Part 31: EX Update 10 - TV Drama Episodes 21~25

Time to wrap up this crazy thing!

EPISODE 21 - RIVAL



A policewoman named Hazuki is on the job when she gets a call from a fellow policewoman. When they get to the scene, they see two women being terrorized by a shirtless man with a bat. Hazuki springs into action, disarming him and kicking him to the ground before threatening him with her baton - clearly we're dealing with a badass here. She finds an ad for something called "Metamorphosis" inside his pocket and takes it with her.



At the agency, Kyouji is discussing the previous day's events with Tarumi. We get a flashback, and see that both Kyouji and Rei are still depressed about what happened. Mika bursts into the room with a cheery "Ya-hoo!" and destroys the grim mood. She's suspicious about Tarumi, who does not help his suspicion by acting awkward around her. He slips her a metal amulet.



Mika tells Kyouji that the reason she came was to cheer Rei up by giving her tickets to a secret concert before she excuses herself to go find Rei. It turns out the tickets are for a band known as "Metamorphosis" - presumably the same as the Metamorphosis found on the man's slip of paper. Mika gives her a ticket before heading back home.



The next evening, Rei heads out to the concert. Inside the building, she finds what is possibly the best/worst concert I've ever seen - a group of five guys in headphones and headsets slowly dancing (if you could call it that) around some kind of glowing orb. We're shown their view, some kind of screen with pictures of a woman flashing in the middle. These guys know how to party.



Rei calls out to them - "Excuse me, is this where Metamorphosis is playing?" she asks innocently. All of the concert-goers stop and look at her, obviously not pleased that they've been interrupted.



Kyouji gets a message on his computer - "Metamorphosis's secret virtual concert is the meeting point." Mika comes into the room to deliver some food, so Kyouji grills her about the secret concert.



Back at the concert, Rei is being chased down by the group, who are equipped with chains and metal pipes. She manages to lose them, so she starts running back to the room. In the concert room, we find somebody else - Hazuki, the policewoman from earlier. Using a hammer, she busts open the glowing orbs. The visuals on the men's headsets goes dead, so they all stop and turn back. In the room, Rei tries to get the jump on Hazuki, but she gets knocked onto her back. She does some crazy chant and stops Hazuki in her tracks.



The men find Rei, so she runs out onto the rooftop and gets cornered. They begin to choke her, but it's Hazuki to the rescue with her handy-dandy stun gun. It turns out that Hazuki is a Devil Summoner as well. The men aren't dead, so Hazuki tells Rei to hurry out before they wake up again. She does so, and literally runs into Kyouji.



After getting rid of the men, Hazuki runs into another enemy - Todoroki. He walks towards her menacingly, so she grabs onto her ring (a memento from her brother) and summons the demon Fortuna - who, I would like to point out, is not in the original Devil Summoner.



Todoroki overpowers Hazuki, but Kyouji shows up with Cerberus in tow. Kyouji and Hazuki decide to combine their powers, and do a double Kamehameha on Todoroki. He falls to the ground, defeated. After that, Hazuki offers to join forces, and Kyouji agrees.

End episode 21!

Key points:
- Police brutality
- Are you ready to rock?!
- Kame-hame....HA!

EPISODE 22 - SEDUCTION



Kyouji and Rei run towards a building with its lights flickering on and off as an officewoman goes crazy with laughter. We see scenes of violence inside as a message tells us that there's some kind of demon takeover. Kyouji pulls his GUMP out and a magic circle rises up over the building. The lights go dark and the laughing stops. Kyouji and Rei leave, but we see a strange woman watching the two. "Kyouji Kuzunoha... please show me your power."



We're at the agency the next day, where Mika is bored out of her mind. The phone rings, but Kyouji's asleep so Mika picks it up and answers. The person on the other end informs her that a church's mirror has been stolen, so Mika replies that they'll take the case. Kyouji wakes up, but it's too late - the details have been sorted out.



Since Kyouji is a lazy bum, he just says that Rei will do it and continues to eat his sushi. Rei, who had just come through the door, hears this and glares at Kyouji. An awkward silence ensues before Rei grabs the information and leaves.



Rei makes it to the church, where she's greeted by a boy with a bowlcut and a nun. She gets right down to business, attempting to get a vision of the stolen mirror. As the vision appears, it gets interrupted by a vision of what just happened at the office with Kyouji. Sensing Rei's emotions, the nun lets Rei confess to her.



