Shinpei has only one goal in mind: to save Sakoto, even if it costs him his life. Personally, I don’t doubt that he’d be willing to die for his “wife” in some way, but what lies behind that isn’t even good intentions—Shinpei is crazy and capable of anything.
The episode kicks off with Sakoto and Shinpei facing off against the police superintendent’s son. We see that Shinpei is wounded, but like a lion, he’s much more dangerous when injured—which leads him to beat this cop so badly that he could have even killed him, had Sakoto not intervened. Shinpei’s plan yields some results, though not what he was aiming for. Still, Sakoto ends up thanking him for saving her life—even though he’d hoped she’d fall head over heels for him—and she lets him rest his head on her lap as she tends to him once more.
Then we see a moment that is undoubtedly beautiful in the episode, as the two begin to talk about their scars. Although their wounds are different, we all carry wounds from the past—Sakoto and Shinpei included. They compare them, but it’s only Sakoto who suffers because of her scars; even though Shinpei is the one who’s physically wounded, Sakoto is the one who suffers. She suffers from a pain she’s carried with her since she was a child—an open wound in her chest that still hasn’t healed. Although it might seem that Shinpei is the only one capable of helping Sakoto with her pain, since he, too, is full of wounds and for him, wounds aren’t a problem.
Then we see that Sakoto falls ill and remains bedridden for three days without waking up. While she is sick, we see part of her past, in which she was mistreated as a child and told that she was worthless and not free—but rather a tool for her family. It is Shinpei who takes care of her while she recovers, and once she wakes up, Shinpei tries to cheer her up with a story about fireflies, knowing that Sakoto loves these little creatures.
But when Sakoto sees a firefly fall dead and hears Shinpei’s story about how fireflies have such short lives, she decides it’s better to set the fireflies free so they can enjoy their freedom. Someone who has lived almost like a hostage in her own home knows that it’s better to let go of the things we love and cherish, because freedom is more valuable than almost anything else. I found the comparison between the fireflies and Sakoto to be beautiful.
I love the symbolism in this episode—the fireflies, marriage, life, and freedom. The episode is titled “I’ll Set You Free,” but we’re not told who will be set free. Is it Sakoto who sets the fireflies free because of their short lifespan, or is it Shinpei who sets Sakoto free because she’s just like a firefly? The beauty and complexity of this anime make me want to keep watching it.
The inclusion of fireflies in this chapter makes it the most melancholic one we’ve seen so far; it’s highly likely that the upcoming chapters will be an emotional rollercoaster, as things could easily go wrong between a cold, narcissistic killer and an ailing young woman determined to prove her worth to the world.
