Part 29: EX Update 8 - TV Drama Episodes 11~15

EPISODE 11 - RUN OUT OF CONTROL



Continuing from last time, Kyouji and Takasugi are being surrounded by strange men clothed in black. They're dragging chains and weapons behind them.



A demonic presence approaches Takasugi while the men show off their demons - Sraosha. Kyouji and Takasugi are pretty confident about beating the men, but one of the men straight-up spits acid on Takasugi's leg and it starts to burn.



We get a shot of Kumiko in a ceremony before returning to Kyouji and Takasugi trying to make a run for it. They go up the stairs and into a vacant building. Well, they thought it was vacant, but the men appear to ruin their day. Kyouji readies his GUMP, but one of the men sends it out of his hands and flying to the floor below.



Kyouji tries to fight back, as Takasugi runs to the floor below. Kyouji ends up getting knocked down to the floor below, where three of the men gather and try to spit acid onto him. But it's Takasugi to the rescue! He's grabbed the GUMP, and hands it to Kyouji before the acid eats through him and reduces him to only a skeleton.



Kyouji invokes Vishnu, and he's pissed. He starts sealing demons left and right before he just starts slashing the men. It seems that this isn't what Kyouji wants, and Vishnu was acting on his own. The man in the black robe - actually, I don't remember exactly when this is revealed, so I'll just say it now because I'm tired of typing "robed man": the guy in the black robe is Sid Davis and the leader from all of Kumiko's ceremonies. So, Sid appears and speaks to Kyouji, but disappears when Kyouji runs at him.



Sid starts to teleport around, laughing and taunting Kyouji. We get a flashback of all of the demon sealings so far, before getting a new vision with Rei. Rei has brought ice cream to Kyouji, but she takes a step back when she notices his hand covered in blood. We go further into Kyouji's mind into a black space with Vishnu.

In the real world, Vishnu-Kyouji is choking one of the men in black before killing him with a nice blood splatter. Kyouji continues to yell at him to stop from inside, but it's not working. As Kyouji continues to try to fight him, Vishnu-Kyouji grabs one of the chains and kills another man.



A light suddenly appears - the star (well, I guess it's a hexagram) has been completed across the city. Back with Kyouji, he's still fighting internally with Vishnu. Is this Persona? This is like Persona. We even get a shot of Vishnu taking on the form of Kyouji.



In real life, Rei has made it to the building. Vishnu-Kyouji approaches her before grabbing onto her neck and choking her. In Kyouji's head, he's continuing to battle against Vishnu and we see a string of flashbacks. Finally, it seems Kyouji has conquered him and he releases Rei from his grip. They leave the building.



The next day, Rei and Kyouji go to the detective agency to find Sid there. He leaves the room, and Kyouji chases him up to the roof. Sid disappears, but we see that the moon - and the dimension - is now distorting. The final star appears on Kumiko's neck.

End episode 11!

Key points:
- Spittin' straight poison
- Spooky scary skeleton

EPISODE 12 - THE DUEL



Kyouji and Rei have returned to the office, and are poring over the map of the city in order to determine where Sid is hiding. Rei points to the middle of the star, saying that's most likely where he is. We get a quick shot of Sid holding a blade above Kumiko, ready to cut.



We get some sweet scenes between Rei and Kyouji, as Kyouji worries about the fact that he could have killed her if Vishnu took over completely. Sid has placed the blade on Kumiko's chest, and he senses something - "They're coming," he declares.



Rei and Kyouji get suited up in preparation for the infiltration. They make it to the building and step inside. As they're walking, they hear the sound of wheels. A wheelchair comes into view, and sitting in it is the girl from the hospital who got her neck snapped, Ayumi. After saying a few words, she disappears, so Kyouji and Rei move on.



In the next room, they hear demonic screaming behind them and Ayumi attempts to run the two down. Ayumi throws her wired teddy bear at Rei, and it wraps around her leg. Kyouji pulls the wire, bringing Ayumi down to the ground face-first. Rei rushes over to her and props her back up in the chair. When she's not looking, Ayumi picks up a pointed steel stick. "Die!" Ayumi cries as she tries stabbing Rei before throwing the stick at Kyouji, who catches it all Matrix-style. Ayumi disappears again.



Kyouji and Rei continue through the building. They get to a pair of stairs, and up comes Sayoko. "Come here quickly," she says before descending the stairs. The pair follow her into another room, and there another person is waiting for them - Takasugi. He spins his weapon around a bit before revealing his demon - Gashadokuro, which is fitting considering his skeletal fate.



