Words of a MavericK

Hayato visits Yoshio while he is playing the church organ (again). Back at Yoshio’s office, they talked about the death of Sayoko, and Hayato hears from Yoshio that she had entered the new faith of Byakureikai, after leaving the church and de-converted from Christianity. Outside, Kiriko is playing with the children from the orphanage, whom she hears from about the urban legend of the Phantom Monorail, which is said to run at midnight, although it is forbidden to be outside after dark, and that its last stop is Hell.

An announcement is heard throughout Ootomo, informing about the time being near midnight and that one is not allowed to stay outside home without a permit. A man is seemingly being chased, always seeing a shadow following him (not his own) whenever he looks back. He runs, and ends up in an underground monorail station. When he stops at the platform, a monorail arrives, even it’s already past midnight. Hearing footsteps at the stairs leading down to the platform, he has no choice but to board. In the monorail, the carriages are empty, and the man heaves a sigh of relief. He hears footsteps again and turn to look, and sees Skull Man several carriages away. The lights suddenly go out, and when they come back on, Skull Man has disappeared. However, the man hears the cocking of a pistol, and behind him, Skull Man is standing, with his pistol aimed at the man. Skull Man smiles, and next we see flashes within the monorail, with the man screaming for help.
Morning, a body, supposedly that of the man, is seen hanging of the rails of the monorail, with a skull mark painted on the pillar in his blood.

Hayato and Kiriko read about the murder in the papers, where it is written that the police are investigating whether the murder is connected to the murder of Onizuka Yui. Hayato thinks that the murder has something to do with the Byakureikai, and gives a smirk. In Ootomo Pharmaceutical Company’s Biochemistry Research Facility, Akira is listening to a sound clip of strange frequency, when he suddenly laughs to himself, saying that he has found the voice of God. Tetsurou enters the room dressed like a researcher, whom Akira apparently knows, and Akira tells him that something wonderful is going to happen soon.

In a bus, it is revealed that Hayato had borrowed for a car from Yoshio, and Kiriko complains that he shouldn’t depend on Yoshio too much. Hayato investigated the monorail murdre on his own, and finds out that the victim was Suzuki Shougo, a staff member from Ootomo Pharmaceutical Company’s Biochemistry Research Facility. Knowing Hayato, Kiriko volunteers to investigate Byakureikai, while Hayato himself investigates the research facility. He is refused entry and thus, investigations, by the research entry, but he sees 3 female staff members coming out. Checking his watch, he realizes that it is lunch break, and he gives another smirk.

At the restaurant, Hayato manages to receive more information about Suzuki Shougo, and also hears about the Phantom Monorail urban legend from the ladies. Coincidentally, Akira passes by the restaurant, and Hayato hears from the ladies that though they are from different sections, Akira probably knew Shougo. Hayato then runs off thanking the ladies, while leaving the bill on the table. Hayato confronts Akira at a bus-stop by asking for a light for his cigarette, hoping to get information from him, but once Akira hears about Shougo, he hails a taxi and leaves, but before giving Hayato a smirk. Hayato throws his cigarette on the ground fumingly, and tries to pick it back up when he realized it is a waste, but the cigarette is picked up by an old cleaner as litter instead. Detective Shinjou appears suddenly, locking Hayato’s head, asking him what he had talked about with Akira earlier. Shinjou is suspicious of Akira as well. He also lets Hayato know about the cleaners on the streets, who are members of the Byakureikai, cleaning up the city to honor their ancestors.

Kiriko is on high grounds, taking pictures of Byakureikai members around the city, doing kind deeds. She manages to take a photo of Mayor Kusaka and a mysterious woman coming out from the Byakureikai headquarters. Back in their apartment, Kiriko shows Hayato the photos she had taken, which Hayato comments that it’s not a surprise to see Mayor Kusaka having connections with Byakureikai, which is after all the largest religious group in Ootomo. When asked about the mysterious lady, Kiriko says she is atill investigating, but deduces that she must be one of the leaders in Byakureikai. In the Kuroshio estate, the mysterious woman is revealed to be the wife of Kuroshio Gouzo, Kuroshio Sara, the chairperson of Byakureikai. Maya is caught by Sara while trying to leave for the church, with Sara exclaiming that she must be going to a church of an outside religion to see a man. Maya goes back into her room, where she sees the reflection behind her when she looks into the mirror, but sees nothing when she turns back to take a look.

