When do we cross that line from good to evil? This theme was explored in a very real way in this insanely intense, emotionally driven double parter.
The only thing we are told about the two who are to be judged is that they are both murderers – Tatsumi and Shimada. One who look at the sullen old man and easily pin him as the murderer, but I thought that was an obvious red herring. Insufficient information to determine who is the murderer before knowing anything about their personalities or story anyway.
Well, as it turns out? They’re both murderers. They’re not quite as twisted as you might think. This probably makes me an awful person but I’d say that there’s nothing wrong with the average person having thoughts of revenge about the man that killed their wife – Tatsumi’s intentions were ultimately an extension of man’s long held shimmering desire for justice and to see it be brought themselves. As many other fallen heroes such as Light Yagami and Lelouche Lamperage have shown us, it doesn’t take long to become that which you are actually fighting when you employ such extreme measures. I can’t say I blame Tatsumi for dispensing his brand of justice as if something like this were to happen to someone I know, I don’t think I’d be able to be so harsh on them.
Shimada having killed Tatsumi, mistaking him for the accomplice, was a cruel twist but one that was quite easy to see coming about halfway into the story. I was impressed by the fact that Tatsumi actually goaded Shimada into killing him to complete his revenge, essentially showing that he wasn’t hypocritical and that he fully endorces the type of “justice” he had dispensed so often himself. Both cases for Shimada and Tatsumi are beyond tragic and, despite the fact that it wasn’t shown, I can only hope both of the poor men were given a second chance and re-incarnated.