Kyouji pulls out his GUMP and actually shows off some Devil Summoner skills by summoning the Arioch he got waaaaay back in episode 3. It knocks Takasugi down and bloodies him up, but he isn't dead yet and he disappears. Sayoko comes out from behind the pillars looking very frightened, and she gets down on her knees and begins to pray. Rei yells at Kyouji to stop, but he invokes his powers and Sayoko ends up with a bloody face as well. She runs off.



With that out of the way, Kyouji and Rei continue on. They run across a pool of blood, which Kyouji sticks his hand in and licks the blood from his fingers before smiling. Takasugi suddenly jumps out and grabs onto Kyouji, and the two begin grappling with each other. Rei takes her knife out but can't hit Takasugi. Kyouji continues to fight until he grabs his blade and throws it into Takasugi's forehead.



Kyouji squats down and inspects Takasugi when Sayoko comes from behind and drags Rei away. Kyouji gives chase, and runs to the room where Sayoko is keeping Rei hostage at knife-point. Sayoko goes to stab Rei, but Kyouji sends her flying with his powers and bloodies her up again. Rei is thrown to the floor as well, and begins backing up in fear of Kyouji's power. As Kyouji is distracted, Sayoko grabs him, but she is easily dispatched.



Ayumi appears again, looking innocent and not demon-like at all. Rei defends her, but Kyouji basically loses his mind and kicks Ayumi and her wheelchair into the wall. Sayoko and Ayumi get back up and speak to him, so Kyouji starts yelling, summons Arioch and Xiuhtecuhtli, and sets the two on fire. He then faints.



After Kyouji comes to, he and Rei begin to hear laughter and find that it's Sid. He disappears, but his laughter continues to echo throughout the room.

End episode 12!

Key points:
- Demon child
- Finger-lickin' good
- Kyouji goes berserk

EPISODE 13 - CATASTROPHE



We return to Sid having just finished his laughing spell. Kyouji somehow hurt his leg in the meantime, and he starts yelling at the voice: "Where are you?! Get out here!" Sid doesn't respond, as he's too busy with Kumiko's ceremony. Kyouji and Rei make it to the room he's in just as light begins to burst from him.



Everything turns to black and white and transported to a field. Sid taunts Kyouji, reminding him that he's killed humans before and has hurt Rei. Kyouji decides that's that and summons two demons, beckoning Sid into battle.



Sid opens his robe to reveal fishnet (a little much, dude) and a hexagram tattoo. It's the source of his power, and he seals Kyouji's demons. After getting kicked around for a bit, Kyouji fights back with his powers. "You really are a demon," Sid says. Rei, crouching by Kyouji's side, argues that he's not a demon - he's human. Sid uses his powers to transport to Kumiko, where he readies his sword to stab her.



Rei grabs hold of the prayer beads that Marie left behind. She yells a chant at Sid, blowing him down and causing his sword to puncture his head. The pair approach Kumiko, but Sid is not dead and rises up. Kyouji shields Rei from the attack.



Kyouji approaches him, and the two are surrounded by fire the makes a yin-yang symbol while Rei goes to Kumiko's side and begs her to wake up. Kyouji and Sid fight, but Kyouji is no match for him. Sid starts walking towards Rei and Kumiko, and Kyouji attempts to stop him. Sid sends him tumbling, but Kyouji gets back up and summons Vishnu.



The attack barely affects Sid, who summons his own demon and sends Kyouji to the floor in slo-mo. Sid makes it to where Kumiko and Rei are, declaring that with this Inaruna's power will be free.



Kumiko stands up and begins glowing. She raises her hands up, with Kyouji approaching her and following suit. They intertwine their fingers, and begin to glow. Kyouji cries out in pain, and we see Vishnu is in agony as well. Kyouji breaks off, and takes Kumiko into an embrace. A light appears and causes the hexagram over the skies to dissipate.



With Sid's power gone, he begins to burn in fire that's even worse than what we previously saw in episode 7. As he burns, we see his demon and oh my god.



It's the demon from the game's opening FMV! The demon that looked absolutely nothing like anything in-game! Was it Sid in the opening the entire time?



When we return, Kumiko goes out onto the roof and Kyouji and Rei follow. "Please just let me die," Kumiko says. She explains the connection between the Hatano family and Princess Inaruna. She looks at Kyouji and says: "Please kill me." Kyouji begins walking forward.



Before he can reach Kumiko, Rei runs forward and stabs him in the stomach to stop him. Kyouji falls to the ground and, soon after, Kumiko falls as well. Kyouji unfurls his hand, revealing that he was holding the strange item that was central to Kumiko's ceremonies (that being said, I still don't know what it is). The hexagrams disappear from Kumiko's skin. In the next shot, Kyouji is no longer on the rooftop.