In Ootomo Pharmaceutical Company, Akira drops in on Kumashiro Masaki. Masaki tells Akira that countermeasures have been taken about the Suzuki Shougo murder when asked, and then asks Akira about the progress of a research, probably that of the voice of God, which he replies that it has proceeded to the next stage. Hayato tails Akira and they stop at a library, where Hayato loses his trail and picks up a book Akira had shown interest in. In the same restaurant as before, Hayato got bored of the book, which is apparently too deep for him, and is suddenly confronted by the 3 staff members he managed to con a meal out of, demanding him to pay back the money. Kyouichirou comes to the aid of Hayato. He tells Hayato that the feelings of resentment of the citizens of Ootomo are starting to surface, especially now with all the news about the ‘Skeleton Man’, monsters showing up, and the mysterious murders.

At night,  just before midnight, Hayato and Kiriko tail Akira together after he exits from the research facility, but they lose sight of him at the station and go on their separate ways to look for him, with Hayato searching the platforms. When he reaches the platform, the Phantom Monorail shows up and stops at around the same time, and Hayato boards it, not wanting to lose the chance of a scoop.

On board, the carriages are empty, but he sees Skull Man and soon the lights go out, just like what happened to Suzuki Shougo. In the dark, Skull Man appears behind Hayato and shoots him, but Hayato manages to dodge the bullets due to Kyouichirou, who is also on board the monorail. After several shots, Skull Man disappears again, and manages to shoot Kyouichirou in the left arm by shooting from the top of the monorail. He breaks through the window and into the monorail, pinning Hayato, but Hayato struggles to keep Skull Man from shooting him. After moments of struggling, Kyouichirou pulls the emergency brakes, which causes Skull Man to get off from Hayato and drop his Mauser pistol. He tries to reach for his pistol, but Hayato pushes him out of the monorail before he can do so, and Skull Man drops into a canal/river. Kyouichirou asks Hayato to run before the police comes, and Hayato comments that Kyouichirou is so mysterious that he wants to investigate him next after the ‘Skeleton Man’.

Hayato speaks with Yoshio about Sayoko’s death…and for a favour

Kiriko hears about the urban legend of the Phantom Monorail from the orphanage children

The Phantom Monorail makes its stop

Skull Man, with his trusty Mauser pistol

Akira on his discovery of the voice of God

Kiriko in her investigation of the Byakureikai

The doors of the Phantom Monorail open for Hayato

Skull Man ‘drops in’ on Hayato

Starting off with Yoshio playing the church organ, we see Yui and Sayoko backstage, after Yui’s well-received performance on the stage. Yui receives a death threat on the bouquet of flowers she had received from the mayor of Ootomo, Mayor Kusaka, and faints. Back to Hayato and Kiriko, they decided that they split up in their investigations, Kiriko going after Onizuka Yui and Hayato looking into the connection between Byakureikai and Yui.A crowd of people from the media has gathered outside the hotel to get more about the death threat incident from Yui herself, and Sayoko, under the guise of Yui to divert the media’s attention from the whereabouts of the real Yui, has trouble getting into the hotel. The crowd quickly leaves after discovering the diversion. Kiriko is also tricked by this diversion, but notices Rena nearby the hotel, who seems to have noticed Kiriko too.

It is revealed that Yui is supposedly the lover/mistress of the police chief, Haniwa Gisuke, the same chief who sent Detective Shinjou to follow Hayato. Sayoko, back in the hotel room, acts out a scene in ‘Macbeth’, expressing an interest in acting herself. After their ‘act’, Gisuke receives a phone call from a mysterious man who resembles Gouzo, and Yui soon disappears, returning to the hotel room where Sayoko is asleep in.

We see Sayoko on her way to Saint Maria Church in the rain, where she recognizes Maya. They have a conversation (strange, for they didn’t seek shelter, willing to carry their umbrellas like dum-dumbs), which Maya tells Sayoko that she can ‘fly, higher and farther than anyone’. Sayoko is amazed by her words. She then reveals that the day she had arranged to meet with Yoshio is actually the next day, and she is currently just dropping by.

