Togainu no Chi

Crack (Episode)

Crack (Episode)

"Crack" (決蔑) is the fifth episode of the anime series. The ending theme for the episode is once more again.

Plot

A mysterious man appears and offers Takeru the drug Line, which he takes. The man then vanishes. After waking and finding neither Rin nor Akira with him, Keisuke runs off to look for them. Akira is attacked and injured by a Line influenced group, only escaping (with a tag) when the leader of the group starts screaming in agony and collapses after he licks Akira's blood. Shiki meets with Arbitro, and the former gives the latter a black case full with what appears to be enhanced Line. After Motomi saves Akira from trouble with the Executioners, the two decide to go to the hotel, where they meet up with Rin and Keisuke. Akira, irritated by the way Keisuke always makes light of the situation and puts himself down, yells at Keisuke, who, feeling useless, runs away.

Synopsis

The fifth episode begins in a hotel at night. The sound of something breaking is heard before a shirtless Takeru runs from a room. The shadows on the wall and the brief images shown are meant to imply Takeru posed as a prostitute and stabbed the man after he took off his clothes, with the goal of stealing his tags. The man curses Takeru and warns him the Executioners won’t ignore his actions. Takeru jumps out a window and takes off down the alley. On the roof, Nano watches Takeru run. Takeru rests by a dumpster and checks out the tags he stole, cursing that they’re just pigs and punching a wall as he wonders why he isn’t getting anywhere.

Nano, who appears to be glowing in the moonlight, approaches Takeru. His voiceover states: “Irritation and impatience are the anguishes of the weak.” Takeru notices Nano standing before him, and looks shocked at the sight.

Close shots of Nano’s solemn eye and Takeru’s wide and twitching eye are shown, as Nano’s voiceover continues: “At the same time, they still desire the right to either change themselves…” Nano raises his hand, which contains an ampoule of Line. “…seek strength… or abandon their weaknesses.” He tosses the ampoule at Takeru, who catches it and looks down at it. “In the meanwhile, they remain plastered… in the color of lies.” Takeru stands, now alone in the alley, and stares at the place Nano once stood.

In the next scene, Rin is standing near some of the corpses slain by Shiki. He clicks his tongue and comments, “That guy just doesn’t sit still. He really doesn’t waste his time.” He grinds a tag beneath his foot. Some men approach. Rin calls them hyenas. They tell Rin to leave the tags and laugh when Rin draws a blade. He decides that if they’re going to distract him, then he’ll “play.” Screams are heard, followed by a gush of blood.

On the rooftop, Keisuke sits alone. A flashback shows their past at the orphanage. A young Keisuke calls for Akira, looks around for him, and finds Akira sitting alone by fence. Keisuke tries to offer an adhesive bandage like the one on his own face, but Akira rejects it, saying his wound will heal by itself.

Keisuke says Akira was hurt protecting him from bullies. Akira says it’s not a big deal because he didn’t like them. Keisuke apologizes and says this is all he can do for Akira. He looks up to find Akira walking away. He shouts Akira’s name and asks him to wait as the flashback fades into white. Back on the roof, Keisuke opens his eyes and calls for Akira twice. His face falls, and he rushes off.

Elsewhere, Akira flashes back to his fight with Shiki in the previous episode. He sighs, and eventually begins walking, then running as he notices something around. A man with a knife attacks Akira, and Akira subdues him. Two more men run up behind him and curse Akira. Akira turns, and the first man gets up and throws sand at Akira’s face. He rubs his eyes, and the man kicks him and mocks him. The man’s companions hold Akira as he picks up his fallen knife. He taunts Akira, pulls his face up by his bangs, and taps his knife against Akira’s cheek. He comments that Akira is fierce, and licks his cheek. One of his friends says that he should teach Akira what pain is, so he stabs Akira in the arm. Then he licks the blood off of his knife.