Shuta, Ran, and Koki are discussing what to do with the futuristic event from the last episode. Ran figures out that Kunai set a bomb on the cruise ship, which surprises him. What motivated him to do this? Who is behind it? No one knows until later on in the episode, which turns into a complex narrative and character development by shifting the time period.
The prologue introduces Ran and Kunai’s childhood experiences, which will provide insight into their past. For instance, it reveals that Ran’s father was arrested for being abusive. He was already into graffiti. They met a global artist from the 24th ward named 0th (Junichi Suwabe), who had a positive influence on them. Later, Kunai found out that he was good at programming instead of art.
Moving forward to the present, Ran stands in front of the elevator where Kunai lives and looks at the graffiti on the wall behind him. It’s the graffiti he painted in the past. He wonders what drove Kunai to get involved in crime. He does not know that, but he is going to find out. Kunai is looking hard at the same graffiti on the street wall and holding a cell phone that has information related to his criminal activity. From a close-up to an extreme close-up, his face is filled with emotional suffering.
Ran is in Kunai’s room, checking on this computer. He searches for Kunai’s current location and ends up finding his confession letter and that Tarki is behind the modification of Kunai’s app that spikes the crime rate. He uses the app as a stepping stone for Mr. Howard Win’s plan to construct a casino in Shantytown regardless of the negative effect on residents.
He directly connects with Shuta, who is on the cruise ship. He tells him to find the hard drive Tarki was holding earlier. It is a bomb without any further information. He just tells him he does not know who the perpetrator is when he knows Kunai is the one who planted the terrorist attack. He just wants to find him before anyone does. That is why he tells Koki that the suspect is in a different location.
Koki tells Hana Shishido (Yumiri Hanamori), a member of SARG, that the SARG can prevent the terrorist attack if she gives the order. Hana is not sure. Her senpai is not there. It is a tough call, but she ends up doing it. After all, it is a life-and-death situation.
Ran is on his way to see Kunai. The thought of him being involved in criminal activity is unbelievable. He could not have since he knew him when he was a child. A montage of his soliloquy gathering pieces to Kunai’s problem reveals that Kunai is really not interested in being a career criminal. He is a victim of Tarki, who just uses him to get what he and Mr. Howard Win desire.
The following scenes are a series of flashbacks that deal with the conflict between Kunai and society. As an adult, Kunai created an automatic music app called Di-VA that was never meant to harm anyone. His intention was nothing more than a hobby or an aid. The purpose of the app was to use the cell phone’s biometric sensor to recognize the person’s physical movement and match it with the type of healing music. Nothing more, until Tarki came along and modified his app into something devious.
Tarki offered Kunai a large amount of money to buy the Di-VA. He also offered to fix the elevator in the apartment building to benefit his grandma’s health in order to persuade him to sell his app. Kunai accepted his offer without thinking it through, which he later regretted. He saw people jumping off the building after using Di-VA. He checked the code and found that the app had been modified with additive sound. On the right side of the app, it showed the instructions for a highly additive drug called Drug D. At the center of the app, it has a section where people can purchase it and add the code called “Vape” to enter a dark mode, where the loss of reasoning begins.
Kunai blamed himself for people dying, even though he was being deceived. He wanted to tell Ran what he had gotten himself into, but he decided not to. Earlier, at Ran’s studio, he found out that the nephew of Yamamori (Atsushi Imaruoka), a DoRed bodyguard, was dead for taking Drug D. In an angry tone and expression, Ran said he would catch the guy who did this.
Later, Kunai hacked into Tarki’s PC and found out that he was doing business with Mr. Howard Win, who used dirty methods for his personal gain. Immediately, he wanted to call Ran to tell him what he had found. Then again, he felt uncertain about relying on him. How could he after the crime rate had gone up because of his decision to take Tarki’s offer? He fell down on his knee and bawled until he accepted the belief that those who were born in Shantytown could only become artists or criminals. He took the criminal option and decided to take the matter into his own hands. He placed a ticking bomb he made on a hard drive and gave it to Tarki without saying what it really was. He just told him that it was a software drive to enhance the version of the app.
Back in the present, Koki and Shishido are on their way to the station when members of SARG inform them that no evidence of crime was found in the train. Ran has fooled them as the tracking device suddenly lost signal. Koki just wonders what he is after.
Ran finds Kunai in a place where the train with 0th’s graffiti is located. He walks inside the train and sees Kunai standing in front of him from a distance. Their conversation and actions heighten tensions and emotions between them. Ran and Kuani still remember the past events on this specific train. Kuani hacked into the train network and switched all the TV images on each side of the wall for fun and to consider himself his equal. Now, he believes he uses his talent to harm others instead of doing good. He falls down on his knee and sobs. Ran tries to convince him that he is a victim and an impressive person, which is why he keeps DoRed going with him. Kunai spurns his words as if they meant nothing to him anymore. He had already accepted his fate as a criminal.
Besides, he feels justified in blowing up the ship as a way to stop his agony. The people he targets are worthless with the assumption that they are all supporters of Taki and Mr. Howard Win’s dirty plan. Are they? It is not clear if they are or not. Either way, Ran does not feel the way he does. He tells him that it is still not the right way to solve the problem. Kunai pauses for a moment and tells him that he will probably change the hearts of people through his art, but not him. Time is running out for him, and he can only do what criminals do. As Kunai is about to press the button on his laptop once he moves to the edge of the train, Ran runs toward him, trying to stop him from pressing the button.
The scene then cuts from a command voice to a SARG opening fire and back to Kunai, deepening the character’s conflict and emotion. A bullet goes through the train window and into Kuani’s chest. Ran rushes to his aid, wondering what just happened. He is at a loss for words, except to say his name.
He then hears Koki’s voice on his bluetooth headset, who told Shuta earlier to get out of the ship before he gave the police an order to shoot Kunai on-site. He explains to him why he gave the order. It is his obligation to prevent the terrorist attack. His job is not to protect criminals. Even though he does not want to shoot Kunai, time is expiring in front of his eyes. As a result, he has to make a quick decision whether to let Kunai blow up the ship along with everyone in it or to shoot him to prevent the terrorist attack. Ran wonders who the real criminals are and reaches for the button on Kunai’s laptop. Kuani urges him not to do it. He is an artist, not a criminal.
Episode 5 still seems like it is watching something supernatural rather than sci-fi. Their superhero power does not come from technology but from the supernatural. However, this episode is emotional. It continues the incident from the last episode and provides a bigger picture of what is going on. Events from the app that Kunai created, the crime rate in Shantytown, to a deception plan by Tarki and Mr. Howard Win are all connected. The flashback scenes of Ran and Kuani deepen the understanding of their friendship and perception. The post-credit scene shows that the idea of redeveloping Shantytown is not over yet. Gori will play a part in an upcoming revolution.
Rating: 8.7/10
