The Flamengers receive an update on From Beyond in regard to bases that were found. However, by the time anyone got to those bases, they were already abandoned. They are also shown a graph that indicates that attacks and sightings have dropped.
During the discussion, Midorikawa explains how they’ve now heard about the Four Kings, the 64 War-Gods, and the 256 Generals. They’ve also learned that the Four Gods were simply one unit of the 64 War-Gods. By applying the logic that the 64 War-Gods comprise one unit of the 256 Generals, then there would actually be over 65,000 enemies to fight against. Midorikawa theorizes that From Beyond may be gathering in order to launch an all-out attack. Joji orders people at the headquarters to return to the abandoned bases and retrieve everything that was left behind.
Later, the Flamengers are gathering for an award ceremony to receive the first-ever National Hero Award. As they get there, they learn the data was analyzed from a computer recovered at one of the bases. It proves that Midorikawa’s theory is correct, and that the date “February 7” was found in the data. It’s believed that this will be the date of the attack. When the Flamengers take this information to the Prime Minister and ask him to make an announcement and begin evacuations, he refuses. He says that politics is all about timing. If they make an announcement without any preparation, they won’t be able to answer the barrage of press questions. The Prime Minister insists he will be the one to take care of it.
After the ceremony, Joji tells the others that the Prime Minister has decided that an announcement will be made, but only under one condition. To prepare for the worst, this country’s leaders and their families will be moved to shelters first. The announcement will come after that. However, a special exception has been made to allow each of the Flamengers to participate in the early evacuation with five others, and that they have 24 hours.
Masayoshi finds himself wrestling with who he would pick to take with him. After struggling and not coming to an answer, he talks to Joji. Joji says he has decided not to tell anyone about what’s going on, not even his wife, and that he needs to defeat all the enemies and save everyone else. Joji tells Masayoshi to go to sleep, and they will formulate a plan together when he wakes up. Later, Soichi rouses Masayoshi and says that Joji’s gone. They find a note that reads, “It’s in your hands now.”
Why am I not surprised that Joji ended up running away? He always seems to do that when the going gets tough.
I felt bad for Masayoshi when he was wrestling with who he should choose to take to the shelters. As he was counting people he knows, he got up to seven. I’d hate to be in that kind of position, where there’s a chance that my town could be annihilated and I could only choose one person to save. I’d imagine that this conflict would be even worse for a superhero, since it’s their calling to try to save everyone.
I have to say Episode 13 was one of the most “heavy-handed” episodes when it comes to tone. There was definitely a sense of foreboding, as well as having an ominous feeling as I watched the episode. After seeing the title for Episode 14 at the end of this episode, the foreboding feeling is very understandable.
Additional posts about Samurai Flamenco: