Episode 4 Summary - The Feathers of a Whale

It was morning. The sun was high, shining brightly against a blue sky but Shin was still lying his bed thinking over the words Inspector Kunio said to him and what has happened recently. He still doesn't understand why his brother Ryo wants them to move out of the city. Meanwhile, Jun was outside clearing the show in the driveway. Just as Shin gets up to delve into his brother's files again, he hears a loud crash from downstairs.

He rushes down to find out what happened. Jun was in the shed and had accidentally knocked over some stuff. The place was filled with so much dust they had to open the window to let some of it clear.

While rummaging through the shelves and boxes, Jun manages to find a sculpture with Shin's name on it. Seems he made it when he was in primary one. Embarrassed, Shin grabs it from the grinning Jun's hands to stow it away. However, Jun wasn't done. He finds an old test paper and behind was another drawing that Shin done. The picture was of Eiko when she was younger. This time, Jun wasn't going to give it back so easily. Shin resorts to giving his brother some lethal tickling before managing to retrieve his paper. He was ready to get his own back but Jun claims he has nothing embarrassing to hide. Shin knew his secrets though much to Jun's dismay.

At the police station, Tomohiro was complaining about his chief's plan. It was too dangerous using Ryo's brother Shin to obtain the list of Reverse victims he had. They didn't even know if such a list existed. Kunio assures him it will be all right because Shin himself appeared to want to know the truth after the last incident. Furthermore, Ryo knew exactly who was going to be attacked up until now so Kunio was sure they could make him talk if they get a hold of the list.

Ryo on the other hand, was in his office waiting for a call. Eiko rings with the results she got from the two new bodies she found. Their hearts and other internal organs had stopped working and some unknown drug was found. Anxiously, she demands to know if they had anything to do with Ryo's classified case or the Reverse victims. He answers yes and says he was the one that killed those two.

Back at the Kanzato residence, the brothers continued to rummage through the shed when Shin finds an old family album. It had pictures of them together with their parents and when Ryo used to get along with them well. A sad look fell over Shin's face but Jun says they'll be able to be like that soon again. They continue to reminiscence thinking back to how the three of them used to play a lot in the shed. Their father would sit on a chair while their mother painted and Shin would get scolded for playing with the boards. The older brother should be good and set examples for the younger ones.

Moving on, Shin remembers Jun has yet to go for his check up but Jun thought it wasn't necessary. It's been ten years since the accident after all. Shin insists because he has to live for Yuki's part too. Before Shin could press any further, Jun rummages through the shelves and finds a few books. One of them was written by him and Shin together long ago but he also find a picture book that was done by their parents, "The Wings of a Whale".

Just then they hear their brother's car entering the drive way. Jun runs out cheerfully to say hello only to hear Ryo say he was back to get a change of clothes. However, when he hears Jun want wanted the three of them to sit down together for dinner, he changes his mind. They haven't had that chance yet since the younger brothers returned home.

The two older brothers sit down to watch TV while Jun reheated and prepared the food he cooked earlier during the day. He wanted to surprise them. There was a news report on saying a man who went out scuba diving with his three friends has gone missing out at sea during the afternoon. A white feather floating across the screen catches Ryo's interest but the TV is suddenly turned off by Shin. There was something he wanted to ask his brother.

Hesitantly, he asks if he really didn't want them back home. Ryo firmly answers yes saying they were bothersome and that he had his own life. He hands Shin a list of places they can to outside Ayanagi City. This wasn't what Shin wanted to hear of course. For a moment he calms down, making an effort to talk with his brother. Seeing this, Ryo pushes further telling him to get away from him.

Angrily Shin stands up, accidentally knocking over Jun and the food he was carrying onto the floor. Ryo's phone rings while Shin apologises before trying to pursue him further for a better answer. However, Jun stops him. He doesn't want them to fight.

After Ryo left the house, Shin goes up to his room again and copies over the files Kunio asked from him. He then returns to his room to call Kunio on his phone but suddenly hears his stomach growling. Remembering he hadn't had anything to eat yet, he goes downstairs to have some of Jun's cooking. While eating, he remembers what happened earlier and decides to go up to apologise to Jun again. However, there was no reply. Shin enters his brother's room but finds it empty. Where could he have gone?

