Episode 17, About The Home of the Wind

As a brief reminder of what happened last time, we see Megumi has guided the group to a large traditional looking building. Both Shin and Takuro were surprised at how desperately she banged at the door until she explained it was her home.

Jun had now taken some medicine and seems to have settled down. Shin thanks Megumi and wonders why Jun had come along too. Outside, Megumi's mother Michiyo thanks the doctor as he leaves but is puzzled why they didn't call the ambulance. Megumi walks slowly outside and thanks her parents for their help just as her father Tomoyuki goes in to prepare some Futons for her friends.

Inside a car nearby, Akihiko was examining the supply of suppressants they had managed to get a hold of. Kunio was with him, realising that normal people like himself won't be of much use against the Marebito in battle and wonders what Akihiko plans are. Akihiko puts the drugs away and replies that Kunio may have possessed a strong Persona himself. The Marebito have unlimited power. The worst thing that can happen to anyone who doesn't possess a Persona when they come into contact with that power is getting Apathy Syndrome. It's very much like abusing Kagenuki. After listening to Akihiko's warning, Kunio asks what he plans to do after all is over. Akihiko answers calmly says that someone must end it all and that he will take responsibility for bringing them and the children into this mess.

Back inside, the boys were all asleep as Megumi and Kanaru covered them up. There was some tension between Megumi and Michiyo. They look at each other for a moment before Michiyo leaves the room. Megumi tries to break the uncomfortable silence by laughing awkwardly at how tired the boys were. Kanaru replies it must have been because they had to use their Personas and the frightening experience.

Kanaru asks what had happened which reminds Megumi to ask her back how she had ended up at the school herself. Before she could finish her question, Inui enters and offers to explain things to Kanaru later. He asks if Megumi if she doesn't trust her Persona. Megumi looks away uncomfortably. Inui continues that it's true there are those who abuse Personas and end up killing people but, Megumi's Persona did save her and Yumi Tasaka once back at Kurobe. However, Megumi still wasn't convinced considering the state of her senior Yumi now.

Later that night, Yumi thinks back to the past and drops by the room where the memorial of her younger brother was. As she gazes at the picture thinking of the time how her mother had cared more for him, Michiyo walks in. It was the "Kaze no Bon" days which was when he had passed away so it felt like he was back somehow. The two sit down and Megumi asks why she didn't find it strange that so many people were brought to the house late at night, together with a wounded boy yet, they didn't call the ambulance. Michiyo had wanted to ask but the father told her not to.

Mijio takes a mandarin and offers it to Megumi but she looks away as it reminded her of the past. Seeing this, Michiyo puts the mandarin down and appears to regret things can't be undone. She asks how Jun was doing and Megumi replies he was sleeping. If her younger brother Tomoya was still alive he would be Jun's age now.

Jun was having a strange dream. He was walking in the woods behind their home when he comes across Ayane. She points out to the "Feathers of a Whale" book that suddenly appears in Jun's hand. He wakes up just as Megumi was bringing in something for everyone to drink. Seeing how Inui had fallen asleep while on guard with a gun in under his arm, she wonders if she should wake him up in case the Marebito attacked again. It was then that Jun calls out to her, reassuring her that no Persona was nearby.

Megumi puts down the drinks and tries to wake Shin up but Jun tells her to let him sleep. She pours him some of the drink and then Jun asks about her younger brother. Megumi was a bit surprised that he knew and Jun tries to hide the fact he can read minds by saying he saw his photo while entering the house earlier.

Seeing how it was no use hiding her fears anymore, Megumi thinks back to the incident that happened ten years ago. The family had been driving along the road when a lorry collided into them. Her Persona had awakened to protect them but it didn't manage to save Tomoya. Later after the burial, young Megumi tried to cheer up her mother by giving her a mandarin. This actually reminded her of Tomoya and made her angry. Angrily hitting the mandarin away, she shouts at Megumi demanding to know why she wasn't the one that died.

Megumi claims Tomoya, the family's real son, died because of her. Jun tries to comfort her saying she just couldn't save him at the time. Megumi had thought the same thing, telling herself that she tried her best but it was something she couldn't accomplish. However, she was beginning to have doubts. At the edge of tears, Megumi reveals that she didn't like her younger brother because her mother gave him more attention so, maybe it wasn't because she couldn't save him. Maybe it was because she didn't want to save him. She's scared this may be the truth. Jun doesn't know what to say.

The next morning, Kanaru was preparing breakfast with Michiyo. She notices the photos of the time when Michiyo performed at the festival and admires how beautiful she looked. She goes onto telling Michiyo about how Megumi was practising dancing very hard at school. Just then, Megumi walks in but the two doesn't even look at each other as they walked by.

A few seconds later, Takuro walks in saying Akihiko and Kunio had returned back to the station first. He himself was told to stay with Jun and help take him to the hospital for a proper checkup. Since Shin wasn't up yet, they decide to go ahead without him.

