Episode 05 – “Clown’s Prescription”

This week, some light is shed Gareki’s past, as well as the twins he grew up with and reunited with last episode. They were all quite close and raised in the same village, presumably all as orphans too. However, Gareki was never the social butterfly and preferred to stick with his mechanical trinkets. As he grew up, he became sort of a rebel, most likely to find a source of money his own way. The alternative would be to partake in the experiments that were being run on the other children, which is exactly what one of the twins Yotaka did.

Back in the present, we see that the drugs have turned Yotaka into a Varuga that has wings and generates Rasengans. Yogi takes it upon himself to fight him in order for Gareki and Nai to escape. Of course, our Gareki isn’t one to take things sitting down, especially since he feels that this ordeal is his business alone. He leaves Nai alone, but this allows Nai to redeem himself from his shoddy performance a couple of episodes ago. He’s able to save Tsubame, the other twin, from a creeper. Unfortunately, they’re both caught by the guy later, but it’s kind of a success still, right?

The creepy guy reveals himself to be the scientist involved in the experiments performed on the village children way back when and the person who gave Yotaka the Varuga drugs. Because of this, he essentially has control over Yotaka’s body and forces him to become more powerful and monster-like. This heightened state proves to be too much for even Yogi to handle, despite his super speed. However, due to their twin connection, Tsubame is able to bring Yotaka back to his human side for a brief moment. At this time, he begs Gareki to kill him before he accidentally kills Tsubame. Before Gareki can do the deed, Hirato appears out of nowhere and strikes Yotaka down with his scepter.

While this series was fairly dark to begin with, things appear to be getting more serious with each week. The Varuga drugs essentially strip people of their humanity, and yet Yotaka had no choice. He took it upon himself to provide extra money so that he and sister wouldn’t have to live so poorly. He also took Tsubame’s share of the drugs as well. And what does he get out of the whole deal? He accidentally kills his childhood caretaker (which we’ve seen in flashbacks a couple times) and he gets a swift rod through the chest. Even in his most helpless state, he has no regrets of how he’s lived his life and even laughs at the scientist for not understanding.

Next week, I’m hoping to see more of the other characters. After all, we’re almost halfway done with the series already!

B.W.