Harumi’s sister Madoka captures him and addresses him as her brother, but otherwise she can’t hear him speaking. When she steps out to buy pickles, he is rescued by Natsuno, who vows to make Madoka pay, until he tells her she’s his sister. When they investigate the burnt remains of an Akiyama Shinobu book in the park, Madoka confronts them, but Natsuno and Harumi escape. Later that night at her place, Harumi surmises that Madoka is the slasher, attacking anyone associated with books by the author that “stole her brother.” Madoka crashes through Natsuno’s window and grabs Harumi once more.
Whenever Madoka used to speak with her brother (whom she clearly loves very much; probably way too much), apparently all he’d talk about was Akiyama Shinobu, even lending the books for her to read. When Harumi suddenly died, we’re supposed to believe Madoka finally snapped, and she decided to fixate on Akiyama as the subject of her rage. So she’s going around town burning his Akiyama books and cutting anyone she sees with the book on them, believing his devotion to Akiyama is what did him in. That’s a pretty random, far-fetched line of reasoning, but at the end of the day, she’s not wrong: Akiyama Shinobu did kill her brother; just not the way she thinks. His obsession for her books had nothing to do with it.
Rather, the fact that Akiyama herself (AKA Natsuno) simply sat there while a shotgun was pointed at her, forced Harumi to literally take a bullet (or rather, a cartridge) for her. Mind you, he didn’t know she was Akiyama at the time; it was just a coincidence. If Madoka actually knew that’s what went down – that Natsuno’s inaction got him killed – she’d have a legitimate reason to be mad. But for a character we don’t know to suddenly go insane and start cutting people, unaware of Akiyama’s true identity, because of one out of the hundreds of authors her brother read? It’s pretty darn thin. Then there’s the little matter of why she thinks this little Dachshund is her brother, despite the fact she can’t hear him talk. Is it just because he took the Akiyama book bait? Is it, again, because she’s INSANE? Or…is it because a wizard did it?
Rating: 5 (Average)
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