One of the measures I judge my engagement with a series by, certainly, is how quickly an episode seems to pass by. Checking the timer frequently is never a good sign, but when the arrival of the end credits comes as a shock you know you’ve been locked-in (Shin Sekai Yori is the ultimate exemplar of this for me). That was definitely the case this week with Pet, which has rounded into shape quite gratifyingly after a somewhat indifferent premiere.
I would also note (and I don’t think it’s coincidental) that this episode was extremely tense. As the nature of the premise has slowly been exposed the unsettling nature of what these people are doing is increasingly, well- unsettling. Add to that the fact that in Hayashi-san we seem to finally have a character who’s worth rooting for – someone who’s genuinely opposed to what the company is doing and is fully in command of his faculties – and that character is in danger, and you have a pretty compelling narrative.
Hayashi is a key figure in a lot of what’a happening, clearly. His esper ability seems to be exceptional – perhaps stronger than anyone, even Tsukasa. He seems to have made a habit of helping strays, lending a different shading to the notion of “pet” than we’ve seen so far. There was Satoru of course, and a young Chinese girl named Meiling who was separated from him before he could fully free her from her cage. And then there’s Tsukasa, who was apparently in the same state as Satoru before Hayashi found him and what’s worse, was slated for organ harvesting (no, I’m not liking the company any better as we learn more about them).
Tsukasa is full of shit, of that we can be sure. His performance in the car was just that, a performance. But it seems as if there was an element of truth in it, because his argument about the emotional debt someone rescued in the fashion he and Satoru were feels towards their rescuer was pretty convincing. I have no doubt he felt genuinely betrayed by Hayashi – in fact I suppose Hiroki’s jealousy of Satoru stems from the fact that he’s emotionally a slave to Tsukasa. Whatever connection he had to Hayashi and however much Hayashi may have failed him, it’s pretty clear Tsukasa is bad news now and I don’t think there’s any bringing him back from the dark side.
As those two powerful espers begin their duel in the forest and the minds, Satoru is in a different sort of duel with Jin (M.A.O). She accosts him at the hotel bar and proves immune to his attempts to control here. I don’t think we can set aside the fact that Satoru was apparently intending to mind control Jin and have his way with her, which says profoundly disturbing things about his character, but things move so quickly it’s hard to stay on that. These two engage in their own kind of mental sparring, as we’re privy to Satoru’s inner thoughts on the subject.
All this stuff about Qigong masters being responsible for the mind control elements is certainly interesting, and it’s the most (pretty much only) information we’ve gotten about the company. They’re a dark crowd to be sure, using mind control to support the likes of human trafficking and organ harvesting. But I don’t think it should be overlooked that using these powers seems to be highly corrupting in itself, if Tsukasa and now Satoru are anything to go on. This is something humans simply shouldn’t be messing with – violation of others in the most fundamental way possible. And who’s to say that Hayashi, who seems to be the most powerful of them all, is immune from all this?
At the very least Hayashi seems to be a somewhat tragic figure. I don’t think we can doubt that he genuinely cares for the lost souls he rescues, and I don’t doubt his version of events which had the company forcing him to keep creating puppets (you can’t spell puppets without “pets”) or else they’d crush Satoru. I’m certainly pulling for him in his tense and nerve-wracking mental battle with Tsukasa, but even Hayashi is likely corrupted by the power he holds – seeing things as his right that in fact should be no one’s. But beggars can’t be choosers, and in Pet Hayashi-san is so far the closest thing to a hero we have.
Kim
February 5, 2020 at 12:36 amI completely disagree that Hayashi is a hero. He may feel bad for the things he has done under the company and he may genuinely care for Satoru but he is the one who is somewhat responsible for how Tsukasa turned out. The way Tsukasa turned out, sure it’s Directly the Company’s fault but Hayashi left him to that fate. Then he tries to change Tsukasa’s memory where he is guilty.
If there are characters to still root for then maybe Satoru and possibly the innocent Hiroki if he can somehow break free of Tsukasa.
Kim
February 5, 2020 at 12:38 amSorry can’t edit my post I realize you didn’t use the word “hero” so I’ll say tragic or not I am not sure I can root for Hayashi with all the baggage he holds
animealex
February 5, 2020 at 4:15 amI agree with your statements regarding Hayashi. He seems to have had a change of heart, but I still think he’s as guilty as the rest of them for now. The way he plays favorites with his former pets (Tsukasa vs. Satoru) doesn’t sit well with me. But I disagree with you regarding Satoru. Sure he isn’t openly acting nearly as much of a jerk as Katsuaragi or Tsukasa, but he was attempting to rape a woman here (like Enzo pointed out); that shows him pretty far over the moral event horizon as far as I’m concerned.
In my opinion, only Hiroki manages to stay somewhat sympathetic: he uses his powers rashly, but regrets it at least and tries not to make it worse (his coin-flip change with his female costumer) and he doesn’t want to destroy somebody else’s mind. There’s still some innocence there.
Regardless how the mental duel between Hayashi and Tsukasa ends (my money is on Tsukasa btw.), Hayashi has already reached his objective of passing some damming information to Satoru. It’s also interesting to note, that Tsukasa seems to predict his own eventual fate: He accuses Hayashi of underestimating how dangerous it is to be the most important person for somebody with abilities like theirs, while he’s in the same position regarding Hiroki, who seems to be the more powerful (if inexperienced) one of the two.
Perhaps there is nobody to root for in this very dark series and we’ll just watch how some powerful people destroy each other or themselves. I just wonder what the underlying message supposedly is?
Guardian Enzo
February 5, 2020 at 6:50 amYeah, what Satoru was trying to do in that bar was a pretty big disqualifier in the rooting department.
