"Kimi to Sekai ga Owaru Hi ni" drama: Season one, episode seven 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% .... #5, 7.2%

#6, 7.1% .... #7, 7.1%

Links to the previous shows:

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six

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. Began working with the Defense Forces in the third episode, has a special DNA gene which could be the key to the vaccine.

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 made him in 'charge' of the small group and he's such a mean, hateful young man. He broke away from the group at the end of the fourth show and is currently a prisoner.

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-Jun.... 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.... Mad head doctor for the Self Defense Forces.

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. The group wasn't seen in  the fifth show but there's been no word of their demise.

 Those who are now deceased, sadly will be adding one victim in for episode eight:

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.

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. At the end of the third show she was killed along with her boyfriend who had become a Zombie/Golem.

 Have the ratings above and as you can see they were fairly consistent for the first four shows but did suffer a drop in the last few episodes. Bit late with these pair of recaps as it's finally been a busy stretch for my bigger faves. Every show has been getting a tad more interesting and what an ending to the eighth episode which is the next post. Bit of a cliffhanger from the sixth show as Hibiki found his mother at Camp Yokosuka, she's not really human these days and Hibiki thought she died fifteen years ago. Won't go into the details but unfortunately another name will be added to that deceased list as one of the main characters died at the end of the show, first one since the fourth episode.

 That's Hibiki's mother in the top screenshot and as you can see she's definitely no longer human. A Golem to be exact and she may have been the first one ever. As is the case for Kurumi the mother had a special gene which only one in a million have and according to doctor Shuto that gene may be the key to creating a vaccine for the virus. That's why Hibiki had been told his mother had died on the operating table fifteen yeas ago and since then Shuto has been performing experiments on her. To me it's hard to understand how she's remained alive all those years and when did she officially become a Golem? Huge mistake was committed by Hibiki as he entered his mother's cage and against all good reason freed her! She had no clue that Hibiki was her son and probably has no brain left as she began attacking him. 

 But luckily making a return trip to Saruno island was Kanae and Min-Jun who could not let their friend perish. In tow with them was the researcher Omaesaki who was a member of Tsuboi's small group and at one time had worked with Shuto. That battle with his mother left Hibiki badly injured but Omaesaki was able to whisk him to safety but remaining on the scene to fight were Kanae and Min-Jun. They had no clue that the Zombie aka Golem had been Hibiki's mother and were prepared to battle the creature. Out of nowhere popped Kurumi as alarms had been blaring everywhere. She saw the two survivors and Kurumi was still hell bent on finding the 'terrorists' who had killed the ten year old girl Mana who she had befriended. Before Min-Jun knew what hit him Kurumi was all over him and in the process slashed him with a knife. Kanae jumped in and was able to subdue Kurumi but in his battered state who should bite Min-Jun but Hibiki's mother!

 However the pair were able to escape and head back to the island, not sure where they got that second boat. For now Kanae is keeping mum about Min-Jun being bit and he's such a likable person, perhaps a vaccine can be stolen from Camp Yokosuka is what Kanae was thinking. When you're bit by a Golem everyone's reaction time is different. For some people it may take days to die or transform into a creature. For some it may take only hours which was the case for Min-Jun and the secret couldn't be held in any longer. Hibiki was furious with what happened to his friend but didn't know that it was his mother had bitten him. Nor did Hibiki know it was his girlfriend Kurumi that had stabbed him. Kanae had put two and two together and finally realized who that doctor was which was Kurumi. She's keeping that to herself as she secretly has such a crush on Hibiki and even more so as he had hinted that he may no longer love Kurumi.

 Kurumi in the middle screenshot is still volunteering to be a guinea pig for Shuto's experiments to create the vaccine. As time goes on have begun to wonder if he really is creating one and that's mainly because of what happens a bit later. There's a few scenarios but kind of wondering if he isn't creating a drug that will control Golems so that they'll become Shuto's army! Guess we'll find out in the last three shows but the 'vaccine' is still in the developing stage even after all these years. Unknown to Hibiki and his mates they were followed to their island by the researcher/doctor Jian. She's Min-Jun's sister and viewed by camera her brother being bitten. She travelled to the island in secret and though she wouldn't see Min-Jun she told Hibiki to come to Camp Yokosuka in the morning for the vaccine. 

