Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 episode 10; Taking a good thing too far.

      This episode picks up with Yuuki and Mirai riding towards their home in the army truck when Yuuki asks Mirai what she would do if he was dead? Mirai tells Yuuki not to say strange things  and that mother, father, and she would probably cry themselves to death.

       Soon, Mirai and Yuuki exit the army truck and head towards home where Mirai runs into Mayu who lets her know that Mirai’s mother, and father survived the earthquake. Mirai’s mother is taking shelter at the elementary school, and her father was injured but doing OK at the local hospital.

       After Mirai finds that her mother went home to get some clothing, she goes looking for Yuuki who has headed inside the elementary school classroom areas. Mirai runs into Yuuki’s friend, Itsuki, and together they search the school grounds for Yuuki. As Mirai searches the school, she comes across some of Yuuki’s classroom artwork and begins to cry, Mirai is unable to explain to Itsuki why she’s crying. At various times, Yuuki appears to Mirai telling her not to cry, but vanishes as soon as Itsuki appears.

       As time passes, Itsuki becomes worried about Mirai’s strange behavior and he tells her to come to his house so he can give Mirai a journal that he and Yuuki have been keeping. When they arrive at Itsuki’s home, Mirai notices a danger notice posted on the door, but Itsuki goes inside anyways. As Mirai tries to call him back outside, she also sees Yuuki enter the house, so Mirai has to follow them in. When Itsuki hands Mirai the book, an aftershock strikes the area and she grabs Itsuki to protect him from the falling debris. Mirai then notices Yuuki in the hallway, so she drags Itsuki over to Yuuki and cover them both up. A few seconds later, the part of the house where Itsuki and Mirai were in has collapsed but Mirai and Itsuki are safe, but Yuuki has disappeared again.

       Yuuki then appears before Mirai where he calls her name;  Then the truth comes flooding into Mirai’s mind.  Yuuki died outside the hospital, the medical workers tried to bring him back but failed, the scene where Mirai was looking at his death certificate in the hallway was real, and it seems that Mirai was blocking out everything from when the sunlight reflected in her eyes as she was walking up to the hospital. Yuuki then tells Mirai that he’s dead, and as tears begin to roll down Mirai’s cheeks, the episode ends.

      Well, most of us knew what was coming, and the only questions were how long would it take and was Yuuki a delusion inside Mirai’s mind or was he some sort of ghost? After watching this episode I think that Yuuki was a combination of both Mirai’s mind and a helpful spirit; Mirai’s mind up until now was unable to fully adjust to the truth of her brother’s death and was suppressing everything after the flash of light in her eyes, but her mind was trying to remember the truth and Yuuki’s ghost/spirit was just there to be with Mirai until she was ready to handle the truth, it might be painful, but Mirai can now handle the truth.

       Now, I think Mirai will have to go and find Mari and retrieve Yuuki’s backpack and bring Yuuki fully home to their family. I feel the backpack contains Yuuki’s death certificate and maybe even his ashes, and once Mirai brings Yuuki home her family can then perform the proper Buddhist/Shinto death rites for her brother, Yuuki’s spirit can then rest in peace until they invite him home for Obon and he can live on in their memories.

       My problem with the “Yuuki ghost” storyline is that I felt that they dragged it out for way too long. TM 8.0 was supposed to be a realistic look at the aftermath of monstrously deadly earthquake and while mental problems with survivors is an issue, the “Yuuki” thing went over the top. I could see Mirai having a temporary mental break as plausible, and I could even understand “Yuuki” as a ghost. But, I feel by combining  Mirai’s mental problems with Yuuki as a ghost was really too much. I think that this is too bad because I felt that TM 8.0 was heading towards becoming a truly great anime, and now I’m going to place it in the “well above average class”. I’m really looking forward to a realistic wrap up to the series without any stupid twists like, maybe Mirai or her parents dying, or even Mari dying. Life needs to go on for the living, and let the dead be a warm memory of the past.