The first and third words of the title have been obvious from the beginning, but the middle finally got name dropped this week. All in all it was a less frenetic week exposition wise, which I\u2019m heartily glad of. The excess of Hebinuma and Gwen in the A-part didn\u2019t absolutely thrill me as I find them considerably less engaging than Hajime and Reiko. But all in all this was a step back towards Kowloon Generic Romance<\/em> at its best.<\/p>\n For starters, Kudou-san and Tao-san (Gwen) had an interesting conversation which leisurely filled in a few gaps. After they ran into each other at the site of the \u201ccollapse\u201d which ended last week\u2019s episode, Hajime apologized to Gwen for \u201cdisappearing\u201d. Gwen made reference to Hajime being an outsider in this Kowloon, and encouraged him to get out as quickly as possible. It\u2019s pretty obvious something bad is happening structurally, but Kudou is disinclined to leave, and Reiko is clearly the reason. Whether it\u2019s love or not, he clearly feels a sense of responsibility for her.<\/p>\n It was confirmed that the second Kowloon was demolished (by Hebinuma Inc.) three years ago. And that it was an illegal copy (I\u2019m not even sure how that works). Hebinuma makes a trip inside and instantly feels sick, which supports the idea that the place is breaking down. He passes out and winds up being carried to a burlesque club<\/a> called \u201cFlower Garden\u201d. At this point he asks about a dancer named Sihan, and while it\u2019s not confirmed it seems pretty safe to assume that\u2019s his mother. Given his illegitimate status that certainly fits.<\/p>\n Everyone keeps talking about becoming their absolute selves, and that certainly includes Hebinuma and Reiko, who coincidentally (or not) stops by the club as a representative of the company (just as the power in the dressing room goes out \u2013 but only the dressing room). Again, we get more low-key exposition here, and while it is by explanation at least it makes sense \u2013 Reiko absolutely should<\/em> be asking Miyuki these questions. She\u2019s not a Zirconian, he says. Nor is she a clone. So what is she? There\u2019s no word for it, and even he doesn\u2019t seem to know exactly. But he coins a term \u2013 a \u201cGeneric\u201d. And tells her it sounds like she\u2019s doing a pretty good job finding her absolute self, even if she still hasn\u2019t gotten Hajime to accept it.<\/p>\n Thanks to Wong-sensei and Yuulong (who breaks into his files to check out Kujirai-B\u2019s history<\/a>) we also find out that she killed herself. Why? Kudou-san\u2019s conversation with Tao suggests that it was because with Kowloon about to be torn down, her life was as good as it was going to get. That was why he planned to propose, though whether he actually got around to doing so is unclear. Reiko tells Yaomay she\u2019s decided to move out of Kujirai-B\u2019s room and let Hajime decide what to do with it, but a midnight visit<\/a> from him on the anniversary of her death convinced her otherwise.<\/p>\n The last big bomb dropped here is courtesy of Yaomay\u2019s invitation to Reiko to join her for a shopping trip to Honk Kong. It\u2019s pretty easy to see where this is g0ing. Fortunately Gwen winds up at the exit at the same time because he\u2019s ordered a pizza<\/a> (after Miyuki told him not to eat the food in Kowloon, itself interesting). I\u2019m wondering if all these coincidences are really coincidence, but be that as it may it seems very likely that without his intervention<\/a> Reiko would have disappeared. She\u2019s like this Kowloon \u2013 only real to certain people, but to those people as real as any flesh and blood human could ever feel. All of this still doesn\u2019t make conventional sense, but the nature of the nonsense is finally starting to become clear.<\/p>\n
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