 Jian too didn't have a clue if the vaccine was finished but she had to do something for her brother, naturally she couldn't tell Shuto of her plans. This scene in the main lab was slightly confusing, think I got most of what happened though could have missed something. Though Hibiki was quite leery about returning to Camp Yokosuka he really had no choice if he wanted to save his friend Min-Jun. Waiting for Hibiki was Jian who quickly brought him to the lab where she showed him some vials of the drug. But is the vaccine finished, is it for humans or to control the Golems? Speaking of them in the bottom screenshot is a device which is holding a body and it needs to be kept at an extremely low temperature. What that body is we don't yet but it appears Hibiki's mother had once been in it and to Shuto this new body is very key to his discovery.

 It didn't take long for Shuto to see what was taking place in the lab and rushed in to prevent Hibiki from leaving, his main goal was to kill the man! The pair struggled for quite a long time and it seemed Shuto had the upper hand until Jian stepped in. She disabled the lab's power and Shuto was in such a rage he forgot all about Hibiki who escaped but Jian was too injured flee also. This scene is when we saw how mad of a doctor Shuto is as he went into such a frenzy, at times he looks and acts like a normal man but what a wacko he is. Eventually the power was restored and in the nick of time for Shuto as it seems his body in the device is okay to keep experimenting on. However it's not a good ending for Jian at the moment as she's been captured and being held in a cell. That'll hurt Shuto's experiments as she's been his second hand assistant for years.

 Hibiki was able to escape from the lab as all of the attention was turned to fixing the power outage. But it wasn't a clean escape as who should be on Hibiki's tail but his once good friend Todoroki. He's been working with Shuto and has been shadowing Kurumi to make sure she doesn't flee or do anything else dangerous at the camp. Todoroki was given a gun and when he saw Hibiki he ordered to to stop or else. Which is what Hibiki did but even though the pair have become such bitter enemies Todoroki couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger and told Hibiki to flee right away. He did but by now the Defense Forces were looking for Hibiki, one soldier shot him in the stomach and it appeared he wouldn't make it as the soldier was lining up for a second shot. Todoroki had followed in the shadows and when he saw what was happening to Hibiki he shot the soldier, that was unknown to Hibiki.

 Against all odds Hibiki was able to crawl to his boat and safely make it back to Saruno island, can't believe the Defense Forces haven't noticed all of the boats going to the island. Not exactly safely as he was shot but Hibiki was able to bring a vial of the vaccine back, he had grabbed four but three were destroyed in his escape. In that bottom screenshot above is the researcher Omaezaki who was familiar with Shuto's experiments as he had once worked with him but left when the doctor began to go a bit off the edge. He immediately gave Min-Jun the potion and at first it appeared it may have an effect. That was short lived and Omazaki said the vaccine wasn't quite complete, perhaps it was never meant to be finished? The virus was draining the life out of Min-Jun rather quickly, he knew there wasn't much time left so he asked his friends to bring him to the shore to view the sunset.

 Which is what they did and shortly after that sunset is when Min-Jun sadly succumbed to his Golem bite. His human life ended but not his second life as soon after is when his body began to stir again, this time ready to lead life as a Zombie. But the group was prepared for that and Hibiki needed to stab his friend in the brain with a knife thus ending his life as a Golem. Stabbing the creature in the neck or the brain will usually end their life along with shooting them. So for the final minute the five survivors just milled around thinking about their deceased mate who they didn't know for too long yet he was such a good person and the other five may not be alive if not for Min-Jun. That ends this recap and have a few pondering thoughts in the beginning of the next post.

 

 Good idea to view the screenshots as so much happened in this episode though don't think I left any key details out. Right above is the fatal moment when Min-Jun's life needed to be ended and now that brings the total number of survivors down to five, how many will make it to the second season? That will begin the week after this season ends and really have no clue on what to expect. This has been taking place in September/October 2019 so maybe season two is set in present day? Following this post is the recap for the eighth episode.