Denno Coil 23

Denno Coil Episode 23: The Granted Wish

"According to the Nulls, by eating the seed of pain, they became creatures whose goal is pain itself."

The entire space in the city of Daikoku is being reformatted by Megamass and the residents are being asked to refrain from using their denno glasses while the reformatting is going on. But Yasako and Isako, who are trying to find a cure for Densuke and hence wearing their denno glasses, are being chased by 2.0 (otherwise known as the Tetris of Doom).

Isako explains that the encode she gave to the Hackers Club was a fake. Real encodes are created using Imago, a rare natural ability that both Isako and Yasako have. But because Isako has been using encodes for far longer than Yasako, her connection to the encode reactor inside her body goes much deeper so that when she is hit by 2.0, she would really get injured. She warns Yasako not to use hers to prevent the same thing from happening.

Meanwhile, Daichi, with Yoko and Densuke in tow, is also being chased by 2.0. He is just discovering that the new Satchii can also enter shrines. Tamako suggests, through phone, that he enter a private home, but when Daichi takes her advice, he gets yelled at by the owner. Tamako then tells him to say that he needs to take a pee so he can get into other people's houses. So Daichi runs around the city, yelling that he needs to take a pee, as witnessed by Fumie, of all people.

Finally, Daichi comes to a dead end with a wire fence separating him from the next street. But fortunately, Isako appears on the other side of the fence and asks him for the capsule containing Densuke. Yasako arrives in time to throw an encode at one of the 2.0 that followed Daichi. Tamako in her motorcycle also arrives, asking if they're all okay.

While the five of them take a breather, Daichi suddenly remembers his quarrel with Isako and demands that if she returns the Hackers Club to him, he will give her the capsule. Yasako points out that he already gave the capsule to Isako so it doesn't even matter. Even so, Isako says that she will give him back the Hackers Club after all of this is over.

While Tamako takes Daichi and Kyoko to Mega-baa's, Yasako and Isako continue searching for the path that would lead them to Obsolete Space, which they've been told is where they can find the device that will cure Densuke of the virus.

At Mega-baa's store, Tamako explains that since much of Obsolete Space has already been reformatted by Megamass, Yasako and Isako will have a harder time finding the path. Isako tells Yasako that they may have to split up in order to cover more area. Yasako asks worriedly if Isako will be alright but Isako brushes her off by saying that she, too, has Imago.

Back at Mega-baa's store, Tamako relates how Imago was accidentally discovered. Apparently, the Coil engineers found out there was a particular pattern in the circuit that acted like an antenna, transmitting even the weakest electromagnetic data at highspeed. It was through this discovery that denno glasses and many of Daikoku's information infrastructure were created. But more than that, the engineers also discovered that the pattern can also transmit and manipulate human consciousness. They called it "Imago" and with it they created cybercures. The cybercures are said to be still existing but are hidden somewhere.

After Tamako finishes, Mega-baa comments that the reformatting is over. Somewhere in the city, Nekome listens to the city's PA system announce the conclusion of the reformatting. He notes that this would make things easier for him as he hurriedly tries to gain access to a complicated system using his old professor's password.

Meanwhile, Isako finds herself in front of a shrine and she gets a flashback of a girl and a boy (presumably her brother and her) sitting at the steps to a shrine. We hear a girl's voice telling someone that she wants to be with her brother forever. But her reminiscing is interrupted because she gets a call from Nekome just then.

She acosts Nekome for selling her out, but Nekome denies the accusation. Instead, he tells her that he knows where to find the path. He also lets her know that he knows about Densuke and how Isako is looking for a cure. He then tells her that since Densuke is a coil node that can connect directly with C domain, the passage can be opened even without kirabug. With this, they can accomplish both their goals, but she has to come alone.

Yasako arrives later and Isako tells her that she has found the path. The two of them head to their new school building, which also happens to be a Megamass building. After lying to the guard that they left their bags in their classroom, they make their way up through the elevator.

However, once they arrive upstairs, Isako grabs Densuke and puts an encode on the elevator buttons to trap Yasako inside. Isako then runs, saying sorry all the while. Yasako immediately calls Tamako who says that she will try to access the elevator. While waiting for Tamako, Yasako calls Isako and asks her why she's doing this.

