While sleeping in a tent on a rooftop above a ruined Tokyo, Akira remembers his childhood dream: to be a superhero. He once dressed up like his favorite Super Sentai-style TV hero and protected the weak from bullies, and now he’ll become a slayer of zombies for the people. Kencho, who decides to bleach his hair so he’ll have more impact as a comic, naturally doesn’t pooh-pooh his friend’s dream.
They head to the nearest aquarium to find something, and note how it feels a little naughty to be in the backrooms where normally only employees would be allowed. The episode takes care not to show us exactly what this item is until Akira needs to put it to use: it’s a puncture-proof sharksuit embedded with chainmail, enabling him to fight off zombies chasing survivors on a bus without fear of bites.
He also takes the effort to paint it so he looks more like a cool hero than a guy in a shark suit. As fate would have it, one of the survivors running to the safety of the aquarium is “Miss Risk Analyst”, but while Akira wants to look cool, his cosplay is ridiculous and he’s quickly gang-piled by the zombies. He slinks back to Kencho and the others exhausted, alive, and unable to impress the konbini girl.
That said, Kencho urges him to talk to her anyway, and while she doesn’t deny that he saved people, she doesn’t understand why he’d risk his life to save strangers without regard to the people who matter to him (like Kencho, or his family back in rural Gunma). After refusing yet again to exchange contact info, they’re attacked by a zombie great white shark propelled by the legs of three zombies it ate.
The absurd yet frightening foe cuts Miss Analyst’s analysis of Akira acting out his fantasy of being a hero to mollify his inferiority and self-worth issues short. Everyone runs for their lives, and when she tries to calm a panicking girl down she gets shoved to the ground and left behind.
Miss Analyst believes this to be the end for her, and she reiterates her hatred of working big groups. But before the shark thing can pounce on her, it’s mounted like a bucking bronco by Akira, saving her once again. When she angrily asks him why, he tells her to forget about the reasons.
Just as someone hungry will eat or someone will want to talk to a cute girl, a hero doesn’t need a reason to save people, even strangers. Realizing this isn’t a world where analysis and logic alone will necessarily save her (again, she’s being chased by a zombie shark with six zombie human legs) Miss Analysis relents.
Knowing full well Akira doesn’t have a strategy, she comes up with one: using batteries to disable the shark’s Ampullae of Lorenzini. Akira buys time while she locates batteries up to the task, and when he falters, Kencho buys him time by once again stripping down to make an enticing target for the monster.
Somewhat disappointingly, even after going through all this, Miss Analyst doesn’t join Akira and Kencho as they head to Akira’s family home in Gunma. She cites irreconcilable differences in their methods: they want to do things before becoming zombies, and she wants to prevent becoming one altogether. It’s a fair assessment, but there’s also room in the middle.
That said, I love her reaction to Akira telling her she’s precious to him now and he’d save her even if he wasn’t trying to be a hero. Her mask truly cracks, and she shows that she’s not immune to certain charms. And even though they part ways once again, she still gives Akira her contact info at the end, revealing her name as Mikazuki Shizuka.
She says, with a wry smile and the wind catching her hair, it’s fine to give the info to him because it’s because it’s unlikely they’ll see each other again. But c’mon…they’re definitely seeing each other again.
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