in fact.
Last episode conspicuously pointed out that Taiki has only recently turned 20. That means that, if the double suicide happened when he was “five or so,” then it happened 15 years ago. Since Aqua is 17 now (or at least he doesn’t deny that when Taiki asks), that means that Aqua and Ruby would have been only 2 when the double suicide of Taiki’s parents happened, and it’s been fairly well-established that the twins had to be at or close to 3½ when Ai was murdered. In other words, she died well after Taiki’s supposed father did. Thus, the man whom Taiki thinks is his father can’t be his actual, biological father. That means that Taiki’s mother must have had a a secret affair (hardly surprising for the entertainment industry, as Taiki admits himself), which certainly raises the possibility that the affair coming to light might have something – or perhaps even everything – to do with the unknown motive for the double suicide. Also, does it really make sense that a struggling actor would be collected and calculating enough to arrange for the attempts on Ai’s life? Or that his reputation would be great enough to kill for? The plot thread concerning the identity of the twins’ father is far from resolved, and it’s just a matter of time until Aqua realizes that.
But him not realizing that, combined with the play finally finishes this run, allows Ruby (and, to a lesser extent, Mem-cho) some overdue attention as a storytelling focal point, rather than just the token appearances she’s had all season to this point. The revelation that she does remember Goro quite well – to the point of possibly even being sweet on him – and did try to look up Goro when she was younger isn’t at all a surprise; Aqua couldn’t ever detach himself from his previous life, so why should she have done so? What is surprising is that, even a few years later, he was still regarded as missing. He didn’t die in that remote a location, so his body not having been discovered at some point seems unlikely unless the killer climbed down and buried or otherwise disposed of the body. Regardless, the irony that the person she pines for is as close to her as could possibly be resonates more strongly than ever before, and the revelation that part of her reason for resurrecting B Komachi was to make a call-out to Goro is a nice little bit of character development.
The one slight complaint about this episode is that, after emphasizing how Ruby showing off a room that’s a veritable shrine to Ai could be troublesome to explain, the whole “room tour” thing gets pretty much swept under the rug. At least it provides a good explanation for how some Vtubers justify some of their expenses, as well as how low a percentage of them do well enough to make a living off of it. The bit about the songwriter/composer who’s lost his inspiration was, contrarily, a nice little tidbit, though I did find it interesting that he did not need to lean on Ruby casting allusions towards Ai to regain his inspiration; she did that herself.
The destination of the trip that the B Komachi trio, with Aqua in tow, will be going on – Miyazaki – raises all sorts of interesting possibilities. It’s where this story began, and it’s fraught with meaning for reasons that neither Ruby nor Aqua can ever admit. Can’t shake the feeling that something big is going to happen there, and the mysterious little girl shown in the episode’s final scene – the same girl who appears prominently in the OP – raises all sorts of questions over her significance. The season’s only got probably two more episodes left, so how much can it do with this trip? Guess we’ll find out next week.
USA Anime 