Isako explains that she might be heading for a trap, but since she has to find a cure for Densuke, she has no choice. She intentionally did not let Yasako tag along because she doesn't want to put anyone else in danger. She adds that she might have been the person responsible for what happened to Haraken and Ishiwara Kanna.

Isako tells Yasako that she doesn't know whether they have become friends since she doesn't know what the word "friend" means. But she knows that Yasako is the first person to come so close. Yasako tries to talk her out of it, but Isako would not let her. She says:

"There's a distance between people. A large distance. Between my brother and I as well. But if I search patiently, slowly, I may be able to find a path that shortens this distance. That path is extremely narrow, so if I take my eyes off it for a second, I'll lose it forever. So, I have to keep my eyes fixed on it and search. If I lose my faith in the existence of this path, it may disappear for real. That's why I have to keep believing that this path exists."

Finally, Tamako manages to get through the elevator system and opens the door for Yasako. But Isako has already found the Obsolete Space and after entering several codes, the device appears. She places Densuke onto this device and after a few seconds, the key to the lock on Densuke's collar appears. As soon as Isako opens the lock, the dark spots that appeared on Densuke's body start to disappear, but she also notices that Densuke is slowly disintegrating like a kirabug.

It is then that Isako hears Nekome's voice and finds out that it was his plan all along. Knowing that Isako would never agree to using Densuke as fuel to open the passage, Nekome did not tell her this one detail. Isako now tries to grab Densuke but Nekome has already placed some encodes around the device, creating an effective barrier.

Nekome wants to prove that the Other Side exists and because of that he has made a pact with Michiko-san and uses Isako, using her brother Nobuhiko as bait, since he needs her Imago ability. He also tells Isako that Nobuhiko is already dead but his spirit is still alive in the other side. That is so because a long time ago Isako also made a wish to Michiko-san to let her live with her brother forever. Michiko-san granted that wish and now Nobuhiko's spirit is trapped in the Other Side.

Isako tries to deny the memory but she can't. The passage is already opening and many of the Nulls are coming out. Isako tries again to grab Densuke, screaming in pain when the encodes reacted to her body. Left with no other choice, she destroys Nekome's encode, destroying the device in the process but freeing Densuke. At that time, one of the Nulls grab her and Isako starts to shift. She yells at Densuke to run away.

Meanwhile, Yasako finds the path to Obsolete Space and sees Densuke's unconscious body. Back with Isako, she has now turned the encodes upon herself with the purpose of overloading the encode reactor in her body. She then warns Nekome that if he does not close the passage now, she's going to destroy it. Nekome tells her that if she does that, she will also dies.

Yasako arrives at that moment and sees Isako standing in the middle of the room. When Yasako tries to approach, Isako throws a barrier between them. Afterwards, Isako runs towards the passage. There is a huge explosion, the screen whites out.

The next moment, Nulls are grabbing Yasako. Densuke valiantly defends her but in the end the Nulls overpower him. Yasako screams and at that moment, 2.0 arrives and starts reformatting the space, zapping the Nulls in the process. Tamako then arrives and drags Yasako away to safety. She then places a black metatag to stop the shifting.

As soon as Yasako gains consciousness, she runs back to the room to look for Isako. But all that's left is Isako's body, stating "NO DATA." Isako's cyberbody has gone to the other side.

COMMENTS:

OMG! What an episode! And I mean, what an episode! I thought Episode 20 was terribly exciting, but this one so far PWNS all!

Now I think I understand better the concept of Imago. A lot of the characters' motives are also explained here, especially Nekome's who struck me as an ambiguous character in the previous episodes. So it really turns out that he's one of those "obsessed-with-science-theories" characters.

But it was Isako that really surprised me. She makes a really striking exposition about people here, and it's a quotable alright. I still can't believe it was her who made the wish with Michiko-san in the first place about her brother. But it seems so and that actually explains everything about her. It also shows us how vulnerable this glasses kids really are if it's true that Imago can be used to manipulate human consciousness. Look at what happened to Isako.

In the end, Isako might be saying the truth when she told Yasako to only believe in things she could touch with her hands.

But crap, I didn't want Isako to die. Waaahhh!

I can't wait for the next episode!

More "Denno Coil" Episode 23 Screencaps