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Sakamoto picks up the Cracker and chases Date, who now knows that he is unarmed. Date leads him to a part of the building where he could activate a trap easily. But as soon as he hits the button, he hears a Detonator right next to him. Sakamoto came across it while walking towards Date and moved it to the new location. It explodes and Date is left writhing in pain.
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With Date incapacitated, Sakamoto and Himiko resolve to kill him so that he can’t be a nuisance to them any longer. Shiki, who survived the fall and the explosions – you know what, I’m done arguing this – decides to take the honors. But before she can go through with it, Date pleads with her, saying that he’s sorry. Shiki refuses to forgive him…
…but she also refuses to kill him. It appears that she still has feelings for him – more than just the hatred that she felt when he betrayed her in episode 8 (White Ghost). I understand why she didn’t go through with it at this point but why did she stay her hand before? Did she want to see him begging for his life before she would kill him? Did she want to torture him first? I don’t understand that.
You know what, I’m with Sakamoto on this one. It makes no sense for her to take him back. Date threw her under the bus at work, left her for dead on the island, and tried to kill her no more than five minutes ago. Why would she take him back?
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Shiki tries to nurse Date back to health while Sakamoto talks to Himiko as she showers, trying to make sense of what happened. But during this, Sakamoto comes up with an idea: go back to the people they ran into before and get the chips off of them. And since the first guy he ran into had two bomb bags on him (START), he should’ve picked up at least one more chip in the process – meaning that they would be able to go home soon.
Himiko is ecstatic over the idea of not having to play the game any longer. And this leads to the latest of Sakamoto’s unintentional perverted moments.
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Alright, let’s get the obvious reason why they won’t find the chips out of the way: Taira has them. Remember, he picked up the chip from Kira’s father in episode 4 (Best in the World) and from Akechi in episode 5 (Attack).
As for the first guy, it’s possible that someone else picked it up. But my reason for thinking it was Taira – and why the series suggests that it was Taira – is this: Taira’s strategy has been to scavenge and stick close to a strong player. It’s possible that he watched the battle Sakamoto had in the first episode and picked up the chips afterwards. Thinking that Sakamoto didn’t remember the chips, Taira could’ve snuck behind Sakamoto and picked up the chips as he fought off everyone. However, he was caught following him in episode 3 (Survival) and found a way to team up with him.
So, with Sakamoto believing it was Taira, he and Himiko make their way back to the tower to plan their escape with Taira. However, when he starts climbing back up the tower, Sakamoto hears a buzzing sound. He looks to see a Homing bomb coming at them. He immediately thinks that Taira has betrayed him, but I’m not convinced just yet.
From what I know of this series, there are three possible candidates:
Kōsuke Kira
Why it is Kira:
Kira has his bombs back and is looking for a fight. It’s possible that he went into the depths of the island and killed someone with a Homing bomb. In addition, he’s looking to fight Sakamoto one last time in an epic battle.
Why it isn’t Kira:
The only person on the island that had the ability to track people without the radar was Miyamoto, and he’s dead. So, unless Kira just randomly found them, the odds of him running into them is low. Frankly, even if he followed the explosions to the hall, he probably would have wanted to fight head-on rather following them back to the tower.
Hidemi Kinoshita and Nobutaka Oda
Why it is them:
They’ve combined for a number of kills. It’s probable that one of them has Homing bombs. In addition, it’s probable that they think that Sakamoto and Himiko are close to gaining enough chips to win and – sitting at four themselves – maybe looking to close in on someone’s victory. I’d also imagine that Oda and Kinoshita would be willing to execute more patience than someone like Kira.
Why it isn’t them:
Because they’re fighting amongst themselves. It doesn’t matter how close you are to one person, the thought of turning on them will always creep up when you get close to winning.
Kiyoshi Taira
Why it couldn’t be Taira:
There is conjecture that points to him but there is also conjecture to the contrary. First and foremost, there is more than one person on the island with Homing bombs – there has to be. Second, he may be dead. He could’ve had succumbed to his injuries already before they could have got the medicine back to him.
But there’s something else to consider: the fog around the tower is quite eerie. It’s possible that someone used a gas bomb to kill him and take his Homing bombs. I think that is the most logical reason to this.
Why is could be Taira:
He’s dying and he wants off the island to get a better shot at healing. It turns out he’s the only one that has Homing bombs. The Survivor strategy I’ve been talking about for him is true and he’s making his move. He doesn’t believe in the plan to escape from the island. His natural instincts are kicking in and he’s willing to win at any cost. I still don’t think it’s him but go ahead and take your pick of reasons.
The end is near. Who will leave the island? The final episode airs Tonight at 10 PM EST (for premium Crunchyroll members).
BTOOOM! is developed by Madhouse, published by Showgate, and licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks. New episodes air Thursday nights on the simulcast through Crunchyroll.