Kiriko manages to sneak into the backstage of the theatre Yui is performing is performing in. Yui receives yet another blackmail, telling her to go to Kagura Theatre, which failure to comply would result in the photo of her going out with another man other than Gisuke be made public. When Kiriko manages to sneak into Yui’s dressing room, it is vacant, but she sees the words ‘Kagura Theatre’ from the burnt remains of the blackmail letter.

Fearing Gisuke’s wrath if he knew, Yui turns up in the theatre, where she sees Rena. She demands Rena to return the original copy of the photo, and Rena comments that she will do so, for the ’star’ that night isn’t her, but Sayoko. Shifting to Hayato, he meets the old man again in a coffee bar, this time knowing his name, Tachiki Kyouichirou, a private investigator. They exchange information, with Kyouichirou telling Hayato there is more than meets the eye about Ootomo Pharmaceutical Company. Hayato, obviously unwilling to suspect Gouzo, is given another piece of information: the chairperson of the Byakureikai is Gouzo’s wife, Kuroshio Sara.

Back to Yui and Sayako, they are being ‘hunted down’ by Rena with a whip. Yui falls off a ledge and Sayako grabs on to her, but she still falls due to bloodied hands, but not before breaking Sayoko’s necklace, which is of the same design as the item Hayato had seen on the ground where he landed after being thrown. Sayoko suddenly remembers Maya’s words, and wings burst out from her back, and she flys to catch Yui before she hits the ground. Sayoko, having transformed into a beast, then faces off with both Rena and Tetsurou, who both have also transformed into the werewolf beasts which we saw chasing after Tachibana Hitomi. Kiriko has been witnessing all these in the theatre. Skull Man soon joins in the fight, where it is implied that the siblings are followers, not not allies, of Skull Man. Kiriko tries to shoot Skull Man (with her camera), but is stopped by Skull Man himself. She tries again, but this time is interrupted by Tetsurou, who knocks her out cold. The battle is eventually fought up on the rooftops, where Skull Man eventually pins Sayoko down. After both say a verse (or a line, I’m not into literature) from ‘Macbeth’, Skull Man finishes her off with his blade from his right hand, where it is seen that the body is that of Sayoko’s human form.

Hayato, rushing to the theatre to find Kiriko after seeing a note on his apartment door, finds her lying on the ground. He wakes her up, and she tells Hayato that she had seen the ‘Skeleton Man’ and that she has shot him on film. Both of them leaves before the police arrives, leaving the fainted Yui behind, letting the police take care of her.

But what they didn’t know is that Skull Man had gone back and killed Yui with his pistol, and they only know of her death, together with Sayoko’s, from a news report on television.

Onizuka Yui receives a death threat in the bouquet of flowers

Rena seemingly looking at Kiriko through the camera lens

Yui, mistress/lover of Haniwa Gisuke, the police chief

The mysterious item seen before every murder Skull Man commits

Sayoko transforming into a winged beast

Rena transforms into a werewolf-like beast…

…which Tetsurou does so too

Moments before Skull Man’s finishing blow to Sayoko

The Skull Man is shaping up to be quite something. The art work bears a resemblance to that of Cyborg 009, but a lot darker and mature. The action scenes are good too, though short…justifying the fact of Kamen Rider being created because Skull Man is too violent. The plot is deep, but not really interesting enough to capture the attention of the audience long enough, I think. But I shall stick by Skull Man, and ‘get to the bottom of things’…haha.

We are shown an abstract, mashed-up sequence of various newspaper reports on Skull Man, asking questions like ‘Murderer?’ and ‘Skeleton?’, and several footages of Skull Man himself. All these apparently seems to be from Hayato’s dream, who wakes up in a cell and with a bandaged head. The same hot-blooded detective, Shinjou Tsuyoshi, that the chief had sent to track the movements of Hayato then interrogates him, shouting in his face that he is the prime suspect for the murder of the man Hayato had seen slain the previous night, but after receiving a phone call, Hayato is released. Tsuyoshi declares that he will catch Hayato red-handed, and Hayato mocks him, to his frustration. At the gate, Hayato is greeted by Kuroshio Gouzo’s aide, Kumashiro Masaki, who had sent him to receive Hayato.

