The fourth episode of the new anime series “My Home Hero” takes Tetsuo Tosu, the mystery lover turned killer father, and places him in a cross-war between two dreaded gangs. Tosu, the ordinary salesman who has managed to stay alive and protect his family thus far, even after killing the Yakuza boss’s son Nobuto, is seen getting dragged into the deep, dark forest of the criminal underworld.
Spoilers Ahead
Episode 4: The World Of Violence
In the previous episode, we saw Tetsuo’s life hanging by a thread when he was abducted by Kyoichi. He was tortured in order to get a clue about Nobuto’s whereabouts. Even his wife Kasen was dragged into the mess, but Tetsuo galvanized all of his wit into making a deal with Kyoichi to help him find Nobuto.
The episode begins by showing Tetsuo meeting Kasen in a hospital. Tetsuo comes out all battered and bandaged after getting hammered by Kyoichi and his men. Kasen looks at Tetsuo, and they share a moment of recognition about the hell they just survived, although it’s only Tetsuo who knows that it’s far from being over. Kyoichi has placed a deadline on Tetsuo’s deal. If, by the coming Friday, he is not able to help Kyoichi find Nobuto, he (Kyoichi) will wipe out his entire family and lay the blame for Nobuto’s death on Tetsuo.
With Nobuto’s remains still with him, Tetsuo schemes to pin the murder on somebody, but who? Desperate to get out of this misery, he begins thinking. Can he go to the cops? Absolutely not. He is bound to get dragged into the case. Framing someone else for the murder is his only option. His morbid brainstorming session is interrupted by his innocent daughter Reika, whose only crime is being involved with the despicable criminal Nobuto. Had she not befriended him, who simply wanted to use her to get her grandfather’s money, none of it would’ve happened. He asks Reika to give him Nobuto’s photo as a third option pops into his mind: make it look like Nobuto is alive. But How?
He leaves the house to meet with Kyoichi, unaware that he has plans of his own. Kyoichi casually reminds Tetsuo of his nude photograph, one that was clicked by another member of the gang on the day he was seen following Nobuto. Tetsuo, surprised by the gang’s super-knit connectivity regarding even the smallest of matters, begins blurting out the events of that day. He tells Kyoichi that the reason for following Nobuto was simply that somebody in the gang mentioned Reika’s name, who happened to have a bruised face that same day. He simply wanted to find out what had happened to her, and when someone mentioned her name, he began following them. Tetsuo acts as if to give the impression of being the meekest person alive, but the more he pushes in that direction, the more his deception leaks out.
Kyoichi takes Tetsuo to a shady cosplay cafe Nobuto frequented in order to retrace his steps from the day he disappeared. There, he introduces Tetsuo to Hibiki, Nobuto’s actual girlfriend. Tetsuo is livid with Nobuto’s debauchery but still regrets killing him. Tetsuo notices Kyoichi’s passivity as Hibiki bores them with all the sordid details of Nobuto’s affairs. “Why did he bring me here?” is the primary question running through Tetsuo’s mind when suddenly Kyoichi excuses himself from the situation.
This was indeed Kyoichi’s plan: With Tetsuo’s phone already hacked, he listens in on Tetsuo’s conversation with Hibiki, hoping he says something crucial in his absence. Tetsuo, however, stumbles onto an unexpected secret, while keeping a hand on his phone suspecting it to be hacked. Tetsuo senses Hibiki hiding something from Kyoichi and promises to keep it a secret if she reveals it to him, as it may help Nobuto survive. A nervous Hibiki tells Tetsuo that Nobuto once told her about how he double-crossed his own organization. He committed a stealth job on an armored truck, a job that was carefully planned by the organization, but Nobuto hit the truck and stole the money, making it look like somebody else got to the truck first.
With this sensational new information, Tetsuo figures he can frame Nobuto’s murder on someone he can make look like they knew about this double cross. Before Kyoichi arrives, he also manages to get Nobuto’s online profile from Hibiki, just in case he needs to aid the narrative of his third option of making it look like Nobuto is alive and has run away with the stolen money.
‘My Home Hero’ Episode 4: Ending Explained – Out Of One Trouble And Into The Next
After such a successful outing, one would expect Tetsuo to be nearly out of trouble, but who knew that Kyoichi would be made to do a job for the cafe owners, who happen to be gang members themselves? Both Kyoichi and Tetsuo, who basically have the status of expendables as of this point, are forced to disrupt the exchange of 10 million yen between two fierce gangs. Cursing the day he got assigned the job of finding Nobuto, Kyoichi asks Tetsuo to stop playing meek and own up to killing Nobuto. Tetsuo is dumbfounded by this allegation, even though nothing could be closer to the truth. Unfortunately for Kyoichi, the job goes awry, and he gets shot. Tetsuo struggles to take a wounded Kyoichi to safety and is spotted by a member of the rival gang. The episode ends with a gunshot, and it is unclear whether Tetsuo managed to get out alive.
Episode 4: Review
The episode brought out a side of Kyoichi that was unexpected. The man who troubled Tetsuo to no end turned out to be just an expendable pawn in the organization. The most interesting aspect of the episode turns out to be the hint at Tetsuo’s inherent malevolence that he hides while trying to play an innocuous and meek common man. This is pointed out by none other than Kyoichi, who is a force of malevolence himself. The upcoming episodes will surely probe this developing subtext and are expected to grow more and more exciting with each episode.