Having figured out that something is wrong at the clinic, Takina heads over there to save Chisato. Takina forces Himegama to retreat but the latter has more or less accomplished her assignment. Due to a strong discharge, Chisato’s artificial heart can no longer be recharged. She now has two months left to live, potentially less if she overexerts herself. As for why Chisato can’t just get a new heart, that technology is exclusively owned by the Alan Institute. The DA doesn’t fully understand how the heart works and the hardware is locked behind a password. Frankly, I think it’s asinine that the DA never bothered to study the tech in case something like this ever happened. I also have to wonder why Kurumi doesn’t just hack into the systems to gain access to the heart. The risk is probably high but she is also the best hacker in the world so you’d think she’d at least try.
Another detail that’s nagging me is Yoshimatsu’s motive in all of this. You can sum it up as him trying to coerce Chisato into using her talents as she’s “intended” to but I don’t really get his reasoning. Why does it matter to him that Chisato isn’t killing people? It’s possible that he just has a twisted idea of what he thinks is best for Chisato but right now, that feels more of a crutch than anything interesting. Alternatively, he could just be doing it per the policies of the Alan Institute but if that’s the case, he ought to be more conflicted than the show currently lets on.
This episode does provide a flashback scene that sheds light on Mika’s and Yoshimatsu’s characters. Chisato suffered from a congenital heart disease and Yoshimatsu agreed to provide her with the artificial heart. While not explicitly confirmed, the show does double down on Mika and Yoshimatsu being lovers, with both men talking about how Chisato is their adopted daughter (after they both got out of the shower, no less). The funny thing is that this flashback makes me understand Yoshimatsu less than I did before. It turns out that Chisato got the idea to be a Good Samaritan from Yoshimatsu. Really, it’s the man’s own fault that Chsiato veered off from her intended path. That then makes you wonder why he’s reversing course ten years later. Did he just not realize he messed up until now? How convenient for the plot. I suppose Yoshimatsu didn’t keep tabs on Chisato until recently but you’d think he’d have done that for the better part of ten years.
If nothing else, Chisato’s life being on a time limit has potential for an effective endgame in Lycoris Recoil. I’m a bit doubtful that Chisato will die but with four more episodes to go, there is enough time for the show to sow in some doubt and make me wonder if the show will actually go there. Not knowing exactly how much power is left in the heart generates some tension. You can’t help but wonder if the clock is ticking faster whenever Chisato has to something that’s physically taxing.
I like that out of everyone in LycoReco, it’s actually Chisato who accepts her fate the most. If she is actually upset about it, she’s doing a darn good job at hiding it. Chisato has always figured that she didn’t have much time to begin with so dying sooner makes no difference to her. I suppose that’s why Chisato is so happy go lucky. She knows she’ll kick the bucket sooner or later so she may as well follow the beat of her own drum.
As for Takina, this situation definitely weighs heavily on her mind. She is Chisato’s partner and she probably feels the most responsible for failing to stop Himegama. I think what really sells how much this affects Takina is a scene early on where she and Chisato are on a mission. Takina is normally an extremely efficient Lycoris but here, she’s spacing out and worrying over Chisato draining her battery. You know things are bad if the mission is the last thing on Takina’s mind.
In the midst of all this, Kusunoki requests for Chisato to participate in a raid on Majima’s hideout. Chisato is willing to join but only the condition that Takina gets reinstated into the Lycoris’ ranks. Knowing Kusunoki’s stubbornness, I was 50/50 on whether or not she’d agree to reinstate Takina but evidently, she thinks she needs Chisato for the upcoming mission as she very much sends an offer to Takina. I love that Takina’s original plan is to reject the offer. Back in the early days, she would’ve jumped on the opportunity but now that she’s grown attached to LycoReco, it makes a lot more sense that she’d rather stay there and be with Chisato during her final days. Takina does eventually decide to return to the DA but her decision ties back into Chisato. Since LycoReco can’t track down Yoshimatsu, their best bet at finding him is Majima so Takina may as well rejoin the DA so that she can partake in the raid. Funnily enough, Majima actually kidnaps Yoshimatsu at the end of the episode so regardless of what scheme he’s planning, he’s making Takina’s goal a bit easier. I noticed that Chisato doesn’t explicitly tell Takina that she’ll likely participate in the raid as well so I wonder if that’ll cause some conflict between them when the raid happens.
The last couple of scenes with Chisato and Takina are very sweet. Before she returns to the DA, Takina spends a day off with Chisato, taking her around the mall from Episode 4. The funniest and cutest detail is Takina putting a short timer on every activity on the agenda. That seems counterintuitive to making memories with someone but I can understand Takina wanting to be efficient with her time as this hangout could very well be the last one for these two. To be fair, it’s not like Chisato would object in any way. Towards the end of the day, the girls visit a park to see some snowfall. The part where Chisato gives Takina her scarf falls a little flat for me, if only because the scarf makes its first appearance in this episode. A pity that there isn’t a more recurring item for Chisato to give to Takina. What instead did it for me is the overhead shot when the girls part ways. Even knowing that these two will meet again, this shot is a somewhat ominous sign of where these two might end up when the show is over.
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