Higurashi decided back in college that Akira was the poster boy for everything and everyone he despised, and so now that they’ve been brought back together, he simply wants to see that poster torn down and burned. Akira is...
Higurashi decided back in college that Akira was the poster boy for everything and everyone he despised, and so now that they’ve been brought back together, he simply wants to see that poster torn down and burned. Akira is such a good boy he seriously considers becoming a zombie to rescue his dad, but his dad forbids it: Akira needs to protect his mom … and humanity.
Ultimately, Akira’s love for his dad and desire to repay him for raising him leads him to acquiese to Higurashi’s demand. The door to the house opens, three zombies enter, Akira screams, and then slowly shambles out. Oh no! Akira’s a zombie!!
SIKE! Akira is not a zombie, but rather a clever and resourceful motherfucker. Employing the professional makeup skills of one of the city survivors, he is made to look like a zombie. When the other zombies approach him, he screams, and the three women take them out. Then, when Higurashi’s guard is down, Akira stops acting like a zombie and separates him from his dad.
Higurashi flies into a rage, or rather a temper tantrum. Then a zombie bites him in the ankle, meaning his time grows short. While the ladies hold him back, Akira desperately wants Higurashi to tell him what he wants … what he really wants, not this bullshit revenge against an assigned nemesis.
Higurashi believes he “peaked” when he and his friends spent every day at the pool during summer break. So all he wants to do is go back to the pool with his friends, instead of the slow descent into isolation that followed. Akira, taking a big risk, ends up crossing off an item from the list: giving a free hug to someone who needs one.
In the moments before he turns, Higurashi gets up and runs towards the approaching zombies, some of whom follow him. One good deed doesn’t erase all of the horrible ones he committed before, but it does matter. Rather than curl up and die screaming, he chose to do what he could to delay the suffering of others. Akira helped him unlock his empathy.
Akira ends up reuniting with a still nude and shit-covered Kencho, Angie, and Shizuka, along with all of the other survivors and villagers. Trapped by the fence and with the horde of zombies coming fast, things look grim. But then Bea rolls up on them and asks that they make way so she can use the water wheel to blast the hole in the fence everyone needs to flee.
There’s a fresh crisis when everyone reaches the suspension bridge only to find it’s out. That’s when Mr. Kumano tosses over a brand-new bridge he built. He promised he’d help Akira and the others if they crossed paths again.
While this is a little deus ex machina-y, I’ll allow it because it’s yet another example of Akira and his friends being rewarded for helping and befriending others. There’s no time and the zombies are coming, so Akira and Kencho hold the bridge up as everyone else crosses, then swing themselves to the other side.
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief to hear the boys’ cries of pain, because it means they didn’t fall to their deaths. The one to help Akira up is his dad, who is proud of his son for saving the village. Later, one of the old ladies thanks Shizuka for serving as the village doctor, while Angie thanks Kencho for cheering her up. Our quartet are legit heroes; it’s only fair they get recognition.
Things turn somber when Akira sits beside his father, who is clearly sleeping through quite a bit of pain. But when he actually asks what his issue is and his mom says it’s untreated hemorrhoids, the mood is lightened considerably.
Akira, no longer fearful his dad is on his last legs, vows to save the world from this zombie virus, as a means to a more important end: getting his dad to go to the doctor and get surgery! When he invites the others to add more items to the list, they do so with enthusiasm.
Shizuka wants too become a real doctor, which is what she always dreamed of doing. Kencho wants to bring a smile to as many people as possible like Angie. And Beatrix wants to restore “Nippon’s” natural beauty, by eliminating all zombies.
That night they add a whole bunch of other, less big items, but all four have big dreams in place and bid farewell to Akira’s hometown in order to carry them out. While their grand mission soon takes the form of a sightseeing trip, everyone’s okay with that. Nothing wrong with living a little while figuring out how exactly they’re going to save this world.
As the episode ended with huge bright smiles on everyone’s faces, it left me with a big smile of my own. This was a much appreciated Christmas gift and serves as a joyful, feel-good bow on the anime year.
