My Home Hero

Episode 7

Up until this episode, this series has been about Tetsuo and Kasen trying to keep themselves and their family alive. They have done this by hiding evidence, gathering information, and using misdirection. They've done their best to make it seem like Nobuto disappeared—that he's not dead, and that no crime was committed. However, as the deadline to find Nobuto looms, the couple is now forced to take a more aggressive approach. They are no longer trying to prove their innocence; instead, they're attempting to frame someone else for the murder.

While Tetsuo is caught up with what's happening—focused only on the goal and how to get there—Kasen is forced to confront what this means. She realizes that being a part of the yakuza doesn't mean a person lacks a loving family outside of the organization. In her attempt to locate Majima's home for planting evidence, she instead finds his mother's home and engages in a conversation with her. The woman shares how the yakuza ruined their family business and drove her husband to suicide. The only thing keeping her going is her son—whom Kasen will kill if their plan succeeds. It's admittedly tough for Kasen (as Majima's mother is who she will become if she and Tetsuo fail). If their plan succeeds, they will be robbing this innocent woman of the last bit of hope in her life. However, any guilt Kasen feels disappears the moment Majima involves Reika in their dangerous game. She is willing to not only participate in taking a man's life but also to separate another mother from her child to protect her own.

As for Tetsuo, he still struggles to understand that he's not in this alone. While he has started including Kasen in all his plans, he sees her more as a lackey than an equal partner—i.e., one who can be trusted to follow instructions but not one to come up with plans. When Tetsuo discovers that Majima is trying to get close to Reika—putting her in extreme danger—his first thought is to throw all his plans out the window and confront Majima right away. Luckily, Kasen is there to stop him. She is far more level-headed than he is and can see the bigger picture even when he's in full panic mode. There's no time to plan, so he has to decide if he trusts his wife to handle the situation entirely by herself while he takes the time and opportunity to plant the evidence at Majima's apartment. Luckily, he can do so.

However, all this emotional turmoil causes Tetsuo to make his first major mistake. He is so focused on getting to Majima's, planting the evidence, and returning to Reika's apartment before Majima notices his absence, that it never occurs to him that Majima is in no hurry whatsoever—he hasn't even left his apartment on his way to meet Reika yet. Thus, the episode ends on a cliffhanger as Tetsuo spots Majima stepping out of the apartment's elevator. To make matters worse, Tetsuo is carrying all the evidence of Nobuto's murder in the bag.

All in all, this is a great cliffhanger to a solid episode. It's got character development for Kasen that shows her grappling with the morality of their actions. It also highlights that, despite Tetsuo's quick thinking and devious mind, he is still susceptible to making simple mistakes like anyone else. We'll have to wait until next week to see how badly he has messed up.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Reika does care about her family, but her being in the dark is both a bad and good thing. She honestly can't betray them by giving info she doesn't have. However, if Majima can turn her into a spy...

• I like how Kasen learned the yakuza's trick of using a “survey” as a means to gather information.

• Tetsuo keeps almost letting panic overtake him. Killing Majima would not save his family—rather it would leave him as the only suspect for both killings (even if he tried to cover Majima's up as well).

• Maybe Majima could be an actual ally to Tetsuo given his background. That said, Tetsuo would be a fool to take that risk without having no other choice.

My Home Hero is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.