Back at the Kuroshio estate, Hayato thanks Gouzo for helping to bail him out. But Gouzo reveals that it was actually Kiriko who had helped by informing him. Gouzo adds that he will prepare permits for the both of them, but warns Hayato not to do anything rash again. Hayato is then mesmerized at the sight of Gouzo’s daughter, Kuroshio Maya, whom Gouzo comments is not of good health. In the car, Kumashiro Masaki is having a phone conversation with Usami Akira, a researcher working under Gouzo. Akira is clearly blackmailing Masaki, stating that he knows everything and demands to be told the details of everything that’s going on, but after getting a warning instead of a reply, Masaki hangs up abruptly when he hears a car driving into the estate. In it is probably the same military officer who had gunned down a man in the station, and he is apparently paying Gouzo a visit, right just when Hayato and Kiriko is leaving.

The scene briefly shifts to Onizuka Yui and her assistant, Karasuma Sayoko, where is revealed that Ootomo is the hometown of Sayoko. Shifting back to Hayato and Kiriko, who are having their meal, they meet with the old man again. Hayato and Kiriko then hear much information about Ootomo: Byakureikai（白鈴會）, the currently biggest religious group in Ootomo, which is handling the memorial service for Tachibana Hitomi; and the story of the Kagura family, about the Kagura Pharmaceutical Company becoming Ootomo Pharmaceutical Company after being taken over, the president of the company and his eldest son being burnt to death in an accident, and rumour about the son, Kagura Tatsuo, being still alive. Hayato asks the old man if he is a tabloid reporter like himself, but he replies like what Hayato had done so: after something much bigger.

Leaving the cafe, Hayato tells Kiriko not to follow him around anymore, and they each go their separate ways after a dispute.

Hayato tries to get information about the ‘Skeleton Man’ from a group of hooligans in an underground tunnel, but ends up getting punched in the gut. Before he can receive any further beatings from them, he is ‘rescued’ by the same mysterious biker woman, Shingyouji Rena, from before. The group decides to shift their attention to her, when another man appears. Shingyouji Tetsurou, Rena’s brother, beats the crap out of them, displaying superhuman strength in the midst of the brawl.

Hayato, with the help of Rena, visits a church and pretends to be making a confession to the priest, who turns out to be his childhood friend, Kanzaki Yoshio. They have a heart-to-heart chat, during which Yoshio adds that the Kagura accident is actually arson, as rumour has it. Hayato comes up with the conclusion that Kagura Tatsuo, who is supposedly still alive, is seeking revenge from Ootomo Pharmaceutical Company. He is then mesmerized again at the sight of Kuroshio Maya, who is helping out at the church orphanage. He goes out to greet her, and is requested by Maya to not tell Gouzo about her helping out in the orphanage, which Hayato agrees. Maya is shown to like children very much, describing them to be beautiful.

Yoshio receives a call from Sayoko, who are old acquaintances as they were both from the same church Yoshio is now serving, the Saint Maria Church, and they have the same photo. Both seems delighted to hear from each other. Scene shifts to outside the church, where Rena and Tetsurou are. Rena receives a piece from her brother, and seems troubled by it. Tetsurou then tells her of the situation of those hooligans, who ended up being constraint together by metal pipes.

Hayato heads back home, only to find Kiriko in his apartment again, despite the dispute they had earlier in the day. Kiriko then tells him he needs her to be his partner, and shows him photos she has taken. At first look Hayato declares they are all junk, but after closer looking prompted by Kiriko, he discovers that Tachibana Hitomi, Usui Yakihiko, the man whom Hayato saw murdered, and the Byakureikai have a connection.

A mysterious man is ten shown smiling while watching an interview from Yui with his many monitors, in a room where the pictures of Tachibana Hitomi and Usui Yakihiko can be seen pinned up.

Detective Shinjou（新條 剛） faces off with Hayato

Kuroshio Maya（黒潮 真耶） (right…duh?)

Kumashiro Masaki（神代 正樹）

Usami Akira（宇佐神 明）

Shingyouji Rena（真行寺 麗奈）

Shingyouji Tetsurou（真行寺 徹郎）

Kanzaki Yoshio（神崎 芳生）

Karasuma Sayoko（烏丸 小夜子）