Ranpo Kitan – Game of Laplace Episode 9: Final showdown is coming?

This week’s twist isn’t totally unexpected…the series has already suggested that Twenty Faces was the main enemy for the series, so it made no sense that Akechi would figure out how to defeat it two episodes before the end. Also, self-immolation is a way to cover up DNA evidence and the mask brings anonymity, so there was no concrete proof that Namikoshi had died. That being said, I definitely didn’t suspect Minami as this episode’s Twenty Faces distraction.

There were two pieces of this week’s episode that I didn’t fully understand, though. First was Hashiba’s transformation into a silhouette in the eyes of Kobayashi…was that meant to suggest that Hashiba had drifted too far out of Kobayashi’s circle that he was no longer readily recognizable? Or did it mean that Hashiba had now turned into a suspect. That scene also relates to the second thing…the hand that grabs Kobayashi near the end of the episode. Was it Hashiba? Or some other Twenty Faces sympathizer? I really hope Kobayashi doesn’t turn into some sort of damsel in distress for Akechi to save. That doesn’t seem interesting. I do like the rivalry between Akechi and Namikoshi, though. Though, what is going on with the formula? Did Namikoshi evolve the formula further?