"Kimi to Sekai ga Owaru Hi ni" drama: Season one, episode four recap

 

 Air Dates: January 17th until March 21, 2021 Sundays at 10:30 pm on NTV

Title translates over to Love You as the World Ends, subs done by Manxcat at D-Addicts

Episode Ratings.... #1, 8.4%.... #2, 8.2%.... #3, 8.0% .... #4, 8.4%

Links to the previous shows:

Episode one .... Episode two

Main Cast: Won't be adding too many characters in but instead may be removing many as already two of the main characters were killed at the end of the second show, they'll have their own section.

Ryoma Takeuchi as Hibiki Mamiya.... ~25 year old mechanic who lives with his girlfriend Kurumi and was about to propose when the disaster struck. At the time Hibiki was trapped in a tunnel and escaped after four days, eventually he joined up with a few other survivors.

Ayami Nakajo as Kurumi Ogasawara.... Hibiki's girlfriend and the pair went to high school together. She's in her second year of internship to become a doctor yet is still a bit too green.

Marie Iitoyo as Kanae Hiragi.... Third year college student who survived the catastrophe by being stuck on an elevator with Shoko, her daughter and three others.

Sho Kasamatsu as Hiro Todoroki.... Went to high school with Hibiki but really can't stand the sight of him. Hiro is a detective whose superior Hongo was killed at the end of the second episode. That makes him in charge of the small group and he's such a mean, hateful young man.

Tamae Ando as Shoko Mihara.... A caregiver by trade and is the mother of Yuzuki, they were trapped in an elevator with Kanae with two others.

Naho Yokomizo as Yuzuki Mihara.... Twelve year old survivor who has asthma.

Makita Sports as Yohei Komoto.... Owner of a small moving company and ended being trapped in the apartment elevator with Kanae and thee others.

Kim Jae-Hyun as Yoon Min-Jin.... Immigrant from Korea who is working with Komoto, he too was trapped in the apartment elevator which saved six lives.

Hyunri as Yoon Jian.... Min-Jun's older sister who is working in Japan as a doctor and has been assigned to help with the outbreak working for the Self Defense Forces of Japan.

Kenishi Takito as Koki Shuto.... Head doctor for the Self Defense Forces.

Kyoko Yoshino as Mia Nakagoshi.... Introduced in the third episode and is a very popular 23 year old TV actress. At first she seemed like a trustworthy survivor but in reality is working with a group named Sword.

Toshihito Kokubo as Tsuboi.... Also introduced in the third show and is the leader of the Sword group who are survivors too but for some reason want to kill the original group.

 Those who are now deceased:

Ryohei Otani as Daiki Hongo.... Police detective who was Todoroki's superior who has to always keep him in check. Hongo seemed like a really decent man but at the end of the second show he was shot, it appears as though he's dead but is he?

Takashi Sasano as Masaomi Uwajima.... Older man who was a novelist, he was bitten by a Zombie in the second episode and died at the end.

 Added in the links to the first two episodes above as I won't be talking all that much about what's taken place, would help to skim through them. Also have the ratings above and as you can see they've been fairly consistent which is a positive as so many shows lose viewers after the first two shows. Let's get right to the action as so much happened and every episode has just been a bit better. The virus and Zombies are now referred to as Golems which was the name given by doctor Shuto.

 The tables were turned quickly on Hibiki and his group when the previous episode ended. They thought they could retain both of their guns, take back the captured Kanae and flee the mini mall safely. None of that worked out as the actress Mia whom Hibiki trusted too quickly appeared on the scene with a knife against the throat of the twelve year old girl Yuzuki. It wasn't worth trading lives so Yoon threw down his revolver while Hibiki did the same with his bow and arrow. That's Tsuboi right above, he's the leader of the Sword group and while he came off as such a treacherous man he turned out to be a decent chap who had the interests of his group as his most important thing. The Sword group could have easily killed Hibiki and the other six in his group but instead they were locked up for the time being until they could figure out what to do with them. 

 Above Tsuboi says Golems which is now the word to describe the Zombies and the virus that turned them that way. His group has a huge horde of them in a cell as an insurance to protect themselves, it's also been revealed that fire is the best way to keep them under control. In an unexpected event the power went off in the mini mall and none of the Sword group had the first clue on how to fix the outage. But Hibiki did as he's a mechanic and stated he could solve the problem. A leery Tsuboi agreed to his assistance but no monkey business or else his six mates would pay the price! Hibiki was true with his word as he was able to restore the mall's power but there was no way he was going to return to the cell where the only outcome was probably death. He surprised the two guards with him and quickly subdued them taking some tools as weapons.

 As all of that was taking place arriving to the mall was the Special Defense Forces, with them was Hibiki's girlfriend Kurumi. She had proven herself useful to the two main doctors back at Camp Yokosuka which is where they were trying to create a vaccine against the virus. Kurumi has been instructed to bring back samples of the Zombie's skin and blood as those were things that could be used in the vaccine. But in an unknown development Kurumi has some special blood or DNA, the head doctor Shuto mentioned that in the last two shows and said she could be the savior of the world. The reason the Defense Forces arrived at the mall was to find Tsuboi's group who they've dubbed as terrorists and are there to take no prisoners! But their most special order from Shuto was not to allow anything to happen with Kurumi and will the mall be where she reunites with Hibiki?

