Episode 9 Summary, The Call from the Sea

Eiko was cutting out some scraps out of a newspaper article which talked about the disappearance of some divers who were out at sea near the coasts of Toyama. She gazes at a photo of someone who appears to be herself.

It was a holiday and Shin was up earlier than usual. He was in a good mood as he browsed through his clothes and wasn't really paying attention to what Jun was asking him.

Soon he leaves the house and it appears he was going out with Eiko. She had invited him out the other day claiming she wanted to take some time off work to relax. However, Shin finds out that wasn't all there was to their little "date". It's been a long time they spoke to each other so that was why Eiko invited him out when they just happened to come across each other in the streets.

Meanwhile, Jun was left alone in the house with Ryo. He goes upstairs to find his brother Shin's room in a mess. He begins picking up his clothes when he finds the "Feathers of a Whale" picture book their parents wrote. He begins reading, "Perhaps this is something that happened long ago. Or perhaps it's something that will happen in the future. Some place unknown or some place familiar..."

Eiko and Shin had now arrived at the place where the submarine with the missing crew was being kept. She was there to examine the interior again for any clues. Eiko climbed in, taking out her camera ready to take some photos but realises she doesn't have a memory card inside much to her disbelief. She gets a surprise and laughs when she sees Shin, who was waiting outside, peer through one of the windows.

Continuing to look around she notices a white feather nearby and picks it up. Suddenly water is seeping into submarine. Eiko panics, desperately looking for a way out but the hatch was closed. A bright light appears above her head as she continues to struggle helplessly. A scatter of white feathers appear before she passes out in the water but, she finds herself banging her head and waking up with one of the staff members calling out to her.

Finishing up with the examination, Eiko was back in her car with a cold can to soothe her aching head. She gave Shin a fright. Shin thought she had anaemia but Eiko thinks it was just a minor form of giddiness and tries to explain the differences.

Shin interrupts, laughing at her clumsiness and teases about forgetting to bring a memory card. Eiko smiles and tries to hit him but feels the pain on the back of her head again. Earnestly concerned, Shin puts out his hand to check and can feel a small bruise. When Eiko turns round to look at him, he awkwardly shrinks back to his seat and suggests they go get a memory card.

Unfortunately, the shops nearby didn't sell any memory cards so instead, Eiko decided to buy Shin a sketchbook so that he could help her sketch out what she needed. She wasn't really officially on a job so even if they weren't photographs it wouldn't matter. Shin actually never knew Eiko was working at the Ayanagi Police Department now because Ryo never told them.

Shin feels he doesn't understand his brother at all and can't tell whether he's changed or has he always been the way he was now. Eiko explains it must have been hard for Ryo because he had to work hard to look after his brothers and sister long ago. Maybe that was the reason why he was acting so cold. Then there was also the incident with Yuki. He must be blaming himself now and felt he couldn't face his brothers.

Hearing Eiko mention about his sister, Shin pricked up his ears. He never heard anything about how his brother Ryo had anything to do with Yuki's death. Eiko was also surprised Shin wasn't told about what happened but was willing to explain.

When the great disaster struck ten years ago, their sister Yuki had received some fatal injuries and Jun had part of his brain damaged. It was either let both of them die or try and save Jun. Ryo consented to have part of Yuki's brain to be transplanted over. Hearing this, Shin wasn't too surprised because he had always felt Yuki's presence within Jun. However, he had always thought it was because they were twins.

Meanwhile at the hospital, Kunio was with the family of one of his subordinates who had apathy syndrome. She still couldn't accept what has happened to her husband and the other deaths in her family. Her father had passed away ten years ago. Somehow though, she notices her husband smiling occasionally.

Shin and Eiko were now heading out to sea. Eiko was driving the boat because she had got her license during university when she went diving. Shin wasn't surprised to hear this. Eiko continues about how happy she was to know that both Shin and Jun still remembered her despite being separated for ten years. This made Shin think back to the happy times they had together when they were younger and the affection he had for her even now.

As they sped along, a mirage appears before them. Shin remembers how their teachers used to say how the mirages at sea came from clams. He thinks to himself the people of the past must have had quite an imagination with the little knowledge they had.

However, Eiko thinks there are still a lot of things they don't understand even today and perhaps those people who came up with the story are right. Maybe there really is something that they had come into contact with. She continues how one day when she went diving one day, she had tried to dive far away from the rest of her friends since she was more experienced now.

Unfortunately an accident occurred and Eiko felt herself unable to move. As she was there in the sea motionless, she saw some light and realised it was coming from the bottom of the sea. She then passed out and found herself back in the boat when she woke up again but was sure it wasn't just some illusion she experienced. She remembered clearly a song and feathers.

At this point, Jun was continuing to read the picture book back at home. He read, "That song was the one the young girl had mentioned. The young man wanted to hear it at closer range and so set out to sea."

Eiko had stopped the boat now and they were at the spot where the recent divers had disappeared. Her friends too had disappeared there ten years ago and all that was left were white feathers. It reminded her of the book "Feathers of a Whale", a story that Shin's mother had told them about where everyone would be lead to happiness.

The young man who set off on a journey in an effort to save the shattered souls of his family and village people met a girl dressed in feathers of light. Jun reads on, "The young man asked her, "Why are you so kind and at ease?" The young girl answered, "I can hear the song." "How can I hear this song?" "If you listen carefully."

The young man listened carefully and soon noticed the song coming from the depths of the sea. He himself was granted feathers of light before he returned to his village where his people cried when they saw the feathers, remembering the happy times they had. Soon, one by one the people of the village who were dear to him disappeared leaving only the young man behind. Even so, the young man still found himself full of happiness.

After remembering the story, Eiko can feel the melancholy behind it and even Shin was a bit scared when he first read it. It made Eiko want to ask Shin's parents more about the story because maybe they know something about the strange events. Having been out for long enough, Eiko decides they should head back but after seeing the sketchbook she bought from earlier, she tries to get Shin to draw something.

At first he doesn't know what to draw since they were out in the open sea. Then he saw Eiko against the sky filled with the rays of the setting sun and decided to sketch her portrait. As Shin went about sketching, Eiko smiles. She remembered how Ryo once said he never inherited the artistic talents from their parents and that it all went to Shin.

Suddenly, just as Shin finished his sketch, he found the boat surrounded by feathers. The boat rocks and he finds himself thrown into the water. As he sinks, he sees the red haired girl again dressed in white, reaching out her hand to him from the bottom of the sea. Just before they could grab each other's hand, the girl is dragged back into the sea as the white colour is stripped away from her.

Shin soon wakes up to find himself back on the boat. He gets up next to Eiko and looks out to find a much greater amount of feathers covering the waters around their boat.

Thoughts

Nice episode. Now we know the contents of the picture book and a little more light is shed towards the mystery of the red haired girl. It looks like I maybe right about how she represents the "whale" from the Kanzato family's picture book. However, it also looks like she might be trapped by something else too.

I was also right about how Jun and Yuki were involved in the same accident. That was quite a decision Ryo had to make and I can understand why he tries so hard to get away from his brothers. I don't quite remember the sudden mass outburst of Apathy Syndrome being this serious from the game though (if that's what that flashback of the disaster was referring to).