Shin soon wakes up after dreaming of the times when he was forced to battle with his Persona and when his brother Ryo had tried to get them to leave the city. He walks into the living room where Kanaru was having some water melon with Megumi's father. Seeing Shin, she brings a few slices over to him but he was more concerned about where Jun was. Hearing he had been taken to the hospital he decides to borrow Tomoyuki's bike and hurries along without stopping to get directions first. He'll just ask the police along the way.

As they watched the worried Shin rush out, Kanaru thought having brothers and sisters was a very good thing. However, she wasn't really sure how it felt to have a family because she was an adopted child. She was also envious of how Megumi was born in such a beautiful town. Hearing that, Tomoyuki blames himself that Megumi couldn't stay and grow up together with her mother. Kanaru comforts him by saying there's a certain bond between the mother and daughter.

At the hospital, Takuro tried to give Megumi and Michiyo some time alone together as he bought himself a drink and kept at a distance. Michiyo was the first to break the silence saying how she heard from Kanaru that Megumi was dancing. Even though it was street dancing, Michiyo still felt it was the same as when she danced since it was something performed in the streets before people. If that accident didn't happen, Michiyo would have taught Megumi how to perform the traditional festive dance but it was too late now after those harsh words she said.

In another part of Yatsuo, Shiiba was sleeping at a bus stop shelter when Sotaro phones, saying he was worried about him. Sotarou asks him to return to base. He and Udou had been keeping an eye on the emergency lines in an attempt to capture Jun because of his powerful Persona. As Shiiba walked along the road, he hangs up and flies away, carelessly knocking out a driver along the way.

The driver's lorry runs along the road out of control towards the car Jun and the others were in. Takuro summons his Persona and manages to lighten the collision but the car is knocked off the bridge into the water. Takuro himself was knocked out of a window and seeing what happened to the others, he attempts to use his Persona again but fails.

As the car sunk into the river, Megumi wakes up and summons her Persona, determined to save the others who were now unconscious. She manages command her Persona to fly everyone to safety but finds no sign of her mother. Desperately she looks around and finally spots her a little further away. Megumi cries out almost to the point of drowning herself but when she remembers how she couldn't save her own brother, she continues to struggle and manages to get her mother too just before she was passing out herself.

Fortunately, Shin just happened to be on his way back and manages to save Megumi too. By the time Megumi woke up, everyone was sitting by the riverbank while her mother was sitting over her. Michiyo now realised it was Megumi who had saved them in that accident.

Afterwards, it was time for the the friends to leave Megumi's home. Just before they were leaving, Michiyo hands a bag of mandarins to Megumi for them to eat on the train back. Megumi gladly accepts and tells her mother not to worry about the harsh words she had said long ago. Looking away for a moment, she says she was thankful that Michiyo blamed her. Hearing this, Michiyo goes up to embrace Megumi. The two embrace for a moment as they fall into tears and Megumi hears the words she had been waiting for. Her mother knew she done her best to save Tomoya and reminds her she should drop by home more often.

On the train, Jun apologised that they couldn't capture the Marebito because of him. Shin shakes his head and the two brothers smile at each other. Meanwhile sitting at another seat nearby, Megumi and Kanaru were having fun talking about something. Takuro was glad to see Megumi had finally resolved her troubles but Shin didn't quite get what he meant. As Megumi gets up to hand them a mandarin, she returns to her seat and looks out the window peacefully.

Next episode, "A Sinking Dream".

Jun encounters the red haired girl when she is reading "Feathers of a Whale" in a nearby park by his home. Although bewildered by the feelings that he had never sensed before from this girl named Ayane, he is somehow charmed by her. When Shin notices the mysterious white feathers that appearing and disappearing before him, a disturbing feeling pierces his heart as he tries to trace the two of them to their "tryst". There, Shin can't believe who he finds...

Thoughts

A nice episode covering Megumi's troubles that's been hinted throughout the series so far but, it kind of breaks up the rhythm of the show. I guess it's supposed to be another "time for a break from the action and have some character development" episodes. It's interesting how they tried to show Michiyo wanted Megumi back by offering her a mandarin. Think they'll cover her real parents too? It sounds like she's adopted because she mentions her brother is the "real son".

Good on Takuro for giving the mother and daughter some time to open up at the hospital. Pity he still can't control his Persona yet although if he did, Megumi couldn't have been the focus.

Well, that's Megumi's background cleared mostly. Now we're missing Takuro and Kanaru unless they decide to cover more about the Marebito themselves too to show how they ended up doing what they're doing.

And I wonder what Akihiko means by someone has to end it all and that he'll take responsibility? They're not planning to kill him off in the show are they!

Also from the preview, it looks like Ayane's controlling Eiko to kill Shin now or as the title suggests, it's just some nightmare? Eiko looks very evil in that screenshot! For a moment, I thought Ayane was going to take Jun away or something, same way as she almost did to Yumi but, it sounds like that will happen in the next episode.