 Jumping ahead a bit but the pair didn't reunite and kind of glad about that. It almost happened twice as they were twenty feet apart on one occasion but were facing opposite directions. To date it's been such an intense, action packed show but know the scene where they see each other again may be a bit too sappy. So things become a bit haywire after the power was turned back on, Hibiki escaped from his guards and the Special Defense Forces arrived to possibly kill the terrorists aka the Sword group. There was definitely some mayhem as so many were separated from their groups and the main person to have that happen to was Kurumi. While the soldiers were hunting down the Sword members she tried to scour the mall looking for dead Zombies in order to take some blood/skin samples.

 But she was quickly spotted by a pair of Tsuboi's guards who whisked her away to a hidden room where for the first time we saw a few others from his group. Actually not just a few people but a couple of dozen others of all ages who had fled with Tsuboi and all appear to be normal as none have been bitten nor have the virus. But there was an elderly man who had hurt himself badly in the group's escape, with her doctor's uniform Tsuboi had naturally assumed Kurumi was one and ordered her to help the gentleman. Kurumi is just a second year intern at the Miura hospital but in order to save her own skin she agreed to help the man which she did to an extent. His injuries were a bit too severe to finish the job there but for now he should be okay for a while. After that took place Tsuboi was explaining to Kurumi a bit about his Sword group and how they had to flee from the Defense forces who had wanted to kill each and every one of them.

 After hearing his tale Kurumi is on their side and now fully realized that the Defense forces are also the ones who shot Hongo to death for no reason. Tsuboi is a busy man as he was informed about Hibiki's escape and left trying to find him. Which he did and though we all thought at first Tsuboi was a ruthless man he really isn't and has stuck his neck out to save his group though he knew very few of them until a few days ago. We heard more of the Sword story as he was telling Hibiki their background. His group as mentioned have not been infected by the virus yet all were brought to Camp Yokosuka for 'treatment'. In reality they were guinea pigs that would be used in the creation of the vaccine, after that they would be slaughtered by the savage doctor Shuto who did appear to be mild mannered. So Tsuboi and Hibiki have come to an understanding and won't hurt each other, wouldn't it be best to join forces to escape the Defense soldiers? Of course it would and if the pair had been working together since the beginning perhaps they'd be safely away.

 However they still didn't work together to escape, Hibiki went back to the cell where the six of his group were still tied up. Along the way he ran into Mia who you can see above and she too isn't as bad as we had thought. Her boyfriend had been affected by the virus and has become a full fledged Zombie though she won't leave him behind. Mia bid farewell to Hibiki and returned to where her boyfriend was tied up, shortly they were surrounded by a group of Zombies and is this last we'll see of her? It probably will be but not positive on that yet but before Mia ran off she gave Hibiki a bit of key advice which is that fire can control the Zombies to a certain extent. So somehow he's created a few sticks of fire and returned to the cell to free his comrades and the fire did keep the Zombies at bay.

 Fleeing the mall first was Tsuboi's group and it appeared most may have escaped unharmed. But we didn't learn the exact outcome of the Scout group by the end of the episode but sure we'll be hearing from them again and as mentioned they should join forces with Hibiki. He's freed the six members of the group and they too were able to escape to the outside. In a wise move Tsuboi had let loose the horde of Zombies his group had captured and the Defense forces had their hands full trying to contain them. But in a non-wise move Hibiki's sworn enemy yet once close friend Todoroki made a key blunder. In their escape he noticed two soldiers helping one of their injured mates and shot one to death with a bow and arrow, he too seems like an archery whiz.

 That now gives the Defense forces a reason to shoot and kill any of Hibiki's group on sight, not sure what the hotheaded Todoroki was thinking. But when Kurumi saw the soldier her first thought that it was her boyfriend Hibiki who had shot the arrow and why would that happen when he wasn't being attacked? Almost forgot but earlier in the episode Hibiki had lost his engagement ring which he had around his neck. It was picked up by a little girl from Tsuboi's group but seeing as how he was fleeing from the guards Hibiki didn't have time to retrieve it. That little girl eventually met Kurumi and gave her the ring for helping her group out, now she had more evidence that Hibiki was alive and well. We're almost at the show's conclusion and there were two mini scenes to end things off with.

 The first took place back at Camp Yokosuka where the head doctor Shuto was being investigated for his role in the senseless shooting of Hongo. A colonel was questioning him on why Shuto had changed the report about it and if in reality these 'terrorists' are actually innocent people? They are but Shuto never answered any questions as he had spiked the colonel's coffee and he quickly perished. This Shuto is a ruthless and mysterious man who to date we know very little about. In the final scene it was back to the mall where the Defense forces were prepared to return to camp. But after finding the engagement ring Kurumi says she needs to stay as she knows Hibiki is there alive. Alive he is but not at the mall as him and five of the group are now fleeing from the area. Just five as he and Todoroki had a major spat on who the leader should be. The group stood behind Hibiki so the half dozen are off to wherever so the final question is what's become of Todoroki?

 Put the other drama I was recapping on hold as this series is just so, so much better. Too late now but often wait for a drama to finish so I can go on a marathon viewing of it. Should have done it with this series as I really can't wait for the next episode(s). As mentioned previously these screenshots do help out quite a bit in following the story as it's impossible to explain every single detail. Will be back in two weeks for the next pair of recaps and s highly recommend this drama.