BLOODY MONDAY
Episode 2
Review by David Cirone
SUMMARY
The shopping mall gas bomb is revealed to be a fake, used to measure Third-i’s response tactics. To tighten the screws on Falcon even more, the terrorists kidnap Haruka (again), this time attaching her to another gas bomb. Could this one be the real thing? THIRD-i operative Hoshou (Nana Katase) jumps in against orders to disarm it.
Religious cult leader Kamishima (Kyusaku Shimada) is in prison, tempting his way into the mind of cuckolded guard. “If there’s someone you want dead, I’ll do it for you.” We get clued in on the guard’s wife’s cheating ways, and yeah, she’s got it coming.
Falcon’s father Takagi Sr. (Tetsushi Tanaka) is on the run, framed for the murder of a government official. He manages a quick phone call to his son, issuing a single warning: (you guessed it…) “Bloody Monday”. The cops stake out the family home, but Fujimaru doesn’t mind the surveillance. He knocks on their car window and simply requests, “Protect Haruka.”
In the meantime, the Bloody X virus has been successfully tested on a random civilian, who suffers her final hours writing her misery-filled blog. Fujimaru gets help from his newspaper club to clear his father’s name, leading to a tense sequence with Fujimaru, best friend Otoya (Takeru Sato) and Maya, now posing as teacher to keep tabs on Falcon.
The boys end up in Maya’s apartment, hacking her laptop to confirm her involvement with the terrorists. Falcon forgets his “Save the Data” USB drive and goes back to retrieve it, but Maya catches him in her home, and now he’s got to talk his way out of it. Will she believe his story, or will she add Falcon to her list of victims?
WHAT’S COOL
The tension between Maya, Falcon, and Otoya (props to Michiko Kichise for blending beauty and menace), and finally a villain(ess) who doesn’t play dumb for the sake of plot.
WHAT’S NOT COOL
In 2 episodes, we’ve had 2 Haruka kidnappings and 2 false alarm bombs. Let’s hope the stakes get raised soon.