At the agency, Kyouji gets an eerie feeling, almost like a demon, but it's just Rei. As they discuss the mirror, Kyouji's computer gets a message: "There's evidence of Dark Summoner activity. Watch out for the true intention of the church." Kyouji goes to the church to investigate it himself. The bowlcut boy answers the door, but Kyouji leaves after the boy tries to get him to come inside.



Mika comes into the agency to find that it's a total mess, with Rei picking through things. Rei grabs a fork and backs Mika into a corner before leaning in, because no midnight drama is complete without an erotic scene with sapphic undertones (the best part about this scene is in the middle where you can hear an airplane going by the building in the background, because what is sound editing or multiple takes). It becomes increasingly clear that this is not Rei - it's the nun from the church, a Dark Summoner named Haruna, disguised as Rei. The phone rings, and it's Tarumi. Mika tries to escape, but the door is locked.



Tarumi meets up with Haruna near the wharf. Meanwhile, Kyouji makes it back to the agency and finds Mika on the ground. He nonchalantly asks what she's doing before another computer message shows up that talks about a Dark Summoner, the church, and brainwashing. Kyouji helps Mika up and gets the story from her.



At the wharf, Haruna has begun to beat the tar out of Tarumi when Kyouji finds the two. He also gets beaten up and Tarumi tells him about Haruna. We get a shot of the church, where we find Rei chained up to the floor. We get a flashback to what happened: Haruna used the reportedly stolen mirror to take on Rei's appearance.



Back with Haruna, Kyouji is struggling and is unable to get to his GUMP. Rei grabs onto a sharp object and stabs herself in the shoulder, causing Haruna to cry out in pain and start bleeding. It seems their bodies are connected, so any damage done to Rei is transferred to Haruna and vice-versa. Haruna runs off.



Kyouji and Tarumi go to the church, where Haruna is waiting. Kyouji summons Cerberus, but Haruna warns him that any damage she takes will transfer to Rei. Kyouji pauses for a moment before trying to attack Haruna, but she pulls out the mirror and blinds Kyouji. When he opens his eyes again, Haruna has disappeared.

End episode 22!

Key points:
- Awkward...
- Lesbians = higher ratings

EPISODE 23 - GOOD-BYE



Mika and Tarumi are chatting on the roof, and it seems their relationship has improved greatly from their awkward first time meeting. Mika asks about his daughter, Marika, so Tarumi talks about about her. We get a flashback to when she was attacked. At the agency, Kyouji, Rei, Hazuki, and Tarumi are discussing Haruna. She's fairly strong in both hand-to-hand combat and in magical ability. Rei is worried about Mika getting involved.



Speak of the devil, we see Mika on her way to school. Somebody calls out to her and she turns out - only to come face to face with Haruna. Kyouji tells Tarumi that even though Mika has encountered Haruna, it was when she was disguised as Rei. Mika comes in the room and heads to the desk. She stares at the GUMP before Kyouji picks it up and puts it away. Mika then takes her leave, saying she has to see a friend.



Mika meets up with Haruna near the docks, who sweet-talks her into revealing information. Kyouji and Hazuki rush out of the office, having just gotten a message saying "If you don't want to lose something important, come to Amazing Square. The girl is alive." Tarumi and Rei, who were left behind, talk. Tarumi asks why Rei isn't going with, to which Rei recounts the time where Kyouji attacked Haruna even though it might hurt Rei.



Kyouji and Hazuki make it to Amazing Square, which turns out to be an abandoned theme park. They walk in, when suddenly all of the rides turn on. Back with Tarumi and Rei, Mika comes into the agency. Kyouji and Hazuki continue to walk around until they run into bowlcut kid from Haruna's church.



Mika brushes past Rei and looks into the next room, wondering where Kyouji is. She then goes to Tarumi and asks him to come with her. Tarumi obliges, though Rei tries to stop him. At the park, the acid spit from last season returns. Bowlcut runs off, but Kyouji and Hazuki chase him into the maze. They manage to corner her, and do the Kamehameha combo they used on Todoroki. Bowlcut literally gets split in half.



