Summary Key Points:

[spoiler]

• Barnaby is MIA since he went and pulled a ‘Cutie Handsome Escape’ on Kotetsu
• Maverick calls Kotetsu to his office (to talk about the missing Barnaby) and pours something into his coffee (probably something to knock him out)
• Kotetsu tells him what he knows . Which is that Jake wasnt the guy who killed Barnaby’s parents and that had a bit of a fight with Barnaby
• Kotetsu finds the pin that he gave Barnaby in the last episode and thinks that he dropped his own pin on the ground
• Kotetsu gets a call from Samantha who has come to meet him and show him a picture (and he mentions this to Maverick)
• Subsequently, he isn’t drugged by Maverick who then calls someone up
• Before Kotetsu can meet Samantha, Lloyd sends him to do Hero work
• Samantha is picked up by a shady guy in a suit…
• Right after finishing his Hero work, he heads back to the office to meet Samantha…but shes been picked up Maverick’s goons
• Barnaby wakes up to find himself in Mavericks apartment,who is making him dinner (explaining that Barnaby collapsed after a hard day of Hero-ing)
• Kotetsu realizes that the pin he found in the office wasn’t his but BUNNY’S. Cue confusion!
• Barnaby has dinner with Maverick which gets interrupted when Kotetsu called Maverick (through Lloyd)  telling him that the pin he found in the office was Barnaby’s
• Kotetsu speculates that perhaps Barnaby visited Maverick’s office for some reason
• They talk a bit about Barnaby, Maverick promises to tell him if he has any news of Barnaby before he calls his goons up, telling him that there’s been a change in plans
• Barnaby gets mind fucked again by Maverick (STOP IT YOU)
• Kotetsu goes to Samantha’s place….only to find the door open….so he waits on the sofa for the lady to come home (point to be noted: its night time)
• Maverick gets all the heroes together (plus Agnes, Lloyd and Saito) to tell them something important about the future of Hero TV…but before that! A toast!
• AAAAAAAAAAAAAND EVERYONE’S OUT LIKE A LIGHT! Cue more mindfuck! (GOD DAMMIT. STOP THAT MAVERICK)
• Samantha is still alive (and hog tied) and Maverick visits her…and burns the picture in front of her. There goes THAT proof….and then his goons move in…
• Kotetsu winds up falling asleep on Samantha’s couch but…she didn’t return home :O
• The next morning, Kotetsu comes into the office and meets Lloyd…WHO DOESNT HAVE ANY MEMORY OF KOTETSU :O
• And Kotetsu can’t get into the building either…even with his domino mask on…
• AND GUESS WHO HERO TV SHOWS AS A FUGITIVE ON THE RUN? THATS RIGHT! Kotetsu T. Kaburagi! And they found his fingerprints on the doorknob to Samantha’s apartment…WHO HAS BEEN MURDERED
• Maverick informs Barnaby that a man called Kotetsu T. Kaburagi killed Samantha…guess who’ll be going after who~?
• Kotetsu’s family sees the report (Kaede as well) and the heroes are on the look out for Kotetsu…who is hiding and trying his best not to get caught

[/spoiler]

Score: A+/A+

And THAT was the sound of the shit hitting the fan! Sunrise writers, you are going about this brilliantly! Were I in Maverick’s place, I’d have done the exact same thing! And looks like those /a/ spoilers and speculation were true after all! I’m LOVING me all this mindfuck and drama. BRING IT ON MORE SUNRISE. MY BODY IS READY! …and my tear ducts too! 😀 Kotetsu’s in a DAI PINCH! HOW will our hero work his way outta this? Is he even gonna be able to get outta this corner actually? Personally…I’d say he’ll manage but this IS Sunrise we’re talkin about. We can only speculate on this.

It’s clear that from the get go, Maverick was planning to alter Kotetsu’s memories BUT when the man left his office (and Maverick got word about Samantha) he changed his plans. I wonder what Maverick’s first plan was though….he wanted to wipe out/alter Kotetsu’s memories…but what of? I mean, did he just want to remove the information that Barnaby had told him? But either way, I’m liking this second plan more /o/ Way more dramatic!And it does looks like Maverick’s the one in charge of the Ouroburous right?

But poor Samantha! D: She got caught up in all of this and just…asdhaosihda. POOR SAMANTHA! And I wonder what Kotetsu wanted to confirm when he wanted to meet up…most likely I guess he wanted to see that picture? To ascertain for himself if Samantha was speaking the truth as well I guess.  And poor Kotetsu man! He set himself up so beautifully without realizing it that its just…pitiful. If only Kotetsu hadn’t gone to Samantha’s place like that…but COME ON Kotetsu, you really should have suspected something as being totally off when the door was left open like that! D: I mean…ITS AN OPEN DOOR. THATS ALWAYS suspicious. Heck, I was waiting for some of Maverick’s goons to jump Kotetsu at that point! But nooooo…Kotetsu winds up leaving his DNA all over her apartment OTL The evidence is damning here!

