Kunio Fujii's last script for the series, which sees the return of Sumire, bringing her story to a conclusion. It's nice to tie up loose ends -- some other shows wouldn't have bothered -- but I always thought that this didn't come close to Fujii's original intentions with this character, her connection to Dai, and what her story was going to be.
It's revealed that Sumire actually died in 1978 and she's a ghost that's wandered because she doesn't accept her death; her connection with Dai, the telepathy, their ability to teleport places, is because she found a piece of crystal she found as a kid, which ends up being a piece of Green Star that once broke away upon its creation. She treated it as a treasure and ended up being buried with it, and its energy forged her bond with Dai. (She also confirms for Dai that she's not his sister.)
Sumire contacts Dai again out of the blue because the latest devilish Beast Soldier is gathering the souls of dead kids, turning them into vampiric mini-devils which suck people's souls. Since she's wandered and not been able to face her own death, she understands those souls who feel unfulfilled, with dreams unrealized, so she wants Dai to put a stop to this monster and let the souls return to rest. Once he and the other Flashman successfully put a stop to the monster, and with her secret revealed, Sumire takes an angellic appearance, bids farewell to Dai and goes to rest in peace. (I like that Dai tells Sumire she can watch over the spirits of those who were similar to her and those other fallen kids who couldn't rest because they didn't get to live their lives.) She accepts death more readily, telling Dai that, while she missed out on a lot life had to offer, she at least got to experience her first love. (Thankfully, Dai was only interested in her as a sister.)
It might not be the story Fujii had intended to tell, but I like it for its supernatural angle, the sympathetic nature of Sumire and the dark, otherworldly atmosphere from director Takao Nagaishi. It's a sweet storyline, but...pretty damn weird, I'll admit. I give it credit though for avoiding predictability -- if Sumire had just been some random alien species, that wouldn't work as well. (Not to toot my own horn, but I still like my idea of Sumire being Dai's twin who was left behind on Earth.) And it's a good case for the Flashman to work on -- they should be able to understand and relate to the feeling of dead youths whose spirits can't find rest because their lives were cut short.
Evidence that Ghost Sumire wasn't Fujii's plan? In Sumire's first episode, she was targeted by that Beast Soldier, whose M.O. was to drain people's warmth/life. Well, that monster would know if it was a ghost he had in his clutches, now wouldn't he?
The monster of the week -- The Devilub -- is crazy, formidable and creepy; green, devilish. Keflen strays from his usual methods and creates the monster from spirits and youkai genes! The monster absorbs souls and sends them to an underworld within itself! The suit makes the monster just seem tall and huge, really fearsome, and it's a well-made suit and another great Izubuchi design. The bad part? The monster has a mustache that just...it works in Izubuchi's sketch, but not in live action, on a suit. It's like he has Groucho glasses on.
Yeah, you can tell most of the plot stuff up to this point wasn't what they originally planned, maybe with the obvious effort they put into the show, they were just too overly ambitious in some places and had the brakes put on them, but for what it was, this was a very satisfying conclusion to what was up with her.
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