Mika brings Tarumi to some kind of warehouse, where she calls for Haruna. Tarumi tells Mika to run away, but gets kicked to the ground by Haruna. Kyouji and Hazuki return to the agency, where they get information about what happened and yell at Rei for letting it happen. At the warehouse, Mika is getting the crap slapped out of her before she's thrown to the ground. Tarumi grabs onto her to protect her.



Haruna taunts Tarumi about the death of his daughter and summons a demon (Black Maria, perhaps?). The amulet that Tarumi gave Maki reacts, knocking Haruna down. A magic circle surrounds Tarumi and Maki, and the image of a girl appears - Marika, Tarumi's daughter. Kyouji and Hazuki get the location of the warehouse from Rei.



Marika's power isn't enough, and she is easily dispelled by Haruna. Just as the situation is looking bad, Kyouji and Hazuki rush into the room. A fight ensues but, using the power of teamwork, Kyouji and Hazuki overpower Haruna and defeat her.



When Kyouji returns to the agency, he finds that the office is empty. He spots a letter on the desk. It's from Rei, and she talks about Kyouji now has Hazuki's power to help him. "It's been a lot of fun. Thank you for everything. Bye bye, from Rei."

End episode 23!

Key points:
- Tearin' me apart

EPISODE 24 - COLD-BLOODEDNESS



Kyouji is having a nightmare. Rei repeats the words from her letter before walking off. As she's walking, a man starts chasing after her before she falls and he stabs her. Kyouji wakes up in a sweat, then gets up and re-reads the letter. He can hear footsteps coming down the hall and assumes it's Rei, so he sits in his chair and turns it to face the wall. When he turns back around, however, it's just Hazuki and Tarumi.



We see that Rei is actually still wandering around outside when she runs into Mika and her boyfriend, Kamiya. Rei and Mika discuss the events of the other day, when Mika notices a dead parakeet. Rei and Mika go to bury it, when Kamiya claims he can help. He takes ahold of the parakeet, who starts shining. When it's done, it flies off fully alive. Mika is impressed, but Rei is suspicious. After Mika and Kamiya leave, Rei gets a sudden pain in her head.



Back at the agency, Kyouji is telling Hazuki and Tarumi what happened with Rei. Kyouji says she'll be fine, but Hazuki and Tarumi are worried about Dark Summoners. We get a short scene with Kamiya acting creepy before switching to Hazuki and Tarumi looking for Rei in town. They decide to split up to cover more ground, but something sinister follows after Hazuki.



Later that night, Tarumi is walking home with groceries in tow. When he gets up to his floor, he notices that the door is unlocked. Meanwhile, whatever was stalking Hazuki catches her. When Tarumi walks into his room, green and red lights are flashing and he gasps before dropping his bag. He calls up Kyouji, but their call gets interrupted so Kyouji decides to head out. Tarumi then calls up Hazuki, but we see that her purse and phone have been dropped on the sidewalk. Whatever got Hazuki catches up to Tarumi as well.



Kyouji makes it to Tarumi's apartment and sees the scene - on the wall, painted in red, is the word "KILL." Kyouji gets pissed and slams his fist into the wall, something that Rei can apparently sense. Kyouji goes back to the office, lays his GUMP on the table, and falls asleep on the couch. That night, whatever got Hazuki and Tarumi comes into the office and stares at his GUMP.



The next morning, a tape arrives at the agency. He puts it into the player, and we see Hazuki chained and cut up in some kind of warehouse. Kyouji says that Rei would be able to find out where she is, so he goes out looking for her. He starts by finding Mika, who tells him where she last saw Rei. After a day of searching, he still can't find her so he heads back to the agency.



Another tape has arrived, this time with Tarumi getting bloodied up. While Kyouji is watching, he gets a phone call from Mika saying that her friend knows where Rei might be. Kyouji heads to the location, what looks like an abandoned school. While he's inside one of the classrooms, a parakeet goes flying by. Then, a screen showing Hazuki pops up.



We go back to Mika and, surprise surprise, Kamiya is a bad dude. Mika stands in terror as Kamiya slashes at Hazuki with his finger-strings. Hazuki's ring begins to glow as she summons Fortuna, but her attack is dispelled by Kamiya. He slices the necklace holding her ring before hitting her with his powers and knocking her down. Mika tries to stop Kamiya, but is pushed down. Rei gets a vision of the events.