As for Hayashi, I don’t exempt him from blame here by any stretch, but it’s a pretty thin group of options. I don’t see any specific reason to doubt his word that the company forbade him from keeping both Tsukasa and Satoru with him, and it’s not incidental that he saved both of them in the first place. He also appears to have genuinely gone on the lam rather than continue to make puppets for the company.
Kim
February 5, 2020 at 6:50 amI honestly missed the rape implication with Satoru. If that is the case then perhaps Hiroki is the only possible “good guy” in this lot. But like you said there may actually be no true good guy in this story. Time will tell.
Say
February 5, 2020 at 2:50 pmHayashi was tactless with Tsukasa: after all these years when he met him he only asked for Satoru’s well being. How would someone believe that he was forced to leave Tsukasa because of the Company’s orders? Does it matter if it is true when Hayashi haven’t had a thought for Tsukasa since then? I would have feel the urge to crush him for sure. Hiroki is the only one with the heart in the right place.
Guardian Enzo
February 5, 2020 at 3:47 pmWell, I guess it’s nice to be able to judge so decisively so quickly. For me, I feel like we still haven’t seen enough.
I see that situation a little differently. Satoru is effectively Hayashi’s son, from whom he was forcefully separated. He’s just seen someone he knows will have information about his son’s well-being. The first thing he asks about being his son hardly seems evil to me. I don’t think tactless is a stretch, but under the circumstances hardly indefensible.
Also, Tsukasa is already a proven liar and there’s honestly no reason to think his act in the car and the woods wasn’t mostly just that, an act. He might have every reason to feel slighted but he seems to have already converted 90% of that into hatred of Hayashi.
dc22
February 5, 2020 at 7:48 pm“One of the measures I judge my engagement with a series by, certainly, is how quickly an episode seems to pass by.”
I agree, and me constantly looking at the clock is not a good sign for Pet. Dropped.
Kim
February 5, 2020 at 9:16 pmWell to me it’s clear Hayashi is not a such a great guy when he tried to change Tsukasa’s memories of events. He didn’t apologize or say he was wrong for what he did but tried to mess with his memories.
Say
February 7, 2020 at 4:33 amThat’s what I meant! Satoru and Tsukasa were both being woken up by Hayashi, were both in debt with him, still Hayashi taught Satoru some tricks and expresses his worries about Satoru, but never tried to contact Tsukasa? This is favouritism. No wonder he must face consequences!
Goh
February 7, 2020 at 5:03 amWhat’s wrong with favouritism? He’s not their parent and he already saved Tsukasa’s life. He’s not obliged to feel an equal emotional attachment to the two boys.
Also, you all forget that Hiroki ruined that couples relationship. That was extremely disturbing and Enzo presented it as somehow deserved punishment. What is the moral reasoning here?
You don’t need morally upright characters to ”root for”. That’s the refreshing thing about Pet. As weird as this series is, the characters are all convincingly human. Katsuragi is the the most entertaining for me.
Say
February 7, 2020 at 7:18 amHiroki showed regret and was conscious that missing Tsukasa he is messed up. Favouritism is so wrong here! Or at least it hits me hard… Hayashi meant the world to Tsukasa, he was responsible for his imprinting as much as he was for Satoru’s. If feels like: “why did you save me if you don’t care for me? Was I just a game for you? How have I disappointed you so that you left me behind? Haven’t I done as I was said by you? Hayashi felt sorry because Satoru’s parents were killed by the Company, but has Tsukasa any parent himself? I bet “no”. Hayashi felt no obligation just because he wasn’t directly responsible for their absence: this is naive. He disposed of Tsukasa like an object. Hiroki has mental issues because of the imprinting, but Hayashi never received his peak. Satoru’s behavior in this episode was deplorable too, he intended to take advantage of someone who had done nothing to him yet and showed surprise, not guilty, when Jin saw though him.
Guardian Enzo
February 7, 2020 at 7:25 amHow is Hiroki feeling remorse after ruining the relationship any different than Hayahsi feeling remorse after making puppets and being neglectful of Tsukasa’s feelings? Their relationship is still just as shot – Hayashi is actually trying to make amends.
Say
February 7, 2020 at 9:00 amTo me Hayashi feels remorse for making puppets in general, not so much for neglecting Tsukasa. Changing his memories so that Tsukasa thinks he was said “if you insist we will live together”… Is different from saying “back then I should have said THIS, it isn’t too late Tsukasa!” in the present. If his attempt was successful Tsukasa would have thought it was HIS fault for not insisting. Hayashi didn’t come back for Tsukasa, nor he changed his mind including Tsukasa in his rescue plan (until this episode).
Kim
February 7, 2020 at 11:08 amI think it’s strange to say what is wrong with favoritism when it comes to CHILDREN. Hayashi may not entirely have had complete free will in the matter but he still left a child in the care of the company. Again Tsukasa didn’t become messed up from nothing. He became messed up because Hayashi left him. While Hayashi may feel bad for what he did under the company he doesn’t feel bad enough to again try to use his power to change Tsukasa‘s memories. He doesn’t want to make puppets but he has no qualms erasing his own guilt from Tsukasa
And surely what Hiroki did was wrong. But Hiroki immediately felt regret for what he did and pushed the woman away and didn’t take advantage of her. Hiroki is a victim of Tsukasa. He doesn’t want to work for the company and do their dirty work. He didn’t want to crush the one guy in the first episode. But his manipulated by Tsukasa. I feel even using mind control on that woman is because Hiroki can’t think of how to live his life in a way he wasn’t show by Tsukasa. Hiroki is a victim of Tsukasa even when Tsukasa isn’t there
Hayashi to me is looking to change and get out of the company too late. He has too many sins on his hands. But to me Hiroki still has a chance to break free.
I guess time will tell. And maybe I’ll eat my words