EVERYONE GOT MIND FUCKED *flaps arms in distress* This is gonna be SO kool to see! All the heroes against Kotetsu! Though the way Maverick did it…GRRRR I HATE A SMART VILLAIN. They’re so…SMART. And it was the EASIEST trick in the book to just drug everyones drink! AND CLEVER him that he drugged and altered the memories of everyone closest to Kotetsu/Wild Tiger…which includes Agnes and Saito. VERY clever you. Though for a moment I had thought that Kotetsu would be able to get into the building using his employee card but then, it didnt work. Clever to kick Kotetsu out of the employee database, very clever.

Now…lemme go over this…it has been broadcast that Kotetsu T. Kaburagi is a wanted fugitive who killed Samantha…the heroes who know that Kotetsu was Wild Tiger now do not know this and are hunting for one Kotetsu T. Kaburagi….Barnaby doesnt remember Kotetsu and now thinks of him as the murdered of his beloved nanny…the only people who know that Kotetsu can’t be a murder are his family (Mom, daughter and brother) and Ben.so Kotetsu T. Kaburagi is now on the run from the law and everyone in the city knows what he looks like…but its clear that the memory of Wild Tiger hasnt been removed from anyone’s memory…so someone should bring that up that “Where is Wild Tiger anyways?” unless Maverick cooks up some excuse that he’s on leave…

Kotetsu COULD plan to get back to his suit but in order to do that he’d have to get into the building….he’d have to snag someone else’s employee card. Probably a high level card too if he plans to get into the lab where Saito keeps the suits. He’d also have to get past Saito who doesnt remember Kotetsu…but I dont think it’d be THAT much of a stretch to overpower Saito….right? …. but he IS a scientist so he would have SOME aces up his sleeve in terms of security…

Its not THAT big of a stretch to assume that Kotetsu is gonna try to get in touch with Ben and get some help in the next episode. I mean, he pretty much is the only person who knows or believes that Kotetsu is innocent. Naturally Ben is gonna help…and i think that he’s gonna help Kotetsu get into Apollon Media and get to his suit. But i wonder what is Kotetsu’s plan gonna be…cause right now, he doesnt know that Maverick has mind fuck powers….and how the HECK is he gonna find that out anyways? . . . then again i dont think he will till the end. I think that the next episode is most likely gonna have Kotetsu facing off Barnaby, who doesnt remember him at all. And Kotetsu just being in shock that what the HELL is going on.

About Maverick trying to knock Kotetsu out first and him finding the pin….THAT was interesting. Kotetsu, i wonder what you’ll make of this now. Lets try to put on your shoes….I was called into my boss’s office and i found a pin which i thought was my own but actually it was my partners. Clearly that means that my partner was in the office at one point…and that point had to be within the past 12-ish hours. After which, no one really knows where he is and I cant get in touch with him either………no i just can’t guess what Kotetsu’ll be thinking now OTL Other than just trying to find an ally and a safe place, I can’t think of what Kotetsu is gonna plan next.  . . . actually I’m suddenly wondering is Lunatic is gonna help or go after Kotetsu…hmmmmm things be getting INTERESTING.

I wonder how the truth will out now actually. The only evidence that was against Maverick had been Barnaby’s memories (altered now), the picture of Samantha with Barnaby (burnt) and Samantha herself (now dead). NO ONE knows that Maverick is a NEXT who has mind altering powers….so HOW will this out? It is clear though that Maverick’s mind control abilities are not permanent and that if given the right stimulus, the mind control can shatter and make the person question their memory. I suppose there is lies the key to Kotetsu’s salvation? But of course here…what kinda stimulus would be required in order to break Maverick’s hold on …. well, every Hero and Barnaby and Agnes etc? Maybe he needs to kiss Barnaby or have sex with him /is bricked I guess maybe he needs to meet with em? . . . . naaaa thats just stupid. Well, lets see how this unfolds!

Call me a sadist or whatever, but I’m loving all this angst. Kaede seeing the news that her father is a killer, Barnaby being told that his nanny has been killed…oh this angst is so sweet and delicious~~~~ mmmmmmmm~

An interesting point that someone raised. What if Samantha isnt dead? I mean, there IS the rule that if you dont see the dead body….the character might not be dead. THAT might be how Kotetsu proves his innocence. BUT Maverick wouldnt make such a rookie mistake…would he? Though they said on the TV that they found Kotetsu’s fingerprints on the poker and they assume that THAT was the murder weapon…but they didnt really say anything about the body and finding it or that what kinda wounds it had on it….maybe we CAN assume that perhaps Samantha is still alive? . . . . but it would just be too much of a rookie mistake if Maverick lets her live…

The episode title for the next episode was ‘heaven helps those who help themselves’. We see Yuri doing some research on him computer…I guess he’s digging into Kotetsu’s history to see whether he ought to be served a cold plate of justice or not…and hello hello hello? Kotetsu fights someone to the point that hes being swung around like that? :O And nanto! A possible face off against Blue Rose? This looks SO GOOD. And whats this about Kaede…it cant be that she comes to the city in search of Kotetsu….could she? :O