Moving On From a Standstill (停滞のその先へ Teitai no Sono Saki e) is the twentieth episode of Rewrite TV Anime series, and the seventh episode of the 2nd Season. It aired on February 25, 2017.
The episode covers the entire portion of Terra Route that deals with Kotarou's experiences in a war-torn country.
Synopsis[]
Kotarou is in a middle of a battle in a foreign land, as he is working as a mercenary in a private security company under Guardian. He, though hesitantly, shot an enemy, and it took an emotional toll on him.
When they return to camp, it is made clear that Kotarou is having a hard time. He is harrassed and discriminated against by most of his teammates due to his apparent lack of supernatural ability and his ethnicity. Aside from regular beatings, the others force him to do several menial tasks, like cleaning their gear. Every time Kotarou tries to speak up, the ring leader would punch and berate him. Fortunately though, one of his comrades, Luis is his first true companion and is always there to help him out.
When Luis and Kotarou ate dinner, the food caused him to remember his kill, causing him to run off and vomit. Out of panic, he took out his pistol and attempted suicide, until a young girl named Yasmin came to stop him. He broke down.
During their free time, the two play with children, three of them being Midou, Tenma, and Tenjin. Kotarou's sudden flashback to his kill caused him to accidentally kicked the ball unrealistically high. Luis covered this up by telling the children that he was cheating. The children picked on him until Yasmin came to stop them, causing them to leave.
Kotarou thanked Yasmin, but she was annoyed that he wasn't spending enough time with her. He gave her a candy bar in exchange, which made the children earlier, along with Luis, to flock towards him. He gave away all his candy bars, and while he looked at the children, Yasmin approached him and shared her candy bar with him. As poverty taught them to share, she was willing to share with him.
The company eventually planned to infiltrate a drug manufacturing facility. When they entered they were attacked by Danger beasts with Kotarou and Luis getting separated from the rest of the squad. Entering a dark room, they hear a noise and Luis fires, only realising too late that it is a group of young children summoners; including Yasmin, Midou, Tenma and Tenjin. Luis is horrified by what he has done.
Realising that some of the children are badly injured but can be survive if given treatment, Kotarou hestitantly answers a radio call from his captain notifying him as to what has happened. He immediately comes to regret this decision, as upon arriving the Guardian Captain shoots the wounded kids in cold blood. When he calls the Captain's actions wrong, the older man punches Kotarou and calls him weak. As the man leaves, Kotarou seriously considers rewriting himself in order to punish the Captain for what he just did. He is talked down by Luis, who recognises the dangers of his ability. Never the less, Kotarou's faith in Guardian has been shattered. He openly declares that he will no longer accept their methods or philosphy of using their abilities to walk over other people.
Despite what happened, Yasmin and the three other boys are safe. They were hidden in a cupboard prior to the captain's arrival. Even so, the group is still in mortal danger. The facilities contractors plan to bomb the area to destroy any evidence of their illegal activity. Kotarou and Luis begin to lead the surviving kids to safety, but Luis soon realises that the helicopters are using particularly powerful projectiles. Knowing that they will incinerate a large area, he uses one of his spears to shoot down one of the helicopters, then stays behind to cover the others escape. Kotarou hesitates, before reluctantly doing as instructed. Before they part however, Luis gives Kotarou some inspirational words; he is done standing still and will live the way he wants too.
Thanks to Luis, Kotarou and the children make it to safety. For Luis though, there is no escape and Kotarou can only watch on helplessly as his friend is consumed by the resulting fire. A second later, Yasmin collapses having been accidentally wounded by Luis. Midou likewise keels over and Kotarou soon realises that the quartet are mortal danger as well. Recognising that they probably won't survive unless they get treatment, Kotarou hesitates once again. He is now a traitor to Guardian, with nowhere to go. He has no transport and the nearest medical centre is far across the wasteland. What should he do?
Thinking the same thing as Kotarou, Yasmin tells him to just leave them behind and escape. These words, coupled with Luis' sacrifice and own words, have a profound effect upon Kotarou. Making a split second decision, he rewrites himself. Realising that Luis was right in that his ability eats away at his life force, Kotarou accepts this and bids his companion farewell. Leaving the kids safely concealed, Kotarou races across the wasteland at breakneck speed; determined to live by his own principles (and Luis' too).
Kotarou ultimately returns to Guardian some time later. He is revealed to be the last surviving member of the team, with the captain and the other members of the Guardian unit having been apparently killed in bombing. This is of little consequence to Kotarou since he no longer abides by Guardians principles, nor the commander who notes that Guardian have plenty of other recruits to replace the ones they lost. Ordered to deal with the rest of the units possessions, Kotarou finds one of Luis' spears. Fortunately, his comrades sacrifice was not in vain. Kotarou managed to save Yasmin and the other children. Taking them to a sheltered city he gave Yasmin part of his savings, allowing the small group of summoners to live in relative safety and comfort from behind the city walls.
Kotarou changes following this experience, having decided to no longer take things lying down. At some point following the mission, he either encountered or sought out the other three men from his original unit. When they tried to harass him again, Kotarou (without apparently revealing any of his powers) beat up the ring leader, leaving the much larger man lying face down and unconcious in the dirt. The mans two cronies were so shocked and intimidated by what they saw, they let Kotarou pass without incident. The group never bothered Kotarou again after that and it is implied that Kotarou himself, left the squad not long afterwards. Becoming a solo operator, he takes the opportunity to rescue any young summoners and superhumans, before Guardian or Gaia can get their hands on them. Knowing that these children are only taken advantage of because they are poor, he sends them to Yasmin and the others who essentially become their surrogate families. Thus a small community of summoners and superhumans starts to form, proving that whilst Gaia and Guardian are at odds, Kotarou's assumption that the pair can co-exist has merit.
Two years later, Esaka calls Kotarou instructing him to return to Japan. He goes to see Yasmin the night before he leaves, where she reveals that she and all the other children love him greatly and consider him their family, which greatly pleases him. He says that he will continue to support them and is glad to hear that she thinks that both of them have progressed much in the last few years. No longer, wishing to endanger these children anymore he bids Yasmin a fond farewell and then leaves, reducing Yasmin to tears.
Episode Credits[]
- Screenplay: Takashi Aoshima
- Storyboard: Ryouma Ebata
- Episode Direction: Atsushi Nakayama
- Animation Direction: Yasuhito Kikuchi, Hideaki Yokoi, Futoshi Fujikawa, Kazuhisa Kosuge, Hiroshi Satou, Kaori Ishii
Trivia[]
- The toy frog that one of the child summoners was animating is a reference to Key's mascot.
| Rewrite Anime Episodes |
|---|
| Common Route: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Anime-Original Route: 8 9 10 11 12 13 2nd Season: 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 |