We find Kyouji lying in the alleyway. He thinks about Rei, Marie, and Kumiko before letting out an anguished cry. The scene fades to black.



When we come back to, we're in the detective agency. As the scene goes on, it becomes clear that it's the same scene from the first episode where Rei is trailing the man and Kyouji is lounging around the agency. This time, however, Kyouji is nowhere to be found. Rei calls up Kyouji and talks to him before saying the last line:

"Could it be... you're not in the office again?"

End episode 13!

And end season 1!

If you asked me to explain what just happened, I'd tell you that I quite honestly don't know.

Key points:
- Slo-mo KO
- Through the fire and the flames

Let's just jump right into season 2.

EPISODE 14 - RETURN



We start with a family chatting happily in their new house. Suddenly, the son, Yuichi, notices his soccer ball starts moving on its own, and heads up the stairs with the boy following. He follows it into a dark room with a creepy doll.



Downstairs, the husband and wife are talking when the power begins to flicker. One of the lightbulbs explodes, sending shards of glass into the woman's arms.



At the detective agency, we see that Rei has decided to go with a new look for the new season. As she's working on the computer, an eerie message pops up: "House...a doll...in the darkness...a girl...piano."



At the house, Yuichi continues to wander around until he finds a shoji screen door. It opens up on its own, and he walks in to find a tiny piano on the ground. As he's examining it something approaches from behind. He turns to find a ghostly girl standing in the doorway. Rei gets a vision of four dolls on a shelf.



Downstairs, the man is bandaging his wife's arms. As he's talking, the house begins to shake as if in an earthquake. After it ends, the woman asks where Yuichi is. Plates and vases fall to the ground and shatter to pieces.



In the office, Rei uses some kind of divining rod to locate the disturbance. Back at the house, the woman hears the sound of a piano being played. She rushes upstairs to the door of the room, yelling at Yuichi to get out. The man runs to the front hall to check to see if Yuichi's shoes are still there. As he's looking, a man and woman approach him from behind. He backs up, yelling "Who are you people?!" but the couple doesn't reply. A large crash is heard.



Rei is continuing to get images of the family and the house, and gets enough information to head out. The wife runs downstairs and finds a puddle of blood and a broken flower pot. We see the dolls again, but this time there's five of them. The woman goes upstairs and finds the girl and couple from earlier. The girl beckons her forward.



There are now six dolls. Rei makes it to the house and goes inside. Another earthquake occurs, and Rei runs up to the piano room. We get another shot of the office, and a familiar man is sitting in the chair.



Yuichi appears behind Rei before he raises up the tatami mat that the piano is on. He sends tatami mats and pillows flying around as the man from the office begins to run. Rei gets out, and makes it to the front door. She's putting her shoes on and getting ready to leave when the wife runs up, crying "Please! Help me!" The door shuts behind Rei. When she tries to open it, the wife playfully says "Idiot~" before walking off.



Rei follows her up back to the piano room, but it's a trap and Rei falls into the basement. The husband is down there polishing his golf club, which he intends to use as a weapon. More furniture goes flying around as he approaches Rei, but he stops because he senses someone else is there.



It's Kyouji! How've you been, buddy? Furniture starts flying again, so Kyouji runs outside and readies his GUMP. It seems the house itself was the demon, and that demon is...



Orgone Ghost! It's cool to see a Devil Summoner boss design. Kyouji successfully seals it. The whole family is still alive, so he and Rei return to the office. When they get here, they notice a high-school girl sitting in the chair. It's Mika, the landlord's daughter.



In a cool reference, she's wearing a St. Hermelin uniform from Megami Ibunroku Persona. Kyouji tells her to get out, but she follows him around the room. When he gets to the computer, he notices the words on the screen have changed. They now read: "The hospital...a bug...early dawn...fetus...a mark..."

End episode 14!

Key points:
- Staring contest
- Faces in the wall

EPISODE 15 - PARASITE WARD

I don't have this episode! So no pics, but I do have a small summary. Major apologies.

Kyouji and Rei are asked to investigate a hospital where a number of unnatural deaths have occurred. In all the cases, the patient's internal organs have melted. Rei pretends to be a patient in order to gain access to the hospital, with Kyouji and Mika helping. It turns out one of the nurses has been possessed by the demon Ubu. After she's defeated, the hospital is returned to normal.

BEST OF EPISODES 1~15

As a bonus, here's some special behind-the-scenes footage . Includes the cast goofing around, a look at the Arioch model used for the drama, and some footage of Kaneko on-set.