Episode 04: “The Ark Sways on the Lake…”
SUMMARY: Suou, Hei, and the rest of the gang are on board a ship leaving Russia while Kirihara accepted the invitation to join Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIAC) and her cover name is “Ichinose Yayoi.” She’d be working alongside the eavesdropping trio (Shisume, Hazuki, and Youko). We learn from Kobayashi that BK-201 has been working for the CIA for the past few years, but now even the CIA is after him as well. Kobayashi instructs the team that their mission’s priority is to capture BK-201 and Shion (so it seems the MIAC still thinks that Suou is Shion). Meanwhile, Hei and company finally reach Japan. They then meet a crossdresser and Hei pretends that Suou and July are his siblings. Apparently, Hei’s “client” instructed him to train July and Suou as agents. Suou doesn’t like the sound of that, but Hei tells her that she should just do as she’s told if she wants to survive as a contractor.
They then take cover in a makeshift “house” for some training. July and Suou are trying to work together to improve Suou’s shooting skills. Hei shifts the target from a bottle to a bird (crane) to make it a moving target. Suou is reminded of that time when her father was teaching her to hunt, but unlike then, she is able to pull the trigger now, although she still misses. She’s getting pissed off at Hei’s bossiness, so she aims her rifle at his back as he’s walking away and she clarifies that she’s only going with him because she wants to go to Tokyo. As she goes on rambling, Hei grabs her rifle and literally throws her out of the “house,” saying that she just needs follow his instructions. He then gives them money and tells them to eat whatever they want. Mao notes that Hei used to eat so much, but now all he does is drink alcohol. As they’re apssing through an abandoned shopping district Suou seems to recognize one of the guys, Norio, hanging out there, though she brushes this aside. As they’re staying at a love hotel for their hideout, Suou asks Mao about the client and training thing. He doesn’t answer the question though, and asks Suou why won’t she just run away if she doesn’t like it. She says she will, someday. Meanwhile, Kirihara is investigating for some leads. Her contact tells her that if she wants more information, she should talk to Madame Oreille, who’s a legendary informant. We learn that Kirihara joined Section 3 to learn the truth about BK-201, the Syndicate, the organization she used to work for, and is still curious why BK-201’s star disappeared.
Back to the gang, Hei is teaching Suou hand-to-hand combat and gives her a lot of advice and tips, and later makes Suou do some (belly)dancing to improve her abdominal muscles and balance (much to her chagrin). Norio’s group then appears, Hei tells Suou that they’ll move to practical training. Suou moves toward Norio’s group and fights them. A police car passes by and the cops try to break teh fight. Before they can do that though, both parties try to run for it. Hei directs July to give Suou instructions to get away safely, while he throws Mao toward the cops for some distraction (LOL~ xDD) while Norio runs after Suou. Norio manages to catch up with July and Suou, apologizing for the brawl and tries to befriend Suou. She asks him to move, but he won’t. She gets pissed off and suddenly goes all contractor mode and fires a shot at Norio (which missed, though it shocked Norio). As they’re running away, Suou can’t take the pain in her tummy anymore (*tsk tsk* you shouldn’t eat expired goods, if you can avoid it). They run into the crossdresser they met earlier (LOL @ July attempting to smile xDD). He helps Suou and gives her some medicine for her tummyache. Apparently, Norio is the crossdresser”s son (haha, what a coincidence). Suou then realizes that Norio is kinda like Nika, that’s why she felt he was familiar, as he exuded the same aura that Nika had when he confessed to Tanya. Meanwhile, Mao is being chased by a cat (haha, he couldn’t believe his karma too). He narrowly escapes getting eaten and lands on Suou’s face.
When they arrive back at their love hotel hideout, Suou gets a slap from Hei because he can tell that she used her ability (aww, poor Suou. Poor Hei too). Kirihara goes to an abandoned observatory and is surprised to find Madame Oreille there, and she apparently also knows Kirihara’s real name. After the ED, before Suou goes to sleep, she (again) tells Hei that she hates him, even if she may have lost her emotions when she became a contractor. She then thinks to herself that she needs to endure being with a man she hates because she wants to see Shion.
~ end of episode
IMPRESSION: Considering the previous 3 episodes were so awesome and full of win, I thought this one was a few notches down and was just an OK episode. Although, it’s great to see Hei acting like his charming civilian/student cover again. ^^ Lol @ Suou bellydancing. To strengthen your muscles, Hei says it’s the best way. I wonder if he danced too when he was training… 😀 Speaking of Suou, she actually has pretty awesome fighting skillz when she isn’t fighting Hei. Oh, and “smiling isn’t in my program”… July attempting to smile made me laugh, it also reminded me of Yin attempting to smile back in season 1. Mao getting chased by a cat? Yeah, he couldn’t believe how quick karma can come around too. I still find it a bit odd to see Mao as a flying squirrel, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, so I’m just happy that Mao’s back. Oh, and Hei throwing Mao toward the cops was a bit mean, though it did make me LOL (nice pitching~!) 😀
I’m also curious about who this “client” is, who Madame Oreille is and what Kirihara would be able to find out from her. I think there’s gonna be a conflict of interest for Kirihara now that she got teamed up with the eavesdropping trio (Shizume, Hazuki, and Youko). They’re after Hei right? And I don’t think they’d mind killing him. I don’t think Kirihara will though. And if I understood Kobayashi’s instructions properly, the team’s priority is to capture Hei, not kill him. So I suppose the MIAC wants Hei alive. I wonder when Yin will make an appearance again. I’m curious about what happened to her. Hmm. Maybe Madame Oreille knows something about that? I also wonder why Hei is so lost, wasted and quite depressed. It’s kinda sad to see him like that. I know he probably went through a lot of crap just to stay alive while on the run, and I hope we’d get some backstory regarding that soon.
Episode 5 preview… Norio, still head over heels over Suou, seems to be following her around. Suou and July are getting along quite well. What seems to be a water-controlling contractor will show up and attack Hei, while it looks like Kirihara will learn quite a few things from Madame Oreille along with the Goldilocks twins.
———————————————————–
You might also want to check out my other related posts:
You really had to mention Hei bellydancing, huh?
Now I’m thinking about that image of him! Oh gawd…
@ Rakuen: Lol @ Hei’s image bellydancing. I just had to wonder since I can’t really imagine Hei dancing, even more so with bellydancing. xDD Haha, I didn’t even think of him bellydancing when I wrote it. I was thinking more along the line of hip-hop(?!) or waltz. xD
what relation is inside hide and amber??