My Home Hero

Episode 11

This series was always destined to end up this way. It was inevitable. We have two fathers so devoted to their respective families that they would commit any crime—even murder—to keep them safe. Of course, the difference between them is that one has already lost his family while the other stands to lose his.

The parallels between him and Matori are not lost on Tetsuo. Seeing Matori's pain at discovering the crime scene, he can't help but empathize with the man, father to father. And so, instead of committing another murder, he exposes himself and confesses his crime. He expresses his willingness to turn himself in to the police and be duly punished for his actions. Ultimately, as long as his family is safe, he is prepared to face the consequences of his deeds.

However, there is one other difference between Tetsuo and Matori—one that his empathy blinds him to in the moment. On a fundamental level, Tetsuo believes in justice. His father was a police officer, and his main hobby is reading books about righteous detectives outsmarting the cleverest of criminals. Matori, however, lacks such a foundation. He cares nothing for justice. He desires vengeance. He wants Tetsuo to suffer even more than he is suffering—and not only him but also his wife and daughter as well.

With that, we are back to where we were in episode one with Tetsuo attempting to kill a man to save his family. Make no mistake, Matori will stop at nothing to torture and kill Tetsuo and his family—and he certainly has the means to do so. But here's the great thing about Matori as a villain: while he has real power, it's borrowed power. Sure, the yakuza will do anything to keep him happy; however, in a one-on-one fight, he's just a middle-aged man with no fighting experience. In other words, he's exactly like Tetsuo.

So, thus begins our "climactic battle." And despite the music's attempt to make it as tense and epic as possible, what we get is nothing more than two men flailing about in futile attempts to kill each other. And make no mistake, that is not a complaint. This is exactly how it should be. It perfectly aligns with the realistic tone the anime has worked so hard to portray.

And the best part is, in the end, Tetsuo loses. Because when it comes down to it, he can't let go of his empathy even in a life-or-death struggle. He simply has to make one final appeal to the man out to kill him and his family.

...Well, that or he heard the police sirens in the street and knew that the loser of a fight naturally appears as the victim.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Aww. Kasen splurged on some celebration sushi. She continues to be the best wife.

• Even the yakuza won't be able to save Matori from this one. From the outside, it looks like he broke into his son's girlfriend's apartment and attacked her father who he found there. Then the police show up just as he's in the act of trying to kill said father? Yeah… this is way too public to be covered up.

• I wonder if the leftover blood evidence alone would be enough to get a conviction. Probably not considering that Nobuto was a yakuza and no doubt had all kinds of enemies who might be willing to kill him at his girlfriend's house—not to mention the door's lock has all kinds of evidence of being picked.

• My prediction for the ending? The yakuza, knowing what he did, blackmail Tetsuo into becoming the new Matori and handling all of his work. Any man who can con all of them is a tool to be used, after all.

My Home Hero is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.