Meanwhile, Ryo had met up with Eiko by the port. Anxiously, she asks if it had anything to do with the classified case Ryo was on. He replies that their negotiation had failed and their deaths were inevitable. Knowing that a normal human couldn't have caused such damage she begins to ask the next question but pauses, gazing at Ryo for a moment and decides not to as any further.

Returning to her car, she guesses out loud that Ryo must have had a fight with his brothers again. Eiko was pretty sure the brothers had met up once before in Tokyo but it seems it really has been ten years of separation. Still, it was cold what Ryo was doing. She also comments how it's as if she herself was being told to leave Ayanagi City by Ryo too before driving off.

Ryo doesn't turn around and continues to stare out at sea. His mobile rings. Shin tells him Jun was missing and was running all over the place trying to find him. Ryo gets in his car and drives off to pick up his brother seemingly unaware that Kunio and Tomohiro were trailing him.

As Shin continues to look for Jun in the streets, a bright white feather slowly falls besides him before losing its glow. Shin picks it up and finds a girl in red opposite him. There were many similar feathers floating around her. He walks over, reaching out his arm to ask her about the feather. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows past them untying the girl's pony tail letting her hair flail fiercely to one side.

After a bright flash of lights, Shin found himself in front of Ryo's car in the middle of the road. They sit in the car and Shin tells his brother what he saw. He describes the feathers were like the one Yuki used to wear around her neck then remembers the fight they had earlier. Why did his brother come if he didn't care? Why would he even use their birthdays as their home's access code? He answers it was just a habit of his and it was the older brother's duty to look after them whether he likes it or not.

Shin doesn't give up and again, tries to convince his brother to let them stay. He didn't decide to leave their aunt just because she was in a relationship. He wanted a change of environment for Jun. Jun used to get bullied a lot back at their school in Tokyo because of the way he talks and acts. However, most importantly of all, Jun too wanted to get along with Ryo. Shin continues about how Jun had been staring at the "The Feathers of a Whale" book earlier in the day. The two brothers suddenly realise where he may have gone.

At another point next to the coast, Jun was walking with his hand to his chest. There is a flashback of the time when Yuki was asking their mother what "The Feathers of a Whale" was about. Smiling, her mother says it was about a whale whose feathers allowed anyone who possessed them to obtain happiness together with the important people in their lives. She gives Yuki one such feather and tells her to return it to the sea and pray if she ever needed to. Jun takes out his sister's memento and lets it fly out to sea.

By now, both Shin and Jun had arrived. Shin calls out as they ran towards their brother but suddenly they stop in their tracks as they see their sister Yuki appear before them. A Persona projects from her as she sadly says it's only Ryo's voice she can't hear. Before she could say anything more, Yuki disappears and Jun falls to the ground. Ryo is the first to rush over. Shin is surprised at the sudden change in his older brother.

By the next morning, Ryo had driven his brothers home. Shin finally calls Kunio. He tells him he found nothing in Ryo's room.

Next episode, "A Forced Union".

Thoughts

No Persona action in this episode and we continue to see how much the two younger brothers want to go back to the old times when the three of them got along together. After that flashback towards the end and the appearance of Yuki, I think we can be pretty sure that red haired girl isn't their sister now. So who could she be? I wonder if there's something hidden underwater since anyone diving below seems to disappear and if the girl has anything to do with it.

The word "Kujira" which is used both in the picture book and the episode's title can be translated as "whale" or "Cetus". Cetus being a constellation representing a sea monster so, since the girl has white feathers appearing wherever she's been, I'm presuming she could be considered the "whale" from the picture book. However, at the same time, it could also mean she's the monster the constellation Cetus refers to so could she be this "monster"?

Also, there was a brief flash of two operating tables side by side when Ryo reveals the scar on Jun's head. Could this mean both Jun and Yuki were involved in the same accident or, the operation had something to do with their heads? In any case, it must have something to do with Jun's double personality.

Things are beginning to get revealed. I also think it's safe to conclude other normal humans can't see Personas because otherwise, Kunio or Tomohiro at least would surely have seen what happened when the brothers went out to look for Jun. Can't believe two of the Marebito are dead already. The enemy can't be this weak!