Himitsu - The Revelation - Episode 5

Last time around, I absolutely roasted episode four of Himitsu for taking a great idea, throwing it almost entirely out the window and dumbing it down to a ridiculous degree. Thank goodness then that episode five goes down a very different route which actually plays quite excellently to the strengths of the series.

The episode begins with the execution of a serial killer - A clearly hugely evil man who is responsible for murdering his entire family. Or is he? Section Nine are asked to investigate via the executed man's brain, to affirm that he was indeed the murderer and to report on any other crimes for which he may be responsible. Of course, things aren't that simple at all, and it soon becomes very clear that the reality of the crime in question is very, very different from that confessed to by the executed man.

While the past two episodes of Himitsu have seemed almost afraid to really pride themselves on handling sensitive subjects in an honest manner, instead opting not to make any mention of the topics they were actually discussing (homosexuality and assisted suicide), it seems that this squeamishness has vanished entirely for the duration of episode five, and the resulting experience is a far harsher and more realistic feel. We get to see the blood and guts of the victims, and indeed everything the executed man sees warts and all - In other words, exactly the kind of thing that this series and the theory on which it is based should be all about.

Unfortunately, there are still some holes in the plot that you can drive a bus through, namely the fact that although it is quickly discovered that the executed man was no murderer, there is apparently absolutely no way for the actual killer to be punished for the crime. Huh? Since when has any judicial system acted like this? Yes, you could argue about cover ups and conspiracy theories, but I really just didn't buy the simplistic reasoning here, and unfortunately it rather weakens the whole point of the episode.

Continuing with the complaints, Aoki's personal and family life still gets a lot of coverage following his father's death last episode. In all honesty, I just can't see why we need to see any of this at all, it lends nothing to either the show's entertainment value or its ability to raise moral or social questions - In short, it's all rather dull.

Those gripes aside though, this episode (the first of a two-parter by the way) was an absolutely vast improvement over much of what has come before, and is exactly the kind of difficult and hard-hitting storyline I was expecting from the series given its premise. While it's far from perfect, and I'm not sure how this plot will be resolved next time around, this episode was actually rather excellent in many ways.