Welcome to Anime Rants! Since I lack any ideas for a creative introduction, we shall proceed straight to the reviews for My Home Hero episodes 7, 8 and 9.

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Episode 7: Mother and Mother

Kasen and Tetsuo installed the software to spy on Kyoichi’s emails and texts, but Kyoichi made a move of his own. He gave Reika his number and told her to contact him. Kasen was sent to find Kyoichi’s address and plant some evidence – Nobuto’s bones – at his house. The address she finds leads her to the home of Kyoichi’s mother. Using a cover story, Kasen is able to make conversation. In doing so, she learned that Kyoichi’s mother is barely holding it together emotionally. This makes Kasen feel sympathy, so she decides not to plant the evidence in this home.

Kasen regrets her merciful decision when she discovers that Kyoichi is texting Reika. He asks her to meet him in person. Unsure of what to do, Kasen meets Tetsuo in Reika’s old apartment, where Kyoichi had left him handcuffed. They agree that Tetsuo will go plant the evidence in Kyoichi’s apartment while Kasen goes to check up on Reika. It seems to be going well, with Tetsuo cleverly finding out Kyoichi’s apartment number. However, the worst possible thing happens – as Tetsuo prepares to get on the elevator to go up, Kyoichi is in the same elevator on his way down. The episode ends with that cliffhanger.

Parts of the episode were exciting, but overall, this still doesn’t seem like a compelling story to me. Maybe it’s because I can’t connect to the main characters. This is ironic since I chose this anime for its adult cast. It turns out I don’t have much in common with the average adult. Anyway, besides underdeveloped main characters, this episode also had music that was too over-the-top. I’ve complained about it before. When the narrative fails to make a scene feel intense, don’t try to solve it by inserting dramatic music. Final thought: it would be cool if the show spent some time developing Reika, as she seems like she would be a more relatable character.

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Episode 8: The Spider’s Thread

The cliffhanger from last episode was misleading in a way that I didn’t like. Within the first few seconds of the episode, Tetsuo manages to escape the notice of Kyoichi as he leaves the elevator. Meanwhile, Kasen finds Reika and convinces her to come home without meeting Kyoichi. Though he tried to pick the lock to Kyoichi’s apartment, Tetsuo didn’t manage to open it or plant the evidence. His only choice is to hurry back to meet Kyoichi at Reika’s old apartment, since Reika canceled the meetup.

Kyoichi checks the apartment with a tool he thinks is a ALS light. In reality, Tetsuo switched it out with a black-light so fingerprints and bloodstains wouldn’t show up. Then Kyoichi learns that someone sent an email from his laptop. Tetsuo suggests that Takeda, another organization member, is trying to pin Nobuto’s murder on Kyoichi. It must have been Takeda who sent the email, Tetsuo lies. So, Kyoichi and Tetsuo go to Kyoichi’s apartment, looking for signs that Takeda was there. Aware that the deadline for finding Nobuto is tomorrow, Tetsuo wonders if he can beat Kyoichi.

As I watched this episode, I wondered how an anime with such involved mind games and interpersonal intrigue could be so boring. These aspects are well-written and thought through. So why is it so dull? I keep going back to Death Note. This classic anime features an amazing soundtrack along with excellent visual production, distinct artwork, and memorable character designs. Additionally, the characters are very well-developed. If Death Note wasn’t so masterful in all these categories, it might also seem dull at times.

Now look back at My Home Hero. It has a boring art style, uninspired character designs, a soundtrack I don’t like, and extremely underdeveloped characters. In other words, poor and uncreative production is why this anime isn’t more interesting. Another thought: I’m not clear on why this episode is called The Spider’s Thread. There’s no reference to the famous work of Japanese literature anywhere in the episode. Normally, I don’t really care about episode titles. However, they should at least make sense.

I almost forgot to add my reaction to the lock-picking scene. I’m not sure if it aired like this or not, but the version I watched online had censored the shape of the pick. This strikes me as incredibly stupid. I suspect there is some Japanese law or regulation that forbids visually showing how to commit a crime like breaking and entering. That’s the only explanation I could think of, and it’s still mind-bogglingly absurd. Stop censoring anime, Japan. Thanks.

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Episode 9: The Fateful Day

Kyoichi had one week to figure out what happened to Nobuto. After that, he’d probably be killed by the organization. He planned to frame Tetsuo if he found no other evidence. Now, the deadline has arrived. Just as Kyoichi starts wondering what the older man will do, Tetsuo’s plan begins. Kasen sends an email that incriminates Nobuto and Kyoichi as the culprits behind the armed car robbery years before. That’s only half true in reality, since Kyoichi wasn’t involved. However, Takeda from the organization thinks it’s worth searching Kyoichi’s apartment for clues. Kubo also comes along.

In the apartment, they open Kyoichi’s safe and find a lot of cash, but it doesn’t match the serial numbers of the money stolen from the armored car. But Kyoichi isn’t proven innocent, because there’s something else in his safe: the bag containing the crumbled remains of Nobuto’s bones. Kubo responds by ordering his men to kill Kyoichi and take his body to Nobuto’s father. It seems like Tetsuo has won. Kasen planted the bag of bones in the safe. This episode didn’t get around to explaining exactly how she managed to do that, but it will probably be shown in the next episode.

This is a good episode to end on, because it was significantly better than the previous two. There was actually some suspense for once. I liked the way Tetsuo’s plan played out. I have a feeling that Kyoichi won’t really be killed, though. Something will happen that will save Kyoichi and put Tetsuo in trouble again. Or so I bet. I’m also quite curious to see how Kasen managed to put the bag in the safe.

The character development continues to be subpar, but at least there was a little bit of it in this episode. We learned some information about Tetsuo’s parents and Kyoichi’s dream of opening a diner. Kyoichi and Tetsuo both got a small fraction of the character exploration they’ve needed long before now. Other than that, no other major thoughts come to mind. Although this anime is a bit boring and fails to tell a profound story, I’m going to finish the last three episodes because I like completing things and I have the free time.

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Thank you for reading~