Kamiya continues to attack Hazuki until Mika runs over to her, but it's not looking good. Rei stumbles into a shrine and continues to get visions. Nearby in a cemetery, a hand pops out of the ground like a goddamn horror movie. Kyouji finally makes it to Hazuki, but it's too late - she's already dead.

End episode 24!

No key points, this episode was heavy on the serious stuff.

EPISODE 25 - TETHER



We return to Kamiya, who is attacking Tarumi this time. He materializes a metal ball out of thin air and slugs it at Tarumi, who tries blocking it but only gets a hole through his hand. Kyouji is trying but failing to find everybody while Kamiya starts choking Mika. Tarumi tries to get him, but Kamiya bitchslaps him away. Mika runs over to him and Tarumi takes a bullet for her. Kamiya drags her away right before Kyouji enters the room. He runs over to Tarumi, but it's too late for him as well.



Kyouji finally encounters Kamiya and pulls his GUMP out on him, but something's wrong. It turns out that Kamiya sealed it when he snuck into the agency that one night. Rei continues getting visions and decides to go find the source, but gets stopped by Todoroki. She runs into the nearby forest, where she finds Haruna. Both Todoroki and Haruna were brought back to life by Kamiya's powers. Todoroki and Haruna combine their powers to bind Rei.



Kamiya seals Mika behind a barrier before literally growing a sword out of his hand and attacking Kyouji. Rei is doing much better, and uses her powers to break out of her binding before sealing and exorcising Todoroki.



Since he has nothing to fight with, Kyouji does his best to dodge all of Kamiya's attacks, but Kamiya plays dirty and hits him with a metal ball. Just when things are looking bad, Rei bursts into the room and uses her power to break the barrier around Mika. As Mika is freaking out over Tarumi's death, Haruna comes into the room as well. She attempts to use her powers, but Rei launches a counterattack and gets everybody out of the room.



Mika shows everybody the ring that Hazuki left behind. Kyouji takes it, but before they can do anything else they all get warped back into the room with Kamiya. Kamiya uses his powers to warp everybody to the rooftop and apply a crappy green filter over the video.



With the help of Rei and Hazuki's ring, the seal on Kyouji's GUMP is lifted and he summons Cerberus. Kamiya pushes Haruna to the ground and absorbs her power before summoning a demon of his own.



It's Vishnu! Kyouji tries to attack Kamiya, but he's easily deflected. Kyouji falls to his knees, but Rei tells him not to give up.



Kyouji pulls out his GUMP and summons all of the demons inside before fusing them together (c'mon Kyouji, using your GUMP to fuse demons wasn't a feature until Soul Hackers! Go find Victor if you wanna fuse!). The resulting demon is...



Susano-o! This guy also uses his Megami Ibunroku Persona design. Actually, between the demons and Kamiya's St. Hermelin uniform, this looks more like a Persona live-action drama...



The two do battle. Kyouji overpowers Kamiya and destroys Vishnu, causing an explosion to spread across the city. Kyouji runs and shields Rei and Maki, while Kamiya disintegrates in the blast.



Rei and Kyouji decide to close up shop and leave town, despite Mika's pleas not to. When Mika comes back the next day, only one thing is left of the agency - one of Kyouji's lighters. We get a final parting shot of Mika throwing the lighter in the air.

End episode 25, end season two, and end the series!

Key points:
- The final battle

BEST OF EPISODES 21~25

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Afterword

I am being completely serious when I say that this series is actually my favorite MegaTen television adaptions. Now, I absolutely adore the original Devil Summoner game, so that may be a factor clouding my judgement. It's a corny series with bad acting and bad CGI, but it's also a fun series. Even if you know absolutely everything about Devil Summoner, it still hits you with some really crazy stuff that you never expected. It's also an interesting take, as it's the only official live-action MegaTen series.

One of the best parts of the series is Kyouji and his dynamic with Rei. In the original game, we didn't really get to see much of Kyouji other than "asshole who will stop at nothing to fulfill his duty" and we only see his relationship with Rei through her eyes. The TV drama actually gives Kyouji some more character, though it's slightly incompatible with his game version due to the differences in the story. He's hard-boiled... but he's also a lazy guy who would never get anything done without Rei around.

As a note, this didn't get any attention due to the nature of these summaries, but the music for this series is pretty great. Well, it's mostly due to the fact that a lot of the tracks are just remixes of game music, but they're good remixes!

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at this series, and check it out yourself if you ever get the chance!